Description
“When The City Sleeps” is the title of the new Kracked Earth single of an obscure B side by Barclay James Harvest for the single Breathless, which the band released under the pseudonym of Bombadil in 1972.
The song was performed by and credited to a certain Lester Forrest, who was, in fact, the band’s keyboard player, founding member, and vocalist Woolly Wolstenholme.
Largely overlooked compared to the band’s more popular catalog, the song evokes the feelings of someone for whom the darkness of the night provides energy and freedom that his daytime city existence does not allow. (Well, that’s my take on it anyway!)
As a long-time fan of the band and fellow Mellotron geek, it was suggested that the song was and is vastly underrated and was deserving of an update and exposure to a wider audience.
Never one to resist a challenge, I got to work on the arrangement, which retains some of the features of the original, but I’ve given it my own spin, making the odd change here and there to the chord structure and instrumentation.
I wanted to keep the basics very simple, by using mainly piano, acoustic bass, and of course Mellotron!
Above all else, I hope Woolly would be happy with my interpretation of his charming little ditty. Also, a big thank you to my Kracked Earth colleagues Don Schiff and Tim Lynk for their help in bringing my ideas to reality.
I hope everyone enjoys it.
Thanks and best wishes.
Andy Kinch (Kracked Earth)
