Let me in (Gary Brooker) (LP 711 - 712)

Gary Brooker  No More Fear Of Flying (Vinyl, Chrysalis Records, 1979) *** 

Gary Brooker  Lead Me To The Water (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1982) *** 

Genre: Prog rock (even though these albums are more mainstream rock in their approach, Gary's albums are housed in the prog section thanks to his association with prog giants Procol Harum). 

Places I remember: Slow Boat Records (Wellington)/ Real Groovy Records (Auckland)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Give Me Something To Remember You By

Gear costume: Say It Ain't So Joe 

Active compensatory factors: These are Gary Brooker's first two solo albums after Procol Harum went into hiatus after their Something Magic album in 1977 (they'd reform eventually in the 1990's).

Gary has one of those voices that is instantly recognisable. It's a blessing, as he can inflect even the most ordinary of lyrics with meaning and nuance.

First album - No More Fear Of Flying, maintains a high standard. Sidebar: Bruce Lynch is on bass - he's a Kiwi, known for his marriage to Suzanne and his session work in many arenas - notably Cat Stevens and Kate Bush among many others.

Lead Me To The Water has loads of famous friends lending a hand. Most notably George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Phil Collins. Unfortunately this bunch got together in 1982 for this album, so it's got that eighties production sound, complete with synths,  and it all sounds a little too comfortable. These guys, by this stage, had little to prove.

Gary's vocals remain fantastic however. Hard to muck them up!

Where do they all belong? I'm yet to get his third solo album - 1985's Echoes In The Night and the live album from 1996 - Within Our House