John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett

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John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett
Wildwilly.jpg
Studio album by
Released1976
Recorded1971-76
Studio Eel Pie Studios, Twickenham; Chalk Farm Studios, London
Genre Folk rock
Length34:23
Label Extracked, Polydor
Producer Pete Townshend, Barron Anthony, Wild Willy Barrett
John Otway
& Wild Willy Barrett chronology
John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett
(1976)
Deep & Meaningless
(1978)

John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett is the 1976 debut album by English folk singer-songwriter duo John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett. Released first on their own Extracked Records, the album is a collection of recordings made between 1971 and 1976.

Contents

Recording began with a series of sessions at Pete Townshend's Eel Pie Studios in which The Who guitarist contributed as an arranger, producer and performer. [1] Townshend produced the first two Track label singles by the duo, "Murder Man" and "Louisa On a Horse", which were included on the album. [2]

A third single, "Really Free", reached No.27 in the UK charts in December 1977 [3] after the pair performed a set live on the BBC TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test . The performance was notable for an incident in which Otway vaulted on to a PA tower and overbalanced after Barrett's signal began cutting out. The Independent reported: "He brought down the speaker stack but fractured no bones when he landed on the sharp corner of a bass cabinet, as the impact was cushioned by his testicles." [1]

Polydor reissued the album after signing the band in 1977. The Allmusic website rated it seven out of 10, describing it as a patchwork collection that "dances on a peculiar precipice somewhere between folk and country, pop and pub rock". [4]

Track listing

All tracks written by Otway and Barrett except where noted

Side one

  1. "Misty Mountain" - 2:29
  2. "Murder Man" - 2:18
  3. "If I Did" - 2:19
  4. "Racing Cars (Jet Spotter of the Track)" - 2:50
  5. "Louisa on a Horse" (Otway) - 2:44
  6. "Gypsy" (Otway) - 3:53

Side two

  1. "Really Free" - 2:59
  2. "Bluey Green" (Otway) - 2:16
  3. "Cheryl's Going Home" (Bob Lind) - 4:45
  4. "Trying Times" (Otway) - 3:49
  5. "Geneve" (Otway) - 4:01

All produced by Barrett except tracks 1,2,3,5 (Pete Townshend) and 4 (Barron Anthony)

Personnel

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References

  1. 1 2 Robert Chalmers, '"John Otway: The world is not enough", The Independent, 20 August 2006.
  2. Larkin, Colin (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Seventies Music . London: Virgin Books. pp.  318. ISBN   0-7535-0154-6.
  3. Rice, Tim; Gambaccini, Paul; Read, Mike (1981). The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles. Enfield, Middlesex: GRRR Books. p. 160. ISBN   0-85112-259-0.
  4. Allmusic review