LOOSE ROUTES : ONE

This is a companion page to the CD "Holyground The Works volume 10  :  LOOSE ROUTES 1". Text in green is from the CD booklet, 
other text is additional information, words to original songs, comments from musicians and others, background facts and gossip.

Holyground formed during the long hot summer-of-love when Dave Wood suggested Mike continue to make records as he had while a student at Bretton Hall.

Mike Levon remembers the moment very clearly. Although he was not consciously aware of something having been lost which was very important to him, the excitement of realising that he could go on to make records is etched in his memory. Quite when Mike decided the name had to be 'Holyground' is less clear, although it is likely that he had already used the name for his flat in Cypress Street, about a mile from Wakefield town centre. What do you mean - doesn't everyone name their flats or houses?

The immediate result was NUMBER NINE BREAD STREET, a folk rock album recorded partly at Moodie's Bar, on Bread Street in Wakefield, and partly in Bretton Hall.

Moodies was where Mike had met Dave Wood. The pub had become something of a hangout for folk musicians from Bretton and from the town during the year before. Mike writes about the bar in 'Hey Slow Train'.

LOOSE ROUTES starts in the Bretton of 1966 and ends in the Cass Yard of the late sixties and early seventies, moving from folk to rock; from a mix of covers and new songs to wholly original music.
At Bretton Mike recorded an early live folk session, releasing it as BAR-ONE in 1966, no tapes of which remain; following it with two EPs, CROSS-SECTION and WHERE IT'S AT; and an album: LAST THING ON MY MIND. Ninety nine copies were made of each, and they sold out!

In September 1966 Mike left Bretton to live for a few months in Cyprus Street, Wakefield where he wrote songs with Bob Hart; moving early in 1967 to share a flat on Jacob's Well Lane with members of R & B band, Throb. Mike was their drummer for a while, and Throb recorded with other artists on BREAD STREET. Most evenings Mike could be found at Moodie's Bar, which had become a centre for folk singers and singer songwriters, so it was a natural place to record BREAD STREET - in a back room which at that time was for men only! Shirley Levon was the first woman allowed in.

In late summer Mike got a flat in Cass Yard and started making recordings in his bedroom, later to become the studio. After BREAD STREET work began on the more ambitious A TO AUSTR. By 1970 and early 71 Holyground was buzzing: recording Bill Nelson, various local bands and musicians, early Thundermother, and the beginnings of ASTRAL NAVIGATIONS, and JUMBLE LANE.

LOOSE ROUTES consists of main tracks, (large blue headings), and short contemporary excerpts, (in pink).

QUITE SO! (THE TRENDS)  1965
(Mike Levon - Bob Simmonds)
Bob Simmonds & Mick Woodhouse  guitars  /  Mike Levon  drums

THE HOLYGROUND  1966
(traditional)
Kevin Slater and friends

Early days - a snatch of Mike with his first ever group, The Trends! Ever the record producer, he drilled holes for audio mixer controls into his bass drum shell.

Mike still has the bass drum front which proclaims proudly 'THE TRENDS BEAT GROUP'. (Part of it can be seen on the cover of & Strangeness And Charm, 1999). He and two friends played Shadow's covers, and Mike's first recordings were of this group in the damp cellar of his father's bike shop.

The song which become the record label name: The Holyground, is from an EP, THE MOTLEY CREW, Mike recorded for Kevin Slater while they were both students at Bretton Hall in Yorkshire.
Copies of this EP do exist, but it very traditional unaccompanied folk song, without and of Mike's production touches.

DON'T THINK TWICE  1965
(Bob Dylan : Special Rider Music / Sony)
Terry McCann  vocal  /  Marilyn Collins  guitar  /  John Williams  bass  /  Jane Westlake  tambourine

From CROSS-SECTION, predating the LP LAST THING ON MY MIND, recorded in the natural acoustics of Bretton's Adam Room.

Whose idea it was to bring together this group, and arrange the music in this folk rock style is lost in the mists of time, but it is highly likely that Mike was one of the instigators. He was one of those who applauded Dylan's electrification. Jane was better known for Joan Baez-like singing, rather than tambourine playing! Marilyn would go on to sing and play on LAST THING ON MY MIND, and John Williams was to be found on several records from Bretton playing guitar and electric bass guitar. Terry McCann had, and still has, a powerful musical vocal style. He now sings for a living on cruise ships!

Recorded in 1966, Mike's last summer at Bretton, the EP WHERE IT'S AT was a mixture of original songs and rock-like covers, pointing the way to both BREAD STREET and eventually A TO AUSTR. This song was Mike's first double-tracked recording.

Or it might be the second! Bob Hart's SAN FRANSCISCO BAY BLUES was also double tracked, see below. Apart from remembering that this was done using one of Bretton's Ferrograph tape machines, Mike cannot recall which really come first, though the double tracking on Bob's track was done in unison to reinforce the vocal which had become a little lost in the crowd, whereas the double tracked harmony on Jane's track was more obvious!

For the first time on Holyground this features a folk rock band, with Dave Nuttall on vocals, and recorded for CROSS-SECTION. The live excerpt was taped at a Bretton Hall Saturday night dance in Kennel Block.

The last time Mike would be heard on drums for many a year. The band mostly played rock and roll songs like 'Sweet Little Sixteen'; or blues like 'Mojo Working'. This was the only Dylan cover they played. In the EP version someone gets it wrong at one point and the group brave the mistake until Dave picks up the vocal line again. Opinions vary as to who was at fault!

Recorded in the student entertainment block, known as Kennel Block.

below : Kennel Block as it is today

[ click to enlarge ]

One summer evening several musicians went to Bretton lecturer Jim Reed's house in nearby Netherton to tape two songs: Corrina, and Song Of Black Glass; both on the EP WHERE IT'S AT. Jim provided the virginals (played by Clive Colling), and delicious soup. A flavour of the evening, if not the soup, is heard in the rehearsal.

Again, whose idea all this was is not remembered. The choice of venue was down to Jim Reed owning a virginals, a harpsichord-like instrument. The recording was made in his living room. Whether there had been any rehearsal is also lost to time. The mix of virginals, harmonica and flute creates a magic, irrespective of the flute being somewhat flat, and supports Chris' soulful singing. Jim's lute is barely audible in either this track or the next.

With this song Mike and Bob Hart began a short songwriting partnership which was to blossom on BREAD STREET.

'Song of Black Glass' was written by Mike and Bob Hart. Mike's words do give some indication that he was marking, and mourning, the passing of student days at Bretton. The 'Black Glass' is Guiness, a favourite drink at Moodies which was after all an Irish pub. So here's to change: Holyground est mort - long live Holyground!

The album Number Nine Bread Street, named after Moodie's address, followed, recorded in early 1967. When Mike got the flat in Cass Yard he started recording more adventurous arrangements of songs, although the earliest of these, Chris Coombs' 'Grail Search', for much of the song uses empty polythene bottles and cardboard boxes for percussion. Mike had recorded some sessions for local club bands, typically Hammond organ, electric bass, drums and vocals. These recordings were made in local so-called 'variety' clubs during the day time when they were not open to the public. The next few months would see the early recordings of tracks eventually to be issued on A TO AUSTR, amongst them 'Super Judy' which is partly about Judy Pitt-Plaidy who was friendly with Norfolk Jim (Richard Smith) and eventually married him. They both live in Devon where Richard is now an organic farmer.

Mike : 'The two ideas I had for Super Judy were to paint a picture of the daily scene in Cass Yard; and to use proverbs and sayings like 'turning your money over when it's a new moon'. It also had to fit somewhere into the Arthur Legend which was the original aim of A to Austr, though it became much more than that. I also wanted to write a song which was not at all Dylan-ny. This I did I think - OK so it sounds Beatle-y but you can't have everything!'

This snatch of Super Judy is all that remains of the first version with actual brass instruments arranged by Chris Heinitz who would have his 15 minutes for the French Horn on the Walker Brother's 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More' much later. The version on A to Austr featured 'vox-horns' - vocal impressions of brass instruments.

SUPER JUDY  1968
(Mike Levon - Brian Calvert)
Chris Coombs  vocal  /  Brian Calvert  guitar  /  Brian Wilson  bass / Ted Hepworth  drums  /  Chris Heinitz  brass

WORKING ON BETWEEN THE ROAD  1969
(Chris Coombs)
Chris Coombs  vocal, guitar  /  Brian Wilson  bass  /  Ted Hepworth  drums

Super Judy (about Richard Smith's wife-to-be) was one of three tracks re-recorded for A TO AUSTR. Between The Road also appeared on the LP, which was completed by June 1969, but unreleased due to lack of funds until April 1970.

The years 1969 - 1971 were Holyground's most prolific. During this time they made three seminal albums of their own, AUSTR, ASTRAL and GAGALACTYCA; and recorded JUMBLE LANE and Bill Nelson's NORTHERN DREAM.

As well as this Mike was recording many other local bands, one of them being Ark. Little is remembered of this group - just the vocalist's name, and that they came from Barnsley (or maybe Huddersfield!) Backing sessions took three days - the vocals seemed to take weeks.

Mike recalls 'I had the oddest experience after recording Ark. I went to a party somewhere in Huddersfield (around the time of the release of 'Hey Jude' I seem to remember). As I walked in I could hear this track playing and although it was very familiar to me is was subtly wrong in some ways. It turned out that the record was a copy of a commercially released record by a guy called, I think, Paul Travis. I seem to recall he was one of the group Arc. They were trying to get released when they recorded the demos with me and promised me payment of some sort when / if they got signed. Apparently not all the band had been thought good enough but some were and this record, playing the song I had recorded months before, and in the SAME production style!"

I SLEPT CLEAR THRU  1971
(Ark)

Paul Travis  vocal  /  other members of the group sang and played the rest!

Mike: "I think the lead vocalist was called Paul Travis, but I could be wrong! If by any chance anyone knows members of Arc, or maybe YOU are one, please contact me."

thank you for last Monday's comforts
I was glad that you were there
you really proved that you were human
showing me that you could care

I wonder how you felt about
the man who stared at you
you know that he was still staring
though he could not see

oh I've got to be gone
there's a lot to be done so goodbye
I hope we meet again
this time for a little longer
just to get acquainted stronger with each other

I wonder how you felt about
the boy who's twenty five
and barely breathing
he's changed so much since he first came
that they've forgotten who he is
and they don't come to see him

you being confident stopped me from being scared
you held my hand and told me what to say
but you seemed frightened and I knew you must have cared
and then I fell asleep and slept clear through the day

I slept clear through the rest of the day
I slept clear through the rest of the day

thank you for last Monday's comforts
I remember you today
you really proved that you were human
showing me what to say

I slept clear through the rest of the day
I slept clear through the rest of the day

NEARLY HOME  1971
(Ark)

It's a young and growing country
resting under sleepy skies
and if you do the singing
it will gladly harmonise

like travelling companions
rolling side by side
like ships upon the ocean
coming in upon the tide

we're nearly home
we're nearly home

from the midnight sleeper
we can see the sand
you and me both dreamers
coming into land

it used to be
so far for me
so far from home
when I was on my own
but now it's not so far
from where we are
and you can see the lights of home

HORSE REHEARSING  1971
(Horse)
Chris Roddick  guitar, vocal  /  Pete Ball  fiddle  /  other musicians unknown

Horse, also known as Ripoffs and Fiddlers, were a loose collection of people from Bretton College, some of whom also published Yorkshire's underground paper STYNG which was based in Barnsley. Despite several sessions, not a lot was finished so no complete tracks exist of their music.

This was one of the tracks even Mike didn't know he had. As he used to record in mono on the top track and bounce to the bottom track, sometimes songs were to be found on that bottom track, as was this uncompleted snatch of Horse recording. Some of the band featured in 'Sad Traffic', an arts magazine they wrote, and in its 'follow-up' Yorkshire's own underground newspaper, STYNG (or Sad Traffic Yorkshire News and Gossip).

A snatch of 'Down By The River' follows, (omitted from the booklet, Mike's fault!). This is a song by Steve Channing, only a part of which remains. On the same tape is a tongue in cheek version of 'Jamaica' by Steve, accompanied by Mike, somewhat frantically, on a mini set of African Drums. 

Rather more successful was a session a little later which produced several superb Channing songs, including the two which follow.

Steve Channing guitar, vocal.

It was a dog's life for old Tom on our street
forty years of taking a back seat
stepping out from the gate
on the clear summer day
he said "I won't be long'
she said "don't forget your pay'

it was a dog's life for a man who's always wrong
no boots on the footstool
no rugby songs
just work in dirty overalls
and the old pains in the chest
it's not much of a headstone
for a bloke that's done his best

and they go on, yes
and they go on, yes
to a brighter day

on the corner by the grocer's
he met Rita with a case
they'd both agreed to run away
until they found some space
the green bus in silence
a slow train to the sea
she looked at him
he made her smile
she knew that's how it ought to be

nothing much was spoken
and nothing deep was said
they left the sun soak into them
before they went to bed
her husband was angry
he vowed to find her so quick
her feet would hardly touch the ground
he'd wipe the smile from off her lips

Tom's wife was happy
she'd never loved him much
her love had died in the only child
she shuddered at his touch
and back at the guest house
two lovers entwined
the leaden bells of yesterday
for ever still this time

two days later in Tangiers
Tom held his Rita tight
the moon that shone on Criggleston
now seemed twice as bright
the scrubbing floors, the being ignored
the greatest and the fights
all have la have an ancient spell
of the Old Arabian nights
the magic must make it come to dust
and the old Arabian nights

WHITE KNIGHT  1970
(Steve Channing)
Steve Channing  vocal, guitar

From Jumble Lane, Steve and Mike became friends and Steve recorded a lot of songs from 1971 onwards, and also starred, as Chick Shannon, on the last Holyground LP from the 70's: TEARS ON THE CONSOLE.

she helps them count the cards
in a spit and sawdust bar
she easily the pin-up girl
the prettiest by far

the talk's of cars and dogs and drinking
anything but really thinking
she needs to feel reality sinking
like a faded shooting star

where are you tonight
white knight?

the same old stuff each night
the same old gin to get you tight
pretending to be fast asleep
when he turns out the light

"is this all there is?' she muses
wasting youth in some back street boozer
hoping they will not refuse her
one more drink to make it right

where are you tonight
white knight?

where are you tonight
my white knight?

the one arm bandit she caresses
gives her his metallic message
she's worried by his sound advice
is this her only friend?

better leave things as they're lying
wait for time to do the dying
laugh to stop yourself from crying
one more day'll make it right

where are you tonight
white knight?

where are you tonight
my white knight?

Various musicians from Bretton came to Wakefield to Holyground to record an album in 1971, Jumble Lane. Jumble Lane is a road just outside Barnsley. The album has been described thus: "A couple of classical guitar pieces start it off, after which it goes through so many changes as to be completely un-categorizable'.

There was originally a cover, artwork by Mal Williamson, sadly deceased. After laying them out to dry overnight they were collected into a neat pile by an over-keen cleaner and all stuck firmly together. The album was originally put out in a plain white sleeve: the current cover being drawn and designed by Mike in 1992. There were a few out-takes, one of which was the delicious jazz based 'Hold Me In Your Arms'. John Perfect was a college lecturer and is brother to the world famous Christine Perfect, (Chicken Shack, and later Fleetwood Mac).

HOLD ME IN YOUR ARMS  1971
(The John Perfect Jazz Group)
John Perfect  saxes  /  Mike Gould  trumpets  /  Marcia  vocal Linda King  vocal  /  Martin Snell  piano  /  Liam Arthurs  bass  Nick Dew  drums

One of three out-takes originally intended for JUMBLE LANE.

my darling must you go away?
sweetheart, the dawn is not yet breaking
how can you end our love this way
you know my lonely heart is aching

I can't stand the pain
want you back again
take me in your arms darling
I just need your touch
I want you so much
take me in your arms darling

why can't you stay and make me yours for ever?
we'd be so happy and I'll leave you never
my darling must you go away?

you kissed on me our last farewell
and as this cruel world was waking
you left me in this lonely hell
forever love and life forsaking

FEED YOUR HEAD (OUT-TAKE)  1971
(unknown group, could be "Noah')

One of the many bands from 1971 onwards that Mike recorded, sometimes even actually getting paid for his work. This group were very good instrumentally though the vocals rather let them down.

PLAY THE GAME  1971
(Method)
played by the group Method - names unknown

A Holyground treatment turns this pop song into a psych treat! Method were a young local group. Chris Coombs wrote a song for them, which they never recorded : That Is What We Need, which ended up on GAGALACTYCA.

Method were a club band, playing bubble gum rock. One evening at a local working-man's club Mike and Chris went to see them and Mike sat in on drums for a version of the Archie's 'Sugar Sugar' - a billion miles from psych rock! As far as we know this is Method's own song given the psych and swirling treatment which takes it into a whole other territory.

oh pity my simplicity
the earth was not was not for me
these bands of steel around my heart
yet I go on and act the part

I play the game always the same
now youth has gone and I move on
the shadows deep around my heart
yet I go on and act the part

SHABBY TIGER  1973
(Andy Diggle - "Loz' Laurence)
Gemma & Julia  vocals  /  Andy Diggle  guitar, vocal  /  "Loz' Laurence  piano, lead guitar, vocal  /  unknown bassist & drummer

Andy and Loz spent a lot of time recording songs with Holyground but this was the stand-out track, and the only one Mike kept! The band was called Jossolyn and featured twin sisters on vocals. Loz' lead / rhythm ending to this song features Mike almost playing the tune with a new wah-wah-phase box he had built.

'Shabby' or 'Shaggy'? They seem to sing both at different points in the song. As with some other songs on this CD, especially where Mike doesn't still have contact with the writers, the words given are a best guess at the lyrics. Any more likely suggestions welcome!

where are you going
without knowing
or caring why you travel alone?
stoned as a newt you're no-one's fool
but still you travel alone

oh shabby tiger where are you going to?
tell me where are you going to?
and I will follow you
I will see it right through

oh shabby tiger find an arm that you can hold *
let your untamed love unfold
you self important soul
why won't you be told?

*(Rose Levon thinks it's 'find a Marmaduke at home' - sweet, eh?)

BOOGIE MUSIC VERSION 1  1971
(L. T. Tateman III : Atu-Magoo Music)
Dave Millen  vocal, lead guitar  /  Daz  bass  /  Fred Kelly  drums

From early 1969, Holyground had links with the Preston rock scene. This is an early version of Thundermother's trademark track.

The records made at Bretton and in Moodie's Bar, 1966 to 1967, were all recorded straight to the final master tape, with occasional over-dubbing, for example, on Jane Westlake's double-tracked vocal. Microphones were primitive: some were just the plastic ones supplied with the domestic tape recorders Mike used. First he had a BSR two track which recorded at 3.75 inches per second; then a Collaro deck for which he built the electronics; and finally a Truvox which ran at 7.5.

Moving to Cass Yard, Mike bought a Brennell - a semi professional machine, stepping up to the stereo Ferrograph shown below around 1970. On this machine most of the major albums were made - bouncing from track to track to add guitars, vocals or other musicians. A couple of AKG mikes improved the sound further, and two mixing desks were built by Mike and Ted Hepworth. The second desk, shown below, was installed just after ASTRAL NAVIGATIONS was completed in 1971.

An early set-back was the theft of a Brennell tape machine, and along with it several tapes, which probably included early acoustic blues from Thundermother musicians, especially David John; and from Bill Nelson's tracks with Global Village. There were live recordings too of both Global Village in Clarence Park, Wakefield and Thundermother at Bretton.

all songs and recordings © 2001
unless stated published Holyground / copyright control  www.holyground.co.uk

thanks to Chris Coombs  music consultant;  Peter Taylor ;  Kevin Young;  Savvas Sakkas and Kissing Spell;  Jan, Shirl, & Lesley; Ben Coombs;  Rob Taylor;  John & Rose Levon.

we have tried to contact original performers and composers - if you are one we have missed please contact us.  Email : mike@holyground.co.uk

this page will be added to - bookmark and re-visit

LOOSE ROUTES : TWO

This is a companion page to the CD "Holyground The Works volume 10  :  LOOSE ROUTES 1". Text in pinkis from the CD booklet, other text is additional information, words to original songs, comments from musicians and others, background facts and gossip.

LOOSE ROUTES : TWO takes Holyground from 1971 and the heavy psych-rock of Thundermother, through West Coast sounds and progressive rock to 1975. Some of the bands Mike recorded during this period were performing groups paying for studio time; others were his choice of musicians he liked, music he enjoyed, or friends: recorded for free.

Some featured on LP releases : Gygafo, Blue Epitaph, Skybird, Last Exit with Steve Channing. Some were never released. Bill Nelson recorded NORTHERN.DREAM, and early tracks as Be-Bop-De-Luxe until signed by EMI in 1972. Chris Coombs worked on songs based on the words from Now We Are Six. Steve Channing recorded acoustic songs and, with members of Lazy Days, TEARS ON THE CONSOLE. Groups came from Leeds, Barnsley, and increasingly further afield: Newcastle, Durham, Norfolk. Often Mike would work all weekend, including Sunday night, and weekday evenings after his day job; sometimes single-handedly recording five or six different bands or musicians during one week.

Holyground's activities were well reported in the Underground press: IT, Ink, Oz, and Yorkshire's own STYNG; and featured as a chapter in Charlie Gillett's book Rockfile.

In 1975, at the height of all this, Mike joined a group of others to establish a 16 track studio in Doncaster. He recorded Steve Channing's In The Fashion there, and the beginnings of an LP by Sneakers, which had formed from members of the Lazy Days and Last Exit bands. Sadly the project folded, and Holyground lay sleeping, like King Arthur and his knights, until 1989.

Loose Routes consists of main tracks, (large orange headings), and short contemporary excerpts, (in yellow).

COUNTRY LINES  1970
(Dave Wilkinson - Dave Smith)

it's a long way to go home
before you're really home
it's a long long way to get back home
gotta get back

WATCH YOUR STEP (live)  1970
(Bobby Parker : Tro Essex Music Ltd)

ROCK ME BABE  1970
(Accatino - Farina - Crivellente : Warner Chapel)

David John (Miffy)  vocal, jaws harp  /  Dave Millen (Ginner)  guitars  /  Dave Smith (Daz)  bass  /  Fred Kelly  drums  /  Dave Wilkinson  piano

Thundermother recorded with Holyground from 1969 to 1971 and featured on both ASTRAL NAVIGATIONS and GAGALACTYCA. Country Lines was originally a longer song - this version is slightly longer than the version on ASTRAL. In June 1970 Mike recorded a whole Thundermother concert at Bretton Hall. Only Watch Your Step survives, plus the tantalising beginning to one other.

from KING JOHN'S CHRISTMAS  1972
(Chris Coombs)

Chris Coombs  harmonium  /  Bill Nelson  guitar  /  Biff Byford  flute

Chris and Biff set A. A. Milne's Now We Are Six  poems to music but permission to release the songs was denied by the Milne trust. This is an early rehearsal found on the back of the master tape.

AREN'T YOU GLAD YOU STAYED?  1972
(Mike Levon - Brian Calvert)

Chris Coombs  vocal  /  Brian Calvert  guitar  /  Brian Wilson  bass, swinging cat guitar  /  Ted Hepworth drums

Part of an out-take with an early raw and gutsy vocal from Chris.

if only to see what we can do, yeah
if only to see what we have done
let me hear it now
aren't you glad you stayed, yeah
stayed to see it through
aren't you glad you stayed
to see what we can do?

GOIN' DOWNHILL  1972
(Dave Wilson)

Dave Wilson  vocal, guitars  /  John Harvey  vocal  /  Johnny Gladstone  bass  /  Brian Trigg  drums

This band recorded as After The Storm at Holyground in January, returning with a new name, Biffo, in April for these tracks. John Harvey brought wine as payment, and Mike and he drank six bottles of red between them during the three evening sessions.

indications
ever been flying away
conversations
ever been lookin' that way

goin' downhill
aiming on a bad sign
jump right back
and I coast down the line
that'll put me on the right road
right back home to your lovin' arms

ease up baby
that how I want it be
mercy mercy baby
bad times are holding on to me

take another step
you gonna greet how way
please me to the end
goin' again
coming home babe
get on board
get it on

HOLD ME (I'M BURNING)  1972
(Dave Wilson)

listen
coming down
from the desert land
sand got in my eyes
coing down
from the battle line
blood got in my eyes

you gotta
hold me I'm burning
I cry

coming down
from the mountain side
mists keep in my eyes
coming down
down to black sun rise
sank between my thighs

you gotta
hold me I'm burnin'
hold me I'm burnin'
I cried

RETROSPECT  1972
(Eddie Stringer - Charlie Staniforth)

Charlie Speed  guitars  /  Eddie Stringer  keyboards  /  Paul Kent  bass  /  Pete Nickson  drums  /  Jon Atkinson  flute

ALICE DEE'S ELECTRIC OUTLAW BAND  1973
(Graham "Grom" Kelly - Alan Robinson)
Alan Robinson  guitars,  bass,  vocals  /  Dave Wilson  guitars, steel guitar, bass, piano, vocals  /  John Shepard  drums, vocals

Dave Wilson came in September with a new band, Lazy Days. In the next few weeks Mike taped Gygafo, Jossolyn and Blue Epitaph.

now that the stillness
gets through to you
as we're dancing cross the land
and your boat comes gliding over
oceans wide
while baby plays piano rag

could even see
so fine with me
welcome in and hold my hand
let's go and rock to the love band

alice dee's electric
alice dee's electric
alice dee's electric
outlaw band

yeah, you gotta watch your skin
she's gonna suck you in
trestling beneath the lamp
don't be late for the love band

baby now gonna play it now
no it's OK she won't mind
push me off
gotta ride away
tomorrow put it down and look come in

easy child
she's loose that lies
now the music plays so high
straight into the love band

LAZY DAYS  1973
(Dave Wilson)

on a warm day in a sleepy southern town
my mind drifted like the shadows on the ground
go with this and that to see
what becomes of the boys like me
carefree sons of the rock and roll show

darkness gathers and it covers my fears
what has happened in those passing years
I sit in a corner and dream away my life
maybe another drink it'll all seem so fine and easy

but I can't remember
just what it was like
when we were together
oooh, and each day had a night

don't believe it when I tell you
be so happy
get lost in rock and roll
still remember
the name, the face, the home
threw away in desperation
the man of better means
who like the road to pleasure
on the freeway cafe queens
that come easy

but I can remember
just what it what it was like
when we were together
and each day had a night

FREE NIGHT RIDERS  1973
(Dave Wilson - John Shepard)

been down the country
and we can get back home again
gotta ride the whole night
choose the girl I like to have

keep my eyes open wide
I gotta get home by your side tohight
know I won't feel quite so lonely
if I'm only by your side tonight

hard and lonely life
free night riders from the night

pulled in a roadside cafe
gotta find myself somewhere to eat
cool guy sitting at the door
wanted to he gets right round my feet

I'm feeling lonely
I find a note pinned on my door
you know before that
nothin left to drive home for

keep my eyes open wide
love to get home tonight
got to keep right on rolling
want to get that daylight over the hill

hard and lonely life
free night riders from the night
free riders goin'

WAIT FOR ME  1973
(Alan Robinson - John Shepard)

girl I love
keeps going back
goin' back to the hills
take me now
let me come along
please wait for me till

I can work it out
yes I'm sorry now
find myself without no doubt
wait for me
so I can see
what my mind is all about

can't seem to make it plain
wait until I find a way
there's nothing else that I can say
"cept please please wait for me

only you're in a hurry girl
we ain't got time to kill
want to start
start all over again
please wait for me till

please wait for me
please wait for me
 

excerpt from LOOK AWAY  1975
(written and played by members of Warlord)

JUSTICE  1974
(written and played by Mother's Pride, includes part of Crown Imperial by William Walton : Oxford University Press)

1974 and 1975 saw many groups come and go at Holyground. Warlord came from Lincoln in February: one of their members was Pete Benney. Mother's Pride came from Sheffield and recorded three prog-rock tracks on December 1st 1974. They were the first group Mike recorded who used a Moog synthesizer.

judgement speaks with a computed tab
the scales are weighted for the working man
he murmurs "justice has begun
don't ask me where you get your money from'

it's time for the judge's chambers
to open up their doors
justice speaks with a silver tongue
and a spoon between its jaws

a lie it twists it's tortured way
for those who can afford to pay
the applecades beneath the cause
for those who's wealth is raising laws

so what hope have you and I?
when justice is a rich man's lie

the courts and throne divide the spoil
profits of the poor man's toil
when history is the only thought
sentences will not be short

so here am I
closed in jail
with a mystery on my knee
what confusion I've been through
am I too blind to see?
here's my bread and water noe
the warder comes to me
tell my wife I see her soon
my future's sold you see

I FEEL I'M DOWN  1975
(written and played by members of Qyl)

On May 14th and 16th 1975 John Milner brought his progressive band Qyl, possibly from York. These three tracks were the result. During 1974 and 1975 Holyground recorded many bands: Renegade Angel, Jasmine, Happy Death, Elsie, Tarquin, Coast, Humstrumlilt, Mysty Gynn, Andromeda, Vardis were just some.

well come on baby listen
coz I'm in a bad position
it's a little soulless line
it's all in your discretion
to remove my soul impression
then I'm feeling fine

well I feel I'm down
ah ha

I thought I had the answer
when I laid that ballroom dancer
and my feet were six to five
her only kind of pleasure
was the kind of buried treasure
that the bedroom could provide

I laid a high school teacher
whose one and only feature
was the way that she could lie
it turned out that her father
was a man who would much rather
meet a man who looked him in the eye

it seems that I will never
find a woman who is clever
in body and mind
I'll just keep right on looking
while the fruits of life are cooking
I'll never fall behind
 

DAWNING OF ANOTHER AGE  1975

this is the dawning of another age
another day begins, another page
time you were leaping
it's hard to have a go

a leaf it's falling, life is getting pale
it seems to me that things are very stale
a time and emotion
it's hard to have a go

a lonely man with arms apart
things have been bad from the start
time you were leaving
oh it's hard for me to go

CURIOUS  1975

oh when I told you I was curious
I didn't know just what to do
when I can't find them all
in all I mean to say
when I can find them all
every day

I realise just what I've got to do
and I realise my mind
much more my time goes by
in the same old way
much more my time goes by
I love every day

but I know that things are better now
and I'm finding out the truth
much more experience
I'm much more experienced
and I love every day

TEARS BLUES  1975
(Steve Channing - Dave Wilson - Alan Robinson -  John Shepard - Mike Spurr)

During "75 Mike was also recording Gygafo, the JUNCTION 32 LP, and Holyground's last 70's album, TEARS ON THE CONSOLE.

part of OVER THE GREEN HILLS  1975
(Ade Wilson - Paul Johansson - Peter Higginbottom)

Ade Wilson  guitars  /   Paul Johansson  bass  /   Peter Higginbottom  drums  /   Mike Levon  effects

In June 1975, Ade Wilson and his band, Sidewinder, were the youngest to be recorded by Mike - they were just 15 years old.

NO POINT AT ALL  1975
(Steve Channing. Includes part of It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry by Bob Dylan : Special Rider Music / Sony)

Steve Channing  guitar, vocal, lead guitar  /  Alan Robinson  bass  John Shepard  drums  /  Chris Coombs  keyboard, vocal

This was an out-take from the TEARS ON THE CONSOLE sessions, with Steve and Chris adding parts later on. Mixing TEARS was the last thing Mike did in his Cass Yard studio, in early September 1975 : the end of an era.

hello in there, I'm all alone
why don't you feel sorry for me
it's six months since the wedding
and it's still not fading
and I wonder if you're happy

I remember when time stood still
one morning on a magical trip
we waited for the stars to fall
or for the sky to split, yes we did

you and your husband
you have it figured out right
he hates me twenty four hours a day
but you dream my name at night
that's alright

there's no point at all in
a love affair where the feet don't fit the shoes
there's no point at all in playing a game
where the winners always lose

your sister says you look tired
but your mother she says you look fine
your father's got a new suit ready for the christening
and I, I have a bottle of wine

I go to a bar where the music is loud
and the girls they don't give a damn
end up telling stories starting "once upon a time . . . "
about a woman and a man

again I'll give "em that old routine
about how lonely inside I am
perhaps I'll find me a friend for the night
who says she'll help me
if she can
 

IN THE FASHION  1975
(Steve Channing)

Steve Channing  guitars, vocals / Trevor Holroyd  keyboard, bass Robin Garside  violin / "Piggy' Nophaled  congas

Recorded in August at the new venture Mike joined in Doncaster, this is the only song to survive the ill fated 16 track studio.

she was a pretty sell
when her face went stale
in the magazine
nice kind of people
for a girl to meet
like the royal queens
a floating port
when any ship could rest
sweet shop flowers
in a silken dress
underneath the mask
just like all the rest
she got cherry cola
that lost its zest
a crystal bird that found her nest
in the middle of the jungle scene

she'd a laugh that broke glasses
in the restaurant
pulled out of bed in the middle of the night
by an astronaut
ask a doctor - he knew her well
she could buy and he could sell
he gave her a needle
and he gave her a pill
and if he hadn't have met her
he'd be practicing still
just one of those kids in "Bungalow Bill'
who got shot in the jungle scene

she was the cardboard scream
in the American dream
of a night club song
she was a simple girl
with a simple tune
she died in the corner of a basement room
from a rag and a candle
and a silver spoon
at the end of the jungle scene

ooh la la la la
nana na no
ooh la la

SILENCE ON THE WIRES  1995
(Mike Levon - Chris Coombs, strings written and arranged by Phil Wilby, Nik Coombs, and Chris Coombs)

Chris Coombs  vocals, piano, guitar, keyboards  /  Pete Taylor   guitar, bass  / Eno and Raimonda Koço  violas, violins / Mike Levon   drums, percussion, sound effects

When, in 1989, Mike returned to the Holyground tapes to reissue them, the idea of recording new material grew, eventually, into a new album released in 1999 : & STRANGENESS AND CHARM. This is one track from the CD. Since then Holyground has continued to release reissues, and make new music and CDs.

all songs and recordings © 2001
unless stated songs published by Holyground / copyright control
www.holyground.co.uk

thanks to Chris Coombs  music consultant;  Peter Taylor  lifeguard and cement;  Al Quinn;  Ade Wilson;  Paul Johansson;  Kevin Young;  Savvas Sakkas and Kissing Spell;  Jan, Shirl, and Lesley; Ben Coombs;  Rob Taylor;  Andy Philpot;  John & Rose Levon.

we have tried to contact original performers and composers
if you are one we have missed please contact us  email : mike@holyground.co.uk

In 1970, and right up to 1973, Mike used a Ferrograph Series 7 tape machine, bouncing from track to track, ending up with a mono recording. In early "71, he upgraded to a new mixer, built, like the previous one, by Ted Hepworth. In July 1974 yet another new mixer was built, with the help of Dave Klaus, and Mike bought a 4 track Teac tape machine. From the Skybird album in August 1974 Holyground went stereo! It was also possible to remix tracks later on, rather than having to be sure of a balance each time something else was added. The speakers were upgraded to a pair of JBLs.

The studio was still the 12 foot by 12 foot room; the control room was still the top of the stairs. Groups still lugged amps, drum kits and even a Hammond organ up two twisty flights of stairs. At the end of the TEARS sessions, the owner of this Hammond, Mike Spurr, could not face the return journey, so it was "split' into two. An electrician sorted out the plugs and sockets, and Mike was only too eager to take a rip-saw to the mahogany!

New AKG mikes were bought, and in February 1975 a Revox tape machine and amplifier replaced the ageing Brennell. With new compressors and more tone controls the quality of Holyground recordings improved, although each track still has the unmistakeable Holyground stamp - what one reviewer saw as the "hidden player' on all Holyground recordings.

recorded and produced by Mike Levon
released as part of the HOLYGROUND : THE WORKS series: all Holyground recordings from 1966 to 1975.

also available :
HG 130 Chris Coombs in Aeon  : & STRANGENESS AND CHARM (1999)
HG 131 Bill Nelson  ELECTROTYPE (1968 - 1972)
HG 132  Chris Coombs  UP TO MCGILL'S (2001)

we will add to this page as time goes by - bookmark and re-visit!