I was intrigued to read that Ian Andersen cited this album as his favourite and wrote about the great impact it had on him. It had a massive impact on me too, more so even than the first album. I played my album to death, absorbing every word. It seemed to mirror my life and thoughts in many ways. I always felt the production was a little muddy but seemed, to me, to suit the nature of the songs, giving them an ethereal quality. Much later, when I was working on a book with Roy, I was intrigued to discover that Roy really didn’t rate the album all that much. It made me re-evaluate my own view. Was it just that the album had caught me at a particular period in my life, my development? Yes and no. With my adult hat on I still rate it highly. I love the poetic lyrics, experimentation and musicality. It is a triumph even if there is a philosophical flaw in Circle. I love it and often play it to this day.
Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith (1967)
CBS 1967
Shel Talmy: producer
Roy Harper: guitar and various instruments. Writer of all the songs
Laurie Allan: drums
Keith Mansfield: strings
Bert Jansch: liner notes
Lippa Pearce: cover design
A second album is often difficult. Musicians perfect the songs they use in their live act and select the best for their first album. When it comes to the second they are often short of good material. However, that was not the case for Roy. Far from running short of ideas Roy’s second album teems with new concepts and strong songs. It even features the first of Roy’s long epic songs – ‘Circle’.
Perhaps CBS had seen something in Roy’s Strike recordings, had heard about his live performances, or perhaps his manager Joe Lustig just talked a good talk. Anyhow, they decided that Roy was worth taking a punt on. Hoping that he would come up with chart material they brought in Shel Talmy. The American producer had previously worked with the Who
and the Kinks, amongst others, and was really an expert at creating ‘singles’. Singles were not what Roy was about. Roy was an album singer-songwriter who mainly worked acoustically. Roy and Shel were not the ideal combination.
In an interview for the magazine Musoscribe Shel describes working with Roy – “Roy Harper was difficult,” he says. “The word that comes to mind is … truculent.”
Talmy didn’t deny Harper’s talent, but the two men’s approaches were at odds. “Whenever I record anybody, I generally have a little chat: ‘Do you guys want to sell records, or do you just want to sit there and wank in the dark or something?’” Talmy admitted that he liked making records that would sell and that when making Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith, Harper “probably wasn’t particularly interested [in that], and we battled. But we got ’round to it.”
I can well imagine. Roy does not do compromise. He knows what he wants and it is all about artistic integrity. Roy is not interested in producing hit singles. He wants to produce good music. Even so, somehow the two of them formed a working relationship that resulted in a superb album. Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith was released in 1967 along with two singles, neither of which had the Beatles at all worried…