Grapefruit Round-Up: Cherry Red Imprint Reissues Cult Favorite from Oberon, Collects Prog and Classic Rock Sounds on New Box Sets

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Today, we're looking at three recent releases from Cherry Red's Grapefruit imprint!

Grapefruit is continuing its series of 3-CD clamshell cases with two titles spotlighting the 1970s. Riding the Rock Machine: British Seventies Classic Rock, available now, is certainly one of the broadest such releases in Grapefruit's series. Compiler David Wells sets out his mission statement in straightforward fashion: "[Such] is the reductive nature of radio station playlists and Spotify recommendations that it often feels as if the complete works of bands like Thin Lizzy and Status Quo - two acts who amassed more than thirty hit singles during the Seventies - consists entirely of 'Whiskey in the Jar,' 'The Boys Are Back in Town,' and 'Rockin' All Over the World.' British rock bands may have ruled the charts and airwaves on both sides of the Atlantic in the Seventies, but they did so with more than one signature tune." This 59-track collection does its best to present those other sides of famous bands alongside gems from groups that never attained the ranks of superstardom.

The collection opens with a blast of hard rock and metal via Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and vocalist Ronnie James Dio. "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll," a moderate hit from 1978, sets the tone for the collection that also presents gems (hidden and otherwise) from the blues-rock, progressive, art-rock, glam, and pop ends of the spectrum. Thin Lizzy and Status Quo are heard via "Jailbreak" and "Mystery Song," respectively. Among the other hitmaking artists represented are The Alan Parsons Project ("I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You"), the reformed Spencer Davis Group ("Catch You on the Rebop"), Faces ("Cindy Incidentally"), Procol Harum ("Robert's Box"), The Moody Blues ("I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)"), Manfred Mann's Earth Band (Bruce Springsteen's "Spirit[s] in the Night"), Status Quo ("Mystery Song"), ELO ("Showdown"), Mott the Hoople ("Ready for Love/After Lights"), and The Who ("Success Story"). The latter band's Pete Townshend even drops by to add guitar to Jesus Christ Superstar singer Yvonne Elliman's cover of "I Can't Explain." The title of the set comes from Fancy's "She's Ridin' the Rock Machine;" the group's complete recordings were recently collected by Cherry Red's Lemon imprint.

A few of those enduring signature songs have crept in, too: Foreigner's "Feels Like the First Time," Emerson Lake and Palmer's "Lucky Man," and Foghat's "Slow Ride" among them. Less well-known lights featured on the set include power trio Agnes Strange ("Clever Fool"), the Deep Purple and Andrew Lloyd Webber-championed Silverhead ("Ace Supreme"), and Rococo (the glammy "Hoodlum Fun") while previously unreleased tracks from a pre-Jet Records-era Magnum ("Baby I Need"), Bullfrog ("Ice Cold Dick"), Maggot ("Shoelace"), and The Winkies (Otis Blackwell's "Fever," a signature tune for Peggy Lee). The proceedings close with Argent's 1973 "God Gave Rock and Roll to You." The Russ Ballard-penned anthem, which performed respectably on the U.K. Singles Chart and "bubbled under" the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, went on to become an international hit for Kiss in 1991.

The set has been mastered by Simon Murphy, and the colorful 40-page booklet has David Wells' detailed track-by-track annotations.

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This Friday, May 28 in the U.K. (and June 4 in North America), Grapefruit will release Beyond the Pale Horizon: The British Progressive Pop Sounds of 1972 in the same format. This 65-song set is more focused, allowing for a deep dive into the year and sound in question. David Wells, once again compiling and annotating, has selected a mix of top ten hits and near-complete obscurities. Quite a few groups recur from Riding the Rock Machine, including The Moody Blues ("Isn't Life Strange," a top 20 hit in the U.K. and top 30 in the U.S.), Argent ("Hold Your Head Up," a top 5 smash in both the U.K. and U.S.), Roxy Music ("Virginia Plain," a U.K. top 5), Nazareth ("Fool About You"), Mott the Hoople (a demo of "Honaloochie Boogie," a U.K. No. 12), Family ("Burlesque"), ELO ("10538 Overture"), Uriah Heep ("Traveller in Time"), Status Quo ("Paper Planes"), Hawkwind ("Silver Machine"), and even Silverhead ("Oh No No No"). ELO precursor The Move appear, too, with "Do Ya" (which Jeff Lynne and co. would revisit in 1976) while co-founder Roy Wood earns a spot with "Wake Up." One of the more unexpected names is bubblegum pop studio group White Plains, best known for "My Baby Loves Lovin'." Their single "Beachcomber" offers a hint of the group's more psychedelic side. Equally surprising is the inclusion of influential folksinger and acoustic guitarist Ralph McTell and his lament for the changing Bob Dylan, "Zimmerman Blues."

Progressive pop knew few boundaries, hence the spins here on a television theme (George Martin's Radio One "Theme One" from Van Der Graaf Generator), American folk-pop (Paul Simon's "America," a 1968 hit for Simon and Garfunkel), and a Beach Boys deep cut (the Tony Rivers-led Summer Wine's "Take a Load Off Your Feet"). In addition to "Theme One," other Beatles connections are peppered throughout this set. Neil Harrison (represented with "Maybe I'm Lost Without You") would go on to star in the West End's Beatlemania and take his John Lennon to the road as a member of The Bootleg Beatles. Neil Innes, of The Bonzo Dog Band (the kooky "King of Scurf"), went on to star as the Lennon-inspired character in The Rutles and compose the band's Fab pastiche songs.

Even the most diehard collector is likely to find something to discover on Beyond the Pale Horizon including perhaps its biggest find, a previously unreleased alternative mix of Dark's "Maypole." The original pressing of the psych-rock group's LP Dark Round the Edges (limited to 64 copies) - on which the final mix of the track appeared - remains one of the world's most valuable records.

Like Riding the Rock Machine, it boasts a detailed 40-page booklet with David Wells' track-by-track notes, and the audio has been mastered by Simon Murphy.

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Also available now from Grapefruit is an excavation of a private-press cult favorite release from 1971: Oberon's A Midsummer Night's Dream. (Oberon was a fairy king in Shakespeare's play, but the band members can't recall whether the album title or band name came first.) The group - flautist-guitarist-vocalist Charlie Seaward; violinist-vocalist Julian Smedley; guitarists Chris Smith and Robin Clutterbuck; bassist-pianist Jeremy Birchall; vocalist-guitarist Jan Scrimgeour; and drummer Nick Powell - came together at Radley College, a boys' public school near Abingdon in the United Kingdom. The bandmates, all of whom were Radley students except the female Jan, were under the spell of prog and The Lord of the Rings when they recorded this occasionally inspired, occasionally unsettling lo-fi folk-rock record.

Oberon didn't lack ambition; in addition to original songs composed within the band's ranks, their debut album included covers of Gershwin (a spectral, jazz-influenced "Summertime" sung by Scrimgeour with instrumental solos) and Debussy (flute showcase "Syrinx"). But it's the originals that are most intriguing, including Chris Smith's acoustic instrumental "Peggy" and the epic, stylistically-shifting "The Hunt" and Tolkien-flavored "Minas Tirith." Never mind that band pal and ex-Radley student Hugh Lupton's moody, impressionistic lyrics can't always be made out clearly and the sound of the album is often murky; the latter two lengthy, pastoral mini-suites are intermittently spellbinding with their alternately delicate and clattering sections. There's more than a bit of pretentiousness, as on the "Minas Tirith" drum solo, but it's clear that these talented kids were enjoying the acts of writing and making music with no concerns about commercialism or fame. This release will appeal to fans of "outsider" music such as The Langley Schools Music Project or The Shaggs, and one could well imagine it as ethereal accompaniment to a production of Midsummer Night's Dream, perhaps Shakespeare's most magical play.

Cherry Red's first-time wide release (after a handful of earlier, small-press reissues) adds a second disc first released by Oberon in 2010. Live: Spring 1971 reprises a handful of cuts from the album and adds a Poulenc flute sonata performed by Charlie Seaward and a revival of "Scarborough Fair" as arranged by Jeremy Birchall that owes little to the hit Simon and Garfunkel rendition. Grapefruit's reissue is housed in a six-panel digipak and boasts a 24-page booklet with David Wells' illuminating essay, lyrics, and plenty of striking color photos and memorabilia images. Simon Murphy has remastered the audio, with the studio album sounding stronger than the live show. A Midsummer Night's Dream is available now at the links below.

Oberon, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Acorn OBELPS1, 1971 - reissued Cherry Red/Grapefruit CRSEG090D, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: A Midsummer Night's Dream

Nottamun Town
Peggy
The Hunt
Syrinx
Summertime
Time Past, Time Come
Minas Tirith
Epitaph

CD 2: Live - Spring 1971 (all tracks first released in 2010)

Scarborough Fair
Peggy
Epitaph
Nottamun Town
Flute Sonata
The Hunt
Minas Tirith

Various Artists, Riding the Rock Machine: British Seventies Classic Rock (Grapefruit CRSEGBOX088, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll - Rainbow
Easy Livin' - Uriah Heep
I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band) - The Moody Blues
I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You - The Alan Parsons Project
Slow Ride (Single Version) - Foghat
Catch You on the Rebop - The Spencer Davis Group
I Can't Explain (Album Version) - Yvonne Elliman
Cindy Incidentally - Faces
Robert's Box - Procol Harum
Standing in the Road - Blackfoot Sue
Back to the Wall - Medicine Head
Success Story - The Who
Black Cloud - Trapeze
Hold Out Your Hand - Chris Squire
Spirits in the Night - Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Boston Tea Party - The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
Bungle in the Jungle - Jethro Tull
Clever Fool - Agnes Strange
She's Ridin' the Rock Machine (Single Version) - Fancy
Action (Single Version) - Sweet

CD 2

Feels Like the First Time - Foreigner
This Flight Tonight - Nazareth
Wishing Well - Free
Out of Your Head - Man
My Friend Peter - Strawbs
Quark, Strangeness, and Charm - Hawkwind
Ace Supreme (Single Version) - Silverhead
Mystery Song (Album Version) - Status Quo
H.F. - Curved Air
Baby I Need - Magnum (*)
Showdown - Electric Light Orchestra
Momma's Boy - City Boy
The 1959 Rock 'n' Roll Bop - Duffy
Hoodlum Fun - Rococo
Only After Dark - Mick Ronson
Straddle - Strider
Move It - Stray
Ice Cold Dick - Bullfrog (*)
Shoelace - Maggot (*)
Lucky Man - Emerson, Lake & Palmer

CD 3

Street Life - Roxy Music
Maid in Heaven - Be-Bop Deluxe
Devil's Answer (U.S. Album Version) - Atomic Rooster
In My Own Time - Family
Get My Rocks Off - Dana Gillespie
New York Groove - Hello
Jailbreak - Thin Lizzy
Can't Live Without It - Tucky Buzzard
Blowing a Million - National Flag
Monster in Paradise - Hard Stuff
Black Sheep of the Family - Fat Mattress
Life Is a Minestrone (Album Version) - 10cc
Dream Kid - Sutherland Brothers & Quiver
Got a Bad Leg - Smokestack Crumble
Fever - The Winkies (*)
Ready for Love/After Lights - Mott the Hoople
My Oh My (Single Version) - Sad Café
Jack O'Lantern - Babe Ruth
God Gave Rock and Roll to You - Argent

(*) previously unreleased

Various Artists, Beyond the Pale Horizon: The British Progressive Pop Sounds of 1972 (Cherry Red/Grapefruit CRSEGBOX091, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1