Over the past years, Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint has been drawing attention to the albums of prog titans Barclay James Harvest, reissuing the band's albums in 2-CD/1-DVD editions boasting bonus content including outtakes, rarities, and new stereo and surround mixes.  1976's Octoberon got the deluxe treatment last fall, following 1978's XII as well as Everyone is Everybody Else (1974) and Gone to Earth (1977).  Now, Esoteric is turning back the clock to 1970's Barclay James Harvest, but with a twist.  The band's debut will be available as a 3-CD/1-DVD box set or a simple 1-CD highlights edition.

April 1968 saw the band's first release on EMI's Parlophone label.  The single "Early Morning" b/w "Mr. Sunshine" was an auspicious enough debut for the giant label to create a progressive offshoot named after the group: Harvest.  John Lees, Les Holroyd, Mel Pritchard, and Stuart "Wooly" Wolstenholme released their first album in 1970 under the auspices of producer Norman "Hurricane" Smith, the onetime Beatles engineer who had "graduated" to producing Pink Floyd and The Pretty Things before emerging as a solo artist with hits including the international smash "Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?"  BJH's self-titled LP introduced the band's signature style of symphonic rock on tracks like the epic-length "Dark Now My Sky" and "Mother Dear," the latter of which featured an orchestral arrangement by producer Smith.  Musical director Robert Godfrey led "The Barclay James Harvest Symphony Orchestra" on the LP.

Though BJH didn't break through commercially until a move to Polydor with their fifth LP, their sound is unmistakable on their Harvest albums.  Esoteric's new reissue has been remastered from the original tapes and features 33 bonus tracks on the box set (whittled down to 9 for the single disc release).  The bonus cuts have been derived from 1968-1971 BBC Radio sessions, the early pre-album singles and the album's associated single versions, and demos, plus newly-mixed stereo and surround versions of the album on DVD.  The DVD also boasts the original stereo mix in high-resolution plus a short film for "Mr. Sunshine."

The box set includes a 68-page book with rare photos, liner notes by Keith and Monika Domone, a replica tour program and press releases, and a record store poster for the "Early Morning" single release.  The single-disc edition, housed in a slim digipak, includes Disc One of the box set only (the original stereo mix only plus nine bonus tracks, for a total of 16 cuts) as well as a 24-page booklet with the Domones' liner notes.  Unfortunately, the DVD is only available in the multi-disc box set; one hopes the label will reconsider that decision for all of the fans who purchased the earlier, less expensive releases (all of which contained DVDs).  Both editions of Barclay James Harvest have been remastered by Paschal Byrne.  They are available from Esoteric on May 25 at the links below!

Barclay James Harvest, Barclay James Harvest (Harvest SHVL 770, 1970 - reissued Cherry Red/Esoteric, 2018)

1CD (Disc One of below set only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

3CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD 1:

Original Stereo Mix

1. Taking Some Time On
2. Mother Dear
3. The Sun Will Never Shine
4. When the World Was Woken
5. Good Love Child
6. The Iron Maiden
7. Dark Now My Sky

Bonus Singles

8. Early Morning (Parlophone single R 5693-A, 1968)
9. Mr. Sunshine (Parlophone single R 5693-B, 1968)

Recorded at Advision Studios, London, August 1968

10. Pools of Blue
11. I Can't Go On Without You
12. Eden Unobtainable

Recorded at Chappell Studios, London, August 1968/Mixed at Abbey Road Studios

13. Pools of Blue

Bonus Singles

14. Brother Thrush (Harvest single HAR 5003-A, 1969)
15. Poor Wages (Harvest single HAR 5003-B, 1969)
16. Taking Some Time On (Single Version) (Harvest single HAR 5025-A, 1970)

CD 2:

The New Stereo Mix

1. Taking Some Time On
2. Mother Dear
3. The Sun Will Never Shine
4. When the World Was Woken
5. Good Love Child
6. The Iron Maiden
7. Dark Now My Sky

Recorded at Chappell Studios, London, August 1968

8. Pools of Blue (New Stereo Mix)

Recorded at EMI Abbey Road Studios, March 1969

9. Brother Thrush (New Stereo Mix)
10. Poor Wages (New Stereo Mix)

CD 3:

1. Mr. Sunshine (Film Version) (previously unreleased on CD)
2. Early Morning (broadcast on Top Gear, April 14, 1968) (previously unreleased)
3. So Tomorrow (recorded on April 23, 1968, broadcast on Top Gear, May 5, 1968)
4. Eden Unobtainable (recorded on April 23, 1968, broadcast on Top Gear, May 5, 1968)
5. Night (recorded on July 30, 1968, broadcast on Top Gear, August 4, 1968)
6. Pools of Blue (recorded on July 30, 1968, broadcast on Top Gear, August 4, 1968)
7. Need You Oh So Bad (recorded on July 30, 1968, broadcast on Top Gear, August 4, 1968)
8. Small Time Town (recorded on July 30, 1968, broadcast on Top Gear, August 4, 1968)
9. Dark Now My Sky (recorded on July 30, 1968, broadcast on Top Gear, August 4, 1968)
10. The Sun Will Never Shine (Demo) - Wooly Wolstenholme (previously unreleased)
11. Dark Now My Sky (recorded at BBC Paris Theatre, February 11, 1971 - broadcast on John Peel Sunday Concert, BBC Radio One, February 21, 1971)