01	It Wasn't For You						05:35
	02	Hall Of Bright Carvings						11:38
	03	Liverpool						05:54
	04	I Can't Change						05:42
	05	It's All Up With Us						06:09
	06	Fuschia						06:18
	07	Open The Door Homer						03:29
	08	Woman Of The World						04:32

Stuart Cowell - guitars and keyboards
Tony Priestland - sax, flute, oboe, woodwind
John Lee - bass
Jim Toomey - drums


Titus Groan

Personnel:
STUART COWELL keyb'ds, gtr, vcls A
JOHN LEE bs A
TONY PRIESTLAND sax, flute, oboe A
JIM TOOMEY drms A
ALBUM:
(A) TITUS GROAN (Dawn DNLS 3012) 1970 R2
NB: Titus Groan Plus (See For Miles SEE 260) 1989 is a reissue of their album plus three tracks from their single, also issued on CD (SEE CD 260) 1989.

45:
Open The Door Homer/Woman Of The World/Liverpool (PS) (Dawn DNX 2053) 1970
Although named after the main character of Mervyn Peake's gothic fantasy novel, Titus Groan played music definitely lacking in originality. Since all the tracks are over five minutes long, there is room for elaborate instrumental developments, which almost get exciting, but fall short from their goal. Their early progressive style is laced with large parts for wind, which at times makes for interesting listening, but ultimately the meagre compository skills make the wine too watery. By far the best cut is Hall Of Bright Carvings (title taken from Peake's novel as well), which is versatile and passionate, although at 11'50" inevitably too long. A few spins may be rewarding enough, more of this will probably bore you. Jim Toomey had earlier been in Jon, wrote What Did We Miss for Still Life with Stuart Cowell and was later in The Tourists. He also did some session for for Uriah Heep's Ken Hensley at the end of the '70s.

For more information check the following website: http://www.koeln.netsurf.de/~juergen.schuette/tigro/tigro.htm

(Marcel Koopman / Gianpaolo Banelli / Kevin J. Julie)





Titus Groan


Personnel:

Stuart Cowell - keyboards, guitar, vocals
John Lee - bass
Tony Priestland - sax, flute, oboe
Jim Toomey - drums

Album:

Titus Groan (Dawn DNLS 3012) 1970
Reissued as "Titus Groan: Plus" (See For Miles SEE 260/SEE CD 260, 1989) containing three tracks from their single.


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Titus Groan, the book, formed the first part of Mervin Peake's imaginative, haunting "Gormenghast" trilogy, one of post-war Britain's finest literary achievements.

Titus Groan, the group, arrived some 20+ years after its first publication, and embraced, in music, some of the novel's gothic atmosphere while adding their own slice of English progressive rock.

By 1970, at least two divisions of underground music had emerged. One included the likes of Family, the Pretty Things and Traffic; groups whose pedigree stretched back into beat and rhythm'n'blues. In their wake came a succession of newer bands whose histories were neither as long nor as detailed but who welcomed the new music as an opportunity to stretch.

In common with several labelmates, Titus Groan first came to prominence at the Hollywood Pop Festival of the weekend beginning May 23rd 1970. Here, the Red Bus Company, a London Agency, masterminded three days of "love, peace and music" on a site near Newcastle Under Lyme with a bill which included Ginger Baker's Airforce and the British concert debut of the Grateful Dead. The happening, however, is better recalled as the launching pad for Mungo Jerry, whose brand of goodtime skiffle was apparently received with wild enthusiasm; so much so that it carried their subsequent single into the charts. From there it soared to No.1 and became a multi-million seller, in turn providing their record label, Dawn, with its biggest success, a fact which was something of a paradox, as it was set up by Pye as an "alternative" outlet, on par with Harvest, Vertigo and RCA's Neon.

Mungo Jerry were handled by Red Bus, as were several of the acts who appeared over the three days including Mike Cooper, Demon Fuzz and Titus Groan, all of whom were either already signed to Dawn, or would be in the post-"Summertime" euphoria. Indeed, the first, most immediate plan was to compile a double set, "Live At Hollywood", which was to feature part of the live sets from each of these groups and Loudmouth (?), but was cancelled, possibly, when permission for inclusion by non-Dawn acts, such as Family, wasn't forthcoming.

Instead they began recording, and in October that year, Dawn announced a major release package with albums and/or maxi-singles by Demon Fuzz, Comus and Heron, as well as the collection in question here, Titus Groan. However, as an added bonus, we've also included the three tracks which made up the Groan's only single, none of which has previously been on an LP. The top-side was "Open The Door, Homer", a Bob Dylan song also known as "Open The Door, Richard", which the Groans may have picked up from the "Great White Wonder" bootleg. They do a nice folksy-cum-rock interpretation, emphasising the chorus in the hope of the hit it deserved to be, while anticipating the kind of feel the group Coulson Dean McGuinness Flint would find on the same kind of interpretation (on their own album, "Lo And Behold"). "Woman Of The World" continued an acoustic-mixed-with-rock perspective, sounding close to something Lindisfarne might have come up with, but the real meat of the single was "Liverpool", a driving slab of pseudo-R&B with a horn and organ passage mirroring that of the Graham Bond Organisation and some "S.F. Sorrow"-styled vocal harmonies thrown in for good measure. It provided the perfect taster for what was one of Dawn's most exciting and eclectic albums.

"Titus Groan" was released the same month as their maxi-single. Consisting of a mere five tracks, it was abundantly clear that the group intended to continue the progressive aspects found on "Liverpool". They were extremely powerful instrumentally, Stuart Cowell's guitar and keyboard work combined perfectly with Tony Priestland's sax, flute, oboe and assorted woodwind, creating, and indeed suggesting, the mock-medieval textures also found in Jethro Tull (albeit, heavier), while John Lee and Jim Toomey provided the supportive bass and drums, particularly on the album's epic, "Hall Of Bright Carvings". Taking its title from the opening chapter of the novel which gave the band its name, it's here Titus Groan come closest to their inspiration as they wage a way through an ambitious, multi-part composition. The repeated theme adds a continuity as the piece shifts in mood, embracing a further Peake reference, "The Burning" on the way. The second side doesn't slouch either, Lee and Priestland offer contrasts on "It Can't Change" and "Fuschia", while "It's All Up With Us" is a collective offering. "An interesting, listening format... effective in live performances... a promising first album" - such remarks contained in the relevant 'NME' album review can only be echoed here.

The reference to an in-concert prowess was indeed pertinent. The Red Bus Company had undertaken an ambitious project to promote, not only "Titus Groan", but the other corresponding Dawn releases. Between November 3rd and 26th, Demon Fuzz, Heron, Comus and the Groan played at ten venues, including the Marquee, for the princely sum of one penny. Dubbed, unsurprisingly, A Penny Concert, it was an ambitious promotion, not just fiscally, but musically, and offered a remarkable sweep of styles; the Afro-rock of the 8-piece Fuzz, Heron's warm country/folk and the imaginative multi-layered rock of the other two participants. Not only that, but it made Decca's "Nova Evening" at the London Lyceum, which showcased their new progressive acts, seem positively expensive. They charged a whole six shillings.

The collective project officially ended on January 3rd 1971 when the four groups performed in-concert on Radio 1. Sadly, however, it was to mark an end to more than this cooperative atmosphere. Of the four, Heron managed to maintain something of a profile, (hear for yourself on SEECD242) but the remaining trio found the going in the New Year somewhat tougher. Titus Groan just seemed to slip from the tentative prominence they'd achieved, despite the obvious potential of the music enclosed here. Of the four members, Jim Toomey cropped up in several groups, and drummed in one of Larry Wallis' post-Pink Fairies exploits, while the rest, unfortunately, appeared to keep up a less active profile. It was an unfortunate and undeserved demise, its suddenness belied the individuality and imagination on offer here.

Dinnes Cruickshank
Taken from the CD reissue of "Titus Groan": "Titus Groan: Plus", See For Miles, SEE CD 260, 1989







Titus Groan - Titus Groan (1970)

This self-titled obscurity from Titus Groan was a pleasant surprise. Many of the early British symphonic or proto-progressive albums are largely a hit or miss affair, and opinions on the internet can often be sharply divided, hardly helping matters. Titus Groan does little to differentiate themselves stylistically from the hordes of similar sounding bands of the era. That said, if you're into that early prog, vaguely psychedelic, with a dash of hard rock vibe, you could do a lot worse than this particular album. The band brings some interesting woodwinds like the Oboe and Saxophone to the fore to create an interesting feel at times. For the most part though, the band plays fairly conventional early progressive rock, recalling the likes of East of Eden, Still Life, or any number of other similarly styled groups.

"It Wasn't For You" isn't exactly a promising opener, presenting itself as largely paint-by-numbers proto prog affair, and doesn't really go anywhere. The album really takes off with the 11 minute suite, "Hall of Bright Carvings", with no shortage of inspired instrumental themes. The irreverent melodic stomp of "Liverpool" and the haunting flute passages of "I Can't Change" continue the winning streak. The poppy stuff is fairly successful. "It's All Up With Us" and "Fuschia" clearly integrate Beatles-eque harmonies and melodic sense with an almost folky, but upbeat, feel. The bonus tracks are an added pleasure for those of us rendered to the CD generation, as both compete with the material on the album proper, particularly an inspired version of Bob Dylan's "Open the Door Homer". While a highly enjoyable listen, the album is probably of marginal importance in the grand scope of things, ultimately occupying little more than a second or third tier in the early British prog hierarchy of forgotten and undiscovered gems. - Greg Northrup [April 2002]