High in the Morning: British Progressive Pop/ Var - High In The Morning: British Progressive Pop Sounds Of 1973 / Various

Three CD set. 2022 instalment of Grapefruit's popular year-by-year overviews of the more melodic end of the early 70s UK progressive rock scene. A four-hour compilation featuring big hits, key album tracks, cult classics and rarities from 1973. 1973 was another significant year in British pop, with the recent arrival of glam inspiring many underground bands to adopt a more streamlined sound. That more song-based approach helped give the 1973 singles chart a new energy, with memorable 45s from Mott The Hoople, Manfred Mann's Earthband, Faces, Status Quo, Medicine Head and Nazareth. Though they fell short of the charts, some of the era's more idiosyncratic singer-songwriter talents - Kevin Ayers, Al Stewart, Kevin Coyne - also issued much-loved, radio-friendly singles. On the live circuit, the UK free festival scene was dominated by a new hippie/glam/space rock convergence, with brand leaders Hawkwind joined by the likes of The Pink Fairies and Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come. Featuring all of the above names as well as Thin Lizzy, The Kinks, Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Caravan, Procol Harum, Stealers Wheel, Roy Wood, Rare Bird, Badfinger, Free, Family and many others, 'High In The Morning' is a fascinating three-CD, four-hour appraisal of the 1973 British rock and pop scene. Housed in a clamshell box that features a classic crowd shot from that year's Windsor free festival, 'High In The Morning' includes a 48-page booklet that's packed with rare photos, quotes and biographical information.