| Flat Baroque and Berserk | ||||
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| Studio album by Roy Harper | ||||
| Released | 1970 | |||
| Recorded | September 1969, Abbey Road Studios, London, England | |||
| Genre | Folk Progressive folk Folk baroque |
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| Length | 55:06 | |||
| Label | Harvest SHVL 766 Chrysalis CHR 1160 Science Friction HUCD003 |
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| Producer | Peter Jenner | |||
| Roy Harper chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
Flat Baroque and Berserk is the fourth album by English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Roy Harper, and was first released in 1970 by Harvest Records.
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Flat Baroque and Berserk was the first of Harper's recordings to enter the charts, reaching number 20 in the UK album chart in January 1970.[2] Produced by Peter Jenner and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, Flat Baroque... was the first of eight albums recorded for EMI's Harvest label. Harper has said of the album, "for the first time in my recording career, proper care and attention was paid to the presentation of the song."[3]
The album contains some of Harper's best-known songs. "I Hate the White Man", in particular, is noted for its uncompromising lyrics, and Allmusic described the song as
certainly one of his most notable (and notorious) compositions, a spew of lilting verbiage that's hard to peg. It could be irony, it could be ironic self-hatred, it could be muddled reflections on the chaos that is the modern world, or it could be a combination of all of them.[4]
Harper described the song as
a testament to my lifelong devotion to espousing equal rights for all humans. I have long since wondered about the wisdom of stating that you have more than the capacity to hate your own race for it's (sic) misdemeanors, but as a polemic it has been both an effective tool and somewhere of a place to stand.[3]
The album also features "Another Day", a song of regret for lost love, which was covered as a duet by Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel in her 1979 television special,[5] and later by This Mortal Coil on their 1984 album It'll End in Tears. The cover by Bush led to collaboration with Harper in 1980; he singing backing vocals on her song "Breathing" and she duetting on the track "You" on Harpers album The Unknown Soldier.[6]
The album closes with one of Harper's most rock-based tracks, "Hell's Angels", on which backing is provided by progressive rock band The Nice and features the unusual combination of acoustic guitar played through a wah-wah pedal.[6]
All tracks credited to Roy Harper except where indicated
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