Barclay James Harvest - in memory of the martyrs, 1981

"Philip John Ireland, to whom the song is dedicated, was John’s cousin, who was tragically killed in a road accident in Germany."

Barclay James Harvest - spirit on the water, 1977

"Holroyd's 'Spirit on the Water', a very nice slow number, firmly rooted in the British pop- rock tradition, but wisely taken to an art rock level thanks to Wolstenholme's keyboard parts and the clever use of simplicity in the guitar riffs"

Barclay James Harvest - the world goes on, 1976

"The "red side" (which opens the presentation here on both CD and DVD) featured just three songs. Les Holroyd's poetically ruminative ballad "The World Goes On" employed CSN-style harmonies over shimmering strings provided by Ritchie Close, while John Lees' "May Day" delivered a political message as it imagined what the British reaction to a totalitarian government might be."

Barclay James Harvest - one night, 1975

"Time Honoured Ghosts is an album of transition. The period heralded a trio of albums that followed from Everyone Is Everybody Else, often placing as one of the top ranked in fans polls and the rawer live sound immortalised on Barclay James Harvest Live"

Barclay James Harvest - sip of wine, 1978

"Back in 1967 the band was playing rhythm and blues, and was called The Blues Keepers. As they began to write songs and develop an original stayle, they decided that they needed a name change, and that they wanted something flowery, like the West Coast psychedelic bands they admired, e.g. Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane etc. Each of them wrote single words on pieces of paper which were drawn out of the hat one by one, and all were rejected until only three were left: James, a guy who used to sign with the band, Harvest because they were living in a farmhouse, and Barclay after the bank, because they aspired to make money! These were then rearranged to get the best-sounding name - Barclay James Harvest."

Barclay James Harvest - rock n roll star, 1976

"we have Woolly's Ra which is up to his usual standards and Les weighs in with two of his better numbers Rock n Roll Star and The World Goes On. These are good jaunty pieces with singalong choruses. Overall the album has a lovely pastoral feel with some excellent guitar work. To me this is one of the best BJH albums and one I return to regularly."

Barclay James Harvest - child of the universe, 1974

"Everyone Is Everybody Else is the fifth studio album by British Rock Band Barclay James Harvest released in June 1974. This was their first album for the Polydor label after they had parted company with EMI. The album was produced by Rodger Bain, who had previously worked with Black Sabbath in producing their first three albums. He also produced heavy rock bands Judas Priest and Budgie. There was said to be strained relations between Bain and the band, due to the preference of his musical style, with the band unhappy with the results of the song "Child of the Universe" in particular; Woolly Wolstenholme's only contribution was also left off the original album."

Barclay James Harvest - poor man's moody blues, 1977

"Poor Man's Moody Blues" was written after a journalist angered the band by referring to Barclay James Harvest as a "poor man's Moody Blues". In response, guitarist John Lees wrote a song which sounded like the Moody Blues song "Nights in White Satin", but in fact was cleverly not the same - the words would not fit."

Barclay James Harvest - vanessa simmons, 1971

"Vanessa Simmons" is a simple but effective number with just acoustic guitars under the vocals."

Barclay James Harvest - hard hearted woman, 1977

"with some nifty guitar work grafted onto a tale of being bewitched by an unfeeling siren - it's a hard life!"

Barclay James Harvest - love is like a violin, 1977

"Love Is Like A Violin is a marvellously beautiful track"

Barclay James Harvest - poor boy blues, 1974

"The album ends with a trilogy of tracks which join together to form a single piece. "Poor boy blues" and "Mill Boys" cleverly reverse 2 themes between their vocal and instrumental sections. These almost folk like songs give way to one of BJH's great powerful tracks, "For no one" (no relation to the Beatle song). The track crashes in, in similar fashion to "After the day" from "..and other short stories", with John Lees pleading vocals lifting the song to an impassioned climax. "Everyone's a loner till he needs a helping hand, everyone is everybody else".

Barclay James Harvest - taking me higher, 1977

"The atmospheric Taking Me Higher is his other high spot, lifted by Woolly's massed keys, John's guitars and lush unvoiced harmonies. Sadly it fades out just when you expect a searing guitar solo to crash in"

Barclay James Harvest - friend of mine, 1977

"a rarely seen country rock side to the group propelled by Holroyd. It is remarkably effective and, after the initial shock and several listens, actually works well in the surroundings of the more progressive numbers."

Barclay James Harvest - harbour, 1978

"Harbour" is a tuneful close harmony piece and "In Search For England" sounds like classical Genesis."

Barclay James Harvest - nova lepidoptera, 1978

"The morse code at the beginning of the song spells out "U.F.O.", and the lyrics are made up from cut-up titles and phrases from John's collection of science-fiction novels."

Barclay James Harvest - hymn, 1977

"The album's title, Gone to Earth, refers to the fox hunter's cry used to indicate that the quarry has returned to its lair."

Barclay James Harvest - hymn for the children, 1975

"'Hymn For The Children' is my favourite BJH track. Musically, it's very much Folk Rock - with a slow, gentle guitar picking riff carrying it along, with the band playing unobtrusively in the background - the percussion is subtly noticeable: almost like a Salvation Army style tambourine in the background. The spiritual theme is obvious from the title; but it's not specifically religious: it's song about the spirituality of humanity and nature"

Barclay James Harvest - the song they love to sing, 1979

"I can imagine it is set in a dystopian landscape as Lees’ guitar sets up grey clouds in the sky, as if the chance of seeing a ray of light is never going to happen. Woolly’s vocals send up emotional vibes as he and the band follow suit."

Barclay James Harvest - titles, 1975

"For review purposes the history of the band is quite a complex one with a number of different re-incarnations. The original line-up featured John Lees on lead guitar, Les Holroyd on bass guitar, Stuart "Woolly" Wolstenholme on keyboards and Mel Pritchard on drums. Wolstenholme dipped in and out of the band at various times and after the River of Dreams album of 1997 the band officially split, going in two different directions. At that point two separate bands emerged - Barclay James Harvest through the Eyes of John Lees (which featured John Lees and Woolly Wolstenholme at various times) and eventually was re-named John Lees' Barclay James Harvest and Barclay James Harvest featuring Les Holroyd which featured Les Holroyd and Mel Pritchard until his death. Both these new bands are still in existence and touring. Meanwhile Wolstenholme also had his own band Maestoso which was in existence until his death in 2010."