Open Road - Windy Daze: Remastered & Expanded Edition

Two CDs. Digitally remastered and expanded edition of the classic and highly regarded album Windy Daze by Open Road. The band was formed by drummer John Carr and bassist/guitarist Mike Thomson in 1970. Both Carr and Thomson had been part of Donovan's band for his 1970 album Open Road. Carr and Thomson began to perform as Open Road recruiting Simon Lanzon on keyboards and guitarist Barry Husband. Open Road were the first progressive group to sign with the newly formed Greenwich Gramophone label (a subsidiary of Chapter 1 Records) and they entered Olympic Studios in April 1971 to begin work on their only album; Windy Daze. Produced by Tony Reeves (bassist with Colosseum and later Greenslade), the album was completed at Morgan Studios in London and was a fine record which fused both folk and progressive influences and received critical praise. A follow up single, Swamp Fever b/w Lost and Found was released in February 1972, and Open Road entered Olympic Studios to record a second album with engineer Vic Smith (later better known as producer Vic Coppersmith Heaven). Entitled The Open Road, the album was designated a catalogue number by Greenwich Gramaphone but for reasons now unclear failed to gain a release and the group disbanded. This Esoteric Recordings edition has been newly re-mastered from recently discovered first generation original master tapes and has been expanded to a two-disc set include the band's 1972 single and their unreleased second album. The release also features an illustrated booklet with a new essay.