"...The Mood I'm In..."
England's WALLY was a
strange one. After being discovered and plugged by Rick Wakeman of Yes and
Whispering Bob Harris of The Old Grey Whistle Test (that duo had a hand in the
Production of both their LPs) - the Harrogate, Yorkshire six-piece signed to
the mighty Atlantic Records (UK) and promptly pumped out two platters -
"Wally" in August 1974 and their final studio set "Valley
Gardens" in October 1975.
Taking their name from East
End Cockney slang for pickled gherkins (Wallies were a fave of their first
guitarist Jim Slade) – Wally were dogged by bad luck. A US tour with YES as a
supporting act and a further UK venue haul with The EAGLES both failed to materialise
(huge opportunities lost for a melodic band like Wally who were more
comfortable live than in the studio). And despite Prog Rock being king in those
halcyon years (1973, 1974 and 1975) and favourable press for the LP releases –
the public simply didn’t get it – or perhaps more accurately – never got to
hear their music. Combining poor album sales, lack of label support and two
singles that missed their audience (one even had a Radio Caroline
pick-of-the-week chance but Atlantic pressed the 45 up too many months after
that buzz) – they were dropped and gone by 1976.
But what of the music you
ask? With a sound that straddles Americana and Seventies Prog on each record
(the second is definitely more Relayer than the first) - the albums are a strange
hybrid of band-member influences clashing with each other. One minute its all
America meets Eagles meets The Byrds meets Smith Perkins Smith for lead singer,
frontman and principal songwriter Roy Webber - whilst keyboardist Paul Gerrett
wants you to dig ye oldie clavinet Gryphon, violin based The Flock and Pedal
Steel Area Code 615 – all of it washed down with liberal dollops of Greenslade
Proggy keyboard flourishes on the other tracks. America vs. Colosseum...
Wally therefore made their
own kind of mishmash sound, but I suspect the wildly conflicting musical
directions must have made them a nightmare to sell and pitch. And deep down
there is a niggling wish as you listen to the strums and chords, that the
material was more memorable and not just pretty in places. Don’t get me wrong,
there is beauty and accomplishment in some of the songs, especially the three
contributions from Webber on the debut and a Side-2 magnum opus on the second
LP in the form of a 19:20 minute 3-Part monster called "The Reason Why"
will please density-is-good fans. But a lot of it feels plodding and never
rises above each band member's desperate need to be David Crosby or Roger
McGuinn on the one hand vs. Steve Howe and Jon Hiseman on the other.
Having said all of that,
there is a lot to like here and if you're a fan, you need to own this superb
reissue. For sure its 3 to 4 star material, but its presented here by Esoteric
Recordings (part of Cherry Red) in their typically exemplary 5-star way. Let's
get to those sonically pickled gherkins...
UK released 27 September
2019 - "Martyrs And Cowboys: The Atlantic Recordings 1974-1975" by
WALLY on Esoteric Recordings QECLEC 22691 (Barcode 5013929479142) is a 2CD
Reissue and Remaster offering both of their 1974 and 1975 LPs with Two Non-Album
B-sides of 45s that plays out as follows:
Disc 1 "Wally"
(46:24 minutes):
1. The Martyr [Side 1]
2. I Just Wanna Be A Cowboy
3. What To Do
4. Sunday Waiting Lady [Side
2]
5. To The Urban Man
6. Your Own Way
Tracks 1 to 6 are their
debut album "Wally" - released August 1974 in the UK on Atlantic
Records K 50051 and November 1974 in the USA on Atlantic SD 18115. Produced by
RICK WAKEMAN of YES and BOB HARRIS - it didn't chart in either country.
BONUS TRACK:
7. The Life You're Living
(Non-Album B-side to "I Just Wanna Be A Cowboy", a UK 7" single
released 24 August 1974 on Atlantic K 10497)
Disc 2 "Valley
Gardens" (45:30 minutes):
1. Valley Gardens [Side 1]
2. Nez Percé
3. The Mood I'm In
4. The Reason Why [Side 2]
(i) Nolan (ii) The Charge
(iii) Disillusion
Tracks 1 to 4 are their
second and last studio album "Valley Gardens" - released October 1975
in the UK on Atlantic Records K 50180 (not issued in the USA). Produced by BOB
HARRIS - it didn't chart.
BONUS TRACK:
5. Right By Me (Non-Album
B-side to "Nez Percé" - a UK 7" single released 13 June 1975 on
Atlantic K 10616)
The 20-page booklet covers
the artwork for both LPs front and rear (Jim Slade's distinctive sleeve
designs, including the inner sleeve cartoons and lyrics for the second platter
"Valley Gardens"), new and highly informative interviews with
principal band members Roy Webber and Paul Middleton and a detailed history of
the band from noted writer MALCOM DOME. We get everything from the Melody Maker
unsigned bands contest in 1974 that brought them into the orbit of compere
'Whispering' Bob Harris of The Old Grey Whistle Test, keyboardist Nick
Glennie-Smith joining the band after Yes dropped him for Patrick Moraz (fresh
out of Refugee) to poaching ace session singer MADELINE BELL (doing a Blue Mink
session in the studio next door) to get her to lay into a Clare Torry Pink
Floyd's "Great Gig In The Sky" soaring vocal wail at the end of
"Nez Percé" (she did it in one take). Very entertaining and illuminating...
The PASCHAL BYRNE Remaster
makes the debut shine but I think Bob Harris' production values on the follow
up "Valley Gardens" (an area in their home town Harrogate) let the
side down considerably because there's slight but audible hiss and muddiness to
CD2 despite Byrne's best transfer efforts. It sounds good - just not great. The
two non-album B-sides also make their digital debut here and are welcome
additions - decent tunes in both cases.
The self-titled August 1974
debut LP opens with "The Martyr" - a clavinet keyboard based Proggy
moment where you feel you've stumbled on Gryphon mating with The Flock as Pete
Sage plays his violin over the melody - whilst Roy Webber has his Lead Vocals
backed by some fluid Pete Cosker guitar. Then we get three-in-a-row Americana
tunes from Roy Webber - the first of which was an obvious Eagles/America 45
outing. "I Just Wanna Be A Cowboy" was chosen as the only 7"
single from the album with a fine non-LP flip-side in the shape of "The Life
You're Living" (here as a Bonus Track on Disc 1). Both it, "What To
Do" and "Sunday Walking Lady" sound very Poco in places - sweet
melodies that feel genuinely accomplished as three members of the band layer on
the harmony vocals above the well-recorded Acoustic strums, Violin and Pedal
Steel. It ends well on the lovely strummed vibe of "Your Own Way"
that features a so-Yes wild guitar moment in its final minute.
The second album
"Valley Gardens" (named after an area in their beloved Harrogate) is
way more Prog than the debut - the three-part Side 2 beast "The Reason
Why" being based on The Charge Of The Light Brigade and stretching to over
19-minutes. Platter No. 2 opens with "Valley gardens" and immediately
the America and Eagles strums of old are completely gone - replaced with very
Yes and Greenslade keyboard battles - the title track in fact feeling like some
kind of outtake from the Yes masterpiece "Relayer" of 1974 with
Patrick Moraz newly implanted in the band to replace Rick Wakeman then embarked
on a fully-fledged solo career. The
anguished singer-songwriter sway of "Nez Percé" (pronounced Nay
Parsay) made it an obvious candidate for 45 number one off the album but in
August 1975 it did no business. And while "The Mood I'm In" is back
to that Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young influence of old (with keyboards and
delicious harmony vocals) - the Side 2 three-parter is just too much like hard
work for me.
Wally are a footnote in
musical history now, but back in the day they made a sound that many loved. I
suspect this lovingly put together twofer CD reissue from Esoteric will remind
many of that...
