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'Boulders'
was released in 1973 after three years of hanging around on
tape and in Roy Wood's phenomenally creative mind! It is the
finest, most complete solo album I've ever heard and gained
excellent critical acclaim on each occasion it was re-released.
(A bargain at £2.14 as advertised in Melody Maker
in 1973!).
'Boulders' is a wonderful journey through darkness and light,
happiness and sorrow, mystery and intrigue. It can make one
laugh out loud at the craziness, then almost shed a tear at
the tenderness and sheer poignancy. The contrasting atmospheres
and the deeply weird characters are both fascinating, yet
oddly disturbing. |
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The
songs, however, simply speak for themselves and are presented here
in greater clarity than ever before, following careful and sympathetic
remastering by Peter Mew in Abbey Road Studios. Ironically,
Peter fondly remembers being around when Roy made the original recording
with engineers Alan Parsons and John Kurlander. In
fact, Kurlander was the sole contributor to the album, playing harmonium
on one number, 'Songs Of Praise'. Everything
else was purely Roy, exploring the extremes of over twenty five
instruments, some of which were as typically unusual as Roy's imagination!
Extract
from 'Boulders' introductory sleeve notes
Roy
Wood explains...
There are quite a few questions surrounding the Boulders album,
notably the delay on the release date. In fact, the album
was finished and ready to go in 1969. Mr. Don Arden who was
my manager at the time, decided in his infinite wisdom to
halt the release of Boulders, as there was also a Move album
in the pipeline. There was some strange managerial juggling
going on, due to the fact that this album would have been
released on a different record label to The Move. This, to
my mind was a big mistake.
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In
fact, the release was delayed for a further two years, which
would have been around the time that Jeff Lynne and myself
were involved with forming ELO which meant that I was busier
than ever. This raises the question: would the Boulders album
have been more successful than its chart position of number
15, if it had been released at the correct time when it was
finished? I think probably so. |
The
main reason for me recording this album was that I thought it
would be a nice challenge to record a proper solo album, with
the word solo as its true meaning where I would play every instrument,
sing all of the vocals, produce and mix the tracks, paint the
album sleeve, drive the van and make the tea. Now, that's a "solo"album!
Extract
from Roy Wood's sleeve notes for 'Boulders'
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