Listening to these albums really does show that the music of a band can develop even over the short span of three or four albums and three years.
Skin Alley were part of the Ladbroke Grove scene and were ‘muckers’ of bands like Hawkwind and The Pink Fairies and their dense and jazz influenced music had a tight and almost obsessed following in the underground in the late ‘60’s.
This set comprises both their official studio albums for CBS as well as a soundtrack for the film ‘Stop Veruschka!’ that was eventually shelved in favour of their second studio album.
The way that the first set has been put together gives you their first album ‘Skin Alley’ plus side 1 of the original ‘Stop Veruschka!’ soundtrack on CD1 and their second album ‘To Pagham and Beyond’ plus side 2 of ‘Stop Veruschka!’ on CD2.
There is a lovely light touch on the first album – produced by The Pretty Things Dick Taylor – from the opening ‘Living In Sin’ which has an almost Jethro Tull like groove to it but with a distinctly West Coast vocal style to ‘Tell Me’ with its mellotron strings and keening vocals it sounds almost Krautrock-esque. Every number has a very different identity to the last, almost as though they were trying things out to find theior own sound. The added tracks from the ‘Stop Veruschka!’ soundtrack are more heavily produced and there is more focus to the numbers but the freedom seems less evident.
The second album sees the band developing a harder and more ‘progressive Blues’ element to their sound with a little les of the lightness but some terrific playing. ‘Take Me To Your Leaders Daughter’ definitely has the jazzy side to it that the band were famous for and you can hear the origins of the long jams that they and bands like Man were famous for. The tracks are fewer in number but longer and more trippy and you can be sure that the band is the same one that made ‘Skin Alley’ but older and definitely wiser.
They only made the two – or three – albums for CBS and their third studio album ‘Two Quid Deal’ was made for Transatlantic and by this time they were stalwarts of the festival scene – they played at the original Glastonbury Fayre – and had really worked out their sound. There are touches of West Coast rock and a little less of the jazz influence but they were moving towards a powerful sound although producer Fritz Fryer was still capable of bringing their subtlety and effervescence out . The album here includes both the original ‘Sun Music’ and the version from the ‘Glastonbury Fayre’ soundtrack as well and the live version, for me, definitely has the edge in terms of immediacy and lightness.
Skin Alley were part of the original ‘Progressive’ era before it deteriorated into the flabby excess of ‘Prog’ and these albums stand up well on their own but they also should be included in any serious study of the music of the time.
If you only want one album then ‘Two Quid Deal’ is a justified classic but ‘Big Brother Is Watching You’ shows a more raw and ‘fun’ side of the band.
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