Roy Harper

The Manchester-born folk singer, guitarist and poet whose 1970 album Flat Baroque and Berserk, his first to chart, holds "Another Day".

From Les Cousins to Harvest

Roy Harper was born on June 12, 1941 in Rusholme, Manchester, and raised in St Annes-on-Sea. He played skiffle with his brothers, formed his first group at fourteen, busked in North Africa, Europe and London, and had a residency at Les Cousins from 1965. He recorded at home on a Revox and signed to Strike (Sophisticated Beggar, 1966), then to Columbia, where Shel Talmy produced and his company wanted hits, so he supplied the eleven-minute "Circle", then to Liberty (Folkjokeopus, 1969). He compered the first free Hyde Park concert in June 1968.

Peter Jenner, formerly Pink Floyd's manager, signed him to EMI's Harvest, where he made eight albums at Abbey Road in the 1970s: Flat Baroque and Berserk (January 1970), Stormcock (1971, Jimmy Page credited as S. Flavius Mercurius), Lifemask (1973), Valentine (1974), HQ (1975, with David Gilmour), Bullinamingvase (1977) and The Unknown Soldier (1980, with Gilmour and Kate Bush). The live Flashes from the Archives of Oblivion (November 1974) includes two songs recorded at the Rainbow Theatre on February 14, 1974.

Later work and influence

Work of Heart (1982) on Public Records, which he co-founded with Mark Thompson, was the Sunday Times's album of the year; Whatever Happened to Jugula? (1985) was with Jimmy Page. In 1993 he founded his own label, Science Friction, to regain rights to earlier albums. He won a MOJO Hero Award in 2005, presented by Page, and the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards lifetime achievement award in 2013, the year of Man and Myth (September 23, 2013), with Pete Townshend and Jonathan Wilson guesting. His 60th birthday concert at the Royal Festival Hall was on June 10, 2001, and his 70th in 2011; he played Glastonbury in June 2025 and UK concerts that autumn.

Led Zeppelin recorded "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper" on III, and he sang lead on Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar" (1975). Johnny Marr has praised Stormcock, and Fleet Foxes and Joanna Newsom are cited as influenced by him. The Sky Arts documentary Roy Harper: Man and Myth appeared in September 2013.

Albums

Sophisticated Beggar 1967
A 1967 album.
Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith 1967
A 1967 album.
Folkjokeopus 1969
A 1969 album.
Flat Baroque and Berserk 1970 · Harvest
His fourth studio album and the first to chart, reaching 20 in the UK, with arrangements by David Bedford.
Stormcock 1971
A 1971 album.
Lifemask 1973
A 1973 album.
Flashes From The Archives Of Oblivion 1974
A 1974 album.
Stereo Pop Special-67 1974
A 1974 album.
Valentine 1974
A 1974 album.
HQ 1975
A 1975 album.
Bullinamingvase 1977
A 1977 album.
The Unknown Soldier 1980
A 1980 album.
Born In Captivity 1984
A 1984 album.
In Between Every Line 1986
A 1986 album.
...Descendants Of Smith 1988
A 1988 album.
Loony On The Bus 1988
A 1988 album.
Once 1990
A 1990 album.
Burn The World 1990
A 1990 album.
Death Or Glory? 1992
A 1992 album.
Poems, Speeches, Thoughts And Doodles 1997
A 1997 album.
The Dream Society 1998
A 1998 album.
Man & Myth 2013
A 2013 album.

Songs

Another Day Flat Baroque and Berserk · 1970
The side two opener of Flat Baroque and Berserk, a song about a chance meeting with a former lover, later covered by Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel and by This Mortal Coil.

Sources

Roy Harper (singer), Wikipedia
Flat Baroque and Berserk, Wikipedia
Another Day (Roy Harper song), Wikipedia
Flashes from the Archives of Oblivion, Wikipedia