News 15 Oct 2018

Family at the BBC / 8-disc deluxe set

Remastered • 7CD+DVD • Unreleased recordings • hardcover book

By Paul Sinclair

British rock band Family‘s recordings for the BBC are brought together for a special eight-disc deluxe set to mark 50 years since the band’s first album.

Family released seven studio albums between 1968 and 1973 and had a sound that evolved into a unique mix of blues, folk, jazz, psychedelia and high energy rock ‘n’ roll, built around the distinctive vocals of frontman Roger Chapman, Charlie Whitney’s innovative guitar playing and Rob Townsend’s intelligent drumming.

During that time the band recorded many sessions for the BBC including for programmes such as “Top Gear,” “Saturday Club,” “Colour Me Pop,” “In Concert” and various John Peel and Bob Harris shows.

These sessions feature across seven CDs of audio and this new deluxe set – packaged in a 48-page hardcover book – is the most comprehensive collection of these BBC sessions and indeed boasts 20 previously unreleased recordings including new versions of ‘Scene Through The Eye Of A Lens’, ‘Old Songs New Songs’ and ‘The Weaver’s Answer’. All the audio has been newly remastered for this release.

The eighth and final disc is a DVD (region free, NTSC) which offers nine performances from ‘The Old Grey Whistle Test’, ‘Top of the Pops’ and a forgotten ITV show called ‘Doing Their Thing’.

The book features John Peel interviews, new sleeve notes, and rare photos and this set includes a rare poster replica promoting second album Family Entertainment. The hardcover book slots neatly into an outer slipcase.

Family at the BBC is strictly limited to 2000 copies for the world and is released by Madfish on 7 December 2018.

It is available to pre-order exclusively via the SDE shop and Burning Shed (same price on both). You can pre-order from SDE using the button below or via this link (guest checkout available).

DISC 1

1. Scene Through The Eye Of A Lens (Top Gear 26.11.1967) [02:34]
2. The Breeze (Top Gear 26.11.1967) [02:55]
3. Winter (Top Gear 26.11.1967) [04:17]
4. See Through Windows (Top Gear 21.4.1968) [03:53]
5. Hey Mr. Policeman (Top Gear 21.4.1968) [03:38]
6. 3 X Time (Top Gear 21.4.1968) [03:35]
7. Old Songs New Songs (Top Gear 21.4.1968) [04:01]
8. Processions (Top Gear 4.8.1968) [03:24]
9. Me My Friend (Top Gear 4.8.1968) [03:06]
10. The Weaver’s Answer (Top Gear 4.8.1968) [05:46]
11. See Through Windows (Saturday Club 7.9.1968) [04:00]
12. The Weaver’s Answer (Saturday Club 7.9.1968) [05:04]
13. The Breeze (Saturday Club 7.9.1968) [02:57]
14. The Weaver’s Answer (Radio One Club 1.11.1968) [07:15]
15. Second Generation Woman (Radio One Club 1.11.1968) [03:37]
16. The Breeze (Radio One Club 1.11.1968) [05:08]
17. Observations From A Hill (Radio One Club 1.11.1968) [03:31]
18. Peace Of Mind (Radio One Club 1.11.1968) [04:38]

DISC 2

1. Second Generation Woman (Top Gear 24.11.1968) [02:40]
2. Observations From A Hill (Top Gear 24.11.1968) [02:53]
3. Dim (Top Gear 24.11.1968) [02:27]
4. How-Hi-The-Li (Top Gear 24.11.1968) [04:48]
5. Holding The Compass (Symonds On Sunday 9.3.1969) [02:45]
6. Processions (Symonds On Sunday 9.3.1969) [03:28]
7. How-Hi-The-Li (Symonds On Sunday 9.3.1969) [03:23]
8. A Song For Me (Top Gear 30.3.1969) [07:38]
9. I Sing Em The Way I Feel (Top Gear 30.3.1969) [04:26]
10. Love Is A Sleeper (Top Gear 30.3.1969) [03:39]
11. Bring It On Home (Top Gear 30.3.1969) [02:47]
12. The Weaver’s Answer (Colour Me Pop 10.5.1969) [06:50]
13. Observations From A Hill (Colour Me Pop 10.5.1969) [03:21]
14. How-Hi-The-Li (Colour Me Pop 10.5.1969) [06:06]
15. Processions (Colour Me Pop 10.5.1969) [03:43]
16. A Song For Me (Colour Me Pop 10.5.1969) [05:46]

DISC 3

1. Drowned In Wine (Top Gear 3.8.1969) [05:41]
2. Wheels (Top Gear 3.8.1969) [06:47]
3. No Mule’s Fool (Top Gear 3.8.1969) [02:54]
4. The Cat And The Rat (Top Gear 3.8.1969) [02:46]
5. John Peel Intro (John Peel Sunday Show 4.1.1970) [00:32]
6. Love Is A Sleeper (John Peel Sunday Show 4.1.1970) [04:15]
7. Stop For The Traffic (Through The Heart Of Me) (John Peel Sunday Show 4.1.1970) [03:15]
8. 93’s OK J (John Peel Sunday Show 4.1.1970) [05:29]
9. Song For Sinking Lovers (John Peel Sunday Show 4.1.1970) [04:44]
10. Here Comes The Grin (John Peel Sunday Show 4.1.1970) [06:58]
11. Lives And Ladies (Top Gear 5.9.1970) [07:15]
12. Holding The Compass (Top Gear 5.9.1970) [03:23]
13. Good News Bad News (Top Gear 5.9.1970) [08:17]

DISC 4

1. Good News Bad News (John Peel Sunday Show 27.9.1970) [08:36]
2. Drowned In Wine (John Peel Sunday Show 27.9.1970) [04:57]
3. Wheels (John Peel Sunday Show 27.9.1970) [07:53]
4. Processions/No Mule’s Fool (John Peel Sunday Show 27.9.1970) [04:58]
5. Holding The Compass (John Peel Sunday Show 27.9.1970) [03:49]
6. Lives And Ladies (John Peel Sunday Show 27.9.1970) [07:22]
7. Strange Band (John Peel Sunday Show 27.9.1970) [03:27]
8. The Weaver’s Answer (John Peel Sunday Show 27.9.1970) [10:16]
9. Blow By Blow (John Peel Sunday Show 27.9.1970) [05:51]

DISC 5

1. Processions/No Mule’s Fool (Bob Harris Show 16.3.1971) [04:56]
2. Part Of The Load (Bob Harris Show 16.3.1971) [09:56]
3. Lives And Ladies (Bob Harris Show 16.3.1971) [08:14]
4. Strange Band (Bob Harris Show 16.3.1971) [03:08]
5. Hometown (Bob Harris Show 16.3.1971) [04:11]
6. In My Own Time (Top Gear 17.7.1971) [03:17]
7. Save Some For Thee (Top Gear 17.7.1971) [04:25]
8. Seasons (Top Gear 17.7.1971) [02:39]
9. Burning Bridges (Top Gear 17.7.1971) [03:48]
10. Children (Bob Harris Show 22.11.1971) [02:25]
11. Between Blue And Me (Bob Harris Show 22.11.1971) [05:27]

DISC 6

1. Good News Bad News (Live 28.12.1971) [08:22]
2. Spanish Tide (Live 28.12.1971) [04:13]
3. Part Of The Load (Live 28.12.1971) [09:28]
4. Drowned In Wine (Live 28.12.1971) [04:12]
5. Holding The Compass (Live 28.12.1971) [04:05]
6. Between Blue And Me (Live 28.12.1971) [05:28]
7. Children (Live 28.12.1971) [02:40]
8. In My Own Time (Live 28.12.1971) [03:26]
9. Take Your Partners (Live 28.12.1971) [06:21]
10. The Weaver’s Answer (Live 28.12.1971) [08:23]
11. Ready To Go (Bob Harris Show 23.10.1972) [04:35]
12. Dark Eyes (Bob Harris Show 23.10.1972) [01:42]
13. Burlesque (Bob Harris Show 23.10.1972) [02:59]
14. My Friend The Sun (Bob Harris Show 23.10.1972) [04:42]
15. Coronation (Bob Harris Show 23.10.1972) [03:49]

DISC 7

1. Burlesque (In Concert 26.1.1973) [05:29]
2. Sat’dy Barfly (In Concert 26.1.1973) [04:49]
3. Top Of The Hill (In Concert 26.1.1973) [07:48]
4. My Friend The Sun (In Concert 26.1.1973) [04:08]
5. Buffet Tea For Two (In Concert 26.1.1973) [04:31]
6. Children (In Concert 26.1.1973) [03:01]
7. Glove (In Concert 26.1.1973) [05:56]
8. Ready To Go (In Concert 26.1.1973) [07:04]
9. Holding The Compass (In Concert 26.1.1973) [04:53]
10. Rockin’ Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu (In Concert 26.1.1973) [06:08]
11. Boom Bang (Top Gear 22.5.1973) [02:59]
12. Buffet Tea For Two (Top Gear 22.5.1973) [05:16]
13. Check Out (Top Gear 22.5.1973) [05:10]
14. Sweet Desiree (Top Gear 22.5.1973) [03:54]

DISC 8 (DVD)

1. In My Own Time (Top Of The Pops 1.7.1971) [03:21]
2. The Weaver’s Answer (Top Of The Pops 27.8.1970) [04:41]
3. Dim (How Late It Is 21.3.1969) [02:42]
4. Between Blue And Me (Old Grey Whistle Test 2.11.1971) [05:17]
5. Spanish Tide (Old Grey Whistle Test 2.11.1971) [04:09]
6. Good News Bad News (Doing Their Thing 25.09.1970 – ITV) [07:43]
7. Drowned In Wine (Doing Their Thing 25.09.1970 – ITV) [04:29]
8. Processions/No Mule’s Fool (Doing Their Thing 25.09.1970 – ITV) [04:42]
9. Strange Band (Doing Their Thing 25.09.1970 – ITV) [05:12]

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