Bakerloo
Album: Bakerloo
Label: Esoteric
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.esotericrecordings.com

One of the great lost albums from the early roster of EMI's progressive label Harvest? Well, it certainly typifies the output of that period, and has that definable aura, a genuine excitement born of on-the-edge playing and eclectic experimentation, qualities that were invariably combined in the very best of the "progressive/underground" albums of the era. The midlands-based band, originally called Bakerloo Blues Line, was formed by guitarist Dave "Clem" Clempson and bassist Terry Poole in 1967, but by the time of release of their debut LP (mid-1969) their increasing penchant for musical experiment outwith the standard blues-rock template had led them to adopt a shorter and more practical band name.

By that time, they'd already made a name for themselves with sessions for John Peel's Top Gear show that cemented their live reputation. And connections with other legends of the time embraced having supported Led Zepp at their first Marquee gig (December 1968), and the coincidence of basing their single Driving Bachwards on the self-same Bach Bourée as Tull for their celebrated, almost-exactly-contemporaneous Stand Up track, not to mention the inclusion of some ersatz-Cream (Cat's Squirrel) figures along the way. But the LP stands as a fine example of blues stepping off the tired, formulaic bandwagon and crossing over the threshold into an integrated, genuinely progressive territory taking influences from jazz, classical and rock.

From the heavy slow-blues workout of This Worried Feeling and the informed classical-paraphrase moment much in vogue at the time, viz The Nice, Love Sculpture (Sabre Dance), Episode Six et al., through to the more ambitiously structured Last Blues and the epic (15-minute) albeit episodic Son Of Moonshine, Bakerloo unashamedly brought into the mix such quintessential fin-de-60s elements as untrammelled guitaristic ebullience, the almost obligatory drum solo (this one well above average), upfront production (the masterly Gus Dudgeon), duly exaggerated but believable stereo separation and good use of studio facilities. And the standard of musicianship was exemplary too: no surprise, then, that Clempson was soon headhunted by Jon Hiseman for his band Colosseum, a circumstance which didn't exactly ensure a future for Bakerloo as a unit, and so this turned out to be the group's only LP, more's the pity.

This digitally remastered Esoteric reissue sounds absolutely splendid, and totally supersedes the German (Repertoire) reissue of a decade back; it includes a super helping of bonus tracks: B-side of that debut single, an alternate take of one album track (and one section of another), and two further tracks I'd assume were recorded at the album session including an unexpected, and inordinately fine, cover of Georgia (On My Mind) that I don't recall hearing before. Another shining example of how to produce a reissue of a classic, hitherto underrated album - well done, Esoteric!

David Kidman