Edwards Hand (formerly known as Picadilly Line) was a musical group formed by
Welshman Rod Edwards (keyboards and vocals) and
Englishman Roger Hand (acoustic guitar and vocals). After a 1968 album released under their former name, in 1969 Edwards Hand released an eponymous album produced by
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...
who, taking a break from working on
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
'
''White Album'', described their music as "exceptional". The online CD vendors Freak Emporium (UK) and Forced Exposure (US) tentatively compare it to certain works by
Kaleidoscope and
Fairfield Parlour
Kaleidoscope are an English psychedelic rock band from London that originally were active between 1967 and 1970. It is not to be confused with the American psychedelic folk band of the same name. The band's songs combined the elements of psyche ...
.
A further album, ''Stranded'', came in 1970. Also produced by Martin, for this they were backed by James Litherland on electric guitar, former
Tornados drummer
Clem Cattini and
John Wetton
John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. Known for his dexterous bass playing and booming baritone voice, Wetton first gained fame in the early 1970s.
Wetton was the singer and p ...
– who was later to find fame with
King Crimson and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
– playing bass. Forced Exposure and Freak Emporium describe ''Stranded'' as...
''...a superb blend of styles that is very hard to categorise. Short West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
influenced rock tracks sit alongside all out progressive anglophile pop symphonies
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...
that at times utilise the kind of 'everything including the kitchen sink' tactics employed by Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...
.''
Their final album, ''Rainshine'', was again produced by Martin in 1971 but, rejected by the band's
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
label. For this album, the line-up included the
Americans
Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...
Les Brown Jr. on drums and percussion and David Dowd on guitar, as well as Harry Reynolds on bass.
In 1975 Edwards and Hand set to music the poems of a best selling 1973 children's picture book, illustrated by Alan Aldridge (famous for his work with the Beatles), called ''The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast'' which was loosely based on a poem called "Butterfly's Ball, and the Grasshopper's Feast" written in 1802 by
William Roscoe.
This album featured the voices of Dame
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...
and Sir
Michael Hordern. It was originally released on the Argo label and has been re-released by wizardpresents. It features Edwards on keyboards and vocals and Hand on guitar and vocals, with Gerry Conway on drums and Bruce Lynch on bass.
Albums
''The Huge World of Emily Small'' (1968)
An album released under the band name Picadilly Line, the featured musicians were Edwards and Hand plus
Danny Thompson (bass),
Alan Hawkshaw (keyboards),
Herbie Flowers (bass) and
Harold McNair
Harold McNair (5 November 1931 – 7 March 1971) was a Jamaican-born saxophonist and flautist.
Early life
McNair was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He attended the Alpha Boys School under the tutelage of Vincent Tulloch, while playing with Jo ...
(
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
). All material is original except for a version of
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
's "
Visions of Johanna" and
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...
' "
Gone, Gone, Gone"
''Edwards Hand'' (1969)
Recorded in stereo at the
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
Abbey Road studio in
St John's Wood, London, Produced by George Martin, the album was released in the United States on
vinyl and
cassette
Cassette may refer to:
Technology
* Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback
** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...
by GRT Records of
Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. The
cover art
Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...
is a golden autumnal scene featuring two faces, those of Rod Edwards and Roger Hand, with a tree in the background. All songs were written by Edwards and Hand except ''If I thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind'' by John Cameron.
*Banjo Pier
*Characters Number One
*Close My Eyes
*Days of Our Life
*Episodes, Being The First Part
*Friday Hill
*House of Cards
*If I thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind (by John Cameron)
*Magic Car
*Orange Peel
*Sing Along with the Singer
''Stranded'' (1970)
Recorded at London's
Morgan Studios
Morgan Studios (founded as Morgan Sound Studios) was an independent recording studio in Willesden in northwest London. Founded in 1967, the studio was the location for recordings by such notable artists as Jethro Tull, the Kinks, Paul McCartney, ...
Produced by George Martin, assisted by John Miller and released on
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
, the original cover art, as seen on the UK release, was a black and white drawing of a
sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
's rotund
stomach produced by
Klaus Voormann (famous for designing the cover of The Beatles' album ''
Revolver
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...
''). The drawing referred to a track about one of America's racist policemen, ''Sheriff Myras Lincoln'', which was banned in the USA. A new cover was produced for the US release, this time a photograph of a hand, fingers splayed, beneath the
Stars and Stripes. All songs were written by Edwards and Hand.
* Death of a Man (an epic in five parts)
* Encounter
* Hello America
* Revolution's Death Man!
* Sheriff Myras Lincoln
* Stranded
* US Flag
* Winter
''Rainshine'' (1971)
Produced by George Martin in 1971 at
AIR studios in London; mixed by John Miller. Unreleased at the time it will be available on Cherry Red Records with bonus tracks, in 2010. All songs written by Edwards and Hand.
Notable appearances
* Piano and backing vocals on the
Larry Norman
Larry David Norman (April 8, 1947 – February 24, 2008) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Christian rock music and released more than 100 album ...
classic ''
Only Visiting This Planet
''Only Visiting This Planet'' is a Christian rock album recorded by Larry Norman in 1972. The album was selected as the second-best album in ''CCM Magazine''s ''The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music''. In April 2014 the album was announced ...
'' (Verve, 1972);
* Keyboards and percussion on Larry Norman's ''
So Long Ago the Garden
''So Long Ago the Garden'' is an album recorded by Larry Norman, released in 1973. It is the second album in what came to be known as his "trilogy," which began with the album '' Only Visiting This Planet'' and concluded with ''In Another Land' ...
'' (MGM, 1973);
* Keyboards and percussion on the
Malcolm and Alwyn
Malcolm and Alwyn were a popular British gospel beat music group in the 1970s. They played rock music influenced by Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and The Beatles with lyrics reflecting their conversion to Christianity. The duo was composed of ...
album ''Fool's Wisdom'' (Myrrh, 1973);
* Keyboards and percussion on Malcolm and Alwyn's ''Wildwall'' (Myrrh, 1974).
* Keyboards and vocals on Ashman Reynolds
References
* Sleevenotes to the eponymous album ''Edwards Hand'', GRT-10005.
External links
Edwards Hand second LP info"Lightning Tree" reissue label
{{Authority control
English psychedelic rock music groups
English folk rock groups
Musical groups established in 1969