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Duncan Browne ?– Give Me Take You

Label: Immediate ?– Z12 52 012 Format: Vinyl, LP  Country: US Released: 1968 Genre: Folk, World, & Country, Rock Style: Folk Rock, Prog Rock

Tracklist?

A1 Give Me Take You A2 Ninepence Worth Of Walking A3 Dwarf In A Tree (A Cautionary Tale) A4 The Ghost Walks A5 Waking You (Part One) A6 Chloe In The Garden A7 Waking You (Part Two) B1 On The Bombsite B2 I Was You Weren't B3 Gabilan B4 Alfred Bell B5 The Death Of Neil

Credits?

• Artwork By – Paul Weldon
• Written By – Duncan Browne

review

[-]by Bruce Eder

Duncan Browne's melancholy first album, Give Me Take You -- released on music impresario Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label in August of 1968 -- is one wonderfully tender album. Many who only discovered it well after its original release compare its dulcet introspective tone to Nick Drake's albums. It does fall into a similar English folk vein, though Browne's arrangements are, on the whole, more Baroque, giving the album a semi-classical, regal feel. Browne charted his own classical arrangements and wrote out vocal charts for a choir, but turned to his art school friend David Bretton for song lyrics. It's Bretton's lovely Pre-Raphaelite-style phrases, used here in the guise of lyrical content, that fans of this album often react strongly to, one way or another. True, there's a youthful innocence and melancholy that come off as somewhat naïve-sounding, mawkish, and awkward in our modern age -- "Better a tear of truth than smiling lies" is one example -- but this is a minor quibble. Immediate issued only one single from the album, "On the Bombsite," but it failed to connect with listeners. At the time of its release, Oldham's Immediate Records was reportedly falling apart. He was in financial ruin and reportedly cut the sessions short to save money. Apart from a hard to find Canadian LP reissue in the mid-'70s (on which the original cover art was reproduced in tinted monochrome against a silver background), Give Me Take You was out of print for over 20 years, until 1991 when Sony Music Special Products issued a CD edition (mastered from three different vinyl sources, owing to a master tape that was missing at the time). It was reissued on CD for the first time in the U.K. by Castle Records, this time from tape sources and with five bonus tracks dating from Browne's early-'70s sessions when he was recording for the Bell label. An expanded reissue, containing rehearsal recordings, demos, and one never-finished song, appeared from Cherry Red's Grapefruit label in May of 2009.

biography

[-]by Bruce Eder As a boy, Duncan Browne intended to follow his father, an Air Commodore (British equivalent of a one-star Air Force general), into the Royal Air Force, but his poor health even as a youth precluded this as a possibility. Instead, he chose to pursue his interests as an actor -- he played the clarinet and studied music theory, but wasn't possessed to consider a career in music until, at age 17, he saw Bob Dylan in an appearance on a BBC drama called The Madhouse on Castle Street, during the American folk-rock star's first tour of the U.K. It wasDylan's guitar playing rather than his singing that served as Browne's inspiration and entryway to rock music. "Most people find that odd," he recalled in a 1991 interview from his home in London, "but I was interested in the way he tuned and played his guitar, especially on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan." In response, he bought a Yamaha acoustic model and taught himself to play in a technique that was heavily classically influenced. He spent some time busking around London and later traveled across Europe on 30 pounds borrowed from his father, before entering the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. During his three years there, in addition to studying drama, he kept up with his guitar playing and developed a greater command of music theory -- which he'd begun studying as a teenager -- and formed a folk-rock trio called Lorel. They were later signed to Andrew Oldham's Immediate Records and cut one single, ironically enough an original song that had the bad luck to use as its source the same Bach-originated tune that Procol Harum had utilized for "A Whiter Shade of Pale" -- Immediate saw no point in releasing the single, and the trio soon dissolved. Browne was able to salvage his own career out of the debacle, however -- he had done some arranging for other acts on the label and Oldham was impressed with what he'd seen, and wanted a solo album from him. He turned to a former student friend of his,David Bretton, to serve as lyricist, and the two composed a dozen songs together. The resulting album,Give Me Take You, was one of the jewels of the Immediate Records catalog, a quietly dazzling work that embraced elements of folk, rock, pop, and classical, all wrapped around some surprisingly well-crafted poetry and Browne's stunning voice. Over the decades, it has been compared to the best work of Paul McCartney and the Moody Blues, and also to such albums as Astral Weeks by Van Morrison, whileRichard Goldstein of The Village Voice has described it as an example of "Pre-Raphaelite Rock," a reference to the Renaissance revival movement in art, formed in England in the mid-19th century. Despite its many virtues, the album died a commercial death, largely as a result of its being released just at the point when Immediate's financial underpinnings were beginning to collapse. Both Browne andGive Me Take You did get some notice in England, and especially from his fellow musicians -- "Keith Emerson [of the Nice] heard my work on Give Me Take You," he recalled in 1991, "and rang me up to ask if I would arrange [the choir and accompaniment on] "Hang on to a Dream." I enjoyed working with the Nice -- we would support each other when we toured together, and Keith asked me at one point if I was interested in replacing their guitarist, Davy O'List, as the fourth member of the band. I think by the time that happened though, he was in the process of putting together the group that eventually became Emerson, Lake & Palmer." Those who heard it tended to love Give Me Take You, and Browne probably could have gotten some concert work from the release, but for a certain degree of confusion as to who he was, owing both to Immediate's slipshod publicity operation and the design of the album jacket -- the triple superimposed image of Browne, coupled with the multiple overdubs on many of the songs, led some promoters to think that Duncan Browne was a trio of some sort. When the company's collapse came in 1969-1970 -- withOldham, trying in the final days to raise money from any and every source, actually presenting Brownewith a bill for 2,000 pounds (about $6,000) to cover the recording cost of the LP -- Give Me Take Youwas buried under the rubble of Immediate Records. It resurfaced briefly in the mid-'70s on the Canadian-based Daffodil label and then disappeared until the early '90s; for years, as with most of the Immediate library, the master tapes to Browne's work were missing, lost in storage in some forgotten vault. Browne went on to record a single for Bell Records' British unit (an unusual label that also recorded the not-dissimilar Amazing Blondelduring this same period), and had a short but more substantial liaison with Mickie Most's RAK label in 1972, where he issued a single, "Journey," and a self-titled solo album that was a direct stylistic follow-up to his Immediate LP. Neither did well enough to justify more recording at the time, and Browne spent the next several years as a session musician, working on a pair of albums by Colin Blunstone and one album by Tom Yates. In the mid-'70s, he moved into a full electric rock mode in collaboration with Peter Godwin, ultimately forming the power pop band Metro, whose recordings were issued on Sire Records in America. Suddenly, Browne was near the cutting edge of music again, and in addition to his work with Metro he released a pair of solo albums, The Wild Places and Streets of Fire, which were also issued on Sire in the early '80s. This was as close as Duncan Browne ever got to rock stardom, his records sought after in locales like New York's East Village and played on American college radio stations. Creem magazine critic Janis Schact pegged him as the voice that was "about to launch [a thousand romances] into the 1980s." Despite some beautiful and surprisingly hard-rocking music that was sort of new wave melodic, however, there wasn't enough interest or activity to sustain this phase of Browne's career. By the middle of the decade, Browne had moved into the field of film and television scoring, and worked on Jonathan Miller's series Madness, among other productions. He was pleasantly surprised at the outset of the 1990s when the CD boom led to new interest in his 1960s and 1970s rock efforts -- Browne was gratified, in particular, to learn that Sony Music Special Products was preparing a CD reissue of Give Me Take You in the United States. Alas, he was stricken with cancer in the early '90s, and died in the spring of 1993. In the years since, most of his catalog, including his early-'80s solo albums, has been re-released andBrowne's music may well have a larger following in 2002 than it ever did in the 1960s and 1970s.

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Duncan Browne "Give Me, Take You"

by sbritt•2 years ago•3,856 views

From GIVE ME TAKE YOU ©

Duncan Browne - Dwarf In A Tree

by inuhiko5•4 years ago•16,329 views

Dwarf In A Tree There was a dwarf who lived in a tree, I could see him just like you see me. He told me secre

                                                      J   J   DISC (VINYL) GRADES   SS  Sealed at factory and never opened. Disc is assumed to be undamaged and mint, but this cannot be proven until the album is actually opened and the disc examined. (STILL SEALED) M  Perfection, no flaws, defects, marks or otherwise indications of being handled or played. Any scuffs, hairline scratches or other marks disqualify discs from this category.  (MINT) NM or M-  The vinyl is virtually flawless, bright and shiny. A very minor, barely visible scuff or two may be permitted, but no scratches. The disc plays with no audible noise. The label is bright, clean and unmarked. (NEAR MINT or MINT MINUS)  EX or VG++  Disc plays near perfectly, but has minor paper scuffs that do not interfere with the sound quality. There is possibly a hairline scratch or two but nothing that is obvious or affects play. Vinyl is bright and shiny; label is clean and unmarked. (EXCELLENT or VERY GOOD ++) VG+  Some visible surface wear, very minor scratches and scuffs, but minimal impact on the sound quality. Vinyl still have good luster; labels are clean. (VERY GOOD PLUS) VG  Vinyl has noticeable scratches or scuffs that cause minor surface noise, but do not overpower the music. There are no skips.  Vinyl appears somewhat dull and grayish. Labels may have small tears, tape marks, writing, etc.   (VERY GOOD) G  Well-played, dull, grayish vinyl with deeper scratches and wear causing distracting surface noise (hisses, pops, cracks and other nasties). The record will still play through without any skips. Labels may be significantly defaced or damaged. (GOOD) F and P  Unless the record is particularly rare, I would not try to sell a record in this condition. There will be major noise, surface damage, deep scratches, and skips. Attempting to listen to these discs will be painful. These discs are basically trash unless a collector desires one to fill a space in a collection until a better one comes along. (FAIR) (POOR)   ALBUM COVER GRADES   SS  Album is still in the factory-applied shrink-wrapping. (STILL SEALED) M  Absolutely perfect; no corner dings, marks, tears, dents, impressions from the disc, or other flaws. Cover should appear as if a record has never been inside. (MINT) NM or M-  Very minor signs of wear or cover impressions. Artwork is as close to perfection as possible. (NEAR MINT or MINT MINUS)  EX or VG++  Minor disc impression and slight corner creases, no wrinkles, puckers, seam splits or writing on the cover. Artwork is clean and unworn and there is no ink wear. (EXCELLENT or VERY GOOD ++) VG+  Cover is clean but has minor writing or marks and shows slight wear. There may be just the start of ring wear. There is slight discoloration due to aging or staining, minor seam wear, but no splits or tears. Corners have small creases or fraying. (VERY GOOD PLUS) VG  Cover is worn and used. Seams may be starting to split or may be repaired with clear tape. There is moderate ring wear, but the artwork is still attractive. There is some yellowing or discoloration and there is larger writing, labels, or marks. Corners have damage (dents, fraying, and/or creases). (VERY GOOD) G  Several (but not all of the following flaws will apply: Seam splits, large marker writing, major seam splits, significant ring wear, damaged corners, tears, cuts, gouges, masking or duct tape seam repairs, or other flaws and damage. Again, probably only useful to fill a collection niche until something better can be found. (GOOD) F and P  Trash, useable only to keep the record off the floor. (FAIR) (POOR)

 

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