Artist: BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST
Album: GONE TO EARTH RE-MASTERED (CD)

Year: 1977/ 2003
Media type: CD

After early success in the UK with their second album Once Again, the band broke into the mainstream European market with their 1977 set Gone to Earth.

Woolly Wolstenholme – whose mellotron playing was a trademark of the band's sound in the 70s – left in 1979. Woolly pursued a short solo career fronting Maestoso before retiring from the music business to pursue farming.

The remaining three members continued. At the height of their success they played a free concert in front of the Reichstag in Berlin (Germany), with an estimated attendance of 250,000 people (30 August 1980). They were also the first Western rock band to play an open-air concert in pre-Glasnost East Germany, playing in Treptower Park, East Berlin on 14 July 1987 to a 170,000+ audience.

The band continued as a threesome, with regular guest musicians supporting, until 1998. Some 1990s albums were released under the abbreviated name BJH.

In 1998, musical differences in the band saw the three members agree to take a sabbatical. John Lees subsequently released an album mixing new songs and BJH classics, entitled "Nexus", under the band name "Barclay James Harvest through the eyes of John Lees". Woolly Wolstenholme played in (and composed for) this band, subsequently resurrecting Maestoso to record and tour with new material, as well as back-catalogue favourites. Les Holroyd and Mel Pritchard teamed up to record under the name "Barclay James Harvest featuring Les Holroyd". Lees and Wolstenholme recently (2006/7) toured under the slightly modified band title "John Lees' Barclay James Harvest"

Mel Pritchard died suddenly of a heart attack in early 2004.

All three "derivatives" of the original Barclay James Harvest lineup continue to record and tour, and enjoy ongoing popularity, particularly in Germany, France and Switzerland.

TRACKLIST:

1. Hymn (5:06)
2. Love Is Like A Violin (4:03)
3. Friend Of Mine (3:30)
4. Poor Man's Moody Blues (6:55)
5. Hard Hearted Woman (4:27)
6. Sea Of Tranquility (4:03)
7. Spirit On The Water (4:49)
8. Leper's Song (3:34)
9. Taking Me Higher (3:07)

Total Time: 39:34

Bonus tracks on Polydor remaster (2003):
10. Lied (previously unreleased) (5:05)
11. Our Kid's Kid (B-side of Polydor 2058 904) (4:00)
12. Hymn (single edit previously unreleased) (4:26)
13. Friend Of Mine (single Version - B-side of Polydor 2059 002) (3:01)
14. Medicine Man) (originally released as A/B side of "BJH Live" EP) (11:53

Line-up/Musicians:

- Les Holroyd / vocals, bass, guitar
- John Lees / vocals, guitars
- Mel Pritchard / drums, percussion
- Woolly Wolstenholme / keyboards, Mellotron, vocals