Genre: progressive
Rating: *** (3 stars)
Title: Gracious!
Company: Capitol
Catalog: ST-602
Year: 1969
Country/State: Surrey, UK
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: minor ring wear
Available: 1
GEMM Catalog ID: not yet listed
Price: $80.00
Attending the same school in Esher, Surrey,
England, 1964 found Alan Cowderoy (guitar) and Paul Davis (singer/guitarist)
jumping aboard The Beatles wannabe bandwagon and forming their own band. Given
they were attending a Catholic boys school it only made sense they'd
christen themselves Satan's Disciples, attracting considerable ire from the
school faculty and a reputation for instant martyrdom amongst their
schoolmates.
By the mid-1960s The Disciples sported a lineup consisting of Cowderoy,
Davis, vocalist Keith Ireland, keyboard player Martin Kitcat,
drummer Robert Lipson and bassist Mark Laird. With road manager Tim Wheatley
replacing Laird, the quintet was hired to tour Germany. Opting for a name
change, as Gracious!, the tour and resulting publicity led to an opening
slot on The Who's 1968 English tour (though given Gracious' progressive
stylings it's difficult to picture Who fans showing a great deal of patience
with these long-haired hippies.). In the meantime, Davis and Kitcat had written and recorded a concept album
built on a theme of the changing seasons. Shopping the demo around they met
with limited interest from big labels, though they eventually found a mentor in the form of producer
Norrie Paramour. Paramour brought the group to the attention of
producer/arranger Tim Rice, who promptly hired Davis to support his
"Jesus Christ Superstar" project. That connection helped the
band to get signed
by Vertigo (Capitol acquiring American distribution rights).
The band's self-titled 1970 debut teamed them with producer Hugh Murphy.
With Davis and Kitcat writing all of the material (much of it reflecting a
pseudo-religious theme - blame their Catholic upbringing), "Gracious!"
wasn't half bad. Musically diverse, the set included stabs at art-rock
pretense ('Introduction'), classical influences (the instrumental 'Fugue in 'D' Minor'), surprisingly Badfinger-styled pop-rock
(the second part of 'Heaven'), banks of mellotron modulations ('Hell') and
even an occasional psychedelic meltdown (the extended 'The Dream'). Full of
nifty harmonies, intriguing melodies and odd timings and instrumentation,
the set's well worth tracking down. Needless to say, domestic sales were
nonexistent making the set a fairly expensive acquisition. (The
original English release
featured a different, far less attractive cover - what looked like a big
exclamation mark ...)
"Gracious!" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Introduction (Paul Davis - Martin Kitcat) - 5:52
2.) Heaven (Paul Davis - Martin Kitcat) - 8:10
3.) Hell (Paul Davis - Martin Kitcat) - 8:30
(side 2)
1.) Fugue in 'D' Minor (instrumental)
(Paul Davis - Martin Kitcat) - 5:03
2.) The Dream (Paul Davis - Martin Kitcat) - 17:00
Having recorded a follow up album the band found themselves dropped by
Vertigo and Capitol. The sophomore LP was shelved and left without a recording
contract and faced with a staggering financial debt, personal frustrations
exploded, Kitcat and Lipson calling it quits. The survivors managed to
complete a German tour, before calling it quits.