| Early life
Harper was born in 1941 in the Manchester suburb of Rusholme, England.This resulted in his rejecting the rigid discipline, feigning madness in order to obtain a military discharge and receiving Electroconvulsive therapy as a result.The album consisted of Harper's poetry backed by acoustic guitar and recorded with a Revox tape machine.CBS Records recognised Harper's potential and hired producer Shel Talmy to arrange Harpers second album, Come out Fighting Genghis Smith, released in 1968."McGoohan's Blues", which Harper referred to as the "main statement" within the album.The track's title referred to actor Patrick McGoohan who was at the time starring in the UK TV series The Prisoner.In May 1968, Harper began to make regular appearances at free concerts in London's Hyde Park attracting a cult following of fans from the underground music scene.The album also featured The Nice on the track "Hell's Angels".This album also marked the beginning of Harper's long and sometimes confrontational association with EMI, whose subsidiary Harvest Records he was signed to.According to Jimmy Page, the band admired the way Harper stood by his principles and did not sell out to commercial pressures.The album featured Jimmy Page on guitar (credited as "S.Flavius Mercurius") and David Bedford's orchestral arrangements (Bedford would also collaborate on future releases).In 1972, Harper made his acting debut playing Mike Preston alongside Carol White in the John Mackenzie film Made.The soundtrack for this film appeared in the following year as the album Lifemask.London's Rainbow Theatre with Page, Bedford, John Bonham, Ronnie Lane on bass and Keith Moon on drums.Between 1975 and 1978, Harper spent a considerable amount of time in the United States.Pink Floyd's 1975 release Wish You Were Here saw Harper sing lead vocals on the song "Have a Cigar" after bassist Roger Waters lost his voice while recording another song, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".Short and Sweet with Gilmour for Gilmour's first solo record, released in 1978.Controversy soon followed the release of 1977's Bullinamingvase.Harper was forced to drop it from future UK copies of the album, though it reappeared on a later CD reissue and remained on the U.The album also featured the song "One of Those Days in England", with backing vocals by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, an edited version of which became a Top 40 hit.The 1980s
Harper began the decade with the release of The Unknown Soldier which was to be his final Harvest release.The album contains a duet with Kate Bush on the track, "You".Harper's 1982 album, Work of Heart, marked the formation of Harper's own record label with Mark Thompson, (son of nuclear campaigner E.Thompson) entitled Public Records.Contrarily (though perhaps more to do with Harpers financial situation at the time) of this period, Harper stated "There is no doubt in my own mind that the early eighties were the nadir of my life in music".Throughout 1984, Harper toured the United Kingdom with Jimmy Page, performing a predominantly acoustic set at folk festivals under various guises such as The MacGregors, and Themselves.This album caused a resurgence of interest in Harper and his music.This version later appeared on the David Gilmour Live 1984 concert film.The relationship between Harper and EMI did not last and from 1985 more of his earlier albums became available on the Awareness Records label.The 1990s
The Nineties was a highly productive decade for Harper that saw the release of 4 studio albums: Once (1990), Death or Glory?In 1994 much of Harper's back catalogue became available on CD through his own record label Science Friction.David Gilmour, Kate Bush, Nigel Mazlyn Jones, and brought him more attention.In 1992 the spotlight was also on Harper after the end of his marriage to Jacqui.On tour, Harper's emotional reactions to his loss were clearly, and very publicly, visible.In 1995 Harper contributed spoken words on The Tea Party's 1995 album The Edges of Twilight.In 1996 Roy recited "Bad Speech" from the album Whatever Happened to Jugula?Collection Of Tull Tales, and in 1998, Jethro Tulls singer Ian Anderson contributed flute to the song, "These Fifty Years" on Harper's The Dream Society, a concept album based on Harper's life, particularly his youth.In 2003, Harper published The Passions of Great Fortune, a large format book containing all the lyrics to his albums (and singles) to date, including a wealth of photographs and commentary on his songs.Counter Culture received a five star review from UNCUT (magazine).CD to benefit the World Wide Fund For Nature and the Ulster Wildlife Trust.The Wildlife Album contains 18 tracks, one of which is a recital of "Jabberwocky" by Harper.The DVD is composed of live footage recorded in 2004 at Irish folk club "De Barra's" in Clonakilty, Cork.In September 2007, Harper supported Joanna Newsom at her Royal Albert Hall performance.On the night, Harper played Stormcock in it's entirety.Harper has dedicated his past 5 years to collecting and compiling his life work in various formats.Awards
HQ was awarded Record Of The Year in Portugal in 1975.The award itself was presented by long time collaborator and friend, Jimmy Page.Commercial Breaks (Previously unreleased album from 1977.From Occident to Orient (Compilation.Whatever Happened to Jugula?The Passions of Great Fortune, Vol.Roy Harper as Red Arrow.Roy Harper is a fictional superhero in the DC Comics Universe.He was known for decades as Green Arrow's teenage sidekick Speedy.Origin
Roy Harper was raised by Brave Bow, a Navajo medicine chief after his father, a forest ranger, died in a forest fire.Under Brave Bow's tutelage, Roy became a remarkable archer, and, after Brave Bow's death, Roy was adopted by Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow, and became the Green Arrow's sidekick, "Speedy."Star Squadron in the 1940s along with Green Arrow.Two from the machinations of their old foe the Iron Hand.Teen Titans, a group originally formed from the various "teen sidekicks" active in DC comics at that time.Some time later, however, Roy's fortunes took a turn for the worse.The Titans disbanded, Roy and Donna broke up, and then Green Arrow both lost his fortune and began neglecting Roy.Once Roy's secret was discovered, Green Arrow angrily punched him and then threw Roy out on the street.Green Lantern later found him and left him in the care of Black Canary, who stayed by his side while he went through withdrawal.During this time, Roy established government contacts, and was soon hired by the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI, also known as Checkmate) as a drug enforcement agent.Roy could not bring himself to turn her in, but he was concerned that his presence endangered Cheshire's life, so he left her, unaware that Cheshire was pregnant with his child.Roy eventually learned that he was the father of Cheshire's daughter, Lian.First Appearance of Roy Harper as Arsenal.Roy later returned to the Titans, as he was put as the Titans leader by Sarge Steel.Soon, another team of Teen Titans emerged.Zero Hour) and new heroes Argent, Risk, Joto and Prysm.Joto apparently lost his life, and Arsenal felt responsible for his death.Arsenal remained with this new group of Titans for a time, but eventually left the group before it disbanded.Arsenal later came into conflict with Vandal Savage.Savage had discovered that both Roy and his daughter Lian were his descendants.Thus, their organs were suitable for him to harvest to prolong his life.After this ordeal, Roy adopted a new look to reflect his Navajo heritage.Titans Tower with his daughter, Lian.Before any decisions could be made, a cybernetic girl from the future (known as Indigo) invaded the complex, and immediately engaged both teams in combat.With half the group out of commission, the remaining members tried to track down Indigo, but instead encountered a rogue Superman android, which had been activated.Caught by surprise, Lilith had her neck snapped by the Superman android, killing her instantly.Troia (Donna Troy's new identity) tried valiantly to defeat the Superman Android, but he released a deadly heat beam directly through her chest, killing her.He accepted Optitron's offer and set about forming a new team: the Outsiders.He successfully coaxed the veteran Metamorpho, as well as newcomers Grace and Thunder into joining the team.He also decided to accept Indigo as a member.Even though she had been responsible for activating the Superman android, and ultimately for Lilith's and Troia's deaths, her memories were wiped clean and she convinced Roy that she wanted to atone for what she had done.The Titans' former leader was completely unwilling to renew his involvement in a team after such a devastating loss.Nightwing, while still reluctant, agreed to join and lead the Outsiders shortly after defeating Gorilla Grodd.Arsenal was shot in the chest while attempting to stop Brother Blood from activating a global network of sleeper agents.In the interim, he assigned the Huntress as his replacement.Lian's nanny was killed and the girl was branded with Tanner's mark.The villain, Arsenal discovered, had been posing as Batman and feeding him information since the Outsiders began.The Outsiders helped search for and rescue Roy.When Nightwing and Red Hood discovered a fellow hero, Black Lightning, was arrested for a crime he didn't commit, Nightwing helped in a rescue mission that ultimately failed.Roy was approached by Hal Jordan with membership in the new Justice League.While in battle, Hal referred to him as "Red Arrow" in an attempt to stop himself from revealing Roy's name.Roy accepted membership in the League and officially adopted the identity of Red Arrow, justifying it as a final "coming of age" and outgrowing his troubled relationship with his adoptive father, Oliver Queen (Green Arrow).Roy began an intimate relationship with his teammate, Hawkgirl.Aquaman Hour of Adventure.Speedy has appeared on the Teen Titans animated series, where he is voiced by Mike Erwin.Although his real name is not given, his appearance is clearly based on that of Roy Harper.However, when he reappears in "Titans East Pt.Speedy personality is seen, as he refuses to apologize for buying fish tacos, which offends Aqualad to no end.Speedy's bow was broken by Cheshire in "Calling All Titans".Speedy has also made eight appearances in the comic book series based on the cartoon.Thus far, he and Aqualad both have made appearances in each tenth issue.Speedy appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Patriot Act".Teen Titans incarnation (his costume is the same, and he is still voiced by Mike Erwin).This does not necessarily mean the shows are in continuity with one another, and may have been a nod to the Titans cartoon and nothing more, much like Michael Rosenbaum's voicing of Kid Flash in the Teen Titans episode "Lightspeed".Speedy's appearance is also a nod to the original Seven Soldiers of Victory, who are the stars of this episode.In the "Titans Tomorrow" storyline in Teen Titans (vol.Deathstroke implies that Roy is deceased, but was using the Green Arrow identity prior to his death.Justice League of America (vol.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.This video has been added to your favorites.This video will appear on your blog shortly.Thank you for flagging this video.Per our Community Guidelines, hate speech is specifically defined in reference to "protected groups."We can only process copyright complaints submitted by authorized parties in accordance with processes defined in law.There may be significant legal penalties for false notices.Thank you for sharing your concerns.In order to process a privacy complaint we need more information from you.Please refer to our Help Center for more information and the form to submit.Thank you for sharing this video!Thanks for posting this...Haven't seen Roy for over 10 years.Sounds like he still kicks arse.Great to see Roy on DVD,first heard him over 30 years ago,still listening!Before you pass judgement on Roy I suggest you start by listening to (and attempting to understand) the full version of the song ans then at least sample some of the 40 years of music and writing that Roy has produced.Bush, I do not see how this means that Roy has an inflated ego.After making your selection, copy and paste the embed code above.The code changes based on your selection.The video has been added to your playlist.Thank you for sharing your concerns.Thank you for flagging this video.Content of this nature is not necessarily prohibited on YouTube, however we will review this video and take action as appropriate.Per our Community Guidelines, hate speech is specifically defined in reference to "protected groups."Thank you for sharing your concerns.We can only process copyright complaints submitted by authorized parties in accordance with processes defined in law.There may be significant legal penalties for false notices.Please refer to our Help Center for more information and the complete instructions.In order to process a privacy complaint we need more information from you.Thank you for sharing this video!Change the value of a comment by clicking on a thumb."And he's got no disguise in his eyes for his love as she nears."Ah but what the hell only time will tell where we're going to !Well I wish was there in 1972...Would you like to comment?Live at the Rhythm Festival in Bedford, England...After making your selection, copy and paste the embed code above.The code changes based on your selection.Roy Harper is a unique and extraordinary
individual.What follows is my attempt to throw some light on
one of our most legendary musicians.The early days were spent listening to the Blues, being especially
influenced by Huddie Leadbetter, Woody Guthrie and Miles Davis.Remember, this was a world that was still ethnically
separated.America, but I felt these records were better than what my
own culture was turning out.Jehovah's Witness, instilled in him more than a passing hatred
of religion), and lying about his age he joined the Royal Air
Force.After a beating (for dressing without permission) Roy
escaped in his pyjamas through a bathroom window.Whilst in prison he found
himself in charge of the Prison Library and began to absorb a
wealth of literature, such as Steinbeck, Nietzsche and Kerouac.All those situations hurled me headlong into
desperate creativity.The original record
was virtually made in Pierre Tubbs's front room cum garage cum
henhouse cum recording studio, recording it one day and mixing
it the next.He designed flyers for it and personally handed
them out to shoppers in Oxford Street.Roy, how do you feel about the whole concept of fame these
days, given that on the 1967 album 'Come Out Fighting Ghengis
Smith' you sang, 'I don't need wealth and I don't want fame'?It's funny, I have people come up to me
in the street and say, Can I have your autograph?If it's the Bank Manager then
I treat him like the Bank Manager and he treats me like the customer.So it depends on the person.In 1968 Roy Harper played a series of free concerts in London's
Hyde Park, building a dedicated following prior to the release
of 'Folkjokeopus' on Liberty records in 1969.Was it having spent some time at Her Majesty's pleasure,
or was it like being a prisoner in a misguided society?So that over the years you think: Hey, I wrote something
that's actu...Well maybe the next time I can
write something that fantasises instead and then I won't have
to look back and say, You were right Roy...Through his involvement with the Hyde Park concerts Roy met Pink
Floyd's manager Peter Jenner, who signed him to EMI's underground
subsidiary, Harvest Records, for whom he recorded 'Flat Baroque
and Beserk' in 1970.Western Society and mass religion, underlining what
was effectively the genocide of the North American Indians, and
still a very popular song at concerts today.They showed
me this album sleeve, the new Led Zeppelin album, and I said 'very
nice' and handed it back.Roy, Have you ever tried dabbling with any other instruments
over the years?Yeah, it's a dabble though.The problem is that someone
like Phil Collins for instance, who starts life out as a drummer,
has to then diverge and develop a different approach in order
to survive the changes that are happening around him.Neil Young is the best diverger.In 1971 Roy Harper went off to the States to tour, but for various
reasons ended up in a makeshift log cabin on the West Coast beaches
(Big Sur) and wrote a good deal of what was to become a classic
album, 'Stormcock', before being arrested and finally tracked
down and bailed out by a very worried record company.Stormcock'
includes four outstanding tracks.David Bedford added gorgeous
string arrangements and Jimmy Page, under the pseudonym S.Flavius
Mercurius, joined Roy on 'Same Old Rock'.It was very spirited music, at the extremes
of wild dance.It was manic, really manic!He was responsible
for the soundtrack music, all of which turned up the following
year on the album 'Lifemask'.John MacKensie, the director, was
never too sure about Roy.Incredibly, 'Made'
was chosen (along with 'A Clockwork Orange') to represent Britain
at the Venice Film Festival.They wanted somebody who had something more than
just a pop singer.There was an incredible list of guys auditioned,
starting with Mark Bolan, Kris Kristofferson, Tony Joe White...Roy, There's some footage in the film which shows you
at a large outdoor festival, I think you were playing Highway
Blues.Do you know if anyone still has a copy of that festival
performance?It's possible that EMI do, whoever
made that film.By the time I got better and got my wind back, it was 1975.It's been that sort of situation ever since.Harper rides a train of thought unleashed
when James Edgar put a photograph of Geronimo into his hands (the
picture is on the album cover) through whose face he journeyed
on his chemically enhanced consciousness.The album also features
two present day live favourites, 'Highway Blues' and 'South Africa'.Valentine' followed in 1974, an album of love songs, featuring
'Twelve Hours of Sunset' about a twelve hour plane journey across
the Atlantic.How do you relate
to Feminism twenty years on?What we all have to do is to make sure that we are all equal,
within the bounds of possibility.It was a freak show walking down the King's
Road, and she wanted to be a freak show, that's what she wanted
to be, exactly.Vogue
front cover that you've seen in the last ten years.She wanted
to do it and she got the reaction out of me and everybody else
that she wanted to get, and it's just basic pure male WOW!But
when I actually went Wow, and thought about it, I thought: Nothing
to do with you Roy at all, nothing to do with you whatsoever,
forget it, and went back to being Roy Harper immediately.Material from this set was included on the double
LP set 'Flashes From The Archives Of Oblivion', also featuring
musical contributions from Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson.The effort involved
in getting him out of bed and getting him to the Rainbow was exhausting.He got
a briefcase, and he opened it and there were rows of drugs and
the whole thing and the bottom was like full of...Ere,
take those two right now, and that'll put you in an upward direction,
and he fiddles around a bit more, pulls out another canister,
tips out another pill, a really big red one, and says, And take
that about 11 O'clock and that'll keep you going straight, and
then when you've had enough of that take those two...There are many impressions, but that one is
absolutely unforgettable.They supported Pink
Floyd at Knebworth and cut the classic rock L.Roy why he thought Trigger hadn't worked out.He could have a job anywhere,
anytime he wanted, and will do for the rest of his life.But, Spedding didn't like how busy he was,
he just used to say in his Sheffield brogue: 'Humph...But the band was good, it was really good,
and it's such a shame that band didn't stay together.We could easily have done, and, shit, we still could probably,
but it's not gonna be the same again.We should have actually
kept it together.We should have kept it together...That's the one point in my life that I regret not holding onto
people, because I think that band was really, really good.That same year Harper's vocals were heard on Pink Floyd's album
'Wish You Were Here' singing 'Have A Cigar'.He was in another
EMI studio at the time and Floyd reckoned he could probably do
a job on it, so as they were mates, he did...Things were looking good, but then due to a combination of Excesses
Roy collapsed on stage during the HQ tour.In 1977 Roy released
'Bullinamingvase' (Harvest).The album
was originally released with the song 'Watford Gap' which included
the great lyrical couplet, 'Watford Gap, Watford Gap, plate of
grease and a load of crap'.Strangely enough the service station
'Watford Gap' was named after didn't take too kindly to this (apparently
a member of the EMI board was also a member of the Watford Gap's
board of directors), so later versions had 'Breakfast With You'
replacing it.Commercial Break' featured the same musicians as 'Bullinamingvase'
(under the name of Black Sheep), but was never officially released,
although a number of test pressings and promotional copies did
slip out onto the collector's circuit.However, a great deal of
the album turned up on the 1988 LP 'Loony On The Bus'.The year 1980 saw the release of Harper's acclaimed album 'The
Unknown Soldier' (Harvest).Kate Bush duetted with Roy on 'You',
and he reciprocated by providing backing vocals on 'Breathing'
(on the cover of 'Never For Ever' Kate Bush thanked him for Holding
onto the poet in his music).True Story' is the last track on
the album (about the gruesome torture and death of Edward II in
1327) and rumours abound of a succession of strange and spooky
disasters surrounding attempts to record it, such as the sudden
death of the album sleeve designer and multiple computer failures
destroying the tapes, but Roy's grim determination to finish it
won through in the end.Thompson) and
so in 1982 'Work Of Heart' (Public) was released.It was chosen
by Derek Jewell in the 'Sunday Times' as album of the year, but
unfortunately it didn't sell too well and the label went under.In 1984 he released a limited edition of 880 copies of 'Born In
Captivity' (Hardup) which were sold at gigs, and was based on
the acoustic demos for 'Work Of Heart'.Page' for a while, but that's like selling Jimmy's name,
then it went to '1214' which is the year that the Magna Carta
was signed...EMI in 1986 and released the double live album
'In Between Every Line' (EMI) followed by 'Descendants of Smith'
(EMI) in 1988.The music press have a difficult time accepting
Roy and his music and I recently read an excellent description
of this relationship: They portray him as some sort of paranoid
hippy, tilting at iconic windmills like a rock Don Quixote.They
don't understand him and simply illustrate their own ignorance,
favouring the phonies and egomaniacs above one of the most sincere
and lyrically gifted artists this century.Thus came Per Yarroh (Norwegian
classical avant garde composer), Rory Phare (lounge lizard trendy
art designer) and Harry Rope (Hell's Angel).Sounds'
interviewed Per Yarroh.As she wrote
up the interview in the office, an old timer heard the record
and asked what she was doing on Roy Harper.She'd loved the record
originally, but then turned right around and wrote the most vindictive
piece about me.Being called Roy
Harper is the biggest artistic drawback in my career.This superb album
boosted his popularity, with very favourable reviews and sales.This period also saw the breakup of
Roy's nine year relationship with Jacqui and subjected him to
dreadful traumas and self analysis.He knows when I've flown the coop for
ten minutes and I'm on planet Zarg, and he can take that.It's
not a serious condition, and I guess that 'Crazy Boy', which is
a song that he's written for me...Roy
has set up his own label called Science Friction and is making
his back catalogue available (see address at end of article).At the time of writing this article Roy and Nick have just embarked
on a 41 date tour of England, Scotland and Wales.My final question to Roy concerned his live appearances.Whether it's partly the heritage of the Folk
club era, or if it's just something that's totally intrinsic to
yourself?The problem is that I'm inspired by
the poets, so I'm always going to give in that direction, rather
than in any other.IRCs to: Crisp Productions, 3 Norton Park Crescent,
Norton, Sheffield.Based
on an interview with Roy Harper in August, 1994."The eccentric genius who inspired Zep and Floyd matures with age".Pastoral, sometimes trippy images are skilfully woven into the footage, often merging in and out of Harper's face.It's simple, imaginative and never distracting."Record Collector
"Thoroughly recommended, and worth every penny of its cover price."Kingsley Abbott
Uncut ****
"Part lyrical study, part autobiography and part photo album from one of England's unsung finest."Query redirected to another address
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