GRACIOUS:GRACIOUS.Ltd 180g Re-press Textured G/fold S

	£		21
	$		28

Gracious was a British progressive rock band which existed from 1967 to 1971, and released two albums, Gracious! (1970, Vertigo/Capitol) and This Is... (1972, Philips).

Singer Paul 'Sandy' Davis and guitarist Alan Cowderoy formed a band, the Disciples, while at school in Esher, Surrey. Davis was the drummer and vocalist, and Cowderoy played lead; two other school friends played bass and rhythm. In 1968, Martin Kitcat and Mark Laird joined on Hohner electric piano and bass respectively. Davis was still drumming as well as singing, but Robert Lipson, who played in a rival Esher band, agreed to join, allowing Davis to take the front of stage for the first time. The band's early sound was influenced by Cream and the British blues movement, and one of their first professional recordings was a cover of a John Mayall song. They supported The Who on a tour in 1968. By which time they had moved away from their blues roots and developed a more "pop" flavoured identity, landing a deal to record an album under the direction of producer Norrie Paramor. Actual production duties were assigned to Tim Rice (later to become Andrew Lloyd Webber's lyricist), who then worked for Paramor. Sessions at a now defunct Denmark Street studio produced ten tracks, an eclectic and eccentric mix of material ranging from Vanilla Fudge-influenced covers to Moody Blues-meets-The Beatles styled originals penned by Davis and Kitcat.  They changed their name to Gracious, coined by their first manager David Booth. The exclamation mark (!) was added when the first album's sleeve was prepared. Their third gig under the new name saw them sharing the bill with King Crimson, on July 11, 1969 at Beckenham's Mistrale Club - "that changed our lives", Lipson would comment later, "Martin got a Mellotron and we were off!".

In 1969, Gracious toured Germany for six weeks, during which roadie and driver, Tim Wheatley, replaced Laird. On their return from Germany, Gracious played the gig circuit in the UK and Brian Shepherd, then head of Vertigo, came to see them and offered them a record deal. Looking back, the members of Gracious felt the excitement of their live gigs wasn't properly captured on the first album, which was recorded at Philips' London studios near Marble Arch (subsequently known as Solid Bond after they were bought by Paul Weller). "When we first went into the studio to record "The Dream", we genuinely expected to record it in small segments", remembers Cowderoy. "However our producer Hugh Murphy [later to earn fame as producer of Gerry Rafferty's multi-million selling "Baker Street"] insisted we play it in one take in the studio, and do any overdubs afterwards... The first album, although less mature than the second, had more direction and was more focused - although "Fugue In D Minor" was always an oddity". The album got a large amount of attention and Kid Jensen, a popular DJ with Radio Luxembourg at the time, repeatedly devoted almost all of his hour-long programme to Gracious!

This is a very limited 180g reissue of the 1970 classic on the Akarma label, Italy.  It comes in a heavyweight textured gatefold sleeve.

Track listing.

Akarma Records.                                       AK 264.                               2003.

CONDITION.

Sleeve:   Near perfect.

Record:  Only played a couple of times. No visible or audible signs of wear. A superbly well cared for record.

POSTAGE : PLEASE NOTE / VERY IMPORTANT.

Due to new regulations from the U.K. Postal Service on compensation for senders all orders over £20 in value have to be sent via the "Signed For" system. This includes U.K. & International orders.  If you are successful please wait for an invoice. There are no exceptions to this rule. If you do not like this please do not bid.