Barclay James Harvest – Everyone Is Everybody Else (1974) Review | A Poor Boy Works Hard for His Living, a Rich Man Plays to Pass the Time

Kronomyth 5.0: A rich harvest.

Sporting a title that only a Nektar fan could love, BJH’s first album for Polydor is handily the best thing they’ve done since Once Again. Those two albums form the fantasy and science fiction bookends (respectively) within which the discussion of classic BJH is framed. On Everyone Is Everybody Else, everything comes together: the grotesque guitars, classically inspired arrangements, otherwordly keyboards, rich vocal harmonies, unorthodox drumming and the familiar themes of a society lost at war and lost in space. The opening “Child of the Universe” is probably the last thing that listeners were expecting from an album produced by Rodger Bain, heretofore known as the spiral, sonic architect of Black Sabbath’s early works. It’s an innocent, spacey song that laments how children are often the victims of war; a message that, sadly, is as relevant today as it was forty years ago. Lees closes the album on a similar (and high) note with the anti-war “For No One.” In between, you’ll find some of the band’s best songs: “Negative Earth” (which returns to the lost-in-space theme, this time through the plight of the Apollo 13 mission), “The Great 1974 Mining Disaster” (with more references to Mr. Jones) and “See Me See You” (with gizmo in tow and shades of 10cc’s demented pop smarts). Also notable on this album are vocal harmonies that point directly to the work of Crosby, Stills and Nash; a connection that would be made clearer on their next album, which engaged the services of Neil Young producer Elliot Mazer. You’ll hear those harmonies on “Crazy City,” “Poor Boy Blues” and “Mill Boys.” Of course, I’d be remiss in noting that, while BJH was finally finding its wings, the songwriting/vocal talents of Woolly (whose name isn’t even spelled correctly on the album credits) had been noticeably grounded. From this point forward, Lees and Holroyd would write nearly all of the material, alternating between them much as Justin Hayward and John Lodge would in later years. Polydor had to be happy with the results; and, hopefully, Harvest (the label) was kicking themselves.

The Product

A1. Child of the Universe (Lees)
A2. Negative Earth (Holroyd/Pritchard)
A3. Paper Wings (Holroyd/Pritchard)
A4. The Great 1974 Mining Disaster (Lees)
B1. Crazy City (Holroyd)
B2. See Me See You (Lees)
B3. Poor Boy Blues (Holroyd)
B4. Mill Boys (Lees)
B5. For No One (Lees)

Expanded, remastered CD reissue
1. Child of the Universe (Lees)
2. Negavtive Earth (Holroyd/Pritchard)
3. Paper Wings (Holroyd/Pritchard)
4. The Great 1974 Mining Disaster (Lees)
5. Crazy City (Holroyd)
6. See Me See You (Lees)
7. Poor Boy Blues (Holroyd)
8. Mill Boys (Lees)
9. For No One (Lees)
10. Child of the Universe (single version)
11. The Great 1974 Mining Disaster (original mix)
12. Maestoso (A Hymn in the Roof of the World)
13. Negative Earth (original mix)
14. Child of the Universe (remake for planned US single)

Expanded, remastered 3-CD reissue
A1. Child of the Universe
A2. Negative Earth
A3. Paper Wings
A4. The Great 1974 Mining Disaster
A5. Crazy City
A6. See Me See You
A7. Poor Boy Blues
A8. Mill Boys
A9. For No One
A10. Child of the Universe (US single version)
A11. The Great 1974 Mining Disaster (original mix)
A12. Maestoso (A Hymn in the Roof of the World)
B1. Child of the Universe (new stereo mix)
B2. Negative Earth (new stereo mix)
B3. Paper Wings (new stereo mix)
B4. The Great 1974 Mining Disaster (new stereo mix)
B5. Crazy City (new stereo mix)
B6. See Me See You (new stereo mix)
B7. Poor Boy Blues (new stereo mix)
B8. Mill Boys (new stereo mix)
B9. Child of the Universe (US single version – new stereo mix)
B10. Negative Earth (original mix)
B11. Child of the Universe (US single version – remake)
C1. Child of the Universe (5.1 surround sound mix)
C2. Negative Earth (5.1 surround sound mix)
C3. Paper Wings (5.1 surround sound mix)
C4. The Great 1974 Mining Disaster (5.1 surround sound mix)
C5. Crazy City (5.1 surround sound mix)
C6. See Me See You (5.1 surround sound mix)
C7. Poor Boy Blues (5.1 surround sound mix)
C8. Mill Boys (5.1 surround sound mix)
C9. Child of the Universe (US single version – 5.1 surround sound mix)

The Players

Les Holroyd (bass, acc. guitar, rhythm guitar, “picked” guitar on B3/B4, lead vocals on A2/A3/B1/B3, backing vocals), John Lees (lead guitar, acc. guitar, lead vocals on A1/A4/B2/B4/B5, backing vocals), Mel Pritchard (drums, percussion), Stuart “Wooly” Wolstenholme (keyboards, backing vocals). Produced by Rodger Bain; engineered by Rufus Cartwright; mix engineered by Ted Sharp.

The Pictures

Photography by Alex Agor. Art direction by Vincent McEvoy.

The Picayune

The band went on tour with Rare Bird to support the album, which given the band’s ornithological interests seems only fitting.

The Plastic

Released on elpee, cassette and 8-track on June 14, 1974 in the UK (Polydor, 2382 286/3170 186), the US (Polydor, ACB 00216/PD-6508/3829 118).

1. Re-issued on elpee in August 1983 in the UK (Polydor, SPELP-11).
2. Re-issued on compact disc in 1987 in Germany (Polydor, 833 448-2).
3. Re-issued on compact disc in Japan (Polydor, UICY-9047).
4. Re-issued on expanded compact disc on June 2, 2003 in the UK (Polydor, 065 401-2) with 4 bonus tracks.
5. Re-issued on expanded, remastered compact disc in 2006 in Japan (Polydor, UICY-93044) with 4 bonus tracks.
6. Re-issued on elpee on September 1, 2014 in the UK (Polydor, 535 208-8).
7. Re-issued on expanded, remastered compact disc on April 27, 2016 in Japan (Polydor, UICY-25564) with 4 bonus tracks.
8. Re-issued on expanded, 24-bit remastered 3CD in 2016 in the UK (Esoteric, ECLEC-32540) with 23 bonus tracks.