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Few survivors from the golden age of British
folk-rock have kept their reputations intact. Of the generation of troubadours
who came of age in the folk clubs of London in the mid-1960s, some
have passed away, others have surrendered to the regurgitation of the blandest
form of acoustic folk music. But among the survivors, there is one figure whose
body of work, comprising 23 studio LPs and almost as many live and compilation
releases, has come to stand for a particularly single-minded form of integrity.
That man is Roy Harper.
Living in a secluded corner of Ireland, Harper has recently
been hailed as a key influence by a much younger generation of devoted
starsailors who instinctively recognise his innovations, his refusal to
compromise and his visionary world view. Joanna Newsom insisted she’d only play
her recent UK shows if he would
support her. The likes of Fleet Foxes and Jim O’Rourke are avowed fans; and in
previous decades he has enjoyed public endorsements and tributes from the likes
of Led Zeppelin, Kate Bush, Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour and many more. 2011 will
see a great deal of Roy Harper activity with Believe digital releasing his
Songs Of Love and Loss compilation and a number of his original albums, ITV
Home Studios releasing a live concert DVD newly recorded at Metropolis studios,
Roy himself playing a sell-out gig at
the Royal Festival Hall and the physical release of Songs Of Love And Loss.
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