Edgar Broughton Band - Original Album Series (2014) [5CD Box Set] Re-up

After 3 years and over 1 million sales worldwide, the ‘Original Album Series’ continues to offer music lovers the easiest way to get their hands on the catalogue of the world’s biggest artists. 2014 Original Album Series release Includes the albums: Wasa Wasa, Sing Brother Sing, Edgar Broughton Band, In Side Out and Oora.








Establishing themselves as an unholy collision between the still-nascent Pink Fairies and the legendary Fugs, the debut album by British free-festival favorites the Edgar Broughton Band almost literally re-created the spirit of their natural territory – a muddy field full of sunbaked hippies – with eight more or less epic tracks that, though their inspiration has long become the stuff of ancient history, remain essential listening to all but the most jaded ears. All maniacal cackle and frenzied riffing, the band's first single, "Evil," and the brutal bellowing of "Love in the Rain" are the most conventional numbers in that they were certainly written as crowd-pleasing stompers in the days before "Out Demons Out" established itself as the Edgar Broughton Band's all-consuming anthem. More impressive, however, are the numbers which see the band stretching both their capabilities and their audience's expectations – the lengthy opus "Dawn Crept Away," the evocatively titled "Death of an Electric Citizen," and, best of all, "American Boy Soldier." Ranking alongside Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" as British rock's finest contribution to the Vietnam War, it is a Mothers of Invention-esque piece that blends sneering spoken word with a delightfully doo wop-ish invocation of all that war really has to offer and all that its servants leave behind. "Shot down from my plane/Never be the same again/I was just 16 years old." As jaggedly metallic as it is theatrically ambitious, Wasa Wasa (an Eskimo phrase meaning "from far, far away") stands alongside early albums by the Fairies, the Deviants, and Hawkwind as a dramatic snapshot of a very special moment in time, as the whimsical hopefulness of the late '60s gave way to the chilled cynicism of the early '70s. And, while the band would certainly produce better songs over the next three years, they never again unleashed such a potent mood. ~ Allmusic

Track Listing

01. Death Of An Electric Citizen (6:09)
02. American Boy Soldier (4:22)
03. Why Can't Somebody Love Me? (5:05)
04. Neptune (4:20)
05. Evil (2:36)
06. Crying (5:14)
07. Love In The Rain (3:47)
08. Dawn Crept Away (13:59)

Produced by Peter Jenner




Sing Brother Sing almost equals the psychedelic cohesiveness and insouciant air of the Edgar Broughton Band's debut album, but, even without doing so, it still stands as their second strongest release. All the songs on Sing Brother Sing wallow in a hippie-ish, kick-backed experimental blues-rock style, extenuated to perfection by Broughton's resonant grumble and vocal staunchness, and surrounded by chem lab mixtures of guitar and bass. The group's peculiar instrumental outputs give odd tracks such as "There's No Vibrations but Wait," "Momma's Reward," and the two parts of "Psychopath" progressive rock-type tendencies with a homemade wit, which would be the band's most daunting characteristic outside of Edgar Broughton's singing. Although the Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa comparisons are unavoidable, the rest of Sing Brother Sing's facets and odd instrumental avenues emit a distinctness that remains the whole album through. The quaint but humorous English air that encircles "Officer Dan" and "Old Gopher" reflects Broughton's adept satirical approach, maybe without him even knowing it. Held together with elements of jazz, rock, and blues, the music on Sing Brother Sing is captivating because of its raw integrity, and in its refusal to adhere to structure, formula, or to travel a beaten path. ~ Allmusic

Track Listing

01. There's No Vibrations, But Wait! (4:13)
02. The Moth (5:14)
03. Momma's Reward (Keep Them Freaks A-Rollin') (3:05)
04. Refugee (3:39)
05. Officer Dan (1:38)
06. Old Gopher (3:53)
07. Aphrodite (4:06)
08. Granma (2:27)
09. Psychopath (6:51)
10. It's Falling Away (5:30)

Produced by Peter Jenner




The most conventional of the Edgar Broughton Band's first (and best) three albums, 1971's Edgar Broughton Band finds the group dispensing with the no-holds-barred mania and theatricality responsible for such classics as "Out Demons Out," "Up Yours," and "Apache Drop Out" and concentrating instead on more musical endeavors. It's an approach that arguably captures the band at their very best at the same time as revealing them at their ugliest. The two-part epic "For Dr. Spock" conjures images of Gong, as it drifts closer to space rock than the Edgar Broughton Band had hitherto ventured, while "House of Turnabout" certainly restates the group's free-freak credentials with its rumbling percussion and scything guitars, a second cousin to the roars that punctuated Wasa Wasa and Sing Brother Sing. The heart of Edgar Broughton Band, however, lies elsewhere. The lilting chant "Thinking About You," with its spectral reminders of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero," is certainly one of their most rancorous concoctions, while "Evening Over Rooftops" rides an acoustic guitar as pretty as its flowery lyric, but you know there's something rotten squirming just below the surface, even if you can never quite put your finger on it. The pure pop backing vocals, all "sha-la-la" and "doo-be-doo-be-doo," of course, only add to your unease. And, as that is merely the opening number, you can guess what you're in for over the rest of the album long before you actually get it. ~ Allmusic

Track Listing

01. Evening Over Rooftops (5:02)
02. The Birth (3:23)
03. Piece Of My Own (2:48)
04. Poppy (2:14)
05. Don't Even Know Which Day It Is (4:21)
06. House Of Turnabout (3:08)
07. Madhatter (6:16)
08. Getting Hard Into What Is A Woman For? (7:31)
09. Thinking Of You (2:08)
10. For Dr. Spock (Parts 1 & 2) (3:50)

Produced by Peter Jenner




In Side Out is the Edgar Broughton Band's fourth album, following the success of 1970's self-titled release. Although the humor and novel attributions of the group aren't quite as prevalent here as in the band's first few albums, In Side Out still has plenty of distinguishing characteristics, both musically and lyrically, to hold it together. "Chilly Morning Mama" and the tawdry "Gone Blue" add crass humor to instrumental improvisation in perfect Broughton-like style, enriched by Edgar Broughton's vocal snarl. The group's bizarre and sometimes creepy brand of rigid, sonic blues-rock is anything but structured, which makes halfhearted attempts such as "The Rake" and "Totin' This Guitar" relinquish some appeal. "It's Not You" is a singable chant which drips with campy theatrics, while on the other side of the coin "I Got Mad" and "They Took It Away" make for a couple of the album's more conventional cuts. ~ Allmusic

Track Listing

01. Get Out Of Bed / There's Nobody There / Side By Side (3:42)
02. Sister Angela (0:42)
03. I Got Mad (3:46)
04. They Took It Away (2:27)
05. Homes Fit For Heroes (4:19)
06. Gone Blue (3:14)
07. Chilly Morning Mama (4:33)
08. The Rake (2:43)
09. Totin' This Guitar (1:47)
10. Double Agent (2:55)
11. It's Not You (11:13)
12. Rock 'N' Roll (2:56)

Produced by Edgar Broughton Band




The Broughtons' fifth album has never been as well-regarded as its predecessors, although that has more to do with timing than with the record itself – by 1973, after all, The Broughtons' brand of post-hippie revolution was feeling just a little tired, particularly in the face of the glam scene that had emerged all around, and no matter how strong the songwriting and performances remained, there was still a sense of too little, too late. Which was colossally unfair. No, Oora isn't a patch on either Wasa Wasa or Sing Brother Sing. But it was an improvement on the previous year's In Side Out, and a handful of its contents – notably "Exhibits from a New Museum/Green Lights" and "Roccococooler" – could rub shoulders alongside any of the band's earlier, better-feted material. Indeed, the sheer diversity of Oora flies defiantly in the face of anybody hoping to pigeonhole the band with its past reputation, as Oora reveals a tight, concise, and extraordinarily melodic band whose members had clearly been listening to Neil Young as much as the Mothers of Invention, and weren't afraid to prove it. ~ Allmusic

Track Listing

01. Hurricane Man / Rock 'N' Roller (6:15)
02. Roccococooler (3:11)
03. Eviction (3:01)
04. Oh You Crazy Boy (2:44)
05. Things On My Mind (3:41)
06. Exhibits From A New Museum / Green Lights (8:01)
07. Face From A Window / Pretty / Hi-Jack Boogie / Slow Down (10:29)
08. Capers (1:37)

Produced by Edgar Broughton Band

The Band

• Robert "Edgar" Broughton (vocals, guitar)
• Steve Broughton (drums)
• Victor Unitt (guitar, 1968-69, 1970-73)
• Arthur Grant (bass, 1968-76, 1989-94)
• John Thomas (guitar, 1975)
• Terry Cottam (guitar, 1975-76)
• Dennis Haines (keyboards, 1982-83)
• Andrew Bristow (guitar, 1989-93)
• Kris Gray (bass, 1994-2010)
• Ian Hammond (guitar, 1994-2010)
• Luke Broughton (keyboards, 1998-2010)









Many thanks to the original uploader: ALLexxess