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ISBN: 1-899855-00-9
by Vernon Joynson
Published September 1995. 600 pages. £28.00 NOW OUT OF PRINT
The book covers British rock and pop between 1963-1976. It includes detailed discographies (albums, EPs, singles and retrospectives) for almost all entries as well as personnel details, biographical information, in most cases some comment about the music, compilation listings and an up-to-date rarity scale for album and 45 releases between 1963-1976.
A wide range of musical genre are covered: mainstream rock and pop, Merseybeat, R&B, folk, folk-rock, jazz-rock, blues-rock, psychedelia, freakbeat, glam-rock, progressive rock, including many artists who didn't attract the publicity they deserved at the time and many who'd never appeared in music encyclopaedias before. At the time of publication it was the most comprehensive and detailed encyclopaedic guide of this era. The book was profusely illustrated with 12 pages of colour.
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4th in Record Collectors Best Music Books of 1995
'An impressive 600 page job that includes more across the board info than most rock encyclopaedias' (Q Magazine)
'The Tapestry Of Delights is a revelation. One of its principal purposes: "To bring to your attention many artists who didn't attract the publicity and acclaim they deserved first time around." Indeed, as Vernon Joynson rightly claims, many of these artists have never before appeared in an encyclopedia. From Bent Frame ("A very obscure group") to David Bowie; from Two's Company ("A forgotten pop duo.") to Traffic; virtually every Tom, Dick & Harriet who stood in front of a microphone from 63 - 76, and then put out a piece of vinyl to celebrate the fact, are in here, regardless of alleged 'merit'. The hilarious tale of talentless, flower-power popsters, John's Children, their entrepreneurial producer and the ill-fated Orgasm album ("which still sounds like one of the worst albums ever recorded.") is the stuff of which spoof documentaries are woven; they even command more space in the Guide than Rod Stewart!
Yes, this is a book as much concerned with the sometimes shitty underdog as the strutting superstar - their discographies and their ever-changing personnel logged in loving detail. Haverson Apricot, Humpy Bong, and the deliriously surreal Crocheted Doughnut Ring - forgotten names to conjure with. At the tapestry's edge you'll even find the avant-garde likes of AMM, SME, Keith Tippett Group and Howard Riley, who all recorded for major labels early in their careers.
That profusion of styles (r'n'b, folk, psychedelic, hard rock, jazz, ethnic, classical) which converged within the still vilified late 60s to mid-70s progressive rock genre, is particularly appealing; here, the archivist's torchbeam reveals a scattering of neglected, innovative British groups (including Comus, Gryphon, High Tide, Third Ear Band) who were just as interesting as the Krautrockers who are currently enjoying a huge critical revival (much of it opportunistic and market orientated - the true diehards know who they are!). But the British progsters' time will come again...
This book also functions as a collectors' guide, providing information on the approximate price, availability (including CD reissues) and merit of rare albums and singles. And there's plenty of photographs of record covers to bring back memories of groovier times. If the price tag seems rather hefty for a paperback encyclopedia, consider the detail and astonishing scope of the research contained therein - a great deal of which you won't find anywhere else. The Tapestry Of Delights is, quite simply, the most compelling encyclopedia around. Its cross-referencing system will have you journeying avidly through the labyrinthine highways and byways of yesteryear' (Rubberneck, 1966).
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