Rod Edwards and Roger Hand who had been part of Picadilly Line with the swinging london toytown like album"The Huge World Of Emily Small",who also recorded 3 albums as Edwards Hand,produced by George Martin,though only 2 albums got released,the third album evdentually saw release in the 2000s,Roger Hand was a part of the band Jade, who's cracking album"Flying On Strangewings"is heartily recommended to those who enjoy folk rock.
So to October 1974 we shall go,the inkling of a new project for our duo,and this project was a tie in with the issue of a book,with new illustrations to the poems from 1807 by William Roscoe,with new illustrations from Alan Aldridge and a new verse from William Plomer,the book being the Illustrated Book Of Poetry"The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast"
This cd comes under the category Audio Book,but it's far more than that.
There was a band of musicians and arrangers put together,to assist in playing the music that Rod Edwards and Roger Hand had written for this project.They are:
Rod Edwards-Vocals,keyboards
Roger Hand-Vocals,guitar
Gerry Conway-Drums
Bruce Lynch-Bass
Tony Carr-Percussion
Morris Pert-Percussion
David Cross-Violin
Graham Preskitt-Violin
Mox-Harmonica
Tony Hymas-Piano
Allan Whalley-String Bass
ARRANGED BY CHRIS GUNNING/ORCHESTRA LEADER-PAT HALLING/ORCHESTRAL CONTRACTOR-GEORGE HAMER.
PRODUCED BY-JON MILLER,ROD EDWARDS and ROGER HAND.
The project was recorded between October 74 to August 75,at Decca Studios,while the narration was done at Air Studios,George Martins studio and was engineered by Geoff Emerick.
This project is given immense interest as the poems are brilliantly narrated by Judi Dench and Michael Hordern,possibly 2 of the most beautiful and recognisable voices to appear in uk movies and TV,and my word both deliver fantastically on this platter.
Also Edwards Hand and their support deliver beautiful,mellow,orchestated,summery,majestic,airy and top class music,which is a constant most off the time,during narration and in between narration.
Very accessable music and folk-pop like in parts with lots of acoustic guitar which is magically played,bass being plucked,soaring orchestration in parts,flutes fluttering,lovely placed percussion,sparklng piano,and some rather nice english fey vocals like on Lizzy Bee,a lovely little poptastic twee song,but the whole thing is superb,with cracking songs like Goodnight Children,with its string section,and light and airy pop sound,but this light and airy pop sound is repeated throughout the whole album,and not dissimilar to some of Picadilly Line and Edwards Hand sound.With light rockier moments like "Hopping fit and Out",fitting in wonderfully,and giving the music a bit of variety.There's even a synth,possibly moog dominated number with funky vibes and sweeping strings titled"The Long Eared Bat",which sounds pretty dramatic.
In truth this is a marvellous pop album,but taking out the narration,and putting the songs together as an actual album,this would be rated very much by many on here,and as good if not better than Edwards Hand previous albums,and thats high praise indeed,but i just love everything about this,and i would not take the silky but warm narration out,it makes me feel cosy,safe and warm.....and dare i say it childlike,and nostalgic......the whole album just reeks of cheerfulness and this is a desert island disc for me.
Strangely enough,ex Deep Purple member Roger Glover put together an album of this title around the same time,but that is certainly in a more prog direction,and not as airy and beautiful as this.
The cd sounds absolutely tremendous,crystal clear,hearing every instrument and the voices of Judi Dench and Michael Hordern sound just awesome, plus the cd features extra material by Edwards Hand.The cd was issued by Wizard Presents.
This is a touch of class,beautifully and skillfully arranged and orchestrated,and i'm sure many who frequent here will love this as much as myself.Possibly even your children will love it too!!
I got the original albums (they were cheap) but only know about a 2009 CD release (available here: https://danyahmillerstoryteller.co.uk/), or do you mean a brand new edition?
I've a feeling this maybe a newer cd version than the 2009 cd you mention Gian,but unfortunately there's not a year of issue on the packaging,but it does state on the spine it's an audio book.
It also states the digital remastering engineer is Richard Spence,and mastered for cd at sound performance,by engineer Andrew Thompson
Also has a contact "info@wizardpresents.co.uk"
Packaging is a gatefold digipak,with a 4 page info slip,giving the credits for musicians etc.The gatefold lists the 37 tracks,plus a poem and artwork,to be truthful,not much else.