Harvest Festival focuses on the label's two more successful styles.
First
there's the folkier side, comprising ardent traditionalists like
Shirley and Dolly Collins, Martin Carthy, and The Albion Band;
folk-influenced individualists like Michael Chapman and the great Roy
Harper; and exceedingly twee folk-poppers like Panama Limited Jug Band,
Third Ear Band and Gryphon. Between them, this lot contribute many of
Harvest Festival's most appealing moments, especially if you have a
taste for finger-picked acoustic guitars and hand percussion.
But
the majority of Harvest Festival is devoted to post-psychedelic artists
who were able to skew pop-song conventions just enough to turn them
into something totally unique. Syd Barrett, Kevin Ayers, Be-Bop Deluxe,
and the grand Roy Wood dynasty -- The Move (was a better single than
"Do Ya" released in the '70s?), the Electric Light Orchestra, Wizzard
and his solo records -- are the true stars of Harvest Festival. It's
their songs, not those of their better-selling brethren like Deep
Purple and
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