Unicorn - Volcano (1977)

Chiefly remembered now through their association with Pink Floyd‘s David Gilmour, who produced their second and third albums, Unicorn should have been much bigger then they were in the 70's. Based around the songwriting of Ken Baker, Unicorn’s songs drew from both rock and country, with a sound comparable to another under-appreciated band, Brinsley Schwarz. After years of effort under other names such as The Late Edition as far back as 1968, and touring as backing band to Billy J Kramer, the group released their debut album 'Uphill All The Way' in 1971, paying homage to some of the best songwriters of the era, such as Jimmy Webb, Joe Cocker, Neil Young and Gerry Rafferty. Trevor Mee left the band to move to Guernsey and was replaced by Kevin Smith, and the band toured Europe, playing in Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands. In 1973 Dave Gilmour began taking an interest in a young singer/songwriter called Kate Bush, and after hearing her self-recorded demo tapes he booked a recording session at his farm studio, inviting drummer Peter Perrier and bassist Pat Martin from Unicorn to provide backing, with Gilmour himself on electric guitar. The band's second album, 1974's 'Blue Pine Trees', revealed that they were in thrall to the keening, glittering textures of the Clarence White-era Byrds with 'Sleep Song' and the title track, the stoical melancholia of Fairport Convention in 'Autumn Wine', and the communal warmth of Lindisfarne with 'Electric Night'. They graduated from gigs in youth clubs and village halls to playing in the US as the support act for Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, Styx and Linda Ronstadt, and this paid off when 1976's 'Too Many Crooks' presented a superior set of Ken Baker songs of the calibre of 'Disco Dancer', 'No Way Out Of Here' and the title track, and Dave Gilmour liked 'No Way Out Of Here' so much that he covered it on his first solo album in 1978. One final album was released in 1997, with 'One More Tomorrow' being the final release from the band before the broke up after the emergence of punk rock spelled the kiss of death for their soft/country-rock sound. A recent retrospective has unearthed some previously unheard songs, so I've added a few non-album singles and b-sides for a collection from this criminally under-rated band.

Track listing

01 Going Back Home (b-side of 'P. F. Sloan' single 1971)
02 Cosmic Kid (single 1973)
03 All We Really Want To Do (b-side of 'Cosmic Kid')
04 Volcano (previously unreleased)
05 The Ballad Of John And Julie (BBC session recording 1974)
06 Bogtrotter (b-side of 'Ooh! Mother' single 1974)
07 I'll Believe in You (The Hymn) (single 1975)
08 Take It Easy (b-side of 'I'll Believe In You (The Hymn)')
09 So Far Away (previously unreleased)
10 Give And Take (b-side of 'Slow Dancing' single 1977)
11 Nothing I Wouldn't Do (b-side of 'Have You Ever Seen The Rain' single 1977)
12 In The Mood (demo)