Customer Reviews

From the Bottom of An Old Grandfather Clock

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I bought this on a whim. Being a huge Nick Drake fan, I was hoping for another shadowy genius in a garret. And I suppose he is. Though, what I heard was more like SGT PEPPERS on downers.

Though these are demos & outtakes, the sound quality is alot better than expected. This is amazing stuff. Imagine The Beatles & a sort of British answer to Leonard Cohen all rolled into one. Yet, his songs have their own unique style that truely sets them apart. While he displays the ability to write a catchy commercial hook, his lyrics often touch on the maudlin & at times the surreal. A name like Syd Barrett comes close if you need comparison.

"Brighton Beach" is a bleak tale of suicide. "We Want You To Stay" & "Just Another Song" borrow from the English Musical Hall tradition. Only darker than Sgt. Pepper's & far less didactic than The Kinks at the time. "Camille" brings Blanche Dubois to mind, being carted off at the end of Tennessee Williams' Streetcar Named Desire.

The melancholy anthem, "Be Not So Fearful" could be his signature tune. Apparently Wilco has even done a cover. Based on what I hear on this, I'm loathe to seek it out. Easily one of the most moving tracks on the album. "The Sun Is Bored" preceeds Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon by 10 years or so & Fay's infectious sense of melody comes to a fore on "Morning Train".

In general, the songs live up to haunting titles like, "Strangers In The Feilds". From 1st to last, this a stunning find. Well worth any import price. Indispensible for any Psyche/Folk fans out there. Personally, I am blown away by this. If hard pressed to name a favorite tune, I suppose, its "Maudie La Lune".

Suffice it to say, Fay's relative obscurity has awarded him fabled cult status. Being dubbed British Pop's answer to J.D. Salinger by MOJO magazine doesn't hurt either. But epitaphs like "doomed romantic", "tragic fate" & "disappeared" simply don't apply. Take one listen & words like "genius" just might.

Eventhough Fay's 1971 debut masterpiece & the bleak follow up, TIME OF THE PERSECUTION are now back in print, I still heartily recommend this. Though there's some song overlap, don't pass this up. There's too much amazing stuff on here you won't hear any where else. At this point, I rank this up there as one of my favorite albums.

Every other review here is correct. Bill Fay is (he is still alive) a British national treasure. Forget the comparisons to other artists, he stands on his own. His music is clearly influenced by Bob Dylan but after that everything about Fay is unique. The music is strange, catchy, melodic, psychedelic, pop etc... all at once. Grandfather Clock is my favorite of all of the CD releases because I personally feel that the raw versions of his released material are superior. However, catch the reissues of his two Deram albums and his very odd 70s recording Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow.

Hyperbole? I can't get these tunes out of my head and have since bought everything he's ever touched and feel like I've come across a goldmine that I do and don't want to share..if you catch my drift. Imagine if McCartney in 1966 had taken a sombre melancholy fork in the road (read: Eleanor Rigby, For No One, Yesterday) and stashed away a chest of recordings he thought too "deep" or "pensive" for the general Beatle buying public's consumption. Well, here it is. And if you aren't completely smitten with this guy's talents by the fourth or fifth tack (try Maudy La Lune for starters; or Tiny or Sam from his "unreleased" '77 album Tomorrow, tomorrow, and Tomorrow) you have lost touch with songcraft. This is absolute. This is golden. This man deserves our respect and awe. BRAVO.

Here's my nomination for the next guy who deserves the Nick Drake treatment. (Even though Bill is still apparently alive.) MAXINE'S PARLOUR hit me like a ton of beneficient bricks. It's the greatest psychedelic tune that John Lennon never recorded. Even though I hate Bill's blatantly Dylanesque vocal mannerisms. My other favorite is DORIS COMES TODAY, which I can't help pigeonholing as a piece of gothic chamber-music.

I brought the now seemingly deleted 'bill fay/time of the last persecution' cd originally put out by seeformiles and wasnt dissapointed.Considering the inner sleeve notes claimed this the only recordings he had done as he dissapeared into obscurity in the 70'simagine my amazement in discovering this rare selection of gems! Bill Fay has a wonderful very english sounding voice and some of the flourishes and incredible lyrics make it hard for me to understand why an artist of this amazing talent was sadly overlooked.His voice isnt for everyone (but that didnt hurt dylan did it?!) but if you like a voice with genuine passion and character then i fully reccomend this wonderful artist!
It's a shame you dont put the audio samples on so other people can hear his music as not everyone rushes out and chances on someone they havent heard of before and as Bill is unfortuantly considered to be pretty much unheard of until you do so i fear that he will still sadly be negelected