British musician Roy Harper has become a true rock legend. The famous group "Led Zeppelin" released the single "Caps off in front of Roy Harper". The composer, guitarist and singer actively collaborated with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, as well as with the Pink Floyd group.
Roy Harper was raised by his stepmother. Disagreement with her in views was noticeably reflected in the singer's creativity, the nature of his songs.
Searching for a vocation
The biography of the future celebrity began in 1970. The child was born in Rochehum, a suburb of Manchester, on June 12. In addition to him, his elder brother David grew up in the family. Roy became interested in music early. At the age of 9, he was most interested in the blues. Together with his brother, they organized a group and began performing.
Roy decided not to continue his education. He enlisted in the Royal Armed Forces. However, he quickly realized his mistake: strict discipline was too oppressive. It all ended with a nervous breakdown. The result was demobilization. Until 1964, Harper traveled to North Africa and Europe, performing on the streets of cities. Upon his return to his homeland, he became a member of the famous capital's Soho-folk club "Les Cousins".
In 1966, the singer's debut album, The Sophisticated Beggar, was released. He combined love lyrics with nighttime mantras and black humor. CBS Records became interested in Harper's work. The company organized work on the musician's new compilation "Come out Fighting Genghis Smith", presented in 1968. The most interesting song on the album was "Circle". She demonstrated the possibilities of Roy's style by going beyond the limits of familiar folk-rock.
In support of the third disc, "Folkjokeopus", Harper gave several concerts in London. The new collection surprised fans with the length of the compositions. The longest was 18 minutes. After him, the producer Peter Jenner drew attention to the performer. After signing a contract with Harvest Records, the popularity of the vocalist and composer among hard rock fans began to take off. The musician's single "Led Zeppelin" was dedicated to him.
In 1971, a new album, Stormcock, was released. He was named the best in Harper's discography. However, the musician remained known exclusively among professionals. The reason was Roy's reluctance to go into the commercial sphere. After the rise of interest in the work of the Pink Floyd group, the vocalist had a chance to work at the same time with them on the recording of a new disc. Roy also starred in The Song Remains the Same.
Failures and successes
In 1975, on the recording of "Have a cigar", the colleagues started having problems. Gilmore refused to perform the song, and Waters was unable to play the part. The way out of the difficult situation was the appeal to Roy. For his help, David Gilmour took part in the creation of Harper's new compilation "HQ", and Roy helped a colleague with a solo album. Roy's album won the Record of the Year award. In 1985, Work of Heart was The Sunday Times' Album of the Year.
In the seventies, the new collection presented the composition "Stormcock" in the genre of an epic poem. It was created by Jimmy Page, who played the guitar. The orchestration was done by David Bedford. He worked with Harper on the following CDs.
In 1972, the musician first appeared in films. In Made, he played Mike Preston. The next year, the Lifemask soundtrack was released. On Valentine's Day, the 1974 collection Valentine was scheduled to be released. In honor of the release of the novelty, the Rainbow Theater hosted a concert featuring Page, Bedford, Lane and Moon. Shortly after the live performance, the album Flashes from the Archives of Oblivion was released.
In 1980, Harper collaborated with Keith Bush, helping her record a new album. In 1984 he performed at Jimmy Page at acoustic concerts. In the late eighties, the musician took a break. He began work again only in 1990, in collaboration with Bush and Gilmour. After a difficult divorce in 1992 from his wife, Jackie, a new collection of the musician "Death or Glory" was released. All the compositions presented in it were distinguished by a melancholic coloration.
The premiere of the collections "The Dream Society", "Once" and "Commercial Breaks" took place. Live CDs and solo albums recorded by the BBC in 1997 were presented. Roy released "Once" as a live intro video, recorded an EP "Burn the World", presented the single "The Methane Zone" and the CD "An Introduction to …". The fans also received albums with a collection of the musician's poems and his speech tracks "Poems, Speeches, Thoughts and Doodles". Interest in Harper's work increased markedly after the performance of "Once".
Confession
Young musicians performed cover versions of his singles, accepted invitations to participate in the recording of albums. Roy's recitations were included in the compilation The Edges of Twilight, recorded in 1995 by The Tea Party's. And in 1996, Harper's utterances were added to the Anathema's "Eternity".
The acoustic album "The Green Man" was released in 2000. Jeff Martin, a member of "The Tea Party", played the guitar solo and used an ancient hurdy-gurdy string instrument.
All the lyrics created for the albums were collected in the book "The Passions of Great Fortune", published in 2003. The edition was supplemented with a huge number of pictures and comments.
Roy received an award for his contribution to musical culture in June 2005. Mojo magazine addressed him with the Hero Award. A colleague and friend received the prize from Jimmy Page.
The musician celebrated his 65th birthday in June 2007 with a London concert. It was followed by a double CD recording of the anniversary performance "Royal Festival Hall Live - June 10th 2001".
Harper released his final album in May 2005. Counter Culture includes 35 years of songs. The magazine "UNCUT" rated the collection with the highest score.
New plans
In favor of the World Wildlife Fund, the musician released the album "The Wildlife Album". He included 18 tracks.
Roy's first DVD was presented in 2006. The collection was compiled by footage filmed at the Irish folk club “De Barra’s” in 2004. Beyond the Door included 10 audio tracks with reviews from Classic Rock, UNCUT and Mojo.
In 2009, the musician starred in the film Brokeback Cowboy. In 2013 the album "Men & Myth" was presented. Roy is currently collecting all of his work formats to create a digital catalog. The musician calls it a generalization of musical creativity.
Harper's personal life has been adjusted several times, but there is little information about her. The musical dynasty was continued by one of his sons, Nick. He has become a successful singer and songwriter, has been involved with his father's recordings, has played guitar on some studio recordings since 1985, and has toured.
