Fuchsia: Remastered Edition

According to Barsa and Larousse Encyclopaedias Fuchsia means a pendulous flower with a strong pink (between pink and violet), named in honor to a german botanist called Fuchs. There goes the name of the band. This group made an album for all seasons. There are differente kinds of music, genres and styles, including: progressive rock, folk (very British), medieval, classic and son on. The musical structure are complex, clean, intense and with beautiful lightness. There are resemblance with this bands: Jethro Tull, Fairport Convention, Hespérion, Procol Harum, late Beatles (Rubber Soul till Let it be), Led Zeppelin III, Gentle Giant and Gryphon. A majestic album with the most unfeigned and remarkable songs.

Here's one of those one album wonders that richly deserves rediscovery, offering lush, fluid songs combining progressive-folk stylings with real rock energy. Named (of course) for the beautiful, doomed, melancholy sister of Titus Groan in Mervyn Peake's "Gormenghast" novels, Fuchsia lives up to the Romantic/Gothic nature of its inspiration, whose portrait adorns the cover.There's a soaring yet shadowed tone to many prog-folk bands of the early 1970s, and this one provides that tone in plenty. The string section (cello, violin, viola) is integrated into the music, rather than being mere embellishment added as an afterthought; and while you might think of the Electric Light Orchestra, the songwriting & playing here is much lighter & far more elegant. A closer comparison might be a fusion of Renaissance (only as chamber pop rather than full orchestration) &, say, the Strawbs, or Al Stewart, at their most acoustic & brooding. "Me and My Kite" even ventures into Syd Barrett territory!Lyrically the songs are jeweled with tasteful Medievalisms, while avoiding the overblown bombast of too many progressive bands. If anything, there's a certain mournful worldweariness mixed in with flourishes of transient joy. This is a soundtrack for the afterglow of a fading golden day, when twilight is deepening, loss & regret are whispering in your ear, but a touch of sun-drenched summer still lingers, glowing brightly in memory.An expensive item, to be sure -- but definitely worthwhile for any devotee of this baroque musical niche. Recommended!

I'm listening to this album as I write.Haunting, sophisticated folk rock/chamber/prog with well-written lyrics.This was recorded during an era that I remember with bittersweet fondness.Most likely my favorite album of all time.Folks, don't let this one pass you by....

Released on the then obscure Pegasus Records label in England in November 1971 – Fuchsia's lone Acid-Folk Prog-Rock LP had gorgeous artwork courtesy of Anne Marie Anderson, dense and impressive layers and trippy Acoustic based music that felt genuinely magical at times - but typically - garnished bugger all sales on its initial release.The band were to tour the complex largely acoustic-based arrangements in December of that year but the tour never materialised – and with only a shared advert in the Melody Maker alongside the likes of UK rockers Nazareth and British folkies Shirley Collins and the Fairport Convention offshoot The Albion Band – "Fuchsia" received no other promotion - and so like much on the B&C Records label imprint - Pegasus PEG 8 sank without a trace. Cue a decade later and Prog aficionados go all ‘Mellow Candle’ on its rarity ass and start forking out serious money on the very hard-to-find vinyl LP (listed at £250 but often sells for much more). So Mark Powell's Esoteric Recordings (part of Cherry Red) seems determined to rescue this lovely obscurity from the grips of bootleggers and give the album the release and remaster it deserves. And indeed they have. Here are the scented and flowery details…UK released 27 November 2015 (December 2015 in the USA) – "Fuchsia" by FUCHSIA on Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 2518 (Barcode 5013929461840) is a straightforward CD transfer of the November 1971 LP on Pegasus Records PEG 8 and plays out as follows (40:56 minutes):1. Gone With The Mouse2. A Tiny Book3. Another Nail4. Shoes And Ships [Side 2]5. The Nothing Song6. Me And My Kite7. Just AnyoneTracks 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 written by Tony Durant – Track 3 written by Tony Durant and Robert Chudley – Track 6 written by Robert ChudleyFUCHSIA was:TONY DURANT – Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar and Lead VocalsMADELINE BLAND – Cello, Piano, Harmonium and Backing VocalsJANET ROGERS – Violin and Backing VocalsVANESSA HALL-SMITH – Violin and Backing VocalsMICHAEL DAY – BassMICHAEL GREGORY – Drums and PercussionThe 16-page booklet featured reminiscences by principal songwriter Tony Durant on the formation of the band, the making of the album and the disappointing aftermath of no sales and no tours – as well as lyrics and a photo of the six-piece ensemble - three of whom were ladies and their violins. The famed Decca/Deram Producer DAVID HITCHCOCK did the original Producer honours at the console - giving the whole album a real polished feel (his work from the period 1968 to 1975 includes Caravan, Camel, East Of Eden, Genesis, The Pink Fairies, Curved Air and not surprisingly Mellow Candle). PASCHAL BYRNE – a name that’s graced oodles of these classy reissues – has handled the exclusively licensed Remaster – and the audio on songs like "Shoes And Ships" and "Just Anyone" can only be described as wonderful – clean, warm and expressive. This is a beautiful sounding CD reissue...The opening cut "Gone With A Mouse" feels like the more Acoustic and ambitious sections of 1971's "Foxtrot" by Genesis (which David Hitchcock produced) – the remaster allowing the complicated breaks and changes to spread across the speakers with real power and impressive finesse. Durant's obsession with all things plucked-Acoustic comes shining through the violins and clashing cymbals on the delicately lovely "A Tiny Book". The seven-minute "Another Nail" has the three ladies opening with suitably 'scratching' sounds on their ELO-type strings before Michael Day and Michael Gregory gets all Horslips Bass and Drums on the trippy violin song (shades of East Of Eden's "Mercator Projected" and "Snafu").Time to get really impressed. There are parts in the gorgeous six-minutes-plus of "Shoes And Ships" that feel like Nick Drake at his Spanish Acoustic Guitar best – mixed in with Durant's Duncan Browne sounding Lead Vocals – all topped off with the sheer prettiness of the string arrangements featured on Fotheringay's self-titled 1970 debut LP and Mellow Candle's magnificent 1973 "Swaddling Songs" album (very impressive stuff). "The Nothing Song" is a bit too Prog for me and the harmonium hippy "Me And My Kite" is lovely too – ending on the winner that is "Just Anyone".Tony Durant later spent time with Punchin' Judy who managed one self-titled album on Transatlantic Records in 1973 – joined the reggae band Greyhound for a while before immigrating to Australia where he became a successful jingles writer. A full 35-years after the initial non-event Durant returned in 2013 with the CD "Fuchsia 2: From Psychedelia To A Distant Place" and even toured with a Folk-Prog band from Sweden called "Me And My Kites" named in tribute after the track on the album.You wouldn't say "Fuchsia" is the balls-out champ-like Mellow Candle 1973 opus "Swaddling Songs" that regularly sells for £3000 and more (and is actually worth the money) – but there is so much to love on this forgotten 1971 album gem - they're really is. And typically - Esoteric Recordings have done the record, the band and their legacy right proud. Dig in music lovers and mucho enjoy…

Theres not much i can add to the review of this album that the other reviewer William T didnt nail perfectly but i can say it deserves 5 stars instead of 4! I own many rare cult "long lost" cds and this is one of the few that deserves the inflated prices here unlike many which never match up to the value or rarity!Oddly in some ways the vocals on this remind of the solo album by Carl Barat of the libertines- a halfsung spoken troubadour storyteller approach with plenty of string section driven acoustic moodiness! Theres a hint at times to Nick Drake but a much more animated one- and to some progressive english folk/rock from the early 70s but in many ways this is its own creature- and one of my favorites- i popped this in weeks ago and found it hard to remove from my cd player.Hunt this down - the cd reissues were limited and the prices are going up- youtube has entire songs posted so you can hear the album in total and once you do im willing to bet you will conclude its worth owning even at these prices!