PART THREE: BUMPERS
by Dave Sanderson
www.flowerbedmusic.com

It was 1973 by the time my other sister brought a copy of Bumpers into the house.
This was around about the time when Meddle, Tubular Bells and albums by Cat Stevens, Neil Young and others would be played at hushed volume at night.

Inevitably, the music would still throb ominously through the floorboards from downstairs while I, seven years old and tucked up in bed, was supposed to be getting some sleep before school the next day. Of course I’d drift off eventually but, for a fair while, I’d be all ears!

Then, some twenty-five years later, having still hung onto my sister’s old copy on the pink rim label, I bought Bumpers again at a car boot sale for £2 (!) but this time on the original pink Island.
Imagine my surprise later when I got home, played the ‘pink Island’ Bumpers and heard the difference between that and the other. But more on that later….

The Sleeve

So memorable, that front cover! But, let’s be honest now…
Did anyone actually LIKE that drawing of a gaudy red and yellow pair of trainers with the long laces? You did? Well, maybe it’s just me then.

As for the back. What’s all that about? A mosaic of sorts depicting a soldier…of sorts.
But notice…HE’s wearing a pair of All-Stars.
Strange.

Open the gatefold to reveal the centre spread and… ah, here we are!
This is much more like it. Rain-speckled photographs of the bands and artists are shown pinned on the bark of an old tree stump. Moody, mysterious and introspective. Many faces are difficult to make out and/or obscured from view (just as they were on the cover of the earlier Island sampler release,“You Can All Join In”). I can imagine the band’s management nowadays being less than impressed with that but it didn’t seem to matter somehow then. This was 1970 and that element of obscurity only added to the mystique.

Speaking of mystique and obscurity…
One more thing.
Why are there twenty photographs pinned on the tree stump yet only nineteen tracks on the album?

The Music

NOTE TO READERS FROM NEW ZEALAND:
My bet is you’ll be more familiar with a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT track listing on your copy of Bumpers due to an independent version released over there on the Festival label! I’m afraid much of what follows will mean very little to you. Sorry!

Side One

Traffic’s “Every Mother’s Son” settles things from the start with its cyclical bell-like descent played on organ and piano. Layered over much of that, a fetching electric guitar countermelody adds to the appeal. But soon, after this relaxed introduction, Winwood’s soulful vocal thrusts the song forward from one sizeable dynamic build to another.
Great performances all round here and an epic opener from a great band.

After such a rollercoaster, the velocity drops considerably for Bronco’s “Love”.
Mellow and melancholy in tone, this tune is simplicity itself. Seesawing for the most part between a couple of chords in each of its two long sections.
A blissful second track.

After that, in complete contrast, we reach the masterpiece of the compilation.
Spooky Tooth’s “I Am The Walrus”…and it’s certainly a hairy monster of a track!
Its opening sludge-like groove is positively filthy. Deliciously slow, gritty and heavy. And yet, besides this and the tumultuous instrumental sections, the wonderfully fat-throated vocal parts are accompanied by the most spacious, empty textures.
Then, a moment of genius...with the sudden appearance of a female vocalist who whispers the line ‘expert texpert, choking smokers” etc. followed by the gentlest of guitar feedbacks.
Towards the end, the drummer drives the track and brings it galloping home to a shimmering climax.

Everyone would sit breathless, a little shaken after that one.
But then, a voice from the heavens! Holding a pitch for a second or two, it soon plunges down steeped in reverb. Then with sudden sunniness, we hear the repeated happy-hippy refrains of Quintessence’s “Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Guaranga”.
This may have been dated by 1973 but it was still enjoyed in our house.
With another great vocal being showcased, the track dances along with a jazzy flute, dreamy wah-wah guitar and tambourine-laden merriness.
A song to sing along with…and a strong one to close a thoroughly entertaining and varied first side.

Side Two

I know the last chord of Mott The Hoople’s Thunderback Ram so well as my sister would automatically skip this first track and set the needle down just ahead of track two (which came next, of course!). Hoople fans reading this will no doubt be outraged but, even now, I find very little in it of musical interest.
It’s a tiresome din, if you ask me …and the first of only four disappointing tracks on Bumpers.

Next track. Eccentric, colourful and pastoral…“Nothing To Say” is typical Jethro Tull.
Lurching from one key and time signature to the next, yet remaining coherent and singable. The mark of great songwriting.

Next up, Jimmy Cliff with “Going Back West”. Of course as we all know, the roots of the Island label are in Jamaican music but this selection, while not being unpleasant, is pedestrian compared to everything else on offer here. Disappointing Track No.2.

Fortunately the next pair of tracks restore some better form.
Firstly, Blodwyn Pig’s “Send Your Son To Die” with its chug-along blues, Cream-like vocals and bursts of saxophones.
And following that, Dave Mason’s “Little Woman”, an exotic waltz which fuses a strong whiff of the East with Gaelic-folk tinges. Cello, strummed guitar, woodwind and percussion sit close in the mix with an Innes-style vocal. Then, making it a short and sweet visit, it soon fades to end a mixed but still enjoyable second side.

Side Three

John Martyn, in pre-Solid Air embryonic stage, is joined here by sister Beverley to serve up a lumpy sequence of events in their bottleneck guitar singalong “Go Out And Get It”. Sketchy, uninspired and clumsily performed, this is the third disappointing track on Bumpers (one more to come!).

Following this, King Crimson's “Cadence and Cascade” is a great relief.
This is a world away from their usual angularity and crunching discords. The bass hums warmly, the piano tinkles, the vocals are practically at whisper level and the flute soon takes flight over a sequence of chords which are so untypically simple for this experimental progressive band. Beautiful is the word.

But then, it gets even better.
From here to the runout groove of this side, every note is essential.

Firstly, the brilliantly produced “Reaching Out On All Sides” by If is a slick workout in seven which simmers with promise from the beginning. It builds, threatening to rock out at any point but never completely loses its cool. Guitar, organ, sax section and another fat-throated, soulful vocal (to rival Winwood’s maybe) all grab for attention but the mix never becomes cluttered. Great stuff and one of the most colourful recordings on the album.

Next, “Oh I Wept” by Free with its wonderfully slow and easeful introduction is an inspired choice to follow If’s jazz-rock workout.
Dynamics and prolonged restraint are not common features of rock music nowadays but this one is a rock masterclass in both. Patiently, it builds to a powerful centre section and climaxes with Kossoff’s gorgeous guitar solo before a lovely quiet finish.

Like Led Zeppelin, the band Free is comprised of four strong musical personalities whose contributions are so distinctive and sharply noticeable yet perfectly fused with the others.
No wonder they were huge. But then, as the artist featured next exemplifies so well, having the talent and a distinctive musical personality is not always a guarantee of huge success until perhaps it’s too late.

This last track begins with a flourish of finely picked acoustic guitar. Sweeping, reverberant string sections overhead. Gentle tom-tom rumbles resolving into light cymbal splashes. And then, at last…the intimacy and fragility of Nick Drake’s voice.
“Hazey Jane” was the only song of his we knew in those days. And we loved it. But, like so many others, we didn’t explore his albums till much later. Too late, in fact.

Side Four

“Walk AWhile”, Fairport Convention’s opener to the final side of Bumpers, is the fourth and final disappointing track on the album for me. The band themselves certainly sound happy and having fun but somehow I feel excluded as the non-participant.
Mind you, it probably helps if you’ve had a few drinks before one of their live concerts! Aye, maybe…

“Maybe You’re Right” by Cat Stevens follows next and soon refreshes the palette.
Here’s another fruity, fat vocal again with pleasant strums which can’t fail to please.
But as well as that, the real clincher is the twist of harmony in the piano bridge sections.

Nice to hear some piano at last. And look, there’s more to come….

Renaissance’s “Island” is a six-minute slice of progressive rock which begins with a memorable, stirring verse sung by the first lead female vocalist on the album (well worth the wait!) followed by crisply performed sections of classical piano music, notably Beethoven. One of my favourite tracks on here.

Sandy Denny follows up next and does a gorgeous job singing on Fotheringay’s “The Sea”. The whole thing is so delicately performed throughout. The band caress each change of chord. Creating such a brilliant musical impression of the sea.
This has to be my favourite ballad on the album. Beautiful.

Finally, the compiler of the album goes nuts by following such bliss with the swirly organ and mad drums of “Take Me To Your Leader” by The Clouds. But we loved it!
Such a rowdy romp and, not forgetting, just before it finishes there’s the fastest stick work on the snare that I’d ever hear until, that is, I discovered Rush’s Neil Peart some years later!

Pink Island and Pink-Rim Label Discrepancies

Despite identical production credits on each version, the differences between the pink Island label release of Bumpers and its later pink-rim label version (with which I’m more familiar) range from the specific to the general.
Generally, the earlier pink Island label release appears to be brighter and louder (and in some cases, coarser) than the more rounded, warmer sound of the pink-rim label version that followed.
Before you ask, this is NOT a case of one vinyl copy being more worn than the other!
It sounds like a mastering issue to me. Drums, for instance, sound bigger on practically every track on the pink Island version.
But less is (very often) more, as they say and, while it’s good to own both, I have to say I prefer the later release.

Here are some specific differences on the pink Island copy:

Traffic - Different mix. Bigger drums.
Bronco - Extra electric guitar part played lightly on introduction.
Spooky Tooth - The guitar solo at the end has its first eight bars missing.
Quintessence - The track is LIVE!
Mott The Hoople - Extra guitar melody in instrumental bridge section. Much drier mix.
Blodwyn Pig - Runs at slightly slower speed. Sounds a semitone lower practically!
Cadence And Cascade - Fades out early and loses last thirty seconds of flute solo (and the final chord, of course!)
Oh I Wept - Different vocal take altogether!! Drier mix.
Hazey Jane - Instruments eg. guitar, strings. are panned differently.

No doubt there are more discrepancies than these but now it’s your turn to find them!!

©2006 David Sanderson
Hear this writer's very own self-penned songs by clicking here

For an excellent (and very informative) read visit www.oatridge.co.uk/bumpers.htm