Roy Harper

Roy Harper

Roy Harper is an English folk singer, songwriter and guitarist from Rusholme and Clonakilty, born in 1941. He has worked as a professional musician since the mid-1960s and is associated with folk rock, contemporary folk, progressive folk, psychedelic folk and singer-songwriter writing.

Career

Harper begins his recording career in 1966 with Sophisticated Beggar and builds a large catalogue that includes 22 studio albums and 12 live albums. He comes out of the mid-1960s London folk-club scene, spends time at Les Cousins, and is first noticed by the Strike label. His early songs cover a wide range of forms, from romantic pieces to comic songs and long, dense lyrical compositions.

His style develops through extended tracks such as the ten-minute “Circle” and the 18-minute “McGoohan’s Blues”, both of which show his interest in long-form, idea-driven song writing. He also appears regularly at the Hyde Park Festivals, where he gains wider attention from the underground music scene.

Albums and collaborators

Harper is produced and managed by Peter Jenner and signs to EMI’s Harvest label. Flat Baroque and Berserk appears in 1969, and Stormcock in 1971 is widely regarded as a major work in his catalogue. That album comprises four long tracks and is recorded at Abbey Road Studio. His work then moves further towards rock with contributions from musicians including Jimmy Page, David Bedford, David Gilmour, Chris Spedding, Bill Bruford and John Paul Jones.

Lifemask (1972) includes songs written for the film Made, in which Harper also acts. Valentine (1974) is launched with a performance involving Page and Bedford, along with Ronnie Lane and Keith Moon. In 1975 he sings lead vocals on Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar”, and in the same year releases HQ, which includes “When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease”.

Influence and connections

Harper’s work is acknowledged by musicians including Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Pete Townshend, Kate Bush and Ian Anderson. Led Zeppelin names “Hats Off to (Roy) Harper” after him, and Harper later appears in exchanges with Kate Bush, who guests on The Unknown Soldier while he appears on her single “Breathing”.

Later work and label

During the 1980s and 1990s he continues to release music that addresses environmental disaster, religious fundamentalism, urban poverty and the first Gulf War. This period includes Once (1990), The Dream Society (1998) and The Green Man (2000). In 1994 he sets up the label Science Friction to reissue his back catalogue and release live and unreleased material. His published book The Passions of Great Fortune appears in 2003 and collects his complete lyrics, photos, annotations and re-evaluations of his songs.