The Move, Message from the Country, Capitol ST-811, 1971, Roy Wood, Leff Lynne

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The Move

Message From The Country

Capitol ST-811

1971

Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, Bev Bevan

Recorded in 1970–71 at the same time that The Move was also laying down tracks for the first Electric Light Orchestra album (and even during some of the same sessions), there are inevitably some similarities in style between the two albums, especially the heavy use of "tracking up" (overdubbing) to capture all of the instruments being played by Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne. Nevertheless, Wood and Lynne were determined to maintain some differentiation between the sound of their two groups (for example, by confining Wood's saxes to Message and Wood's cellos to the ELO debut).

The lengthy sessions for this album mostly just involved Wood and Lynne, because of all the tracking up being done. As a result, during these sessions, bassist Rick Price quit The Move, reducing it to a trio. Instead of replacing him, Roy Wood added bass duties to his other roles, as well as erasing Price's tracks on the existing songs and then re-recording the bass lines. Although drummer Bev Bevan did not quit, he states that this is his least-favorite Move album in the liner notes for the 2005 reissue.

All previous Move singles had been solo Roy Wood compositions, and recent singles had also featured Wood singing lead, but this album presented a problem. Wood only composed four songs, with four songs from Lynne, one Lynne-Wood joint credit, and one Bevan song. Lead vocals on the album also were split between Wood and Lynne depending upon author, with Wood singing lead on Bevan's composition "Don't Mess Me Up", Bevan singing lead on Wood's "Ben Crawley Steel Company" and Lynne singing lead on the joint composition "My Marge". Thus, there were only three songs on the album written and sung by Wood.

Ultimately, Wood's "Ella James" was released as a single in 1971, but it was quickly withdrawn when Harvest Records and the group felt that Wood's "Tonight" (not originally on Message) would be a more commercial choice for The Move's first single on the Harvest label. No other song from the album was ever issued as a single, although The Move released two more hit singles ("Chinatown" and "California Man", both written by Wood) before becoming ELO permanently. All three songs featured lead vocals from both Wood and Lynne.

"Ella James" was later covered by The Nashville Teens.

My favorite Move LP, "Message from the Country" was a modest change in direction for the band; dropping some of their earlier pop and psychedelic inclinations in favor of what might best be described as a rough stab at proto-Electric Light Orchestra-styled pop.  Mind you, nothing here was as elaborate, or orchestrated as the forthcoming ELO catalog, but you could hear the band (particularly Wood), playing around with new ideas and ways to expand/modify their sound, while Bevan and Lynne focused on a more commercial, rock sound.  Lots of Beatles-vibe here which you'll either adore, or find irritating.  Personally I love it.

- Complete with Wood's squalling psychedelic oboe (?) and Lynne's super heavy bass (it'll literally rattle fillings), 'It Wasn't My Idea' came off like a weird mix of The Fab Four flirting with Arthur Brown.  Fascinating in a strange hypnotic fashion, it made for a wild way to start the album and is one of Wood's most interesting compositions.    rating: **** stars

- One of two Bev Bevan compositions, 'The Minister' sounded like a very kinked cover of 'Paperback Writer'.  Great Beatlesque melody, complete with killer guitar hood, and glorious vocal harmonies.  As a big Beatles fan I thought the song was amazing, but not everyone's likely to agree.    rating: **** stars

- The Lynne penned title track found the band trying to balance commercial with a more progressive orientation.  Normally that would be a disaster, but they managed to pull it off with one of the album's most memorable efforts.  Lynne also used the song to showcase his overlooked lead guitar skills, turning in the album's prettiest solo.     rating: **** stars

- Baring more than a passing resemblance to the forthcoming ELO, 'The Words of Aaron' sported the album's most commercial sound.  Yeah the lyric was a little heavy handed, but the melody was irresistible, made even better by the cheesy synthesizer.  Nice Beatles-styled fade out and martial reprise at the end of the track.     rating: **** stars  

- Simply unlike anything else on the album, 'Ben Crawley Steel Co.' found the band taking a stab at Johnny Cash.  The steelworker-to-revolutionary plotline may have been a joke, but Wood and company nailed Cash's unique sound perfectly, right down to the choking-on-nails-vocals which were actually sung by Bevan !  The song  would have gotten a higher rating had I been a Cash fan.   rating: ** stars

- Side two opened up with Wood's '50s rock-flavored rocker.  Once again the bass was kickass, as were the fuzz guitar solos.

- Sounding like a John Lennon "White Album" outtake, or maybe something out of the Donovan catalog, the acoustic 'No Time' was a beautiful ballad that simply oozed that mid-1960s aura (hum, thinkin' thoughts of love and peace).  Who knows if it was meant as a joke since it was a fascinating effort.     rating: **** stars

- Wood always had an ear for a commercial hook and 'Ella James' made it clear that talent hadn't abandoned him.  Complete with chiming guitars, this was another one that would have made a dandy single ...     rating: **** stars

- Bevan's second contribution showed he could turn in a decent Elvis impression.  As far as impressions went 'Don't Mess Me Up' wasn't half bad.  Not as much fun as the earlier Johnny Cash number, but still okay.  On the other hand surrounded by the more adventuresome material on the album, this one paled in comparison.   rating: ** stars.

- 'My Marge' also sounded like a "White Album" outtake.  Unfortunately this time out the inspiration sounded like Paul McCartney's 1930's musical hall-styled 'Honey Pie'.   I'll leave it at that.   rating: * star.

Folks throw around the term 'lost classic' all the time and it's seldom a true description.  Trust me.  This is one of those rare occasions.  The three musical parodies (Cash, Presley, and McCartney) were a minor distraction, but were quickly forgotten.  Well worth looking for, especially since you can still find copies at a reasonable price.

"Message From the Country" track listing:

(side 1)

1.) It Wasn't My Idea   (Roy Wood) - 5:31

2.) The Minister   (Bev Bevan) - 4:29

3.) Message from the Country   (Jeff Lynne) - 4:45

4.) The Words of Aaron   (Roy Wood) - 5:26

5.) Ben Crawley Steel Co.   (Roy Wood) - 3:07

(side 2)

1.) Until Your Mama's Gone   (Roy Wood) - 5:06

2.) No Time   (P. Copestake) - 3:39

3.) Ella James   (Roy Wood) - 3:13

4.) Don't Mess Me Up   (Bev Bevan) - 3:11

5.) My Marge   (Roy Wood) - 2:01

§  Roy Wood – lead and backing vocals, guitars, steel guitar, recorders, bass, clarinet, bassoon, tenor and baritone saxes.

§  Jeff Lynne – lead and backing vocals, guitars, piano, percussion.

§  Bev Bevan – drums, backing vocals, lead vocal on 'Ben Crawley Steel Company'.

§  Rick Price – bass on some original tracks (erased and redubbed by Wood)

The Move were an immensely popular British band in the late 60s and early 70s that never really made their mark in the United States, which is a shame because their musical chops are nearly unrivaled in the world of rock, particularly the group's main songwriter Roy Wood. Wood practically invented the term "multi-instrumentalist" as he was equally adept at playing classical instruments like the cello, bassoon, oboe and recorder as he was at strumming the guitar. The Move shifted through many lineups in its relatively short lifespan, but perhaps its best incarnation was its last. In 1970, Jeff Lynne joined the band to give it another songwriter to take some of the load off Wood, and also Lynne's addition pushed Wood much like Lennon pushed McCartney and vice versa. They recorded a pair of albums and several singles in the two years of the Wood-Lynne-Bev Bevan trio, with their last LP offering coming in late 1971 in the outstanding Message from the Country. At the time they were recording Message, Wood, Lynne and Bevan were also working on a brand new project. That new band was the Electric Light Orchestra, which had the premise of being a rock band that also employed a classic string section on every song. The formation of ELO basically ended the Move and less than a year later, Wood left due to artistic differences with Lynne, which is a real shame. I enjoy ELO, which after its first few albums melded into a sleek pop machine with hit single after hit single well into the early 80s. But The Move is much better, much more eclectic and harder rocking than most of ELO's output. Message from the Country is almost split in half by Wood's and Lynne's songs. Wood tended to be the more experimental of the two, but each had an ear for melody and a willingness to explore new sounds and arrangements. The Move also had a brilliant sense of humor, recording humorous tributes to Elvis on the Bevan-penned "Don't Mess Me Up" and Johnny Cash on "Ben Crawley Steel Company", a humorous number featuring a rare lead vocal from Bevan, the band's excellent drummer who would stay with Lynne in ELO for the next decade. The other novelty number is the music-hall pastiche "My Marge," which is similar in feel to the Beatles "Honey Pie" or "When I'm Sixty-Four," except even goofier and tongue-in-cheek. Other than the beautiful "No Time," the other six tracks on the original album hit pretty hard. The best is Wood's "It Wasn't My Idea to Dance," which finishes with a classical music freakout during the final minute or so of the song. Lynne's "The Words of Aaron" features some brilliant piano work and strong harmonies from Lynne and Wood, who sing together on most of the album's tracks. Wood's "Ella James" is a straight-ahead rocker, while Lynne's "The Minister" sounds a bit like the Beatles' Paperback Writer at times. The expanded version (which came out a few years ago) is a must-have, as it includes classic Move singles "California Man," "Tonight," and "Chinatown," as well as excellent B-sides. One of the B-sides is the hard-rocking "Do Ya," which would be a hit six years later when Lynne recorded with ELO. I basically got into this band because I loved ELO's first album (the only one with Wood, Lynne and Bevan together) and also most of Jeff Lynne's work in general. Through my purchase of this classic, I now want to explore the rest of the band's catalogue as well as Wood's work with Wizzard and as a solo artist. I still don't understand why this band never hit it big over here. Guess everyone was busy listening to the Carpenters and Partridge Family at the time.....

Cover: VG+, tape on corners, very slight seam split (approx. a half inch dead center and not all the way through). 

Vinyl: VG+, light scuffs and scratches that do affect play

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