The Herd - BBC Sessions (1967-1969)

In putting together albums for my big BBC project, I've discovered some interesting bands that I'd previously overlooked. One such band is the British 1960s band the Herd. Today, they're best known as the band that started Peter Frampton's music career, as he was their lead singer and guitarist. They weren't around long, but I think this album is a good summary of their career.

The Herd was considered a singles band, but one with psychedelic influences. Their biggest hit, "From the Underworld," is a good example. It's both poppy and psychedelic, telling a version of the ancient Greek legend of Orpheus. That song, plus "Paradise Lost" and "I Don't Want Our Loving to Die" were all hits in Britain, but the band never cracked the charts at all in the US. 

I don't believe any of the band's BBC performances have been officially released, but they've come out on "grey market," a.k.a. unauthorized, albums. All the performances sound just as good as official releases. The only snag is the usual one from BBC recordings of this time period, namely, BBC DJs talking over the music. This affected more than half of the songs here (the ones with "[Edit]" in their names). As usual, I used the audio editing program X-Minus to wipe that talking while keeping the underlying music.

One thing I really enjoy about BBC recordings from this time period is how often artists would play songs that they otherwise never put on record, usually cover versions. That's the case here, with songs like "I Want You," "[Get Your Kicks On] Route 66," "Stagger Lee," "Nitty Gritty," and "Hitch-Hike."

Around 1969, the rock music scene was getting a lot heavier. Peter Frampton was still only about 17 years old, and had become a teen idol for his youthful good looks. He felt the band's image was holding him back, so he quit the Herd and joined the new band "Humble Pie" instead, going in more of a hard rock direction. The last song here, "The Game," was done without him. But the band's commercial fortunes had been on the decline already, and they broke up shortly after that single failed too.

This album is one hour long.

01 From the Underworld (Herd)
02 I Like It like That [Edit] (Herd)
03 I Can Fly (Herd)
04 Paradise Lost [Edit] (Herd)
05 I Want You (Herd)
06 [Get Your Kicks On] Route 66 [Edit] (Herd)
07 She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not [Edit] (Herd)
08 Mixed Up Minds [Edit] (Herd)
09 Mine Exclusively [Edit] (Herd)
10 Our Fairytale [Edit] (Herd)
11 Oo-Poo-Pa-Doo (Herd)
12 I Don't Want Our Loving to Die (Herd)
13 Stagger Lee (Herd)
14 Sunshine Cottage [Edit] (Herd)
15 Love Letters [Edit] (Herd)
16 The Purple God [Edit] (Herd)
17 Miss Jones [Instrumental] (Herd)
18 Nitty Gritty [Edit] (Herd)
19 The Name Certainly Rings a Bell (Herd)
20 You Don't Love Me Anymore [Edit] (Herd)
21 Hitch-Hike [Edit] (Herd)
22 The Game (Herd)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15293034/THerd_1967-1969_BBSessions_atse.zip.html

I don't know the details of where and when this cover photo was taken. Frampton is in the blue jacket on the far left.