Barclay James Harvest began in the 1960's. John Lees (b. in 1947 Oldham UK), had no formal musical training, but took up guitar at the age of fourteen. He went on to study at Oldham School Of Art, where in 1964, he met Woolly Wolstenholme (b.- in Chadderton, Oldham in 1947), and formed the Sorcerers- playing Eddie Cochran-style rock and roll, then in The Blues Keepers, before forming Barclay James Harvest in 1967.
Leslie (Les) Holroyd, (b. Oldham 1948) and Mel Pritchard (b. Oldham 1948), were playing in a local band called- Heart And Soul And The Wickeds. After a combined effort of both groupd formed the 6-piece as the- Blues Keepers. Holroyd, Pritchard, Lees and Wolstenholme, remained, and in the summer of 1967 they turned professional and formed Barclay James Harvest.
Moving into an 18th Century farmhouse, they began to write and rehearse, and `Early Morning,' was released in 1968 and released under a one-off single deal by EMI's Parlophone label. The single was well- reviewed and gave the band an opportunity to record radio sessions for John Peel and then a record deal with EMI.
The band released their second single- `Brother Thrush' in June 1969.
BJH began using non-traditional rock band instruments (at the time), which included: woodwinds, strings and brass, then acquiring a Mellotron to simulate the sound of an orchestra.
Robert Godfrey, (trained at the Royal Academy of Music and at the Royal College of Music and formed the band- The Enid), wrote orchestral arrangements for some of the songs on `Barclay James Harvest' and `Once Again,' as well as conducting the orchestra on stage and in the recording studio. Aspiring to join the band, upon arguing with then-manager- John Crowther, Godfrey
A year later, the band- perfecting their fusion of rock and classical music released the albums- `Once Again' and `Barclay James Harvest And Other Short Stories' as well as toured. Though wowing fans, the band was getting higher into debt and strained relations with EMI. BJH tried to release a few commercial singles with a below-par album, `Baby James Harvest,' in 1972, but by then EMI told the band that they would not handle them anymore.
In 1974, seeing potential, Polydor, signed the band, and the LP `Everyone Is Everybody Else,' and the touring double live album- was their first chart album.
`Time Honoured Ghosts' (1975) and `Octoberon' (1976) saw them building on their achievements and selling out the now-traditional autumn tours of the UK and venturing into Europe and the United States.
`Gone To Earth,' was released in 1977, and charted in Germany, which prompted EMI to re-release their old LPs. The band played "Rock 'N' Roll Star" on their only appearance on BBC1's Top Of The Pops.
The following year- `Live Tapes,' was released and paved the way for a new studio album, `XII.' The band toured the UK and Europe.
In 1979, keyboardist Woolly Wolstenholme announced that he was dissatisfied with the band's musical direction, and that he was leaving to pursue a solo career. The remaining trio resolved to go it alone, adding session musicians when where necessary.
`Eyes Of The Universe,' released in January of 1980, showed a less complex, more commercial side of BJH, and sold well in Europe, and going platinum in Germany- where in that country they were approaching superstars in status.
On August 30th, 175,000 people turned out to see a free concert in the heart of Berlin. `Life Is For Living', premiered at that historic show, became a hit single throughout much of Europe and acted as a trailer for 1981's `Turn Of The Tide' album.
A live album of the Berlin show was released in 1982- called- `Berlin - A Concert For The People,' The LP went # 15 in Britain and soared to #1 in Germany.
The band, continued to write at a furious pace. Albums- `Ring Of Changes' and `Victims Of Circumstance,' gained huge telephone sales and brought a new generation of fans to the 1984 tour- breaking ground in France.
After a long lay-off, full of rumors that they had decided to end BJH, the boy surprised their fans by releasing a single in 1986 entitled- `He Said Love', and followed it with an albumin early in 1987 called- `Face To Face,' which saw a return to the traditional BJH sound. The band went on a massive tour of Britain and Europe, including several festivals. On July 14th, 1987, they performed in front of 170,000 fans in East Berlin. A year later, the show was released as a live album and video concert called- `Glasnost.'
`Welcome To The Show,' released in March 1990 fused the classic BJH sound with digital technology Produced by Jon Astley and Andy MacPherson, the album incorporated the classic BJH trademarks of memorable songs and beautiful harmonies within a melodic rock framework, but brought them up to date with state-of-the-art digital recording and intelligent production and in 1992, the band toured on a 25th Anniversary Tour of Britain and Europe, which coincided with the UK release of The Best Of Barclay James Harvest.
1993's `Caught In The Light,' was a quiet release, and their record company failed to promote it properly.. soon Polydor and BJH split.
In 1994 Robert Godfrey sued the band over credits and royalties. Robert Godfrey did establish that he was a joint author in varying degrees, to the songs:
Dark Now My Sky, When The World Was Woken, Mocking Bird, Galadriel, Song For Dying and The Sun Will Never Shine. The charges were dismissed,
because Godfrey filed his claims after Barclay James Harvest reaped the success of their hard work without Godfrey. The case cost the band a great deal of money to fight and Woolly suffered a nervous breakdown as a result. Nobody won the batlle.
Polydor in Germany, signed tha band in 1996 and a studio album was released in May 1997 for Germany and Switzerland only and a tour of those countries.
After working on solo projects- John Lees rejoined with Woolly for the first time in twenty years on an album of half new songs, half re-recordings of BJH classics, entitled- `Nexus,' which was released by Eagle Records in February 1999. A tour of Germany and Switzerland followed and was recorded for the Revival - Live 1999 CD which was released March 2000.
In the new millenium- BJH have been cleft into two bands. John Lees has teamed up again with BJH founder member and keyboard player Woolly Wolstenholme, plus newcomers Craig Fletcher (bass), Kevin Whitehead (drums) and Jeff Leach (additional keyboards), and this line-up has recorded and toured under the name "Barclay James Harvest Through The Eyes Of John Lees". While Les Holroyd has also recorded an album, with Mel Pritchard and various guest musicians, using the name "Barclay James Harvest Featuring Les Holroyd". The live line-up to promote this album has included Les and Mel, Mike Byron-Hehir and Ian Wilson (formerly of Sad Café, on lead guitar and acoustic/electric guitar respectively), Colin Browne (keyboards), Chris Jago (drums and percussion) and Steve Butler (backing vocals and occasional drums/percussion).
Recently, Woolly Wolstenholme has been suffering from severe depression for some time. In the last few weeks his mental state has got worse and the upshot was that last weekend he was admitted to hospital in York. Luckily, through fan and family support Woolly has recovered and after an aborted album with John Lees, he is turning the project into a solo album with the help of: Craig Fletcher and drummer Kevin Whitehead and guitarist Steve Broomhead.
In January 2004, the band performed at the 'Art on Ice' spectacular at the Zurich Hallenstadion with Roger Hodgson, John Helliwell and Bob Siebenberg of Supertramp, Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues and Jeremy Spencer of Fleetwood Mac. Upon returning to the UK, Mel Pritchard died from a suspected heart attack.
In January 2005, BJHFLH toured with Asia featuring John Payne as support, returning the favour on four UK shows in March of the same year. In 2006, they undertook the Classic Meets Rock Symphonic Barclay Tour with the 25-piece Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. In July 2007, they toured the UK. Les Holroyd and Michael Byron-Hehir also worked on Alan Simon's Excalibur II album, Les joining the stage show in 2010. Les also performed in the live show of Simon's Anne de Bretagne. In 2011, Les joined the Rock Meets Classic Tour along with Ian Gillan, Lou Gramm, Dan McCafferty with The Bohemian Symphony Orchestra, performing four BJH songs: "Hymn", "Mockingbird", "Ring Of Changes", and "Life Is For Living".
Sadly Woolly Wolstenholme died in December 2010.
Still touring Europe, the band introduced an acoustic spot into the set, showcasing their vocal harmonies with old favourites like "Poor Boy Blues", "Friend of Mine", and "Crazy City". They recorded their 2012 winter tour.
Discography:
Discography
Studio albums
Barclay James Harvest
Barclay James Harvest (1970)
Once Again (1971)
Barclay James Harvest And Other Short Stories (1971)
Baby James Harvest (1972)
Everyone Is Everybody Else (1974)
Time Honoured Ghosts (1975)
Octoberon (1976)
Gone to Earth (1977)
XII (1978)
Eyes of the Universe (1979)
Turn of the Tide (1981)
Ring of Changes (1983)
Victims of Circumstance (1984)
Face to Face (1987)
Welcome to the Show (1990)
Caught in the Light (1993)
River of Dreams (1997)
John Lees' Barclay James Harvest
Nexus (1999)
North (2013)
Barclay James Harvest featuring Les Holroyd
Revolution Days (2002)
Live albums
Barclay James Harvest
Live (1974)
Live Tapes (1978)
Berlin – A Concert for the People (1982)
Glasnost (1988)
BBC in Concert 1972 (2002)
After The Day The Radio Broadcasts 1974–1976 (2008)
John Lees' Barclay James Harvest
Revival Live 1999 (2000)
Legacy - Live at the Shepherds Bush Empire, London 2006 (2007)
Barclay James Harvest featuring Les Holroyd
Live in Bonn (2003)
Classic Meets Rock (with Prague Philharmonic Orchestra) (2006)
