Been playing the double Skip Bifferty cd released by Castle way back in 2003(man is it really that long ago.....groan.....im getting old).I looked up Skip Bifferty on Amazon and looked at the Grapefruit Skip Bifferty single cd that was released in 2010,i thought i had everything that was available from Skip Bifferrty,but it seems i DON'T,theres 3 recordings on the single cd that are not on the story of Skip Bifferty,like the first track they seemingly recorded titled"Jesus Smith(the other side off)and 2 versions of the track"Skizoid Revolution",both alternate takes and different vocals from the version on Story of Skip Bifferty.....can anyone tell me how is the "Jesus Smith"track??
Anyway Skip Bifferty...it took me a while to get into them,on first listen i thought they were pretty lumpen,but over the years i persevered and now i really appreciate them loads more,in fact i'll go the full hog and say i really like them now....lol!!Anyway the actual album is full of UK psych whimsy and grooves,my fave number is "Yours for at least 24",great psych song,but the whole album is full of top grade uk psych,"Guru""Orange Lace""Come Around".....you could pick every song to be your fave as the quality of the songwriting and production is good,i must mention the number"Follow The Path of the Stars",absolutely bursting with energy and surprisingly recorded by Cilla Black way in the day...has anyone heard her version??I could imagine it may make me cringe.
As for the extras on the Castle double cd "The Story Of Skip Bifferty",bloody ace stuff,"Man In Black","On Love"which The Tremeloes covered in great fashion and "Round and Round",plus 6 more extra tracks on cd 1,as for cd 2,well its mainly BBC sessions and good ones at that,starting off with "The Hobbit"which had never been issued before,i must also point out there are a few tracks sonically wise nowhere as good as cd1,but i feel they have been added for historical reasons,but this group sound top notch live on the BBC tracks,you get the feeling they would've been cracking as a live band.You also get the singles from Heavy Jelly and Griffin.This double cd is a must have just for the good stuff on cd2,loads of at the time unheard songs.Thats my appreciation of this group!!Any other enthusiasts out there??
Big thumbs up in agreement Stuart.
They sure went in all directions after SB though, none of which lasted long.
Skip BiFferty-Heavy Jelly(same band)-Griffin-Arc-Bell & Arc
Good musos and Graham Bell's voice is always worth listening to.
Great album that Stuart, not too keen on the track which just has drums in it tho...material on disc two is brilliant if not the sound in places...
Now I don't have em to hand at the moment so I can't check but isn't Cilla's follow the path of the stars on one of the vols of Spinning Wheel?....I could be wrong about that as it's been a while, but I've got a feeling...
Yeah, I thought with the silly name (and silly drawing of a character skipping rope) the band might be...um...silly. But it's a fine slab of UK psych with many of the highlights you mention, Stu. The Double CD is good, and I like the Griffin song and wish there was more. The Kingsmen also cover "On Love" as the b-side of their cover of the Fairytale's "I Guess I Was Dreaming" and do a good job.