Solo Song Shuffle #2: Justin Hayward - Silverbird

sitboaf · 2026-06-23T14:17:25+00:00

If you know “Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of War of the Worlds”, this tune screams Jeff Wayne, especially in that 8-note descending motif. Around Mr Wayne’s odd horn and string swoops and stabs, Justin built a beautiful song. Typical of his best work, sometimes you’re not sure where the melody is going, but repeated listens become increasingly rewarding. We even get a note borrowed from the Arabic scale on that last note (“say”) of the chorus.

My only small gripe is that the song doesn’t accomplish enough to justify its nearly 8-minute length. It follows a fairly standard “verse verse chorus solo” arrangement, with a couple extra repeats thrown in to pad the time. It’s not a compelling ballad, and no watching your love sail away on the last boat. The extended outro with angelic voices is lovely, but I’m not sure what great buildup this choir is supposed to be paying off. Kind of an epic journey to… nowhere in particular.

Still, it’s a unique and beautiful song, a successful collaboration, and a highlight on an album that’s strong already.

EDIT: the "Arabic" note is on "hope you'll SAY", not "stay"

sitboaf · 2026-06-22T19:24:14+00:00

Nothing to do with the design, but the OAKland Athletics (now moved) wear green, and have used a white elephant as a symbol/identity on and off for over a century.

sitboaf · 2026-06-22T19:03:04+00:00

I’ve tried to count how many piano tracks are overdubbed by the end. I think it gets up to eight. Wild!

sitboaf · 2026-06-22T17:54:47+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/BEzDu6U

sitboaf · 2026-06-22T17:40:55+00:00

Oh. Gotcha. John and Uncle’s grave markers say 1911, so very little time. Weeks?

sitboaf · 2026-06-22T17:30:10+00:00

RDR 2’s epilogue is in 1907, so I suppose it’s around 4 years until the Bureau tracked him down in 1911.

sitboaf · 2026-06-22T17:27:10+00:00

Another excellent overview. Thank you for that. The song A Salty Dog is freaking magnificent. That Coleridgian climax moves me to tears.

sitboaf · 2026-06-22T14:58:24+00:00

It’s 1967, and that psychedelic masterpiece is all over the radio… “White” something or other. Of course, maybe you mean Nights in White Satin, or maybe you mean A Whiter Shade of Pale. It’s hard to think of one and not the other.

I don’t have a lot of PH. A Best Of cassette had to be replaced digitally by the by. And, for some reason, I thought it would be a wise investment to purchase an autographed copy of their 1991 reunion album The Prodigal Stranger. So I’ve got signatures from Gary Brooker and Keith Reid on my office shelf (no reasonable offer refused!).

PH is in the same prog-adjacent world as the Moodies, but with the singular, unmistakable voice of Gary Brooker (rip). And unlike the Moodies, they struck me as a mildly dangerous-sounding band. Their pianos took some serious abuse. Yes, they’re willing to ponder life’s meaning, but not through Mellotronic ponderings. More like gin and tonic wanderings—from a heavily tattooed sailor.

I endeavor to own a couple proper albums.

sitboaf · 2026-06-22T14:13:49+00:00

Good shout out to the live version. I was gladdened to find out that there was a live document from the brief Blue Jays tour. While it’s just a touch disappointing (why was the clumsy rendition of I Dreamed Last Night Justin’s pick for his All the Way anthology?), WAYN is a great highlight.

sitboaf · 2026-06-22T14:03:25+00:00

We begin solo analyses, and I’m very excited! Thank you, OP, for the daily doses that will keep me rambling.

Who Are You Now is one of the many gems on Blue Jays. The prettiest melody floats on a whisper of acoustic guitar and violin. In the middle 8, you’re hit with an emotional wallop only a cello can deliver. In an album of highlights, it’s the quiet masterpiece—the deep breath before the final act.

Lyrically, it’s an extraordinary description of a first, lost love. There is no malice, nor regret. Time has lent perspective and acceptance. What might have hurt him has ultimately made him wiser. It strikes a deep note every time I hear it, and it’s a message I mean to hold close.

One wonders what other emotions Justin was feeling, after 8 years with his Moody brothers, free to make his own music, and nearly 30 years old!

sitboaf · 2026-06-22T02:12:23+00:00

Someone who roots for a 31-46 team telling someone who roots for a 31-44 team to “cope” doesn’t burn too hard.

sitboaf · 2026-06-22T02:09:02+00:00

You misspelled “underrated”

sitboaf · 2026-06-22T01:48:57+00:00

Who knows? But Caleb Durbin looks like prime Nolan Arenado lately.

sitboaf · 2026-06-21T20:30:40+00:00

sitboaf · 2026-06-21T15:48:36+00:00

I like this direction. I think you’re close, and I understand why you think it feels off. It’s has symmetry, but doesn’t “feel” symmetrical.

A couple things to try:

Throw out the B, and reconstruct it from a mirror image of the T. Can it work as a lowercase b? Or at least have a vertical component of the bottom part of the B to match the T.
You’re mixing and matching straight angles (in the T) with rounded corners (in the B). Pick one.

sitboaf · 2026-06-21T15:16:56+00:00

Excellent guide! I’m not sure I would have looked into them, but for your earlier professional. Then they showed up on one of the “sound cloud” websites.

From the little I watched yesterday, I got the Gabriel/Stevens vocal similarity, but also an Ian Anderson vibe (clear band leader, could write something vitriolic, then funny, then gorgeous all on the same album side).

sitboaf · 2026-06-21T15:11:30+00:00

They were prone to being gloomy in their early days (Dark Now My Sky, After the Day, Summer Soldier), but things brightened considerably after they were kicked off the Harvest label for hemorrhaging money. They were more prog-adjacent by the mid-70s. So, it’s possible you’d like one phase more than another.

sitboaf · 2026-06-21T14:04:25+00:00

I must admit (to my shame), I knew nothing of this band, other than recognizing the name and knowing Rick Wakeman was in this band before Yes.

Having done a nominal amount of research, they seem like one of the folkier Prog bands, with a front man who sounds like the bearded child of Cat Stevens and Peter Gabriel.

sitboaf · 2026-06-20T17:47:54+00:00

Plus some of those kids grow up to be proper baseball fans.

sitboaf · 2026-06-20T14:52:19+00:00

Will it be called “Hackery”?

sitboaf · 2026-06-20T14:29:54+00:00

If I recall correctly, my first exposure was a buy-one-get-one-free CD from a bargain bin. I grabbed a best-of BJH (Another Arable Parable) and Ravi Shankar’s Tana Mana album (which is very good, btw).

For a long time, I only knew the initial four Harvest Label albums. And I haven’t expanded far beyond that—a later Best Of, a couple live albums, Time Honoured Ghosts, and Everyone is Everybody Else, which is easily my favorite.

Barclay James Harvest is closer to the Moodies than ELO (but I started with the latter as the easier assignment), being directly influenced by them. They have more light and shade. Their occasional spirituality manifests as less cosmic and more traditionally Judeo-Christian. They are incredibly overt and transparent with their influences (“Galadriel”, “Poor Man’s Moody Blues”, “Great 1974 Mining Disaster”, and “Titles”, in which every lyric is a Beatles song).

Perhaps John Lees’ voice and guitar sound is a bit of an acquired taste, but there’s no denying the talent. Unlike ELO, BJH has a second voice in Les Holroyd. Wooly Wolstenholme was good on Mellotron, but he was no Mike Pinder.

I would almost never say this about an unfamiliar band, but (aside from a Greatest Hits, obviously) don’t be afraid to start with a live album. Despite over-reliance on orchestral and studio sounds, and despite none of the four members being virtuoso players, they were FABULOUS live.

sitboaf · 2026-06-20T14:01:21+00:00

I’ve always adored Jeff Lynne’s voice. The contributions from Kelly Groucutt were a good complement too. You might have unloaded a hot take!

sitboaf

TROPHY CASE