Gordon Haskell - 1971 - It Is And It Isn't

Gordon Haskell

1971

It Is And It Isn't

01. No Meaning 3:25
02. Could Be 3:16
03. Upside Down 4:28
04. Just A Lovely Place 4:56
05. Sitting By The Fire 3:41
06. When I Lose 0:18
07. No Need 2:46
08. Worms 4:40
09. Spider 4:15
10. Learning Not To Feel 2:33
11. Benny 4:46
12. When I Laugh 0:25

Bass, Organ, Backing Vocals – John Wetton
Drums – Bill Atkinson
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Guitar – Alan Barry
Piano, Electric Piano – Dave Kaffinetti
Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar – Gordon Haskell

Gordon Haskell issued this solo album to absolutely no critical notice or public response of any kind in 1971, which is sort of a shame - not that it's exactly an earth-shattering record, but it does represent a relatively light, lyric-oriented brand of progressive rock (almost resembling the Moody Blues more than it does Haskell's former group, King Crimson), and a good entry in the field. Latter-day Crimson member John Wetton is present here, playing bass and organ and providing backing vocals on this rather sweet-textured, languid, and highly melodic assembly of songs, which mostly show off Haskell's unusual vocal range but leave ample room for classical stylings on the electric and acoustic guitars and jazz-inspired fills on the drums. When Haskell does rock out, as on "Sitting by the Fire," the effect is startling, the crunchy electric rhythm guitar (courtesy of Dave Spinoza) and bold lead parts (by Alan Barry) wrapping around decent, memorable hooks and choruses - "No Need" is a similarly accessible piece of romantic balladry that might have passed for an England Dan / John Ford Coley demo. And then there's "Worm," a pounding, too-serious-for-words meditation on (apparently) life, death, and being devoured, that repeats a cool opening electric guitar flourish in various guises and allows Barry the chance to stretch out on a related series of riffs. "Spider" is some kind of personal commentary on the music business, possibly referring to managers and their potentially devouring ways - Haskell would know that best - but it is funny and cheerfully upbeat in mood, with some pleasing choruses. And "Benny the Beaver," with its fascinating but confusing references to various elements of the music business, also seems to be about a subject that mattered to Haskell, and it's a pity he couldn't have shared it more clearly, but the principal acoustic guitar riff is pretty, and some of the transitions recall King Crimson's "Cadence and Cascade" (which Haskell sang), and the final section in which an old-style music hall showband picks up the riff demonstrates more humor than most entire art-rock albums of this period ever dared revealed. From a broader perspective, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the recording is that it was produced by Arif Mardin, who, at the time, was moving into some much more profitable and visible projects with the Bee Gees that went in a completely different direction; on this album, Mardin ' s evident goal was to meld Haskell's pop-progressive sound with the clean, sharp mixes that King Crimson of that era was using on their albums, with the results that the drumming (courtesy of Bill Atkinson) and Wetton's bass, as well as Haskell's acoustic guitar, sound like they were recorded during leftover time from a Crimson session. All in all, this is a fun piece of King Crimson ephemera, and pretty pleasant on its own terms, and the 1998 Blueprint CD reissue is a real treat, with a cleaner sound than could be found on the generally lousy Atlantic vinyl pressings (most of which were promo copies), and all of the lyrics reprinted. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide with the results that the drumming (courtesy of Bill Atkinson) and Wetton's bass, as well as Haskell's acoustic guitar, sound like they were recorded during leftover time from a Crimson session. All in all, this is a fun piece of King Crimson ephemera, and pretty pleasant on its own terms, and the 1998 Blueprint CD reissue is a real treat, with a cleaner sound than could be found on the generally lousy Atlantic vinyl pressings (most of which were promo copies), and all of the lyrics reprinted. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide with the results that the drumming (courtesy of Bill Atkinson) and Wetton's bass, as well as Haskell's acoustic guitar, sound like they were recorded during leftover time from a Crimson session. All in all, this is a fun piece of King Crimson ephemera, and pretty pleasant on its own terms, and the 1998 Blueprint CD reissue is a real treat, with a cleaner sound than could be found on the generally lousy Atlantic vinyl pressings (most of which were promo copies), and all of the lyrics reprinted. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide with a cleaner sound than could be found on the generally lousy Atlantic vinyl pressings (most of which were promo copies), and all of the lyrics reprinted. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide with a cleaner sound than could be found on the generally lousy Atlantic vinyl pressings (most of which were promo copies), and all of the lyrics reprinted.

Gordon Haskell - 1969 - Sail in My Boat

Gordon Haskell

1969

Sail in My Boat

01. Boat Trip
02. Born To Be Together
03. Flying Home Tomorrow
04. Lawbreaker
05. All Since You Went Away
06. Oo La Di Doo Da Day
07. Time Only Knows
08. Better By Far
09. Some Other Day
10. Zanzibar
11. Slow Boat

Gordon Haskell: Guitar, Vocals

Gordon Haskell is usually thought of as a footnote in the history of King Crimson -- the only lead singer in the group's long list of personnel who never played a single live date with the band, though he was with them long enough to cut most of an album (Lizard) and get one performance ("Cadence and Cascade") onto its predecessor. Otherwise, he's been an enigma even to many Crimson fans.

Haskell's history with Robert Fripp goes back to the days they spent together in the mid-'60s as members of the League of Gentlemen, a band that backed various American R&B stars on tour and cut a couple of singles. Haskell was also a member of a Liverpool band called the Quotations, formed by ex-Big Three bassist Johnny Gustafson (before he joined the Merseybeats), who recorded for English Decca ("Alright Baby" b/w "Love You All Over Again") in 1964. His main group affiliation for most of the mid-'60s was the Fleur de Lys, a somewhat lightweight psychedelic band who recorded at least once under the pseudonym of Shyster. Haskell passed through the lineups of Rupert's People and Cupid's Inspiration, and, as a member of the Fleur de Lys, also played on records by Bill Kimber, John Bromley, Sharon Tandy, and Terry Durham. By the end of the '60s, he was a solo act, trying to establish himself as a singer/songwriter, and released a pair of singles in 1969 and 1970, "Boat Trip" and "Oh-La-Di-Doo-Da-Day," and one LP, Sail in My Boat, all for British CBS.

In 1970, as his former League of Gentlemen bandmate Robert Fripp was struggling to keep his current group, King Crimson, viable in some form and complete a second album, Haskell joined the band as successor to bassist/singer Greg Lake, who was leaving the lineup to join Emerson, Lake & Palmer. After singing on one song for that album, In the Wake of Poseidon, he joined a new Crimson lineup and recorded most of the next album, Lizard. As was often the case with Crimson lineups in those days, however, Haskell didn't last -- he and other members of the core band had left by the time Lizard was completed and released late in 1970, and he never worked live with the band.

Haskell cut a solo album, It Is and It Isn't, during 1973, and worked with such artists as Tim Hardin, Alvin Lee, and Van Morrison. His solo work tends to be in a folk-like, singer/songwriter vein, reminiscent of Gordon Lightfoot with something of a progressive rock edge and more humor, some of it very sardonic. Based in southern England at the end of the '90s, he concertized regularly in the Hampshire and Dorset areas, and he continued his recording career into the '90s with his albums Butterfly in China and Hambledon Hill. In 1993, he also teamed up with Mike Wedgewood (ex-Curved Air and Caravan) to tour Scandinavia. In the late '90s, Voiceprint Records' Blueprint label reissued Haskell's solo albums of the '60s and '70s on compact disc. The massively popular "How Beautiful You Are" hit British airwaves in the winter of 2001, announcing Haskell's comeback to music. Harry's Bar followed the next year, fully bringing him back into the public spotlight after years of inactivity. He later moved to a Greek island and proclaimed himself to be Greek, releasing the 2010 album One Day Soon under his newly adopted moniker of Gordon Haskell Hionides.

It's astonishing to think that as King Crimson was recording their monumental, groundbreaking debut album, Gordon Haskell -- who would join the Crimson lineup in 1970 -- was cutting this sappy, orchestrated piffle. The music on his debut album is pretty enough, but otherwise undistinguished. Haskell couldn't decide whether he was trying to be Justin Hayward or Jacques Brel, neither of whom was he suited to emulate. Haskell has a strangely breathy, un-nasal voice, oddly reminiscent of fellow King Crimson alumnus Pete Sinfield on his solo album Still. The music ranges from the syrupy ("Oo La Di Doo Da Day" to the melodramatic "Time Only Knows," and all the while Haskell's voice struggles to stretch its range. The only interesting cut here is the calypso-flavored "Zanzibar," which is at least diverting, if not exactly a classic piece of pop-rock. Only absolute King Crimson completists and serious Haskell fans need bother with the Voiceprint CD reissue of this genuine late-'60s rarity.

Hard to believe that a mere two years before joining the legendary prog behemoth King Crimson, Gordon Haskell released this saccharine, maudlin and exceedingly naive little album in 1969. I actually threw this album into the garbage when I first listened to it. A change of heart only occured after I considered how long I had waited for my CD through the monstrously slow shipping department of Voiceprint Records (who released this title on CD). On giving it this second chance, slowly (very slowly) it dawned on me that its very naivete and earnestness were assets rather than negatives.

In recent years Haskell has cultivated a more world weary persona (probably because in reality he IS a bit world weary, rightfully so) and his voice now reflects his decades long smoking habit, creating something of a milder version of the voice of Leon Redbone. But here, Haskell is a wide eyed lad singing in earnest sincerity lines like, "Rocking chair, oh rock me till I'm dreaming/Put me in the warm sunlight/Baker, bring me bread-your face so gleaming/So we might take a bite." And, "The squirrel disturbed our laughter, the robins are cheeky and tame/The bluebells we picked just after you said you loved me again..." Most of the album is written in this naive sub-par Burt Bacharach lyrical poesy and yet....and yet some of this stuff actually grows on you, maybe more like eczema than some stylin' threads but still, songs like "Better By Far" and "Zanzibar" are so infectious in their unaffected sincerity that you kind of get caught up in it. The set opener "Boat Trip" and album closer "Slow Boat" even convey nice evocative atmospheres with their dreamy, slightly haunting backgrounds.

I met Gordon Haskell back in 2001 and he asked me what my introduction was to his solo work. When I responded "Sail In My Boat" he winced. Before he could give me an excuse for such a "green" album I told him I actually liked it as I subsequently went on to buy his later work. And indeed, his later work is where YOU should start. A good anthology is "Harry's Bar" but "All In The Scheme Of Things" and "Butterfly In China" are stylish, mature and more jaded examples of what Haskell grew into after this sappy yet endearing fist set. Cringeworthy? Yes, at times. Laugh inducing? Oh yeah. Hummable and addicting? Yes as well. 

As an aside, the sound quality of the Voiceprint CD version is only just acceptable. It was seemingly mastered directly from a vinyl copy with some pops and hiss occasionally audible. Of course this isn't an album that warrants any re-mastering! A curio then, but one that can become oddly affecting through repeated listenings.