She’s The One – Roy Harper
She’s The One
‘She’s The One’ had become an important highlight of Roy’s live act. When I first listened to this album it was a shock to hear the song with full band treatment instead of how Roy used to sing it as an acoustic solo. The stereo separates out Roy’s guitar from the backing. The drums, bass and piano drive the track forward at pace to give more energy but I feel it has less impact than in live performance. The driving pace tends to give a hurried feel as if charging along at too much of a gallop.
Roy’s voice, particularly on those high notes, is crystal clear. His falsetto is a strength that gives the track an added dimension.
Once again this song would have made a brilliant single if it had not been seven minutes long with a number of sex and drug references.
The song is about the break-up of his relationship with Mocy. During this period of time Roy had many late night discussions with Andy Matheou who was the owner of Les Cousins. Andy thought Roy was mad to be breaking up with Mocy and told him so. Roy wove their conversations into the lyrics.
Regardless of my personal preference for the live acoustic version, the recording is a tour de force.
She’s The One – Roy Harper
This was one of the highlights of Roy’s live performances back in 1969. It was such a great song and he used to give it a lot of passion, so bursting with emotion.
It’s a sad song really, about the breakdown of his relationship with Mocy. It is based on a conversation with Andy Matheou, who ran Les Cousins. Roy was talking about splitting up with Mocy and Andy was telling him that he was a fool; she was a wonderful woman.
As usual, with Roy’s songs, he made this dialogue into a bit of an epic. He dissected the feelings and used the conversation to explore his own misgivings. In life, relationships are never black and white. They are always shades of grey. Making decisions about ending a long-term relationship, particularly one involving a child (Nick), was bound to be fraught with doubt and anxiety. Roy used the conversation to examine his own vacillations. He throws light on human relationships.
Back in 1969 I had been going to gigs for over a year and had met Mocy and Nick, so the song had some greater significance to me. I had played, studied and absorbed every note of the first two albums and Roy had told me the tracklisting for the new album. I was excited. The three tracks I really wanted to hear most were McGoohan’s Blues, One for Al(l) and She’s The One. All three were searing highlights of his live act. I felt like a child waiting for Christmas.
I do love that album but it was a disappointment for me. Maybe I had been building it up too much, but the album felt flawed, rushed and had fluffs in it. I so much wanted it to be perfect.
She’s The One felt to me as if it had lost something in the production. I actually prefer the one recorded for the BBC:
A superb song!
YOUTUBE.COM
Roy Harper – She’s The One (Top Gear at the BBC, June 3rd 1969)
This track is from the Top Gear/Peel Session at the BBC, June 1969. Nice, spare acoustic number with just Harper and guitar here. This track can be found in
