I’ve been listening to fair bit of prog recently and being an old sucker for an old-fashioned 1970s prog rock concept album snapped this one up when I saw it had been re-issued.
I’m rambling on about Jack Lancaster and Peter Lumley’s take on the classic Peter and the Wolf composition by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev.
A brief history being that Prokofiev composed it in the 1930s after being commissioned to write a symphony aimed at children.
Lancaster and Lumley were approached in the 1970s to write the soundtrack for a planned film adaptation – which never happened for various reasons explained in the booklet, though as the recording of the album was already set up, the album was originally released in 1975.
Now we have the re-issue in a lovely packaging reproducing the artwork with the booklet beautifully illustrated throughout.
Lancaster, for those with long memories formed Blodwyn Pig at the back end of the 1960s, and Lumley recruited a fantastic troupe of musicians to play their parts including Gary Moore, Alvin Lee, Chris Spedding, Gary Brooker, Bill Bruford, Cozy Powell and Jon Hiseman to name some of them. Even classical violinist Stephane Grapelli turns up and the wonderfully eccentric Viv Stanshall does the narration.
Musically twenty one short tracks mixing in brief narrations followed by a burst of music. Remember – this was designed as a soundtrack and not an album in the traditional sense which is a good idea to bear in mind when listening as it can be a little disjointed for that reason.
Each piece of music represents a character in the story – for example Peter, Duck, Cat, Grandfather, Wolf etc.
It’s all so well done in typical 1970s prog style. Consummate musicianship and varied. Stanshall’s narration is excellent as the album tells the story followed by the burst of music.
There’s only one track which could be deemed a “proper” song and that’s Rock and Roll Celebration. A snappy rocker which sounds not unlike Status Quo. Here it is:
I grew up in the 1970s listening not only to lashings of NWOBHM but also my fair share of prog including many a concept album such as this. Always retained a soft spot for this type of music.
Stumbling on this re-issue has been a real pleasure. If you’re still stuck in the 1970s you’ll enjoy this one. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore…..
>> LANCASTER AND LUMLEY’S PETER AND THE WOLF ON AMAZON <<
If you don’t want the CD version and to miss out on the artwork and booklet, it’s is available in new-fangled MP3 and streaming.