Move (The Move album)

The Move became a highly publicided band, signing to Deram Records in late 1966, and then released their debut single "Night of Fear" on 9 December 1966.[3] This became their first chart hit, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart.[2] A band fanclub newsletter released during Christmas stated that they were set to release their debut album by February 1967, with a suggested title of Move Mass by their manager Tony Secunda.[4] However, Secunda decided during the last second that this release would be cancelled, and instead apted the band to continue to perform publicity stunts which would put the band in the newspapers.[4] A follow-up to "Night of Fear" came almost four months later, when "I Can Hear the Grass Grow" was released, reaching number five on the charts.[2][3]

The group hoped to release the album by Autumn of 1967, however, in April of that year, New Musical Express announced that the Move offered a £200 reward (equivalent to £3,700 in 2021)[5] to an individual who could potentially return the master tapes back to them.[6] These master tapes, containing ten songs were stolen from a car (presumably by a fan) which was parked on Denmark Street in the West End of London. The tapes were later discarded by the thief, and they were eventually found in a rubbish bin. The tapes however, were damaged beyond repair or use, and a new mix had to be performed by the engineers, further delaying the release date of the album by several months.[6] Producer Denny Cordell also managed to switch the band from Deram over to Regal Zonophone Records.[7]

During the Autumn of 1967, the Move had released another very successful single onto the British market, that being "Flowers in the Rain".[3] It charted at number two.[2] "Flowers in the Rain" also had the honour of becoming the first full record to be played on the newly launched BBC One, further adding to their popularity.[8] However, keeping up with this newfound popularity became hard, and the group had a tight performance schedule. As a response to this, Chris "Ace" Kefford was quoted saying "The pressure of being in the charts and having your clothes ripped and hair pulled out by fans in the streets - I had scissors stuck in my eye - but for the same money I got in The Vikings."[9]

Tying in with "Flowers in the Rain", Secunda performed yet another publicity stunt, by printing postcards depicting Labour Party leader, and at the time prime minister Harold Wilson in bed with his secretary Marcia Falkender, Baroness Falkender which promted Wilson to sue the group, leading to all royalties going to a charity of Wilson's liking, to the loss of composer, singer and guitarist Roy Wood.[10][11] The scheduled follow up to "Flowers in the Rain" was "Cherry Blossom Clinic", which was backed by "Vote For Me", a satirical piece regarding corrupt politicians. This idea was shelved due to the court proceedings, as both the band and Regal Zonophone believed that it was unwise to release the potentially controversial, which was shelved.[12]

Because the album was recorded over a span of approximately fourteen months, the musical style and direction greatly varies. Most songs from the earlier sessions could be classified as psychedelic pop, most notably "Walk Upon the Water" which acts as an anti drink-driving song, with somewhat dark lyrics over an upbeat melody.[18] However, other songs, such as "Kilroy Was Here" (which references the World War II phenomenon Kilroy was here) could be classified as a combo of psychedelic pop and folk rock.[19] The album also makes attempts at Baroque pop on both "The Girl Outside" and "Mist on A Monday Morning.", the latter which was Wood's and Secunda's first attempt at writing something like the Beatles "Eleanor Rigby".[19] The two most psychedelic tracks on the album are the opening song "Yellow Rainbow", which heavily features reverb on both the guitars and drums, along with "Cherry Blossom Clinic" which features prevalent use of a Wah-wah pedal.[14]

"Cherry Blossom Clinic" was about a nuthouse, basically, but a nice one. That was one of my early songs. When I left art-school it was one of my ambitions to write a children's book for adults – fairy stories with strange twists in them. I had a lot of ideas written down and I used them in my songs.

— Roy Wood, in Clinton Heylin, All the Madmen: Barrett, Bowie, Drake, the Floyd, The Kinks, The Who and the Journey to the Dark Side of English Rock

The three covers which are present are also vastly different from one another, and don't seem to share characteristics. "Weekend", written by Bill and Doree Post was originally recorded by Eddie Cochran in 1959, and largely revolves around the genres of rock and roll and rockabilly, which originated from that era.[20] "Hey Grandma", written by Jerry Miller and Don Stevenson was first recorded by American psychedelic rock band Moby Grape and initially appeared as the opening track to their eponymous debut album on 6 June 1967.[21] The third and final cover was "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" written by James F. Hanley in 1934. However, their rendition of the Broadway song was derived from a later cover by the Coasters, which introduced tempo changes, and a four part harmony by them, including two falsetto vocals.[22]

Lyrically, the album is very eclectic, deriving inspiration from various sources, but in style with Wood's earlier songwriting and compositions, many song revolve the mental state of the narrator.[23] The most notable examples of this are "Cherry Blossom Clinic" and "Walk Upon the Water", both of which revolve around the declining mental state of the narrator, though in two different scenarios, with "Walk Upon the Water" alluding to the narrator's friends drowning, while "Cherry Blossom Clinic" describes the further mental decline of an psychiatric hospital patient.[18][23] Other themes includes loneliness, displayed on "(Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree", "Flowers in the Rain" and "Mist on a Monday Morning", all of which portrays loneliness in vastly different ways, including sorrow, sadness and peace of mind.

Unlike all previously released singles by the Move, lead singer Carl Wayne's duty is minimized, singing only lead vocals on "Walk Upon the Water", "Flowers in the Rain" and "Useless Information".[24] He does, however sing harmony vocals on "Hey Grandma" and "Fire Brigade".[24] Rhythm guitarist Trevor Burton has had his role as a lead singer expanded, compared to previously and he sings lead on "Yellow Rainbow", "Weekend" and "The Girl Outside", while also contributing harmony vocals on "Kilroy Was Here", "(Here We Go Round) the Lemon Tree", "Walk Upon the Water", and "Cherry Blossom Clinic".[24] Wood's role has also been maximized, singing lead on "Mist on a Monday Morning", while contributing harmony vocals to virtually every other track present.[24] Although heavily present as a singer during live performances, bassist Ace Kefford's role as a singer is confined to "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", which he sings with drummer Bev Bevan, in one of only two lead vocals the latter sang with the Move.[25]

All songs written by Roy Wood, except where noted.

It was later reissued on CD with additional tracks in 1998. It was then reissued in a deluxe two disc package in 2007 by Salvo.[37] The latest re-issues arrived in April 2016 from Esoteric Records, a label of Cherry Red Records. Two versions of the album are involved, a 3CD remastered and expanded deluxe edition (Catalog ID: ECLEC32536) and a remastered and expanded edition (Catalog ID: ECLEC2537). According to Esoteric, these newly re-mastered editions focus on the mono mix of the album, and includes five bonus tracks on the single CD version, this increasing to 52 for the 3-CD set, five of these previously unreleased.[38][39]

The Move

• Carl Wayne – vocals
• Roy Wood – guitars, vocals
• Trevor Burton – guitars, vocals
• Ace Kefford – bass, vocals
• Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, vocals

Additional Personnel

• Nicky Hopkins – piano (7), harpsichord (12)
• Tony Visconti – string, brass and woodwind arrangements

• The Move (Cherry Red page)