Was lucky enough to pick this up pretty cheaply but has anyone heard it as my turntable needs sorting at the moment. Is it any good and is this review accurate?
A low budget British musical composed by a blind 23-year-old and released as a tiny private pressing in 1971? This sure sounds fascinating, and the album doesn't disappoint - although it starts rather ho-hum, with a mediocre ballad and then a weird 1930s music hall throwback, you'll hear a lot of twists and turns as the story unfolds, including downer folkpsych ramblings, demented multi-vocal singalongs, cheap proto-proggy keys and even some first-rate electric guitar action. For a purely private, small budget enterprise (the flimsy paper labels on my copy have even come unstuck from the surface because of the bad glue), it's surprisingly advanced in terms of sound and playing - the guy definitely hired some highly competent singers and musicians to perform his piece! Overall Mr. Reject is definitely a product of the same time and place as the Holyground staple of records, or maybe those legendary Howell / Ferdinando collaborations (specifically Agincourt or Alice Through the Looking Glass), and as such, it begs for a reissue on a label like Kissing Spell.
Paul Clarke
Jul 20, 2012 - 2:45PM
Re: Mr Reject LP
Managed to listen to this tonight for the first time. Its a bit of a strange mix - Jesus Christ Superstarisms meets the Abbey Road Beatles meets folk psych meets awful wartime music hall encapsulated in a low-fi private press concept album (one song is listed but not present, 2 others listed are in reverse order). All the music is composed by Reg Webb but there are many different vocalists who tell the story of a young man (Adam) going off to join a hippy commune and eventually being rejected by them - hense the title. The songs that are sung by Adam are to my ears the standout tracks and worth hearing while most of the rest of the album is at least interesting.
Galactic Ramble calls it a "Very enjoyable rock concept album" ..."with strong psychedelic pop elements". It may have been based on a stage show -there is a chorus present on several of the tracks.
To conclude, this rare (only 4 listed on popsike since 2005) LP is a worthy candidate for re-issue so maybe if some label boss is reading you could do worse than give this a listen.