Barclay James Harvest was formed in September 1966 in Saddleworth, in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England.
The band is regarded as one of the progressive rock pioneers together with label mates, at the time, Pink Floyd. Founding members included John Lees (guitars, vocals), Les Holroyd (bass, rhythm guitar, vocals), Stuart “Woolly” Wolstenholme (keyboards, vocals), and Mel Pritchard) (drums).
As other British groups, in the early 1970s, Barclay James Harvest started as a progressive rock band and pioneered the use of a symphony orchestra. The progressive rock phase ended after “Octoberon.” Next, the band’s sound started to become more mainstream.
In 1979, Woolly Wolstenholme left Barclay James Harvest disappointed with the shift away from progressive rock. After that, the band released a series of radio friendly AOR albums.
Throughout four decades, Barclay James Harvest went on to create and break records, being the first group to perform an outdoor festival in Europe, setting the mark for the number of paying attendees during a continuous tour cycle and performing in front of a reputed 275,000 audience on the steps of the Reichstag in West Berlin in 1980 with an estimated similar number listening on the East side.
In 1998, Barclay James Harvest experienced a lineup change to accompany the Barclay James Harvest featuring Les Holroyd album “Revolution Days” recorded in 2001. Since that time, Barclay James Harvest has performed primarily in Europe and released a live album and DVD from the 2002 tour. Sadly, founder-member, drummer Mel Pritchard passed away in January 2004.
The 1998 changes meant that the group split in two. Two versions of the band were formed. One is called Barclay James Harvest Featuring Les Holroyd, which continues to perform mainstream AOR. Meanwhile, the other band, called John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest (JLBJH) returned to the progressive rock style developed in the early 1970s. Woolly Wolstenholme rejoined this version of the band.
In 2006, Barclay James Harvest performed once more with an orchestra during a short European Tour with Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Following that success, another German tour with orchestra was completed in December 2006.
Regretfully, Woolly Wolstenholme died on December 13, 2010, in London.
In January 2023, Esoteric Records/Cherry Red Records reissued a remastered edition of the band’s second album, Once Again, as a boxed featuring the original mix and various other mixes.
Discography
Barclay James Harvest (Harvest, 1970)
Once Again (Harvest, 1971)
Barclay James Harvest and Other Short Stories (Harvest, 1971)
Baby James Harvest (Harvest, 1972)
Everyone Is Everybody Else (Polydor, 1974)
Live (Polydor, 1974)
Time Honoured Ghosts (Polydor, 1975)
Octoberon (Polydor, 1976)
Gone to Earth (Polydor, 1977)
Live Tapes (Polydor, 1978)
XII (Polydor, 1978)
Eyes of the Universe (Polydor, 1979)
Turn of the Tide (Polydor, 1981)
Berlin – A Concert for the People, live (Polydor, 1982)
Ring of Changes (Polydor, 1983)
Victims of Circumstance (Polydor, 1984)
Face to Face (Polydor, 1987)
Glasnost, live (Polydor, 1988)
Welcome to the Show (Polydor, 1990)
Caught in the Light (Polydor, 1993)
River of Dreams (Polydor, 1997)
Nexus, as John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest (1999)
Revival Live 1999 – Through the Eyes of John Lees (2000)
BBC in Concert 1972 (2002)
Revolution Days (2002)
Live in Bonn (2003)
Classic Meets Rock, with Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (2006)
Legacy, as John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest (2007)
After The Day The Radio Broadcasts 1974-1976 (2008)
North, as John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest (2013)