Customer Reviews

Give Me Take You

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I will always remember the first time I bought this album back in 1969 -- I still remember the record store in Camarillo, California where I found it and Lindisfarne's "Fog On the Tyne" on the same day. What a phenomenal duo of vinyl that day wrought! :o) I bought it and Lindisfarne for their covers, having never heard either -- but the instrumentation was intriuging. Both proved treasures! But this album is one that were I to have to give up all of the thousands of titles I've bought over the years since then, this album would definitely make the last handful. I love Nick Drake and own everything he ever recorded -- even the unreleased stuff. This is better. (I hate to say this and feel almost as if I were betraying an old friend -- but it is the truth.)

Duncan Browne's "Give Me Take You" is one of those rare albums where humanity, mytholgy, poetry, spirituality and the innocence of childhood somehow all converge into a wondrous work that seems out of place in this world. The beauty of this album is haunting and once you hear it, it is tough to forget the experience. Duncan charted his own classical arrangements and choir and did it with a stark yet amazingly beautiful compactness that works even better than Robert Kirby's work on Nick Drake's "Five Leaves Left."

When Rolling Stone's producer Andrew Loog Oldham signed Duncan to his Immediate Records label (the original label), Oldham knew he had a magic like what Oldham had set to vinyl in songs like "Lady Jane" and "As Tears Go By." But Duncan did not have any lyrics and so on this album Duncan recruited his friend from art school, David Bretton. His poetry is part and parcel of this album. It is the perfect stylistic companion to this recording. Bretton's imagery possesses all of the majesty and power of other British poets of the time -- like Keith Reid with Procol Harum, Peter Sinfield with King Crimson, et al. But where these wordsmiths sometimes wandered into the vague and ponderous, the same can never be said about David Bretton; his only excess is in the sometimes bright innocence of youth -- of which he can be forgiven, especially considering that this album was a product of the Sixties and he was but a lad himself.

The production of this album is both at once beautiful and raw. By the time Andrew Loog Oldham was finished with it, he was tired of it. His company was falling apart, he was in financial ruin and so he cut the sessions short. But that is an asset not a detriment to this album. It left all of the beautiful baroque and other classical embellishments penned by a young Duncan Browne to stand without being buried in over-production. The gorgeously airy choir which joins in from time to time can be overbearing on a track or two but this is by no means a warning to avoid this album. Do so, and you will miss one of the greatest English folk-classical albums ever recorded.

Like I said, if I had to give up every album and get down to just a handful -- this would be one of the last albums in the stack. There are few recordings that I could ever place alongside this one -- let alone, above it.

David Bretton's inside look at the project in this reissue's liner notes make it even more special. (Duncan passed away from cancer in 1993 and David's remembrances are even more appreciated because of Duncan's death.) I give the reissue high marks and would end this by saying that if you love the music of Nick Drake, Sandy Denny, Lindisfarne, The Left Banke's "Walk Away Rene" and the near classical edge of the Stone's songs earlier mentioned -- don't miss this treat. Yes it's a rarety but then you don't find wondrous gemstones laying all about on the ground, do you???

This man was an unknown to me until so very recently -so if you stumble into this page by those strange turns of internet life, you have a companion in me ... I guess.
Now, as I'm sure you experienced many a time, the newness of one's encounter with something beautiful does not preclude the depth of one's experience, nor the value of what one has seen.
Duncan Browne, musically speaking, is a younger brother to Donovan Leitch, a childhood friend of Vashti Bunyan's, and a soft-spoken cousin to the Incredible String Band.
This is bonafide British Folk, the psychedelic variety as it is now know as ... soft melodies, strings caressed rather than strummed, tales of young girls in wondrous places and magical beings, the obligatory harpsichord, tasteful and simple strings, and chorus voices seeming to float in the Summer's air.
Well ... you get the picture -I'm sure- and either you are still reading on suddenly called by your love for this kind of music, or I'm now speaking to myself.

The whole album is a trove of treasures which manage to sound tender, after all these years, rather than naïve and outdated -a remarkable feat in itself for any work over thirty years old.
So, because you are still reading, I must tell you that this album can -must!- be listened from beginning to end. That is how consistently delightful it is, but if I must make some choices I'd choose both versions of "Alfred Bell," pure, sad nectar, the single the never took off -On The Bombsite, studio and demo versions alike- and "Give Me, Take You" which gives this gem its title.
Treat yourself to the sounds of a gentle soul, the kind of young man you may wish your son to become ... or hope you still are.

I begin my review with the question, "Can you judge an album by it's cover?" If "Give Me Take You" is that album, I say, "Sure you can." The artwork is classical in design, refined and ornate in style. It is suggestive of the music contained herein. I hear the McCartney allusion in these songs (most especially in the vocals and melody lines), but the "Moddy" Blues?! No sir!

This is Duncan Browne's first album, released on (Andrew Loog Oldham's, the one-time Rolling Stones producer) Immediate Label in 1968. Each song is a short story, self-contained, poetic and literate, and I believe that is what the lyricist (David Bretton) intended. I hear the McCartney of "Junk," "For No One," and "She's Leaving Home" in these mini-suites. The entire album has its own gentle and warm feel, tinged with sadness and slight melancholy. Nick Drake sounds evident here, in that most of the songs center around an acoustic guitar, played in a similar fashion to Drake or John Renbourn, touched with woodwind, string and brass embellishments (see "Left Banke" in headline above).

The one and only single from this album was "On the Bombsite," but there's so much more to find here. "Alfred Bell" is both wonderful and sad. The bonus track "Resurrection Joe" COULD have been a McCartney single from 1970, with its pleasant piano and homegrown sound. There is not a dud in this bunch.

If you have found yourself to the end of this review, you must be interested still. So, please purchase this album. Browne, unfortunately, passed away of cancer in May of 1993 (as the excellent liner notes state). May his memory live on in the melodic music he left behind.

Although long since his death in 1993, I am now just discovering the works of Duncan Browne and his various collaborative efforts (Metro from 1977, etc.). Duncan was a brilliant musician and songwriter (see also Songs of Love and War). This CD presents formative material from Duncan's first release (as far as I know). The writing, musicianship, recording and overall ambience of the music is great! Some of the music is very reminiscent of Nick Drake and other contemporaries. While On the Bombsite and Alfred Bell (brilliant imagery!!) are the best known pieces, taken as a whole this CD is a self-contained suite of wonderful music and lyrics. Highly recommended--takes you back to the heady days of the 60s! With many thanks to Nick Magnus for the recommendation!

There are several elements that make. Duncan Browne's 1968 debut album "Give Me Take You" stand out. One is that Browne's lyricist David Bretton is a legitimate poet, which gives these songs a dimension usually missing in folk and folk-rock music on either side of the Atlantic. Additionally, Browne has a superb singing voice that matches well against any other singer-songwriter from that period. Browne's work also introduces elements of classical music into the fusion of folk, rock, and pop that are covered by these songs, that gives several of these songs a most distinctive sound. Unfortunately because the label he recorded for was going down for the count, Browne's debut album was not the commercial success it should have been; only one single, "On the Bombsite" was released and Andrew Loog Oldham cut short the recording sessions. The result was that it five years before Browne released his next album, a self-titled work that is just as good; but it is difficult not to think on what Browne might have done during that period in the studio.

"Give Me Take You" is a melancholy collection of introspective songs (e.g., "I Was You Weren't," "Alfred Bell"), and while I came across Browne's work because I was trying to get beyond the work of Sandy Dennis, Richard Thompson, and other luminaries of the British folk-rock scene, the classical elements make it unique. There is a simple innocence, if not a naïveté to these songs, that give Browne his own niche in this genre. As is often the case with these remastered and reissued albums from the 1960s and 1970s, there are five bonus tracks, including the Mono Single Versions of "On the Bombsite" and "Alfred Bell," along with the demo version of the former, and a pair of previously unreleased tracks, "Resurrection Joe" and "Final Asylum." David Bretton does the liner notes, a necessity forced by the death of Browne in 1993. There are a lot of excellent albums from this period in British folk-rock music waiting to be rediscovered by new generations on this side of the pond, and Duncan Browne's "Give Me Take You" is one of them. One of the nice things is that most of the reviews of this album will lend you to more such gems for you to track down.

This album is one of those "once in a lifetime" kind of finds, or at least "once a year or so" finds. I can't believe I've never heard about Duncan Browne and this album earlier!

The reviews below are brilliant, so I can't really improve upon them except agree with the previous reviewers: this album is fantastic, and if you like baroque pop and music in the same vein as Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, the best of McCartney, the Zombies, the Left Banke or Honeybus, then this is for you! There are some truly gorgeous choral parts here as well, most of which was sung by Duncan himself. He was truly a gifted writer and performer!

It's a pity though that the album has been mastered from an original vinyl copy, but that's only nitpicking since it's very, very well done.

Anyway, the music is what counts and this one is simply too good to miss. Pick it up today and let the magic of Duncan Browne's oh-so-English songs be a part of your life.

There are several elements that make. Duncan Browne's 1968 debut album "Give Me Take You" stand out. One is that Browne's lyricist David Bretton is a legitimate poet, which gives these songs a dimension usually missing in folk and folk-rock music on either side of the Atlantic. Additionally, Browne has a superb singing voice that matches well against any other singer-songwriter from that period. Browne's work also introduces elements of classical music into the fusion of folk, rock, and pop that are covered by these songs, that gives several of these songs a most distinctive sound. Unfortunately because the label he recorded for was going down for the count, Browne's debut album was not the commercial success it should have been; only one single, "On the Bombsite" was released and Andrew Loog Oldham cut short the recording sessions. The result was that it five years before Browne released his next album, a self-titled work that is just as good; but it is difficult not to think on what Browne might have done during that period in the studio.

"Give Me Take You" is a melancholy collection of introspective songs (e.g., "I Was You Weren't," "Alfred Bell"), and while I came across Browne's work because I was trying to get beyond the work of Sandy Dennis, Richard Thompson, and other luminaries of the British folk-rock scene, the classical elements make it unique. There is a simple innocence, if not a naïveté to these songs, that give Browne his own niche in this genre. As is often the case with these remastered and reissued albums from the 1960s and 1970s, there are five bonus tracks, including the Mono Single Versions of "On the Bombsite" and "Alfred Bell," along with the demo version of the former, and a pair of previously unreleased tracks, "Resurrection Joe" and "Final Asylum." David Bretton does the liner notes, a necessity forced by the death of Browne in 1993. There are a lot of excellent albums from this period in British folk-rock music waiting to be rediscovered by new generations on this side of the pond, and Duncan Browne's "Give Me Take You" is one of them. One of the nice things is that most of the reviews of this album will lend you to more such gems for you to track down.

I had the enormous pleasure of meeting David Bretton today, the lyricist on this album. Sadly, Duncan died some 13 years ago, but we met to discuss the forthcoming book I am writing about his life and work.
Few albums touch a listener in the way that this album can. The musicianship is of a very high calibre, the singing is divine and the songwriting exceptional. David and Duncan had a good thing going at the time and it is a relief to know that this album is readily available - a polished gem waiting to be unearthed by a new generation.

there is not much i can add that hasn't already been said..I bought this record in 1968..highschool..i was intrigued by the cover and that the three guys in the band looked-a-like.(actually they were three photo's of duncan on back cover) the guy in the record store who i knew, dismissed this record as a faux donovan..i didn't believe him ..bought it..and upon the first listening, in winter i believe, was transported into a music/lyrical world that i have rarely ever entered in any other record.Joni mitchell-s heijera, tim buckley's blue afternoon, richard harris"s-jimmy webb's mccarthurs park and a handful of others,donovans gift from a flower to a garden and nick drake of course..but this album is a one of a kind record. i am a fan of all of duncan browne's music since then but there is something very singular about this music. as someone else said.its pre-raphaelite. i was reading mervyn peake's great "gormenghast"
trilogy at the time and this music paralleled it.It is other worldly.. precious.beautiful and full of literary imagery.In fact i find it 30 years later quite remarkable that this was ever created. I have never heard anything in pop music like it..And to imagine how young he was when he wrote the music and his friend wrote the lyrics.One of the great things in our music culture is the music that you grow up with and hold dear through your life..This is one of the dearest for me.. and will always be.

One of the compensations for missing an artist's work the first time around is discovering it later in life. Duncan Browne's stunningly gorgeous debut album is a perfect case in point. A reminder of a time when naive idealism & an almost pre-Raphaelite devotion to beauty was in vogue, this is one of most quietly stunning & moving albums I've ever heard ... only 35 years late! Previous reviewers will give you all the details you need to know. I can only agree with them & offer yet one more enthusiastic recommendation. These are songs of unashamed melancholy, longing, regret, desire, and transcendence, sung without a trace of irony or distance. Did people ever really feel this openly vulnerable? They did & still do, even if it's more frowned upon today. Do yourself a favor & immerse your soul in the dreamlike, haunting world of this album. You'll return again & again! Highest Recommendation!