Beggars Opera

This band was from Scotland, their name is derived from a novel by the poet John Gray in 1728. The musicians of Beggars Opera were Martin Griffiths (vocals), Rick Gardiner (guitar and vocals), Alan Park (keyboards), Gordon Sellar (bass, acoustic guitar and vocals), Virginia Scott (Mellotron and vocals) and Raymond Wilson (drums and percussion).
Their debut album "Act One" (1970) contains fluent and tasteful organ driven progrock with powerful "Sixties" sounding guitarwork. The long track "Raymond's Road" is a splendid tribute to the "classics" featuring Mozart's A la Turka, Bach's Toaccata in d-fuga en Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite on the Hammond organ. The second album "Waters of Change" (1971) is build around the dual keyboardplay of Alan Park and newcomer Virginia Scott and the distinctive, a bit cynical vocals of Gardiner…

Beggars Opera - Waters Of Change
FLAC | Artwork | 24Bit 96kHz: 778 MB | 16Bit 44.1kHz: 233 MB
Cat#: Vertigo 6360 054 | Country/Year: Germany 1971 (Original Swirl Vertigo)
Genre: Progressive Rock | Hoster: Fileserve/Hotfile/Filesonic

Beggars Opera were a progressive rock band from Glasgow, Scotland, and were formed in Glasgow in 1969 by guitarist Ricky Gardiner. Ricky Gardiner (guitarist) went on to play for David Bowie on the Low album and with Iggy Pop on the Lust for Life album as well as the famed Idiot tour of 1976. He co-wrote The Passenger with Iggy Pop. Alan Park (organist) worked with Sir Cliff Richard for many years as musical director.

The Scottish band Beggars Opera had its heyday in the early 70's, back then issuing a trio of albums that are generally well regarded. Their recording career went into decline after that, however, and after 1980's "Lifeline" they went on a hiatus. A partial reformation by some members resulted in the less than thrilling effort "The Final Curtain" in 1996 as something of a last whimper. Then in 2007 original guitarist Ricky Gardiner and vocalist Virginia Scott returned with the album "Close to My Heart", and in 2009 this was followed by "Touching the Edge". And these days this reformed version of Beggars Opera seems to have reached some sort of creative peak, issuing no less than 3 full albums in 2010. "Lose a Life" is the last item of this trio…

2007 reunion album from the legendary Scottish Prog Rock band. Beggars Opera released a spate of classic albums in the early 1970's. After fading from the 'live' gigging scene, founder member Ricky Gardner began to suffer from illness which also prevented any further recording. However, in 2007 the guitarist and his wife keyboard player and vocalist Virginia Scott released Close to My Heart, an album that had taken them 10 years to compose and record. Together with drummer Tom Gardiner, they devised this 12 track set of performances that heralded a Beggars Opera comeback. Most of the pieces are tightly constructed in length and don't roam into 'Prog' instrumental excess. The vocals are prominent, while an intriguing atmosphere is provided by tough guitar riffs and meandering Mellotron themes. The effect has been compared to a blend of Pink Floyd with Hawkwind symphonic space age moods.

Beggars Opera's third album offered up another dramatic change in pace and style from a band that had already demonstrated its musical schizophrenia well enough. Considerably more song-oriented than either of its predecessors, Pathfinder set out its stall with the pounding pop of "Hobo" before delving deep into period preoccupations with a truly visionary assault on "MacArthur Park" – imagine Vanilla Fudge if Brian Auger had created their arrangements. Eight minutes seem too short a time in which to layer all of the group's ideas, but they succeed with room to spare, and deliver what is probably the definitive reading of the song.

Pioneering progressive rock group Beggars Opera from Glasgow released several splendid albums for the Vertigo label in the early Seventies. The line up included vocalist Martin Griffiths, guitarist Ricky Gardiner and keyboard player Alan Park, who ensured a strong classical influence. ‘Waters Of Change’ was the group’s second effort, first released in 1971. It follows the pattern set by debut album ‘Act One’, and features highlight tracks ‘Time Machine’, ‘Silver Peacock’ and ‘The Fox’, given greater depth by the addition of Mellotron player Virginia Scott.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce a 2CD Anthology by the classic Scottish Progressive Rock group Beggars Opera. Drawing on material from the band’s first four albums, recorded for the legendary Vertigo label, "Nimbus" features 27 of the band’s best tracks.
Formed in Glasgow in 1969 with a line-up of Rick Gardiner (Guitar, Vocals), Alan Park (Keyboards), Martin Griffiths (Vocals), Marshall Erskine (Bass, Flute) and Raymond Wilson (Drums), the band signed to the newly established progressive arm of Philips Records, Vertigo, in 1970. Their debut album, "Act One" gained some success in Europe with tracks such as ‘Poet and Peasant’ and ‘Passacagalia’…

Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection
What a mindblowing debut-album this is! The very melodic and harmonic music from this five-piece band is based upon an incredible dynamic and propulsive rhythm-section and splendid, very exciting Hammond organ work, often accompanied by a powerful and fiery electric guitar