Bill Fay [Original recording remastered]

Product Description
Bill Fay is an enigmatic UK based singer, songwriter and pianist whose work is impossible to categorize. His late 60's early 70's work has a strong cult following, is highly regarded by many music journalists and is dark and haunting with songs rarely going over 3 minutes. All original album tracks plus the following bonus tracks 'Some Good Advice' & 'Screams in the Ears' on this remastered edition. Eclectic Records. 2005

Bill Fay,Bill Fay,Eclectic Discs UK,Folk-Rock,Pop,Progressive Folk,Rock,Rock/Pop

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Bill Fay [Original recording remastered]

Average customer rating: File under Heavy, Takes Time To Get Into But It's Worth It. nice, but not groundbreaking Reading You The Revelations lost genius....

Time of the Last Persecution Bill Fay Manufacturer: Eclectic Discs ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD British Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: Bill Fay Red Hash Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best John Simon's Album ASIN: B0007MYKES Release Date: 2005-05-03

Tracks:

1. Omega Day
2. Don't Let My Marigolds Die
3. I Hear You Calling
4. Dust Filled Room
5. 'Til the Christ Come Back
6. Release Is in the Eye
7. Laughing Man
8. Inside the Keepers Pantry
9. Tell It Like It Is
10. Plan D
11. Pictures of Adolf Again
12. Time of the Last Persecution
13. Come a Day
14. Let All the Other Teddies Know

Album Details

Bill Fay is an Enigmatic UK-BASED Singer, Songwriter and Pianist Whose Work is Impossible to Categorize. His Late 60s and Early 70s Work Has a Strong Cult Following and is Highly Regarded by Many Music Journalists with his Dark and Haunting Songs, Rarely Going Over Three Minutes.

Customer Reviews:

File under Heavy, Takes Time To Get Into But It's Worth It........2007-01-22

4.5 stars.

Time Of The Last Persecution is a CD that I first listened to after hearing Bill Fay's debut disc. While I found that disc over-orchestrated, I liked several of the songs on it. But it did nothing to prepare me for this - a very dark disc where exorcising of demons seemed to be taking place.
After first listening to it and thinking that it was not too bad but nothing extraordinary, I put it back on the shelf for a month or 2. Coming back to it, I found it hard to take it out of my disc player. It has now become one of my favorites by anyone, when taken as a whole.
The arrangements are a bit like what you might hear the band Chicago play back in 1970 if they were playing a really dark, heavy set of songs. Lots of horns. Rock backing that's heavy on piano and acoustic guitar. On listening to the disc, it's understandable why Fay looks so unkempt on the cover, compared to his last album. He has clearly gone through some rough times and come out on the other side with this collection.
I love several of these tracks, the first 3 in particular are a great listen if you have enough time to listen to all at once.
One thing is certain - I don't have any other albums that sound like this one. I have to recommend this and ask listeners to be patient and not expect anything they already know - certainly not Dylan, Davies or Drake, as the cover sticker implies. Though you can certainly hear all 3 influences in Fay's fine writing.
File under Heavy, Takes Time To Get Into But It's Worth It. Helps if you're open to something that is sounds like an exorcism took place just prior to recording.

nice, but not groundbreaking.......2005-08-02

I came to this artist, and this particular CD, by my beloved Mojo magazine. I have been rarely dissapointed by their suggestions, and it was thanks to them that I discovered artists that now stand as some of my favorites, like Nick Drake, Jude Sill, Stephen Duffy and The Lilac Time, to name a few.
In this case I'm not sure about how this music is going to grow on me. I have been listening to the CD and find it hard to believe they gave it five stars.
In any case, Bill Fay is NOT Nick Drake, he definetely sounds more like in an American tradition, and sometimes he is seems trying to sing like Bob Dylan. There was some myth about he not recording anything from the early 70s., but he is not Syd Barret either. His songs are really good, but nothing from outer space.
There are a couple of things that disturbed me. First, his voice reminds me of Ringo Starr's, which is fine, but takes away all the seriousness of the whole thing. Number two, I strongly dislike the guitarrist's work, it's too loud and amateurish.
Nevertheless, and all that said, I do believe Bill Fay is a serious composer, and his work deserves to be more widely known among the other great songsmiths of his era.

Reading You The Revelations.......2005-06-12

Some ink has been spilled comparing Bill Fay to the likes of Nick Drake, Ray Davies or a one-man Lennon/McCartney. All of which is perfectly understandable when you listen to his eponymous 1971 debut. This album is another story entirely.

While still being infectiously melodic, PERSECUTION is far darker & self indulgent. If I had to compare it to anything I'd say it's a cross between Leonard Cohen's SONGS OF LOVE & HATE & Skip Spence's OAR. Doom-laden, apocalyptic imagry abounds. On the cover Fay looks like a long lost member of the Manson family. Yet, as paranoid & bizarre as it all is, Fay's penchant for melody shines through. Where his previous release was grandly orchestrated, PERSECUTION strips things down to Fay's piano & some rather dated 70's Rock backing. But one can't help but be amused by the lead guitarist's bursts of over-the-top shredding.

As with all of Fay's work, the melancholy is pervasive, especially in haunting ballads like " I Hear You Calling", "Dust Filled Room" & the flamenco inflected "Marigolds". Fay's lyrics verge on the arcane else where. The sheer obtuseness of "Release Is In The Eye" & "Inside The Keeper's Pantry" can't help but further the notion that Fay was suffering a nervous breakdown at the time. (A legend, Fay gracefully dispells in the liner notes). But without a doubt, both songs are unforgettable.

Granted some of the prophetic imagry gets more than a little heavy handed. Titles like "Till The Christ Comes Back" & "Time Of The Last Persecution" are enough to make your eyes roll. But eerily prescient numbers like "Plan D" & "Pictures Of Adolf Again" make up for it. By album's end, Fay seems to have all but curled up in a fetal postion, clutching his Teddy Bear. A sentiment that would be downright mawkish if the rest of the album weren't teetering so on-the-brink.

It's no small wonder Fay was dropped by his label after this & fans of his more approachable work are likely to find this an acquired taste. But just give a few spins & you'll find out truley remarkable this album is. It's one of those records like, OAR or Captain Beefheart's TROUT MASK REPLICA. You may not listen to it everyday, but it's too unique to part with.

Also recommended: BILL FAY,FROM THE BOTTOM OF A GRANDFATHER CLOCK (a stunning collection of early demos)& TOMORROW TOMORROW & TOMORROW (a series of late 70's/early 80's recordings).

lost genius...........2005-06-11

Can there be anything better than discovering someone long forgotten ? The idea of giving someone their very long overdue due has certainly prompted me to write this .Suffice to say that all the comparisons made to ray davies and nick drake are right on. Not that Bill Fay sounds anything like either of them, but on the strength of this album his name deserves to be spoken in the same breath .
Recorded in 1971 the album has a strong spirtual /religous theme, which may have alienated reviewers back in the day but in todays climate reveals someone who is making music for personal and artistic reasons instead of financial ones .
As for the musical style it is not hard to see why Wilco's Jeff Tweedy is reputed to be such a fan. It's somehow reminsecent of Tweedy's more intense and ruminative moments on the current' a ghost is born'.
What also comes across clearly in the liner notes to the CD, written by Bill Fay himself, is what i nice guy he is. There's not a trace of bitterness for a career cut short by commercial failure (his contract wasn't renewed after he recorded this ) All he talks about is how grateful he was to be given a chance to record the albums he did.
In conclusion the overall imression you get from this amazing example of singer songwriting ,which will be the best retro album you'll buy this year if you purchase it, is of a man full of honesty and purity of heart making something he truly believed in.
May his revival continue..

Average customer rating: Beautiful, hooky, strange... No Tomorrow

Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow Bill Fay Group Manufacturer: Durtro / Jnana ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: Time of the Last Persecution Bill Fay From the Bottom of an Old Grandfather Clock From the Bottom of an Old Grandfather Clock In My Own Time ASIN: B0006SSO54 Release Date: 2004-11-16

Tracks:

1. Strange Stairway
2. Spiritual Mansions
3. Planet Earth Daytime
4. Goodnight Stan
5. Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow
6. Just a Moon
7. To Be a Part
8. Sam
9. Lamp Shining
10. Turning the Pages
11. Love Is the Tune
12. After the Revolution
13. Jericho Road
14. Strange Stairway
15. Life
16. Hypocrite
17. Man
18. Cosmic Boxer
19. We Are Raised
20. Isles of Sleep

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful, hooky, strange..........2006-01-29

This is a lovely, odd record and I'm grateful to David Tibet or whomever was responsible for unearthing it from wherever it's been buried since its recording in the late '70s and early '80s. Fay's music is odd, lush, and inexplicably moving: I'm not a spiritual person, particularly, but songs like "Strange Stairway" tug at something deep within me. "Tomorrow" has emotional weight, but its songs are also masterfully constructed, even hooky in places, and Fay's overdubbed voices deepen the intimacy of his sound. He's backed by a sympathetic band here, three musicians who clearly share Fay's vision - they veer from folk to psych in the space of a few measures, and Gary Smith's guitar alternately caresses and cuts. I'm at a loss for apt comparisons - Syd Barrett, maybe, though Fay replaces Barrett's untethered whimsy with something more serious.

As a previous reviewer noted, the two halves of the album proper are interrupted by a set of nine tracks (not listed on the outside of the disc) that appear to be demos - the sound quality is rough, but the sometimes fragmentary songs are of consistently high quality. A nice bonus, if oddly placed.

Ideally, listeners should probably come to this one through Fay's two early '70s albums for Decca, "Bill Fay" and "Time of the Last Persecution" - the former finds Fay's simple, jewel-like songs lavishly set in arrangements for a 27-piece orchestra, while the latter is a much rockier affair (in both senses of the word). For the moment, both are back in print in nicely remastered versions from Eclectic Discs, so grab 'em while you can. Each is wonderful, and rewarding in its own way - but neither fully prepared me for the rough beauty and the mystery of "Tomorrow."

No Tomorrow.......2005-04-26

For fans who marveled over From The Bottom Of A Gradfather Clock, this is a must have. While Grandfather was a collection of demos recorded between 1966-70, this 1978-81 offering generally comes off more like an esoteric cross between Dark Side of the Moon & The Alan Parsons Project. That said, Fay's deep rooted melancholia is still there despite the dated production. As are those Beatlesque hooks. Things start off with the suitably spaced out "Strange Stairway". Despite the cheesy synths, "Planet Earth Daytime" could be Fay's answer to Sgt. Pepper's a "Day In The Life". The half spoken title track is as haunting and beautiful as it gets. Though titles like "Life" & "Man" may seem a touch too deep and portentious, both are quite moving peices. Fans will either be thankful or frustrated by the medley of several "lost songs", which are essentially incomplete glimpses of some amazing stuff that suffered from tape deterioration. Highlights here include my personal favorite, "Just A Moon", the Syd Barrett-esque, "Sam" & "Lamp Shining". While not as satisfying as Grandfather, Tomorrow should be enough to tide the intruiged over till the promised release of his 2 now legenday Decca albums this May. If you're a fan of Nick Drake or Elliott Smith, Bill Fay might be the well kept secret you've been looking for.

Average customer rating: i don't get it Interesting songs, wish he'd lost the arranger. The Well Kept Secret You've Been Looking For

Bill Fay Bill Fay Manufacturer: Eclectic Discs ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Folk | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Time of the Last Persecution Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow Red Hash John Simon's Album It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best ASIN: B0007MYKEI Release Date: 2005-05-23

Tracks:

1. Garden Song
2. Sun Is Bored
3. We Want You to Stay
4. Narrow Way
5. We Have Laid Here
6. Sing Us One of Your Songs May
7. Gentle Willie
8. Methane River
9. Room
10. Goodnight Stan
11. Cannons Plain
12. Be Not So Fearful
13. Down to the Bridge
14. Screams in the Ears [*]
15. Some Good Advice [*]

Album Description

Bill Fay is an enigmatic UK based singer, songwriter and pianist whose work is impossible to categorize. His late 60's early 70's work has a strong cult following, is highly regarded by many music journalists and is dark and haunting with songs rarely going over 3 minutes. All original album tracks plus the following bonus tracks 'Some Good Advice' & 'Screams in the Ears' on this remastered edition. Eclectic Records. 2005

Album Details

An Enigmatic UK Based Singer, Songwriter and Pianist Whose Work is Impossible to Catergorise. His Late 60's Early 70's Work Has a Strong Cult Following, is Highly Regarded by Many Music Journalists and is Dark and Haunting with Songs Rarely Going Over Three Minutes. His Fans Include Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Songwriter/Producer Jim O'rourke, Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance and David Michael of Current 93.

Customer Reviews:

i don't get it.......2006-08-07

i got the cd expecting something truly out of the ordinary. instead i got very bland music. i'm fairly open minded and have wide musical tastes, but this was pure garbage (no offense). as a matter of fact i tossed the cd in the garbage at work....

Interesting songs, wish he'd lost the arranger........2005-10-27

I suspect that when Bill Fay recorded this album in 1968, he didn't have a lot of say in who would be producing and arranging his songs. Too bad, because a lot of very interesting and worthwhile songs on this album are undone by overblown, vacuous production, with string arrangements that mostly seem out of place half the time and "psychedelic" guitar which has no business being there at all. That said, Fay has an engaging voice and seems enough of his own man in the songwriting department that if the padding on his recordings were taken away, the songs would really shine. It's a shame, but you might like this album anyway.

The Well Kept Secret You've Been Looking For.......2005-06-06

I picked up FROM THE BOTTOM OF A GRANDFATHER CLOCK on a whim. I had never heard of Bill Fay but being a Nick Drake fan, I was hoping for another shadowy genius in a garrett. What I heard sounded amazingly more like SGT PEPPERS on downers, chockfull of "Day In The Life" sentiments. And these were just the demos & outtakes.

Needless to say, it didn't take much prodding to pick this up. For those who stubbled across GRANDFATHER, you'll be far from disappointed by this "lost" 1971 masterpiece. Though ambitiously orchestrated, Fay's jaded delivery keeps things from sounding overdressed.

"Garden Song" starts off spare & winterly before bursting into a vernal wash of strings & horns. A promising start. Almost perversely, "The Sun Is Bored" follows with a distinctly Eleanor Rigby chill.

Throughout the most of this album, Fay wears the mantle of perpetual outsider, dissatisfied with what life has to offer. Rather than play "the games we want you to play" Fay takes on the view of the kid who stands on the sidelines letting the ball pass him by. The one unable to fit in with society's expectations.

This view is backed the cryptic liner notes, reprinted from the original album. That said, the present day notes provided by Fay in the reissue demystify all that & are humbly down to earth.

Though songs like "The Room" with its depiction of heroin addiction, are decidedly overcast, Fay always manages to paint just the right glimmer of hope into the horizon. And therein lies his skill. No matter how bleak things get lyrically, there's always a catchy hook to hang on to.

Though I've heard demos of many of these songs, the likes of "Narrow Way", "We Have Laid Here" & "Methane River" are new to me & each showcase Fay at his enigmatic best. Other highlights include the anti-war ballads, "Sing Us One Of Your Songs May" & "Gentle Willie". "May" being particularly moving.

Without a doubt, Fay's signature song has to be the anthemic, "Be Not So Fearful". According to the liner notes, it was recently covered by Wilco. Based on what I hear here(& on "Grandfather"), I'm loathe to seek it out.

Also included are two rare bonus tracks, which verge more on Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd territory. "Some Good Advice" captures Fay in fine, sarcastic form while "Screams In The Ears" is far more in keeping with the search-for-inner meaning feel of the album.

Others have described Fay as the missing link between Nick Drake & Ray Davis. I would say he's more like a cross between The Beatles & a sort of English Leonard Cohen. In any case, this might just be the well kept secret you've been looking for.

Fay's last album for Decca has also been reissued. But be warned, TIME OF THE LAST PERSECUTION takes a decidely dark, paranoid turn. And I can't recommend GRANDFATHER enough.

Average customer rating:

From the Bottom of an Old Grandfather Clock Bill Fay Manufacturer: Wooden Hill UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Folk | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow Time of the Last Persecution The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas ASIN: B00063UFPG Release Date: 2006-05-01

Tracks:

1. Warwick Town
2. Maxine's Parlour
3. Doris Comes Today
4. Maudy la Lune
5. Garden Song
6. Strangers in the Fields
7. Brighton Beach
8. Room
9. We Want You to Stay
10. Camille
11. Sometime Never Day
12. Be Not So Fearful
13. Backwoods Maze
14. Cannon's Plain
15. Sun Is Bored
16. Just Another Song
17. Morning Train
18. Parasite Child
19. Katie & Me
20. Gentle Willie
21. Tiny
22. Down to the Bridge
23. Sing Us One of Your Songs, May
24. Lily Brown - Bill Fay, Johnny Fay
25. Jack Laughter & Mademoiselle Sigh

Album Details

25 Stunning Demos (22 Previously Unreleased) and Work in Progress Tracks Cut Between 66 and 70 from this Cult British Artist. 60's Pop Art at It's Finest. Wilco Fans Take Note, this Includes the Original Version of "be Not So Fearful", a Song Covered by Jeff Tweedy in the Wilco Documentary Film 'i Am Trying to Break Your Heart'.

Average customer rating: enjoyable to listen to over and over

Honor To Our Soldiers: Music of the Civil War Manufacturer: Music Masters Jazz ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Donizetti | Donizetti, Gaetano | ( D ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Smith, John Stafford | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Verdi | Verdi, Giuseppe | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Marches | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Marches | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music ASIN: B000000FQO Release Date: 1991-06-25

Tracks:

1. The Star-Spangled Banner
2. Dixie & The Bonnie Blue Flag
3. Honor To Our Soldiers
4. Salutation To America Grand Polka
5. Lustspiel Overture
6. My Heart's With My Nora
7. Meridian Waltz
8. O Ye Tears
9. Holiday Polka
10. Polonaise
11. Wrecker's Daughter Quickstep
12. Selections From 'Rigoletto'
13. Polka Mazurka
14. Maud Schottisch
15. Vida Galop
16. Wood Up Quickstep
17. Vergistmeinieht
18. Ninetta Polka
19. Sextet & Cavatina From 'Lucia Di Lammermoor'
20. Juanita
21. Martha Quickstep
22. Home Again
23. Louisa Polka
24. Light Cavalry Overture

Customer Reviews:

enjoyable to listen to over and over.......1999-08-10

I already had the soundtrack to the PBS Civil War series but wanted something with period music that did not mainly consist of marches and specifically war-related ballads and battle hymns. I was happily surprised to find _Honor to Our Soldiers_, which consists largely of dance music with some war- and opera-related music, played on mellow-sounding brass instruments, with informative liner notes. The music is very enjoyable, and even though played on the sort of instruments you would expect to find in a military band, you won't feel as if you should be marching up and down the room while listening to it.

Average customer rating:

Time of the Last Persecution Bill Fay Manufacturer: Eclectic Discs ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD British Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music ASIN: B000BYRADU Release Date: 2005-09-23

Tracks:

1. Omega Day
2. Don't Let My Marigolds Die
3. I Hear You Calling
4. Dust Filled Room
5. 'Til the Christ Come Back
6. Release Is in the Eye
7. Laughing Man
8. Inside the Keepers Pantry
9. Tell It Like It Is
10. Plan D
11. Pictures of Adolf Again
12. Time of the Last Persecution
13. Come a Day
14. Let All the Other Teddies Know

Average customer rating:

Bill Fay Bill Fay Manufacturer: Eclectic Discs ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Folk | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music ASIN: B000BYRA80 Release Date: 2005-09-23

Tracks:

1. Garden Song
2. Sun Is Bored
3. We Want You to Stay
4. Narrow Way
5. We Have Laid Here
6. Sing Us One of Your Songs May
7. Gentle Willie
8. Methane River
9. Room
10. Goodnight Stan
11. Cannons Plain
12. Be Not So Fearful
13. Down to the Bridge
14. Screams in the Ears [*]
15. Some Good Advice [*]

Average customer rating:

Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow Bill Fay Group Manufacturer: Durtro Jnana ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Folk | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music ASIN: B0007ULK20

Tracks:

1. Strange Stairway
2. Spiritual Mansions
3. Planet Earth Daytime
4. Goodnight Stan
5. Tomorrow Tomorrow And Tomorrow
6. Just A Moon
7. To Be A Part
8. Sam
9. Lamp Shining
10. Turning The Pages
11. Love Is The Tune
12. After The Revolution
13. Jericho Road
14. Strange Stairway
15. Life
16. Hypocrite
17. Man
18. Cosmic Boxer
19. We Are Raised
20. Isles Of Sleep

Average customer rating: Forget the Drake Comparisions the greatest "buried" treasure in the history of rock/pop If you prefer Phil Collins, you deserve the death penalty Bill Fay where are you? To Be Cherished

From the Bottom of an Old Grandfather Clock Bill Fay Manufacturer: Wooden Hill ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Folk | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Time of the Last Persecution Bill Fay Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow Red Hash Just Another Diamond Day ASIN: B0001DMMWK Release Date: 2004-01-12

Tracks:

1. Warwick Town
2. Maxine's Parlour
3. Doris Comes Today
4. Maudy la Lune
5. Garden Song
6. Strangers in the Fields
7. Brighton Beach
8. Room
9. We Want You to Stay
10. Camille
11. Sometime Never Day
12. Be Not So Fearful
13. Backwoods Maze
14. Cannon's Plain
15. Sun Is Bored
16. Just Another Song
17. Morning Train
18. Parasite Child
19. Katie & Me
20. Gentle Willie
21. Tiny
22. Down to the Bridge
23. Sing Us One of Your Songs, May
24. Lily Brown - Bill Fay, Johnny Fay
25. Jack Laughter & Mademoiselle Sigh

Album Details

25 Stunning Demos (22 Previously Unreleased) and Work in Progress Tracks Cut Between 66 and 70 from this Cult British Artist. 60's Pop Art at It's Finest. Wilco Fans Take Note, this Includes the Original Version of "be Not So Fearful", a Song Covered by Jeff Tweedy in the Wilco Documentary Film 'i Am Trying to Break Your Heart'.

Customer Reviews:

Forget the Drake Comparisions.......2005-07-23

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.

the greatest "buried" treasure in the history of rock/pop.......2005-06-07

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.

If you prefer Phil Collins, you deserve the death penalty.......2005-01-31

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.

Bill Fay where are you?.......2004-08-25

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

To Be Cherished.......2004-02-20

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.

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Bottom of An Old Bill Fay ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music ASIN: B0002XNJH6 Release Date: 2004-03-02

Album Description

Full title - Bottom Of An Old Grandfather Clock. Wooden Hill. Recently described by MOJO magazine as 'Britain's pop Salinger', the reclusive Bill Fay cut the classic 'Screams In The Ears'/'Some Good Advice' single in 1967 before making two dark singer-songwriter albums for Decca, at which point he opted for public silence. This CD features 25 stunning demos & works-in-progress that were cut between 1966 & 1970 - apart from three tracks that were included on Tenth Planet's vinyl-only Peter Eden compilation a few years ago, everything is previously unreleased. Amongst the highlights are a handful of tracks with Honeybus as backing band, including 'Warwick Town' & 'Maxine's Parlour', as well as the original demo of 'Be Not So Fearful', recently covered by American band Wilco. Baroque 60s pop at its finest, this important release includes previously unpublished photos & extensive liner notes, with new quotes from Bill. 2004.

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