Bob Devereux, Clive Palmer - The Archive Tapes (Cassette, Unknown Year)

Side One:
1. Please Understand Me
2. Flowers
3. Changes
4. Yew & Beech
5. Taffy
6. Fairground
7. Bear's Paw

Side Two:
1. Higgledy-Piggledy
2. Suns and Moons
3. The Queen of all the Gypsies
4. Morris Room
5. Mr Origami
6. Seal Isle

THE ARCHIVE TAPES Bob Devereux and Clive Palmer
Words by Bob Devereux, except where indicated. Clive Palmer plays banjo and Northumbrian pipes. Thanks to Mak Dass, John Knight and all those who helped along the way. All material Copyright Devereux/Palmer.
In the late seventies I was a sort of roadie-come-manager for Bob and Clive. We would travel around the West Country doing gigs for £15 here, 20 there. Once we went as far as Bristol and there was one gig in London. A record deal very nearly came off, but our enthusiastic contact left the firm before things could be tied up. These recordings were demo tapes made in 1977/78. Three numbers (3,9,11) were on the cassette Suns and Moons of which 100 were printed in 1978. Clive Palmer (with The Incredible String Band, Famous Jug Band, C.O.B. and other groups) and Bob Devereux (with Mask) have both worked in pretty stimulating company before, but it is as this duo (and later The Quartet Rhombus) that they produced their most interesting work. Martin Val Baker

Track information:
1 . Please Understand Me (Music by Clive Palmer) Written for a lecture on semantics.
2. Flowers (Edwardian Banjo Tune) Different people view the same reality in different ways, it's a many layered onion that never reveals it's true nature.
3. Changes (Music by Clive Palmer) A romantic tale of a painter seduced by the sea. The audience are encouraged to sing the verse with Clive.
4. Yew & Beech (Music Traditional) A version of a poem/song originally written for MASK.
5. Taffy (Music Traditional) Another voyage into semantics. The poem by Themerson comes from the novel Bayamus.
6 Fairground (Northumbrian Pipe Tune) When Bob worked on the Fairground some of the children would risk their lives for a handful of change.
7. Bear's Paw (Music by Clive Palmer) Inspired by an item in the Larousse Gastro-nomique.
8. Higgledy-Piggledy (Music by Clive Palmer) The chorus is from a poem by Robert Browning, the short poems are by Bob.
9. Suns and Moors (Music by Clive Palmer) Most of the words come from The Diary of a Disappointed Man by W.M.P. Barbellion, journalist and naturalist.
10. The Queen of all the Gypsies (Music by Clive Palmer) People are always prophesying doom. Don't depend on prophesy to the point of becoming depressed by the future.
11. Morris Room (Music by Clive Palmer) The story of an aesthete trapped by a vision of perfection that is too fragile to disturb.
12 Mr Origami (Edwardian Banjo Tune) A dextrous conman, a cross between the Find-the-Lady man who operates in Oxford Street and a Japanese exponent of paper folding. The quickness of the hand deceives the eye.
13 Seal Isle (Music by Clive Palmer) A trip to Seal Island from St. Ives is a great way to escape. Once you're on the boat there's nothing but sea and sky. The letter was from the tax-man.

[stashedawayman]

I came across this yesterday and have played the track 'Yew and Beech' several times since. Clive Palmer one of my early influencers. I never saw him perform, nor ISB in the 60-70's. Now I am old and that track is bitter-sweet. Catch Wizz Jones while you still can!