SLAPP HAPPY with HENRY COW – Desperate Straights (LP-1975)

Label: Virgin – V 2024

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress / Country: UK / Released: 1975

CD ReR Megacorp – ReR HCSH1 (UK) (2004)

Style: Avantgarde, Jazz Rock, Prog Rock

Recorded at The Manor & Nova Sound Studios, 1974.

Arranged By, Producer – Henry Cow, Simon Heyworth, Slapp Happy

A1 - Some Questions About Hats . . . (1:49)

A2 - The Owl . . . (2:14)

A3 - A Worm Is at Work . . . (1:52)

A4 - Bad Alchemy . . . (3:06)

A5 - Europa . . . (2:48)

A6 - Desperate Straights . . . (4:14)

A7 - Riding Tigers . . . (1:43)

B1 - Apes in Capes . . . (2:14)

B2 - Strayed . . . (1:53)

B3 - Giants . . . (1:57)

B4 - Excerpt from The Messiah . . . (1:48)

B5 - In the Sickbay . . . (2:08)

B6 - Caucasian Lullaby . . . (8:20)

Line-up / Musicians

- Peter Blegvad / guitar, voice

- Lindsay Cooper / oboe, bassoon

- Chris Cutler / drums

- Fred Frith / guitar, violin, xylophone

- John Greaves / bass guitar, piano

- Anthony Moore / piano

- Tim Hodgkinson / clarinet, organ, piano

- Dagmar Krause / voice, wurlitzer

Guest musicians:

- Mont Campbell / French horn

- Nick Evans / trombone

- Mongezi Fezza / trumpet

- Geoff Leigh / flute

- Pierre Moerlen / percussion

Shortly after recording 'Unrest', Henry Cow entered into a merger with label mates Slapp Happy. Slapp Happy comprised Dagmar, a German vocalist who would later win great acclaim for interpretations of Brecht (and sign my copy of this abum), Peter Blegvad, American born but raised and educated in England, played guitar and wrote most of the lyrics and would later contribute the unique strip cartoon Leviathan to the Independent, and Anthony Moore, English pianist who wrote most of the music and who would later work with the post Waters Pink Floyd. Together they produced a kind of skewed pop awash with literary and artistic references. They had recorded 2 albums with Faust, the second of which was re-recorded with session players for Virgin. 2 albums would come from this merger; Desperate Straights (Slapp Happy with Henry Cow) and In Praise Of Learning (Henry Cow with Slapp Happy).

Desperate Straights was the first of the joint ventures to be recorded, and the union of Henry Cow's avant rock with Slapp Happy's warped pop was both challenging and accessible. The majority of the songs were built around a piano/bass/drums accompaniment, with other instruments adding extra colour where needed. Tim Hodgkinson's clarinet is deployed as an instrumental foil to Dagmar's unique voice to superb effect, particularly on the opening song Some Questions About Hats. Elsewhwere, The Owl features Dagmar accompanied solely by horns and Europa has some superb percussion from Pierre Moerlen - all the arrangements are highly original and well thought out. Peter Blegvad takes the lead vocal on Strayed and does a neat pastiche of Lou Reed's drawl. Excerpt From The Messiah is a snippet of Handel as though played by a 70s glam metal band like Slade. There are 2 instrumentals, the title track which is a short, off kilter foxtrot, and the closing track, a lengthy piano/clarinet piece which features the 2 instruments playing scales very slowly. Caucasian Lullaby isn't bad at all, and would have been a superb addition to one of Eno's Obscure label releases, but it is somewhat out of keeping with the rest of the album.

This release is more representative of Slapp Happy than Henry Cow. All of Slapp Happy's albums are worth checking out - this album was released on CD as a twofer with their first album for Virgin, and is superb value if you can find it. If you've ever wondered what a cabaret band from mars would sound like, this album is definitly for you.

Review by Syzygy,

PROG REVIEWER, February 08, 2005



Buy this album!

HENRY COW – In Praise Of Learning (LP-1975)

Label: Virgin ‎– V 2027

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: UK / Released: 1975

CD ReR Megacorp – ReR HC3 (US) (2000)

Style: Avantgarde, Jazz Rock, Prog Rock

Recorded at the Manor, February & March 1975, except track A1, recorded November 1974.

Artwork By [Sock] – Ray Smith

Producer – Henry Cow, Phil Becque, Slapp Happy

Recorded By, Mixed By – Phil Becque

Remastered By – Matt Murman

ART IS NOT A MIRROR - IT IS A HAMMER (John Grierson)

A1 - War . . . (2:26)

A2 - Living In The Heart of the Beast . . . (15:30)

B1 - Beginning: The Long March . . . (6:27)

B2 - Beautiful as the Moon - Terrible as an Army With Banners . . . (7:02)

B3 - Morning Star . . . (6:06)

Line-up / Musicians

- Dagmar Krause / vocals

- Peter Blegvad / clarinet, guitar, vocals

- John Greaves / bass, piano

- Chris Cutler / piano, trumpet, drums, vocals

- Lindsay Cooper / bassoon, oboe, Wind

- Mongezi Feza / trumpet

- Phil Becque / synthesizer

- Fred Frith / guitar, piano, violin, keyboards, xylophone

- Tim Hodgkinson / organ, clarinet, piano, keyboards, saxophone, vocals

- Geoff Leigh / trumpet, saxophones

- Anthony Moore / synthesizer, piano, keyboards, electronics

The trademark chainmail sock was deep red, and the cover was adorned with a quote from the left wing film maker John Grierson - 'Art is not a mirror, it is a hammer'. The titles of the two instrumentals also explicitly refer to the band's left wing politics; Beginning: The Long March is a reference to the Chinese Revolution, while Morning Star is the name of the daily paper published by the Communist Party of Great Britain.

And what of the music?

HENRY COW had joined forces with the German trio SLAPP HAPPY as they collaborated to make the album "Desperate Straights" under the SLAPP HAPPY name. "In Praise Of Learning" sees this collaboration continue only this one is released under the HENRY COW name. This collaboration would end shortly after this album was released. Still this melding of the two bands makes "In Praise Of Learning" quite different from their previous two studio albums. More avant-garde i'd say plus having Dagmar Krause on vocals changes the mood completely. I am used to her vocals from the ART BEARS albums but those who haven't heard her sing before don't usually view her participation as a positive. Including guests we get eleven musicians involved with the making of this record. SLAPP HAPPY would fold after this recording when Dagmar announced she was staying with HENRY COW as the COW would tour a lot the following year or so. She would return to SLAPP HAPPY though as witnessed on their 1980 release "Acnalbasac Noom".

"War" is only 2 1/2 minutes long and was composed by the SLAPP HAPPY duo of Moore and Blegvad. Both Blegvad and Krause sing on it and Dagmar is quite passionate here. I like the brief instrumental sections. "Living In The Heart Of The Beast" opens with Frith ripping it up with some dissonant guitar leads. Krause comes in vocally and I like this song already much better than the first tune. It settles down before we get some more aggressive guitar. A calm follows with piano and Dagmar returns in a reserved manner. It turns dark before 3 minutes as we get a complex instrumental section that really impresses. Vocals are back before 4 1/2 minutes. Another calm a minute later as the vocals stop and the sounds become intricate. Vocals are back and they do get passionate at times. Another calm before 7 1/2 minutes with organ. Violin joins in from Frith after 8 minutes. It will kick in again but settle back quickly. This is so good ! Vocals are back before 12 1/2 minutes as it stays fairly relaxed. Great, great track composed by Tim Hodgkinson.

"Beginning- The Long March" like the final track "Morning Star" were joint efforts by the two bands. The first is experimental throughout as various sounds come and go. I like this instrumental a lot, it's a real trip. "Beautiful As The Moon-Terrible As An Army With Banners" is a Frith / Cutler composition. It opens with reserved vocals and a laid back sound with plenty of piano. It does become a little more passionate then settles back before 3 minutes. It picks back up before 4 minutes with an excellent instrumental section. Dagmar is back late. Another excellent track. "Morning Star" ends it as we get dissonant horns and random drum patterns to start and more. Avant is the word and it continues throughout. An adventerous instrumental to close out the album...

Review by Mellotron Storm

PROG REVIEWER, March 03, 2013

Whether you agree with their politics or not, music as passionate and committed as this is all too rare, and in the prog field it is almost unprecedented. Listen and be amazed.

Never have I heard such a radiant combination of instrumentation, song-writing, emotion, intellect, everything that makes each song unique and full of true magic. If you have not heard it, grant your ears the gift immediately. This album gets my highest recommendation of anything I could write.

Buy this album!