This may well take a lifetime to finish: here's the first of my own personal reviews of 1,000 albums which, in my opinion, are great for one reason or another.
When I once lent a friend a copy of my beloved Story (an album I had first become acquainted with in 1992), he quipped that it sounded almost like a Beatles album from the 1960s that had somehow escaped release. I had for some time lacked just the right phrase to describe the album, and here it was; my friend had completely summed up my feelings about one of rock music's true lost treasures in one neat soundbite.
Not that it's an entirely accurate description. Certainly, track 2, "Black Mourning Band" could easily be an out-take from Revolver - only the Scouse accents are missing - but to compare Ringo Starr's metronome drumming with the upbeat drum sounds created by Pete Kircher, awash with crisp snares and smart fills, is to liken mud to diamonds; the overall production in fact sounds a bit cleaner than George Martin's in my opinion. (Ooh, that might sound a little sacreligious!) However, the songwriting compares favourably with Lennon and McCartney's finest, so without drawing any further comparisons, let's look at the album on its own merits.
Story is a folk-influenced album from a fine rock band. The production brings to mind the sound of swinging London, with its parping brass, flawless vocal harmonies and melodies that wouldn't have sounded out of place in the ad breaks on Radio Caroline ("Fresher Than The Sweetness In Water".) Perhaps surprisingly, Story was released long after London had stopped swinging, hitting the record shops in 1970 to rave reviews and mass public indifference, though not, it should be noted, because it was a bad album - Honeybus don't have so much as a single bad song in their oeuvre - but because the record company and the band seemed to have completely lost interest.
As early as 1966, Honeybus had released "Delighted To See You", as great a single as any they released, but it was in 1968 that they truly hit the big time with the One Everyone Remembers, "I Can't Let Maggie Go", which later found fame as the soundtrack to the Nimble Bread advert. "Maggie" hit the number eight spot, but band leader and chief songwriter Pete Dello decided to quit the band while they were at the top, having had had enough of life on the road during the early 60's. The remaining members, plus some new ones, recorded Story in 1969, but without an active band to promote it, the album sank without a trace, and so a classic was born.
The album opens with the melancholic title track, with a string quartet and a searing guitar solo. The melody lifts into a major key, introducing us to an appealing vocal harmony style to which the first-time listener will become instantly hooked.
The aforementioned second track gives way all too quickly to be replaced by the gentle "Scarlet Lady", the first of many compositions by Colin Hare, a talented guitarist who resurfaces singing lead vocal on the "She's Out There", awash with cute guitar noodlings, and a masterclass in vocal harmony and arrangement. Colin also recorded one of the most amazing solo albums I've ever heard, which I will review here someday.
He Was Columbus, track 5, adds some nice mellotron into the mix, and side one closes with Ceilings No.1, which sounds a bit like a retreading of Dylan's The Times They Are A-Changing, only with some wonderfully surreal lyrics. Side two starts with Under The Silent Tree, which, vocally, sounds a little like the Alan Price Set and is one of the album's hardest rockers. My favourite track is probably the sublime How Long, a group composition with some impassioned vocal performances.
I really couldn't live without having Story to listen to every few months. Its chirpy and upbeat tone can bring sunshine to the dullest of days, and though the melodies are uncomplicated and therefore make for some pleasantly easy listening, this is adult pop at its most sophisticated.
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