“Titus Groan, the book, formed the first part of Mervin Peake’s imaginative, haunting “Gormenghast” trilogy, one of post-war Britain’s finest literary achievements. Titus Groan, the group, arrived some 20+ years after its first publication, and embraced, in music, some of the novel’s gothic atmosphere while adding their own slice of English progressive rock. By 1970, at least two divisions of underground music had emerged. One included the likes of Family, the Pretty Things and Traffic; groups whose pedigree stretched back into beat and R&B. In their wake came a succession of newer bands whose histories were neither as long nor as detailed but who welcomed the new music as an opportunity to stretch. In common with several labelmates, Titus Groan first came to prominence at the Hollywood Pop Festival of the weekend beginning May 23rd 1970. Here, the Red Bus Company, a London Agency, masterminded three days of “love, peace and music” on a site near Newcastle Under Lyme with a bill which included Ginger Baker’s Airforce and the British concert debut of the Grateful Dead. The happening, however, is better recalled as the launching pad for Mungo Jerry, whose brand of good-time skiffle was apparently received with wild enthusiasm; so much so that it carried their subsequent single into the charts. From there it soared to No.1 and became a multi-million seller, in turn providing their record label, Dawn, with its biggest success, a fact which was something of a paradox, as it was set up by Pye as an “alternative” outlet, on par with Harvest, Vertigo and RCA’s Neon. Mungo Jerry were handled by Red Bus, as were several of the acts who appeared over the three days including Mike Cooper, Demon Fuzz and Titus Groan, all of whom were either already signed to Dawn, or would be in the post-“Summertime” euphoria. Indeed, the first, most immediate plan was to compile a double set, “Live At Hollywood”, which was to feature part of the live sets from each of these groups and Loudmouth (?), but was cancelled, possibly, when permission for inclusion by non-Dawn acts, such as Family, wasn’t forthcoming. Instead they began recording, and in October that year, Dawn announced a major release package with albums and/or maxi-singles by Demon Fuzz, Comus and Heron, as well as the collection in question here, Titus Groan. However, as an added bonus, we’ve also included the three tracks which made up the Groan’s only single, none of which has previously been on an LP. The top-side was “Open The Door, Homer”, a Bob Dylan song also known as “Open The Door, Richard”, which the Groans may have picked up from the “Great White Wonder” bootleg. They do a nice folksy-cum-rock interpretation, emphasising the chorus in the hope of the hit it deserved to be, while anticipating the kind of feel the group Coulson Dean McGuinness Flint would find on the same kind of interpretation (on their own album, “Lo And Behold”). “Woman Of The World” continued an acoustic-mixed-with-rock perspective, sounding close to something Lindisfarne might have come up with, but the real meat of the single was “Liverpool”, a driving slab of pseudo-R&B with a horn and organ passage mirroring that of the Graham Bond Organisation and some “S.F. Sorrow”-styled vocal harmonies thrown in for good measure. It provided the perfect taster for what was one of Dawn’s most exciting and eclectic albums.” – Alex Gitlin
Titus Groan
Titus Groan…Plus
MediaFire Download Link
Tracklist:
01. It Wasn’t For You
02. Hall of Bright Carvings
03. Liverpool
04. I Can’t Change
05. It’s All Up With Us
06. Fuschia
07. Open The Door Homer
08. Woman Of The World
