Brian Protheroe — The Albums 1974-76

The 1970s was the decade of the singer-songwriter,going from the popular piano-driven sounds of Elton John. Onto the often passionate R&B/ soft rock of Van Morrison, through to the bleaker love song fare of Leonard Cohen, through to the more playful American rock from the likes of Warren Zevon. One of the lesser-known, yet no less distinctive singer-songwriters of the decade was Englishman Brian Protheroe- who penned often wordy 'n' playful mixes of pop, rock, & genre-blending- with his later work moving more towards prog/art-rock circles.  Here on 7T’s- one of Cherry Red Record family of labels- is a three-CD set bringing together three albums put out by Mr. Protheroe in the 70's.

The CD set is presented in a sandy cream colored card digipack- featuring a glossy sixteen-page inlay booklet; this takes in a new six-page write-up about Mr. Protheroe's career, single & album covers, press cuttings & posters, and vinyl labels.

Protheroe came from Salisbury- seemingly starting his musical career in 1961 when he was the lead singer in a band called The Coaster, though seemingly it never released anything- at the same time he joined an amateur theatre group, and after his singer-songwriter career fizzled out he went on to acting.  In 1965 he formed Folk Blues Incorporated with Bill Thacker- the pair put out a  folk-rock single in 1966 entitled “When The Ship Comes In”. But it wasn’t until 1973 that his solo career kicked off- he was playing the  part of a pop singer in a play called Death on Demand, and Chrysalis Records rep heard him singing one of his own tunes, and promptly signed him for a four-album deal- and three of the albums are presented here.

First up we have 1974’s Pinball on CD one- this severed up thirteen slices of largely urgent & playfully wordy pop-rock song-craft. The album moves from Bossa Nova rhythm tinged guitar & bounding piano 70’s pop of “Clog Dancer”- and from the off it highlights his knack for quirky & rapid wordplay. As we move on we come to the earnest-to- marching hornwork & layered harmonies of “Good Surprise”. Midway through the album, we have the title track, and Protheroe's first single- this is a blend of urgently strummed electric & acoustic guitar, quirky electro effects & moody sax fills- and of course the wordy lyrics/ vocals from  Protheroe. By track nine things of gone decidedly groovy & strutting with “Monkey” with it darting ‘n’ funky guitar, sliding & tick-tock percussion, topped with great scat singing moments- a wonderfully buoyant & off-kilter track. The albums topped off in a decidedly crazed manner with the thirty-six seconds of “Wrong Kinotata” a slighty ethnic & jaunting blend of keys, loose snapping percussion & chanted vocals.  This new pressing of the release takes in a bonus track “Play”- which is fairly standard- if sightly theatrical marching piano- string swooned singer-songwriter fare.

Moving onto the second disc and we have 1975’s Pick-up, and this took in eleven tracks- and Protheroe's more playful ‘n’ often grooving side comes fore with this album. It starts with squelchy bass bounces meets guitar strum of “Enjoy It”- with Protheroe twisting out some clever & layered wordplay/ harmonies. As we move on we come to the quaint acoustic strum & knocking percussion, to strutting & bouncing 70’s pop-rock of “Cherry Pie”. Through to the very bounding & music hall like piano showness of “Gertrude's Garden Party” which has some great playful horn breakdown. Through to dueling banjo-on-speed country rock meets theatrical sing-song vocals of “Chase Chase Chase”. The albums topped off with the epic near eight-minute title track- this moves from bounding synth & piano with wordy detailed vocals, through to rising light prog-pop, onto sudden operatic female vocals & moody breakdowns. Through to jaunting fun fair fired pop making, ethno Caribbean chanting & wow-wowing electronics- a real trip of a track, showing Protheroe more prog bound & multi-part songwriting coming into focus.

So lastly on disc three, we have 1976’s album I/You- this features ten tracks, and the sound here is a lot more progressive- be it rock, quirky-theatrical-pop, or genre-blending. Things starts in fine jarring & darting fashion with the title track, it opens with rapid & melodic blend of piano & wavering showy vocals- with latter Queen like harmonies coming in. Moving on we shifting to dart ‘n’ keen blends of keys, guitars & stop-start harmonies, before we move into bounding Bossa Nova-to- sassy pop-rock. Around the mid point of the album, we come to dramatic 'n' bounding showy piano meets jerking & turning art rock “Dancing On Black”- with twisting & turning almost crazed scat/ word-play ontop. We have the tighten-moody strummed acoustic guitar that meets wordy tale-telling of “Hotel”. The album plays out with the showy & rising “The Face And I” with its mix of marching pop-bound piano, swooning & darting strings, and later moody guitar touches – all edged with sing-song-to-balls-out theatrical singing.

All three albums are largely worthy, and have their moments of greatness, and it’s interesting to hear the development & more risk-taking with each album- but of the three albums, I found the final most worthy & consistent, due to the more progressive & more sonically adventurous feel on display. It’s a pity Protheroe’s final Chrysalis Records 1970’s album Leave Him to Heaven isn't here too- because if he carried on down the progressive path it would have been great to heart that too…but who knows maybe there were rights issues.

So if you enjoy wordy & playful 1970’s sing-songwriter fare, that is often quite theatrical / genre-blending in its feel, I’d say you’ll be needing to pick-up this three-CD set for your self. Good on 7T’s/ Cherry for reissuing the work of this lesser-known, but very talented Singer-songwriter.