Janus - Gravedigger (1972) + Bonus Single

 (U.K 1972-1974,  80's, 90's, 00's)

Janus were a legendary band that produced a solitary inventive 1972 album that has achieved cult status as a Krautrock classic becoming a coveted collector's item.

Janus was born as a progressive rock band made up of English musicians in Krefeld in Germany in 1970, retired broke and unknown in 1973, despite being signed to the prestigious EMI "Harvest" label, alongside such bands as Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, and Edgar Broughton. Re-born in 1990, and just achieving success in 2001.

 

The original band, were Colin Orr (Guitar/Keyboards), Roy Yates (Classical Guitar), Bruno Lord (Vocals), Derek Hyett (Vocals), Mick Peberdy (Bass) and Keith Bonthrone (Drums). Style was truly original, and it has been said that Janus were the originators of the genre that became "acoustic rock". That probably misses the fact, that like the name, the band had two very distinct, schizophrenic, sides. Capable of soft, beautiful melodies, they also cranked out some mega-decibel material, which a few years later would have had them tagged as a punk band.

 

Signed to EMI Harvest in 1970, in 1971 they recorded the classic "Gravedigger" album. Remarkably, the whole album, including mixing was put together in 24 hours of studio time, and eventually released in 1972.

For two years, the band lived in Holland, partied on - making the "summer of love" a 36 month event - and managed very few live appearances. Their second album, which should have been made in 1972/3 included some dramatic concept pieces, and a 25 minute track "Under the Shadow of the Moon", which included elements that other artists would not make popular until the 1980's. Sadly, EMI never took up the option on the contract, due to the disappointing sales of "Gravedigger", so the album never got further than the rehearsal studio. 

 

At the tail of 1973 Janus came to England, and managed to perform to one or two appreciative university audiences, before becoming the only band in history to be thrown out of the Cavern Club in Liverpool (too heavy.... read loud). By 1974 it was time to call it a day, so that was the first end of Janus.  

 

Gravedigger

There are many one album wonders that emerged from the heady days of the summer of love social phenomenom of the late sixties. Some bands even lost concept of time and prolonged it well into the '70s and to quote a line from 'This Is Spinal Tap' ended up in the "where are they now? file". Janus was one such band and their 1972 album entitled 'Gravedigger' was one of those wonder albums. Though it may not be up there with the Beatle's Butcher Album, it has been known to fetch ridiculous prices (as much as $350) at record conventions and internet record trading sites. The early misadventures of Janus even rival the ficticious rock 'n' roll catastrophes of Spinal Tap. 

In 1972, Janus were the first band to be recorded at EMI Electrola Maarweg studios in Cologne. They knew very little about the process, so turned up with full staage gear for the session, only to find that their sound levels overwhelmed the studio monitoring. 

Guitar solos, and other "overdubs" were recorded without the musicians being able to hear backing tracks clearly - that's why the guitar solo on "Red Sun" has such strange timing. Orr explains: "I'm standing in the studio with Bruno behind me clamping the headphones over me ears, and Keith in front of me at the other end of the studio clapping in time. But I was pretty much guessing things at the time!"

"We couldn't even play "I Wanna Scream", so the original album featured a version we had from an earlier demo session. And the whole album was recorded in 16 hours of studio time.

'Gravediggers' original production created a Janus sound, very unlike their stage presence. In reality, they were loud and aggresive, or classical and angry or mournful, never psychedelic. Most of the band hated the finished product, and in Orr's case never listened to the album after their initial shock and disappointment. 

Some members of the band regrouped again in the 80's, 90's and OO's to perform and re-record their wonder album, resulting in a remastered & expanded remix being released by Harvest in 2013.  

I have however, chosen to post their original album release here, along with an accompanying single which the released in the same year and bonus tracks. 

Note: A second pressing run of the original Gravedigger album was made by SPM records in 1988, so I am also including the label scans from this pressing, which feature a more interesting picture label (see below).

This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from vinyl and includes full album artwork for both CD (customised) and vinyl media, along with label scans. As a bonus, I am also including the non-album tracks "I'm Moving On / I Don't Believe You" which were released as a single in 1972. I suspect they were not included due to time restrictions with vinyl at the time.

Track Listing:

01. Red Sun   8:56

02. Bubbles    3:54

03. Watcha' Trying To Do   3:56

04. I Wanna Scream   2:43

05. Gravedigger   20:51  

06. I'm Moving On (Bonus A-Side Single)   3:17

07. I Don't Believe You (Bonus B-Side Single)   3:19

Janus were:

Bruno Lord - Vocals

Derek Hyett - Vocals

Colin Orr - Lead Guitar, Keyboards

Roy Yates - Acoustic Guitar

Mick Peberdy - Bass

Keith Bonthrone - Drums, Percussion & Backing Vocals 

Gravedigger Link (116Mb)