Earthrise: Live at The Marquee 1974, Camel (2CD + booklet, Esoteric)
Ahhhh, the early 1970s, when progrock was still going strong, pre-punk, and keyboards were neither sneered at nor despised. Camel played both bluesy and progrock music with a mix of guitar, organ, mini-moog, vocals and flute over a bedrock of bass and drums, mostly inspired it seems by fantasy worlds.
So, after a swift introduction we are off into the big and busy sound of the title track, before the three-part excess of ‘Nimrodel/The Procession/The White Rider. More laid back moments of guitar are contrasted with what we now call ambient passages, whilst soaring guitar and/or busy keyboard solos turn up with regular frequency.
The second CD is more varied as we get the three tracks from what would become Music Inspired by the Snow Goose, which many regard as the band’s standout album. These atmospheric, moody pieces give way to the highly energetic ‘Freefall’, then the sixth form lyrics of ‘Lady Fantasy’ (‘Saw you sitting on a moonbeam’, etc) and, finally, a totally over-the-top extended version of ‘Homage to the God of Light’.
There’s a powerful energy at work, but really the Camel on show here are a band trying to find themselves as they extend their repertoire and build up their fanbase. Even in 1974 much of this kind of extended and excursive widdly-diddly music feels out of date and in need of resuscitation. The Snow Goose would provide this in the form of more assured compositions, critical reception and much bigger audiences, something the following albums – Moonmadness and Rain Dances – would maintain the momentum of for a while.
By the late 70s of course, nobody knew where to put Camel genre-wise. They weren’t post-punk in the slightest, they couldn’t in any way be described as krautrock or synthpop, and their laidback symphonic rock and progressive blues were well and truly out of fashion. From then on it was pretty much a long slow slide into a constant turnover of band members, archive releases and some intermittent nostalgic touring.
This double CD is best regarded as a snapshot of a band about to take off in popularity, a band starting to move from second-rate keyboard/guitar rock and dreadful lyrics to something more innovative and musically defined. In a way Camel were always second tier, so all power to them for surviving so far into the 21st Century, and for releasing this interesting historical document from back in the day in Wardour Street. Thankfully, you don’t have to stick to the floor to listen to this, and it isn’t a scratch’n’sniff release. And the beer in my fridge isn’t watered down either…
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Rupert Loydell
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