Personnel:
- Stanley Whitaker - 6 and 12-string guitars, vocals
- Frank Wyatt - pianos, harpsichord, saxes, flute, words
- Kit Watkins - pianos, harpsichord, Moog, fake strings, clavinet, recorder
- Rick Kennell - bass
- Ron Riddle - drums, percussion
1 Service With A Smile (Riddle/Hawks) 2:42
2 Morning Sun (Watkins) 4:05
3 Ibby It Is (Wyatt) 7:51
4 Steaming Pipes (Whitaker) 5:42
5 Wind Up Doll Day Wind (Watkins, Whitaker, Wyatt) 7:10
6 Open Book (Wyatt) 4:54
7 I Forgot To Push It (Watkins) 3:03
8 The Moon, I Sing (Nossuri) (Watkins) 6:16
Stanley Whitaker: Six and Twelve String Guitars, Vocals
Frank Wyatt: Pianos, harpsichord,Saxes, Flute, Words
Kit Watkins: Pianos, Harpsichord, Moog, Fake Strings, Clavinet, 33, recorder
Rick Kennell: Bass
Ron Riddle: drums, percussion
Produced by Ken Scott
OW 34547
One Way Records, 1999
digital remaster by Kit Watkins.
www.happytheman.com
Happy the Man: Crafty Hands
Sean McFee:
Ignoring the many posthumous archival releases, Crafty Hands was the second album by American prog group Happy the Man. This album stands as one of the stronger examples of combining compositional complexity with a melodic approachability. Certain songs, such as "Service with a Smile", or "Open Book", are written almost entirely in odd meters and yet lack that sense of awkwardness one often gets from such sections.
The mood of the pieces tends to be fairly upbeat or reflective, with a general feeling of serenity ("Morning Sun") or optimism ("Open Book"). A careless listener may mistake the lightness of the sound for a lack of depth, but this would definitely be a mistake. Most Happy the Man would point to the vocal numbers as the general weak area, and I would have to agree. Like 70s Camel, they are a band that is most effective in the instrumental domain.
Comparisons with other bands are not obvious. This is definitely a release that is well-rooted in the symphonic genre, but it does not derive substantially from any of the accepted prog canon. It seems to be almost unique among 70s American prog-related material in that it is neither derivative of an existing band or riddled with AOR-ish cliches. I can thus recommend it as an exemplary example of American progressive rock.
Joe McGlinchey:
Crafty Hands is the second album Happy the Man made before being dropped by Arista Records and eventually disbanding the following year. The band shows that the superbly executed musicianship and thoughful writing displayed on their debut album were not a fluke. Their jazz-tinged sound remains light but powerful, with breakneck precision. Of course, Kit Watkins can't help but attract the spotlight, flying over the keys with unassailable grace, and his "Morning Sun" is a truly heart-wrenching composition. But one must also give nods to the other band members, particularly the other main writers Stanley Whitaker and Frank Wyatt. If you have not yet heard Happy the Man and are curious about the hype (as I was) regarding the recent reissue of their first two albums: the hype is well-deserved. If you have heard these albums when they came out and love Happy the Man: go forth to thy CD shop and salivate no more. In either case, the verdict remains the same: buy these two reissues pronto!
Eric Porter:
Call me a "fanboy" if you will, but this is in my all-time top 10. "Service With A Smile" may be the most perfect 2:45 of song I have ever heard. These guys can go for the jugular and then float like a butterfly at the drop of a hat. Gorgeous melodies are wrapped in some of the most finely crafted songwriting you will ever hear. Talent to spare, my friends. This is their second and final release for Arista Records, which was a shame, though they did go on to produce a few independent releases. The guitar / keyboard interplay is wonderful, as Watkins flies over the keys with ease. Whitaker at times seems like he is in the background, but listen closely as he follows Watkins note for note. "Wind Up Doll Day Wind" is the only track featuring vocals, and though Whitaker handles them fine, the instrumental stuff is what they do best. Watkins' keyboards also create a lush canvas to some of the more atmospheric tracks as the band adds horns, flutes, recorders and other instrumentation to paint pictures with the music. A track like "Morning Sun" may be mistaken as "New Agey", but there is no fluff here, folks. Anyway, if you want a band that runs the gamut and gives you everything you could ask for (in my opinion), get this classic release of American progressive at its finest. One Way Records has just released remastered versions of this and their debut (titled Happy the Man), so you have no excuses!
Liner notes from "Crafty Hands"- Musea european release
The weeks following the release of
left little doubt that it wasn't going to be the surprise top-seller of Arista's fantasies. It did have a certain commercial and critical impact though, and a good part of 1977 was spent supporting it on the road. The band's management put them on tours supporting various artists, including Foreigner, Renaissance, Stomu Yamash'ta and Hot Tuna. The latter, a Jefferson Airplane spinoff group, provided Happy The Man with its attendance record, when they performed in front of an audience of almost 10,000 at the Field House in Long Island. Sadly a large number of audients voiced their distate for HTM's live warhorse and the set had to be cut short early in the game. A lost opportunity for superstardom...
Although Happy The Man gained popularity through this constant exposure to the public, there was one major problem - an almost total lack of radio airplay. Despite Arista's encouragements to feature Stanley Whitaker's vocals more extensively, the two vocal tracks on the album were still deemed too uncommercial by radio stations to be aired alongside the latest hits. The band entertained the hope that their hard work would eventually pay off, and embarked on a largely self-booked college tour.
Meanwhile, Wyatt, Watkins and Whitaker kept writing new material, which marked, at least in the eyes of drummer Mike Beck, a move to a coarser, harder-edged sound that, he felt, didn't suit his playing style, which was based at least as much on the use of all manner of percussion than the conventional drum kit. Musical disagreements reached a head early in 1978, when he and the band mutually decided to go their separate ways.
Enter Ron Riddle, a veteran of several Boston-based bands, most of them featuring him alongside keyboard player Greg Hawkes. Their last collaboration was a line-up that, after a couple of personnel changes, went on to become The Cars. After his stint with Happy The Man, Riddle went on to play on somes of the Cars' members' solo albums, and one of the pieces he'd co-written with Hawkes, (dating back to 1973 and a progressive outfit called Waves), became the second album's opener and a live favourite, in spite of its tricky 11/8 rhythms.
Riddle was living in Washington, D.C. at the time, and after attending a HTM concert, had forged a friendship with Mike Beck. Both percussionists actually worked on some private recordings, until Riddle was offered the job of replacing his friend. The offer was understandably met with some embarrassment by Riddle, not least because the recording sessions for the new album were to begin in only a week's time, not to mention in California !
Ken Scott, whose skills as producer and sound engineer had so benefitted the first album, was of course retained, and the sessions went smoothly, albeit with Scott's usual perfectionism, which meant countless takes of each part until everything was played according to his high standards of quality. Of the songs on the album, three - , and (whose lyrics compared man's daily routine to a wind-up doll always doing the same things) - had previously been demoed to Arista to sell them on exercising their option for the album; was a theme salvaged from the suite; and the somewhat obscurely titled told the musical story of a surrealistic cartoon character who wanted to become a real person, the name Ibby being a slight distortion of that of a roadie friend of the band named Izzy.
Back on the East Coast, Riddle decided not to join Happy The Man, reckoning he wouldn't be able to spent as much time working with the band as would be needed. Auditions of potential candidates for the drummer's stool followed, until the ideal man for the job was found. French drummer Coco Roussel was a veteran of such legendary progressive outfits as Heldon, the Magma-related band led by guitarist and philosophy graduate Richard Pinhas, and Clearlight, the ensemble led by pianist Cyrille Verdeaux which he'd briefly joined for a UK tour supporting Gong in 1975. In 1976 he'd moved to D.C. with his American wife hoping to find new and exciting musical opportunities there. These took some time to present themselves, though, and only in June 1978 did he find the band he was looking for : Happy The Man.
Although this was to be an artistically successful move for Roussel, Happy The Man was at that point entering a period of intense difficulties. Arista's diminishing interest for the band became most apparent when, following the disappointing sales of , the label decided to drop them. This followed disagreements on the album's sleeve design (Wyatt personally went to New York to refuse to let Arista use the proposed cover, which depicted a man at a peephole with a bucket of chicken in his hands, saying 'service with a smile!' - the band found Mario Grimaldi's art and insisted on using it) as well as HTM's uncompromising musical direction.
The termination of the Arista contract in turn led to management problems, and in a matter of weeks Happy The Man was left without either a management or record deal. Although disillusion began to creep in at that point, creatively the band was still at its peak, and a wealth of new material was composed. This was thankfully witnessed by a demo tape recorded in February 1979 at the band house in Reston, Virginia. It was to prove their last recording.
When the tape failed to interest any record labels - interest in progressive music was at an all-time low in the late Seventies - and Watkins received the lucrative offer to join British group Camel for the band's new album and lucrative world tour, by May 1979 Happy The Man was no more. The final demo tape resurfaced four years later as the album, released on Watkins' own Azimuth label. In the meantime three tracks on it had seen the light of day on other projects - on Camel's , and and on Watkins' solo album named after the latter.
After his involvement in Camel, which ended in 1982, Kit Watkins devoted his time and creativity to a successful and acclaimed career as a solo artist in a more 'new-age' vein, but also collaborations with Coco Roussel - their duo album (1985) and Roussel's solo (1992) - and a memorable guest appearance on Richard Sinclair's (1994).
After turning down an offer from Peter Gabriel to play on his third solo album, Stanley Whitaker formed the band Vision with Rick Kennell and original HTM keyboardist David Bach. A more commercial proposition than Happy The Man, it eventually deteriorated into a cover band. In 1985, Whitaker and Bach formed One By One, followed in 1993 by Avalon. In 1994, Whitaker moved to Los Angeles and started gigging with local prog band Ten Jinn. He was later featured, in special guest capacity, on their second album, , and also appeared with them at the Baja Prog '98 festival in Mexicali, where he performed a medley of HTM classics and . While remaining active in solo capacity, he also formed the power trio Spirit Noise in 1996.
After Vision came to an end in the mid-80s, Rick Kennell made a successful career move to business management in the entertainment industry. In 1994, following the failure of a first attempt to re-unite Happy The Man, he had plans to form a trio with virtuoso keyboard player Jordan Ruddess (who instead moved on to the Dixie Dregs and Dream Theater) and Ron Riddle.
Frank Wyatt moved to New York City, and with his collaborator Eddie Kinestrick managed to find some backing to produce a musical based on . The project went as far as initial rehearsals, but came to an abrupt end when investors pulled the finances in favour of a much more profitable commodity option on Wall Street. Wyatt subsequently took a job as a carpenter, building stage sets, briefly worked as a PA in the film industry, and moved to Hawaii - a major obstacle to any HTM reunion until the advent of digital and Midi technology. Although he kept composing during these years, much of the output was lost following a burglary at his house in which most of his gear was stolen and never recovered.
Of the other former members of the band, Mike Beck and Cliff Fortney were reunited in The Dr.Bob Band in the early 80s, and more recently Dog Talk. Ron Riddle was Blue Oyster Cult's drummer from 1986 to 1991, then worked with bass virtuoso Stuart Hamm, while enjoying a successful career in advertising and film music and running his own studio.
A reunion of Happy The Man was attemped in 1993-94, but geographical and scheduling problems couldn't be overcome. The closest thing to a reunion so far took place in 1996 when Kennell, Whitaker and Riddle all contributed to a project by Kennell's wife Leah Waybright, a classically trained player (who incidentally studied at James Madison University with Kit Watkins' father), "Beauty Gone Wild". With all members now relocated to the East Coast of the USA, no practical difficulties can now prevent the project to go ahead, and the year 2000 should witness the release of a new studio album, as well as Happy The Man's first live performance in over two decades (at the second edition of the NEARfest progressive festival in June), with a line-up of Whitaker, Wyatt, Kennell, Riddle and newcomer David Rosenthal on keyboards, replacing Watkins who is unwilling to perform live again.
-Aymeric Leroy
Thanks to Frank Wyatt, Kit Watkins, Dan Casey, Anil Prasad, George Varga, John Covach and Morgan Roussel for their help and/or source material.
Happy The Man - Crafty Hands
Member: mr_noitall
Personnel:
Stanley Whittaker: Guitars, Vocals
Frank Wyatt: Keyboards, sax, flute, lyrics
Kit Watkins: Keyboards, recorder
Rick Kennell: Bass
Ron Riddle: Drums & Percussion
Happy the Man is arguably America's greatest prog band. Unlike most progsters that followed the golden age of the "Big 5", they don't try to emulate the sound or style of any of their predecessors. They have combined all of their influences into a refreshing new sound. They don't go in for pretention or gimmicks or concepts. They just play!
Crafty Hands is the band's second album, and it shows a marked improvement over their self-titled debut. As good as that was, a year of touring and gelling together has imparted a real identity and focus for this second recording. The change of drummers from Mike Beck to Ron Riddle hasn't hurt them either.
"Service With a Smile" (written by Riddle) is an astounding opener that showcases both Whittaker and Watkins as serious players. Intense lead lines and fantastic rhythms.
"Morning Sun" (written by Watkins) is a much mellower piece. Lots of atmosphere and tinkly bits that builds to a magnum opus of symphonic sound.
"Ibby It Is" (written by Wyatt) is a contrapuntal extravaganza that owes as much to Gentle Giant as it does to Mahavishnu. Weaving their way between sharp, loud passages to dreamy string synths and a gorgeous guitar melody line, then back, this tune shows what outstanding musicians these guys are. Watkins and Whittaker each get off several scorching, emotional solos.
"Steaming Pipes" (written by Whittaker) is a showcase for Watkins' Moog-soloing skills which occur over some very complex rhythmic acrobatics. Then Whittaker himself takes a great solo before a rather subdued ending fade-out.
"Wind Up Doll Day Wind", a group composition, features the only vocals on the album. Vocals are not this band's strong suit. The best parts of this song are the instrumental breaks, and at 7 minutes plus, there's thankfully plenty of those.
"Open Book" (written by Wyatt) is another dreamy number which features Wyatt's flute and Watkins' recorder prominently. These are replaced by Whittaker's very understated guitar work over Watkins' string synth. Very nice.
"I Forgot To Push It" (written by Watkins) is a fun, bouncy little number that shows how tight the band is. Lovely breaks and accents that require split second timing. I am again reminded of Gentle Giant here.
"The Moon, I Sing" (written by Watkins) is another restrained synthfest and, in hindsight, shows the musical direction Watkins would ultimately take with his solo albums. Incredibly layered sounds, simple melodies and great atmosphere. In a word, beautiful.
Happy the Man show a great vision and a synthesis of styles. They have a classical complexity, a jazz sensibility and a prog attitude. What more could you ask for?
