01	Bogeyman						03:45
	02	Shadow Of Man						05:57
	03	Taskers Successor						03:42
	04	Hill Of Dreams						03:08
	05	Virginia Water						05:56
	06	It Came On A Sunday						04:18
	07	Mrs. Coopers Pie						03:21
	08	Ladybird						03:46
	09	Aries						08:08
	10	Child On A Crossing						03:32
	11	Lucifer Corpus						05:43

Power of the Picts
Date of Release 1970

Willy Finlayson - Guitar, Vocals
Alby Greenhalgh - Wind
Jimmy Hush - Drums
Billy T. Scott - Keyboards
Jake Scott - Bass, Vocals
Chris Welch - Liner Notes

1969 LP Middle Earth 303
2002 CD Repertoire 4854


Artist: WRITING ON THE WALL
Title: The Power Of The Picts
Label: AKARMA (ITALY)
Format: LP
Price: $18.00
Catalog #: AK 252 LP
"Part of the underground progressive movement, Writing On the Wall were formed in Scotland, but they soon moved to London, home of rock, becoming the house band at the Middle Earth club. During that period, a handful of independent labels sprung up, dedicated to progressive rock and ready to sign new talents. Writing On The Wall took advantage of that wave and recorded their debut Power Of The Picts album in 1970. Original copies of the album now fetch high sums, but when it was first released it was shunned by many radio stations, who considered the sound to be too heavy for airplay."


Artist: WRITING ON THE WALL
Title: The Power Of The Picts
Label: REPERTOIRE (GERMANY)
Format: CD
Price: $15.00
Catalog #: REP 4854
New version (remastered by Eroc) of the lone album by this Edinburgh-based group, originally issued on the hallowed Middle Earth label, in 1969. Progressive hard rock with trademark organ and beer'n'blues vocals, belted out with typically brain-reducing power. If you've ever carved concrete to the accompaniment of the Edgar Broughton Band or Stackwaddy you could probably melt a new cap to the sound of this one.



Writing on The Wall

Personnel:
WILLY FINLAYSON gtr A
ALBY GREENHALGH wind A B C
JIMMY HUSH drms A B C
LINNIE PATTERSON vcls A B
BILL SCOTT keyb'ds A B C
JAKE SCOTT bs A B C
ROBERT SMITH gtr B


ALBUM:
1(A) THE POWER OF THE PICTS (Middle Earth MDLS 303) 1969 R3


NB: (1) also issued in France (Vogue SLVXME 430) 1969. (1) had a limited reissue on Selector (German) and later on Repertoire (1992) with the addition of Child On A Crossing. There's also been the following retrospective releases: Rarities From The Middle Earth (Pie & Mash PAM 003) 1995, a limited edition vinyl release of studio and live material; Cracks In The Illusion Of Life (Tenth Planet TP 017) 1995, which traces the history of the band and includes rarities from 1967 through to 1973; and Burghley Road (Tenth Planet TP 018) 1996, which consists of recordings made in their basement at their Kentish Town base in London during 1972.

45:
1 Child On A Crossing/Lucifer Corpus (Middle Earth MDS 101) 1969
2 Man Of Renown/Buffalo (Pye 7N 45251) 1973


An Edinburgh band, who were originally known as The Jury. They moved down to London, changed their name to Writing On The Wall and were a popular attraction at London's Middle Earth Club. Their album didn't capture them at their best. The sound was flat and it was poorly produced. Bogeyman catches the ear. With its maze of interlocking riffs and driving rhythm it was the natural choice for the Middle Earth sampler Earthed. Child On A Crossing was not included on the album but was added as an additional track when the album was reissued in Germany on Repertoire in 1992. Two of the better tracks on the album were Aries and Hill Of Dreams, but also of note was the 'B' side to the single Lucifer Corpus, which had an excellent guitar solo and real menace.

Willy Finlayson left in 1969 being replaced by Robert Smith, who'd been in The Embers and Three's A Crowd. Soon after Smith and Patterson left but the band soldiered on until late 1973, releasing one further 45 for Pye.

Both sides of the Middle Earth 45 can also be heard on Filling The Gap (4-LP) and Visions Of The Past, Vol. 2 (LP & CD). Buffalo has resurfaced on Rubble, Vol. 10 - Professor Jordan's Magic Sound Show (LP) and Filling The Gap. It sounds pretty good to these ears. The band also signed to Tetragammaton in the US and they put out a live album, Live At Middle Earth, which is apparently better and much different to the UK release. It's also hopelessly rare. Wooden O recorded a version of Aries (Middle Earth MDE 201) 1969. Finally a version of The Small Faces Sha La La La Lee recorded at a John Peel session has resurfaced on Mynd The Gap (LP), and Ladybird can be found on Progressive Music (LP).

Patterson left the band to join Beggar's Opera, but sadly died in the early nineties. Robert Smith joined Blue. Certainly Writing On The Wall were the best progressive rock outfit to come out of Edinburgh.

Of their retrospective albums, Cracks In The Illusion Of Life contains both sides of a 1967 45, Words And Music / Peter Gunn, issued originally as The Jury. Also featured are two promising pop-psych tracks from 1968; Felicity Jane and Flight Of The Mind plus the more mainstream Katie's Been Gone. From 1972 there's the keyboard-orientated Fishers Of Men, but sadly most of side two is taken up with rather unimaginative hard-edged rock. Of this both sides of their 1973 45 for Pye, Man Of Renown, are the pick of the bunch.

(Vernon Joynson / Mike Warth / Marcel Koopman)






Forgotten gem of early British prog rock, March 8, 2003
Reviewer: Ben Miler (see more about me) from Lakeview, OR United States

For every Yes, ELP, Genesis, King Crimson, and the likes, there are like several times more prog rock bands that slipped through the cracks and became almost completely ignored. Scotland's Writing on the Wall is that one example. The Power of the Picts was released in 1969 on a small label called Middle Earth Records (the label only had something like five albums released in its very short life), so you know right the original LP isn't easy to come by. The band consisted of vocalist Linnie Paterson, guitarist Willy Finlayson, bassist Jake Scott, drummer Jimmy Hush, and keyboardist Bill Scott. Given that the album was released in 1969, it sounds like many other prog rock bands of the time that hadn't quite abandoned their hard rock, blues, and psychedelic roots. Sometimes the music is a bit like a much heavier Procol Harum, or of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (at times Linnie Paterson can sound just like Brown, like on "Aries", but a lot of times he don't remind me of any particular vocalist). The highlights of this album, without a doubt include "Mrs. Cooper's Pie", "Aries", and "Bogeyman". "Aries" features some spoken dialog with a uniquely Scottish accent, with some space rock tendencies (especially in the organ work), heavy metal guitar riffs, and a cool jazzy solo. "Shadow of Man" is, like King Crimson's "The Devil's Triangle", another song that's partially borrowed from Holst's The Planets, only of course, the organ is used instead of the Mellotron. "Hills of Dream" is a more mellower piece and sounds more like typical early '70s British prog rock (ie, not much of a bluesy hard rock feel as you get throughout most of the album). The CD reissue also contains two bonus cuts, "Child on Crossing" and "Lucifer's Corpus". Both of these were originally released as a single in 1969 on the same label The Power of the Picts was released on, Middle Earth. In fact the single was the very first release on that label, and it basically tied people over until the band completed the album. Anyway, two excellent cuts that are very much in the same vein as the album itself, probably the only reason it never made it on to the original LP was due to lack of space. While "Mrs. Cooper's Pie", "Aries" and "Bogeyman" are clearly the album's best songs, the rest don't quite reach the heights of those songs, but none of them are bad. Worthwhile album if you like early British prog rock.





Writing On The Wall - The Power Of The Picts

Released: 1969/2003
Label: Akarma Records
Cat. No.: AK-252
Total Time: 49:11


Reviewed by: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck, July 2003
Writing On The Wall recorded The Power Of Picts in 1969. In 2003, we have the opportunity to hear it once again on glorious vinyl thanks to the diverse Italian label Comet Records.

This band incorporated uncommon (prog-rock was in its infancy) keyboards with its heavy guitar sound accompanied by unusual vocals that sounded like they emanated from another world at times. I did however notice the curious vocals more on the first side of the album. The second side offered clearer vocals and music that had heavier doses of progressive rock, which pleased me.

Collectors may want to take note that there are two bonus tracks culled from singles. "Lucifer Corpus" is a B-Side and "Child On A Crossing" an A-Side. This album was a cherished collector's piece and the singles were very rare as well. You can get the entire (formerly rare) package all wrapped into one LP now.

Rating: 3/5

More about The Power Of The Picts:

Track Listing: Side One: It Came On A Sunday (4:18) / Mrs. Coopers Pie (3:21) / Ladybird (3:47) / Aries (8:09) / Bonus track: Lucifer Corpus (5:43)

Side Two: Bogeyman (3:44) / Shadow Of Man (5:57) / Taskers Successor (3:43) / Hill Of Dreams (3:08) / Virginia Water (5:57) / Bonus track: Child On A Crossing (3:33)

Musicians:
Willy Finlayson - Guitar, Vocals
Alby Greenhalgh - Winds
Jimmy Hush - Drums
Billy T. Scott - Keyboards
Jake Scott - Bass, Vocals

Discography

The Power Of The Picts (1969/2003)