Customer Reviews

My People Were Fair...

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Marc Bolan once said that their (Tyrannosaurus Rex) was to "do what Pink Floyd(SYd Barrett's floyd) do in an accoustic way". THe debut album show how he achieve this. The middle-eastern soundscape, Marc's strange singing technique (sharp voice, shouting...etc) and Steve's fascinating technique on conga, gongs...etc make this set of songs a very unique hippie affair. It's one of the representative British Psychedelic scene in 1960's... best cuts: Child star, scenescof, weilder of words... amazing.

Come to think of it, it's really fairly odd how many well-known "seventies" bands had 60s incarnations that resemble 'em not at all. Pink Floyd, Murray Head, et cetera...and, of course, T. Rex.

This, Tyrannasaurous Rex's debut proper, sounds (if one must have this sort of reference) like a strange combination of solo-era Syd Barrett and psychedelic-era Donovan with the Tolken-esque tendencies of any given "ethereal" progressive rock band thrown in. These songs are shimmering, playful tunes, many very modal, consisting of acoustic guitar, bongos, and the occasional fleet of overdubbed harmonies.

Yet the songs are *really good*. Mr. Bolan knew how to be a popster, as his tenure in Johns Children showed, and while this is strange pop music, it's still pop music. The melodies are infectious, and let's face it, that voice grows on you.

Verdict? If you're a fan of "pop-sike" in any capacity, you owe it to yourself to check early T. Rex out, "Electric Warrior" fan or no. You might be pleasantly surprised.

The early T Rex albums are an interesting lot. While the full-blown electric sound that was to develop on later albums such as Electric Warrior had yet to appear on these records, T Rex's first five albums are all remarkably consistent and well worth picking up. The sound on this record (and its follow-ups) is stripped down and simple, but still very effective. Not much more than Marc Bolan's acoustic guitar, some percussion and a few added "psychedelic" effects here and there. But that's really all you need. Marc Bolan always had a way with writing catchy songs with ridiculous, wonderful lyrics, and My People Were Fair... doesn't stray away from that model. It blows my mind to think that this album was recorded over 35 years ago because it's aged remarkably well.

Contrary to what a previous reviewer has stated, Bolan's vocals are not terrible on this record. His voice is less developed here than it would be on the later T Rex recordings (I noticed more of a quaver in his voice), but he sounds far from being a "retarded kid making a pathetic attempt to sing". In fact, I think he sings quite fine here if you ask me. His voice is admittedly a bit of an acquired taste, but then again so is T Rex in the first place.

At times My People Were Fair... sounds remarkably similar to some of the "freak-folk" artists (Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom) who are currently all the indie rage. While this may not be the best entry point into T Rex's early work (A Beard of Stars is hands down the best from this period), it's still an excellent record.

Where on Earth (or anywhere in the known multiverse for that matter) did this strangely mellifluous cacophony come from? It seemed unlike anything heard before and arrived fully formed onto the Peelian airwaves in the summer of 1968, hot on the heels of the astonishing single Debora (backed by Child Star, which was included on the album). And it was everywhere. You'd go to an outdoor free concert, or to a concert headlined by Fairport Convention, or Roy Harper, or the Edgar Broughton Band, or just about anyone, and there would be these pixies in support, sitting cross-legged on a colourful rug and declaiming a world of doors in oak trees, strange orchestras, Beethoven hair, wizards and weilders of words. Marc would be throwing back his mane and uttering throaty cries and bleats into the air, whilst confidently marshalling an army of sonic colours from his guitar, as Steve Peregrine-Took battled merrily on an array of Eastern-looking percussion instruments and added deft harmonies to Marc's lyrics as appropriate.
It is almost as mysterious now as it was then, although their influence can be heard in contemporary performers such as Devendra Banhart, and there were few clues to be had from Marc Bolan's previous work. This consisted of the two Decca singles The Wizard and The Third Degree and a single for Parlophone called Hippy Gumbo, all of which were relatively conventional moddish beat group ventures; followed by a four month stint in early 1967 with proto punk extremist mod-art band John's Children, for whom he provided lyrics and regularly beat up his highly amplified Gibson guitar with a heavy metal chain onstage, in a stage act which featured mock fights with fake blood - a far cry from Kingsley Mole.
When speaking of Tyrannosaurus Rex, Marc claimed to have been inspired by Ravi Shankar, which explains a little of the eastern influence though Ravi Shankar recordings seldom had the histrionic vocalise which featured on My People Were Fair...
As booklet note writer Mark Paytress observes, rock and roll was nearer the surface, especially on side openers Hot Rod Mama and Mustang Ford, both borrowing from the American surf and hot rod crazes of the early sixties, and The Wizard of course became re-invented as a live Tyrannosaurus Rex staple before being recorded in a third incarnation for the album T Rex.
This edition presents the album in both mono and stereo full versions. Marc Bolan was said to prefer the mono version because of mixing problems which had resulted in a thinness in the stereo version, but these problems seem to have largely overcome on this remaster so I find myself preferring the stereo half, presented as bonus tracks. These seem to be mixes of the same takes, although Dwarfish Trumpet Blues has an extra section, but the notes mention that four of the bonus tracks date from demo sessions recorded for Joe Boyd at Sound Techniques in late 1967.
The other bonus tracks consist of the single Debora (mono), which unlike the album was recorded at Advision, along with an alternate mono take; and early versions of Child Star (mono) and Chateau In Virginia Waters (stereo).
Marc Bolan went on to refine and improve the style he had introduced on this album, but no future albums could have the freshness and impact of this fearsome debut

The early T Rex albums are an interesting lot. While the full-blown electric sound that was to develop on later albums such as Electric Warrior had yet to appear on these records, T Rex's first five albums are all remarkably consistent and well worth picking up. The sound on this record (and its follow-ups) is stripped down and simple, but still very effective. Not much more than Marc Bolan's acoustic guitar, some percussion and a few added "psychedelic" effects here and there. But that's really all you need. Marc Bolan always had a way with writing catchy songs with ridiculous, wonderful lyrics, and My People Were Fair... doesn't stray away from that model. It blows my mind to think that this album was recorded over 35 years ago because it's aged remarkably well.

Contrary to what a previous reviewer has stated, Bolan's vocals are not terrible on this record. His voice is less developed here than it would be on the later T Rex recordings (I noticed more of a quaver in his voice), but he sounds far from being a "retarded kid making a pathetic attempt to sing". In fact, I think he sings quite fine here if you ask me. His voice is admittedly a bit of an acquired taste, but then again so is T Rex in the first place.

At times My People Were Fair... sounds remarkably similar to some of the "freak-folk" artists (Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom) who are currently all the indie rage. While this may not be the best entry point into T Rex's early work (A Beard of Stars is hands down the best from this period), it's still an excellent record.

Before they changed their name to T.Rex and dropped the classic albums Electric Warrior and The Slider, T.Rex went by Tyrannosaurus Rex. Prior to the name change, the band was a two-piece folksy acoustic psychedelic pop duo. Bolan, of course, played guitar and sang, while Steve Took jammed on the bongos.

The music here sounds like T.Rex; yet it is also fundamentally different than the band's later work. For this album, picture a minimalistic, guitar-driven poppy folk that is essentially very traditional and accessible in terms of its chord progressions, song structures, length of songs, etc. The lyrical content, however, is far less conventional,falling safely into the realm of psychedelia--just take a look at the names of some of the songs. The lyrics, when they are intelligible, seem to be a juxtaposition of Near-eastern mythologies and contemporary Americana. Like elsewhere in the T.Rex catalog, the lyrics are usually nonsensical. They are great fun, nevertheless. Sometimes real words seem to have been replaced by imaginary ones; also present are the "do-do-da-do-da's" that can easily be identified as trademark Bolan.

The acid-baked sounds of Bolan and Took persisted through the first three albums. Amplifiers and Drum kits were brought in for the fourth album. Within a year or two the transformation into full-blown glam-rockers was complete.

If you are interested in my opinion: it is as follows. Slider is my favorite T. Rex album, Electric Warrior a close second. 'My People Were Fair...', as mentioned above, is quite different from those albums. T.Rex and Tyrannosaurus Rex are indeed two different bands, albeit they both feature the vocals and are under the creative direction of Marc Bolan. I would rate 'My People Were Fair...' as the best Tyrannosaurus Rex album. As a T.Rex album I would rank it #3; to be fair, such a rating is likely to be somewhat controversial.

Regardless rank, it is my estimation that fans of T.Rex will find "My People Were Fair..." to be a friendly and enjoyable listening experience; unless, of course, the listener is deadest on the album being another Electric Warrior or Slider. Plain and simple, "My People Were Fair..." is an LP containing damn good music and minimal filler.

If you want some fun, light, catchy, short and FUN music, check this out. Marc Bolan is famous for some of his more rockin stuff like Children of the Revolution, but this is almost something else entirely. This is an acoustic duo: guitar/voice and congo/bongo/whatever. And all of the songs are about magical elves and sorcerers, as silly as that sounds it is great...more on that below.

Here is a quick primer on how to appreciate Marc Bolan lyrics. I think people are sometimes too concerned with content of lyrics, or expect to be moved or enlightened, and if something isn't presented with a poetic dignified air or something, then it is [...] Whatever, i know i'm making horrible generalizations. I've read people criticize Marc Bolan for being vacuous party rock or something. Don't trust anyone who makes such claims about Marc Bolan. Listen to some of these jems: you got a hubcap diamond star halo, just like a silet-studded sabre-tooth dream, riding sliding sorceress in your dungarees got me on my knees... (those are from the album 'The Slider', this is just a defense of Marc Bolan in general). He's not making a claim to high-art, so you won't get if you are into that fashion show. You have to disengage your need to seem intellectual. Marc Bolan is party rock a bit, but he is the party rock MASTER!
"Well you're dirty and sweet
Clad in black
Don't look back
And I love you
You're dirty and sweat oh yea...Bang a gong...get it on..."

This is the very first album by Tyrannosaurus Rex. It has a few worthwhile moments, but the next three Tyrannosaurus Rex albums are easily an improvement in terms of songwriting and atmosphere. This album severely lacks distinctive qualities and feels extremely basic. It's not something worth complaining about though since most bands started out the same way back in the late 60's. It's only a minor disappointment because I imagine Marc Bolan was still searching for his style, like most of his contemporaries at the time.

"Frowning Atahuallpa (My Inca Love)" has some alarmingly repetitive mannerisms from Marc Bolan that last entirely too long, but it's melodic and pleasant at least. The song switches up to storytelling mode for about one minute near the end before some pleasant guitar strumming comes back into the mix to finish things off. It's an alright song, but never ever should have been 6 minutes long. "Red Hot Mama" is a relatively bland, straight forward attempt at folk/blues, I guess you could say. It's ordinary but decent enough. "Mustang Ford" is, once again, fairly bland and straight forward. Bolan repeats the line "My mustang ford" way too many times and it becomes a distraction after a while.

"Wielder of Words" is too simplistic to make a lasting impression, and feels more like a typical camping-style father/son bonding trip. At least the melody switches into something else around the halfway point. It's not really any better though. "Child Star" strikes me as completely aimless with not much in the way of decent songwriting.

I'm beginning to understand why this album hasn't been rediscovered by classic rock fans- everything's so darn simple and only memorable enough to get the job done, and nothing more. I'll be generous and give it a 3-star rating because it's not bad by any means. It's pleasant -if extremely ordinary- typically written folk/rock. The moment Tyrannosaurus Rex released their *next* album however, from that point forward they never really released an average album ever again (including T.Rex... with the possible exception of Bolan's Zip Gun, though I like half of that album).

This isn't an album for everyone - not all can appreciate music this weird, but even if you like the latter-day 'T. Rex' and choose to ignore their hippy-ish escapades, this is not an album that allows itself to be ignored so CHECK THIS OUT!