HAPPY THE MAN - Happy the Man (1977-2006) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Though it met with little commercial success, Happy the Man's 1977 debut quickly became a cult sensation with fans of prog rock. It's easy to see why: their sound combines a number of diverse influences in a distinctive manner, and their music is as complex and meticulously arranged as any prog album one cares to mention. Unlike some popular prog acts, Happy the Man does not allow one instrument to take center stage or allow relentless soloing to dominate the songs. Instead, the focus is on complex interplay between the group's players: compositions like "Knee Bitten Nymphs In Limbo" and "Stumpy Meets the Firecracker in Stencil Forest" are built on the kind of mathematically complex yet playful instrumental interplay that is normally associated with Frank Zappa's most complex work. Elsewhere, the group slows down the instrumental pyrotechnics to show off a grasp of melody; the best example is "Starborne," which starts off with moody washes of Tangerine Dream-style synthesizer and builds to a dramatic, almost orchestral fanfare. The one real downside of the album is the inclusion of two vocal-oriented songs that don't jell with the rest of the album because the group is obviously not comfortable dealing with conventional song structures. These selections also suffer from pretentious lyrics; for example, "On Time as a Helix of Precious Laughs" tries to philosophize about the meaning of life but gets bogged down in artsy, obscure imagery. In the end, Happy the Man doesn't quite live up to its legendary reputation but remains a solid prog outing that will find favor with those who enjoy art rock at its most complex and ambitious. Collector's note: One Way Records' 1999 reissue of Happy the Man was remixed for the compact disc format by the group's keyboardist, Kit Watkins. by Donald A. Guarisco 

Tracklist
1 Starborne 4:22
2 Stumpy Meets The Firecracker In Stencil Forest 4:16
3 Upon The Rainbow (Befrost) 4:42
4 Mr. Mirror's Reflection On Dreams 8:54
5 Carousel 4:06
6 Knee Bitten Nymphs In Limbo 5:22
7 On Time As A Helix Of Precious Laughs 5:22
8 Hidden Moods 3:41
9 New York Dream's Suite 8:32
Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Stanley Whitaker
Electric Bass – Rick Kennell
Keyboards, Clavinet, Flute, Marimba, Electric Piano, Organ [Hammond B3] – Kit Watkins
Percussion – Mike Beck
Saxophone, Flute, Piano, Keyboards, Vocals – Frank Wyatt

HAPPY THE MAN - Crafty Hands (1978-1999) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Happy the Man is a superb american Progressive rock group, creating a hyper refined and elaborated music with lots of breaks and tempo changes, showing a rare instrumental richness (Two keyboards, saxophone, flute, guitar, vocals & percussions) and remarkable talents of composers. The Musea remastered reissues from the two first official albums present a music between Progressive rock and the Canterbury School, with complex and captivating writting, full of permanent surprises which make the eponymous opus and "Crafty Hands" real successes. "Death's Crown" is a "new" album taken out of the band's archives, and was due in 1974 before canceled by the record company. Available at last, it gives us the opportunity to enjoy the clever and subtle music played by a band capable of developping elaborated themes with loads of breaks and diverse suites in the style of Camel or even Caravan, with moreover the same incredible harmonies between saxophone, keyboards and guitar. The music is complex but always melodious and refined.

Tracklist :
1 Service With A Smile 2:44

3 Ibby It Is 7:50

4 Steaming Pipes 5:30

5 Wind Up Doll Day Wind 7:06

6 Open Book 4:53

7 I Forgot To Push It 3:08

8 The Moon, I Sing (Nossuri) 6:16

Credits

Arranged By – Happy The Man

Bass – Rick Kennell

Drums, Percussion – Ron Riddle

Guitar, Vocals – Stanley Whitaker

Piano, Harpsichord, Saxophone, Flute, Voice – Frank Wyatt

Piano, Harpsichord, Synthesizer [Moog], Clavinet – Kit Watkins

 

HAPPY THE MAN - 3rd : "Better Late..." (1983-1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

3rd: Better Late... came out 11 years after these demo recordings were made, hence the second part of the album's title. As for the first part, these home sessions were conducted to put Happy the Man's third LP into pre-production. In the meantime, punk and disco discouraged record labels to pursue their contracts with progressive rock bands and Arista Records dropped the group. If the tapes are crude at times (some hiss, some distortion), sound quality is maintained at a respectable level. This is not the band's best material, but then again, it might have evolved before reaching the final stage -- a piece or two might even have been dropped. Still, it makes a worthy follow-up to Crafty Hands. The writing remains complex, polyphonic, counterpuntal. There is a bit more fusion than before. Tracks like "The Falcon," "Who's in Charge Here?," and "Shadow Shaping" (the latter very Gentle Giant-esque) are genuine Happy the Man. New drummer Coco Roussel (also featured on the Cuneiform release Live) brings more subtle percussion work, while Kit Watkins and Stanley Whitaker play better than ever. Don't get turned off by the discouraging artwork: this is strong Happy the Man material, even though newcomers should begin with the band's two original albums. François Couture  
Tracklist :
1     Eye of the Storm 4'05
Kit Watkins
2     The Falcon 6'18
Stanley Whitaker / Frank Wyatt
3     At the Edge of This Thought 5'23
Frank Wyatt
4     While Chrome Yellow Shine 6'15
Kit Watkins / Frank Wyatt
5     Who's in Charge in Here? 5'47
Stanley Whitaker
6     Shadow Shaping 4'33
Kit Watkins / Stanley Whitaker / Frank Wyatt
7     Run into the Ground 5'09
Rick Kennell / Kit Watkins
8     Footwork 4'23
Kit Watkins
9     Labyrinth 7'35
Kit Watkins
10     Such a Warm Breeze 5'11
Stanley Whitaker
Credits :
Arranged By [All Titles Arranged By] – Happy The Man
Bass – Rick Kennell
Drums, Percussion – Coco Roussel
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Stanley Whitaker
Electric Piano, Alto Saxophone [Alto Sax], Flute – Frank Wyatt
Engineer [Engineered By] – Kit Watkins, Wayne Garber
Keyboards, Flute – Kit Watkins

HAPPY THE MAN - Live (1978-1997) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

One can only salute the effort Cuneiform Records has put over the years in finding and releasing lost material by Happy the Man, one of the most interesting American progressive rock bands active in the '70s. Live has been put together from two tapes, a show at The Cellar Door (Washington, D.C.) on July 1, 1978 and another at Louie's Rock City (Falls Church, VA) on October 8 of the same year. In the middle of 1978, Happy the Man were at their creative peak, having released their two albums for Arista Records. These two live performances capture them as they shone on-stage in front of a small but very enthusiastic audience. Live includes inspired versions of Happy the Man's best tunes such as the short but energy-packed "Service with a Smile," the complex "Ibby It Is" and classics like "Steaming Pipes" and "Mr. Mirror's Reflection on Dreams." The set list also includes a few surprises, like "Open Book," a reworking from a part of the then-unreleased suite "Death's Crown" (Cuneiform would release a rehearsal recording of this suite on Death's Crown in 1999). Sound quality is very average (the CD lacks power in the lower register), but this being the only live recording of Happy the Man legitimately available, one should not pass over it. François Couture  
Tracklist :
1     Service with a Smile 4:04
2     Starborne 4:45         
3     Open Book 6:33         
4     Hidden Moods 4:09     
5     Morning Sun 4:34         
6     I Forgot to Push It 3:37     
7     Ibby It Is 8:38         
8     Nossuri (The Moon, I Sing) 6:24
9     I Carve the Chariot on the Carousel 5:12
10     Steaming Pipes 4:35
11     Knee Bitten Nymphs in Limbo 5:20
12     Mr. Mirror's Reflection on Dreams 9:23
Credits :
Bass – Rick Kennell
Drums, Percussion – Coco Roussel
Guitar [Guitars] – Stanley Whitaker
Keyboards, Flute, Design [Cover Design] – Kit Watkins
Keyboards, Saxophone [Sax] – Frank Nakahara-Wyatt

HAPPY THE MAN - Beginnings (1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

In 1990, the label Cuneiform released Beginnings, filling a huge gap in Happy the Man's discography. The jewel of American progressive rock recorded its first album in 1977, but its members had been hard at work for over three years. This CD contains home recordings from February 1974 to July 1975, for a total of seven songs not available anywhere else. Sound quality is surprisingly good (and much better than on Death's Crown, another archival recording, released by Cuneiform in 1999). The lineup featured here is the same one that would record Happy the Man a year and a half later (Stanley Whitaker, Kit Watkins, Frank Wyatt, Rick Kennell, Mike Beck), with the addition of singer/flutist Cliff Fortney who would leave the behind shortly after these recordings took place. "Gretchen's Garden" reaches the same level of emotion as the "Death's Crown" suite, while "Partly the State" is fueled by the same complex quirkiness found in classic tracks like "Stumpy Meets the Firecracker in Stencil Forest" or "Knee Bitten Nymphs in Limbo." "Passion's Passing" is a typical Wyatt ballad, delicate and a little bit naïve. Whitaker's "Portrait of a Waterfall" is more banal, but it features Wyatt's alto saxophone as the lead instrument -- a rarity. In general, the band's writing and sound are pretty similar to their two LPs released by Arista: all the basic elements are there, the music will only be enriched and a little better focused by the time of the Happy the Man sessions. Fans of the band will discover very worthy material on Beginnings. François Couture  
Tracklist :
1     Leave That Kitten Alone, Armone 9'16
Frank Wyatt    
2     Passion's Passing 8'40
Frank Wyatt
3     Don't Look to the Running Sun 9'52
Cliff Fortney
4     Gretchen's Garden 11'04
Frank Wyatt
5     Partly the State 9'20
Cliff Fortney
6     Broken Waves 5'49
Kit Watkins
7     Portrait of a Waterfall 6'45
Stanley Whitaker
Credits :
Arranged By, Producer – Happy The Man
Drums, Percussion – Mike Beck
Electric Bass – Rick Kennell
Electric Guitar, Vocals – Stanley Whitaker
Keyboards [Multi-keyboards], Vocals – Kit Watkins
Keyboards, Alto Saxophone [Alto Sax], Flute, Vocals – Frank Wyatt
Lead Vocals, Flute, Electric Piano [Rhodes] – Cliff Fortney (pistas: 2 to 5)   

HAPPY THE MAN - Death's Crown (1999) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Throughout the 1990s, Cuneiform Records has released essential Happy the Man material that had been overlooked by the band's label Arista in the mid-'70s. Death's Crown presents three archival recordings made in 1974 and 1976 in Happy the Man's rehearsal room. The sound quality is rather poor (the voice is particularly lost in the background), but it is still enjoyable and the beauty of the music makes up for the inconvenience. The record opens with the title track, "Death's Crown," an 11-part suite of 38 minutes. Composed in 1974, "Death's Crown" was originally a multimedia performance including dancers, actors, and a light and slide show. The piece has been performed on numerous occasions, and the band later integrated some parts into its live show (as an example, part five appears on the Live CD as the track "Open Book"). It is the tale of a man's journey into the other side of life, sung in the most emotional way by Frank Wyatt. The main musical theme, which pops up here and there in different forms, is of astonishing strength, even for Happy the Man. The parts segue into each other seamlessly and the listener comes back on the ground after an amazingly short 38-minute experience. The whole piece conveys the lyricism, finesse, and instrumental richness unique to Happy the Man. The CD is completed by two other tracks, a pre-album version of "New York Dreams Suite" (nine minutes) and the unreleased "Merlin of the High Places" (seven minutes). Death's Crown is more than an archival document: It represents the crucial creative stage of one of America's best progressive rock bands. François Couture  
Death's Crown
Lyrics By – Dan Owen
Music By, Lyrics By – Frank Wyatt
1    Part One    3:04
2    Part Two    0:48
3    Part Three    5:55
4    Part Four    6:47
5    Part Five    4:57
6    Part Six    3:11
7    Part Seven    5:24
8    Part Eight    1:28
9    Part Nine    0:44
10    Part Ten    2:35
11    Part Eleven    3:01
12    New York Dreams' Suite 8:45
Music By, Lyrics By – Frank Wyatt
13    Merlin Of The High Places 7:10
Music By – Frank Wyatt
Credits :
Arranged By – Happy The Man
Bass – Rick Kennell
Bass [Additional] – Dan Owen (pistas: 2)
Engineer [Primary Sound Enhancement], Edited By [Digital Editing], Mastered By [Mastering], Organ, Synthesizer [Moog, String Ensemble], Clavinet, Flute, Recorder, Effects [Sound Effects] – Kit Watkins
Guitar, Recorder – Stanley Whitaker
Percussion – Mike Beck
Vocals, Classical Guitar, Percussion – Dan Owen
Vocals, Electric Piano – Frank Wyatt    

HAPPY THE MAN - The Muse Awakens (2004) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

One of the most unlikely reunions of the early 2000s was Happy the Man, a lesser-known '70s progressive rock outfit that provided only two albums before breaking up in 1979. Back then, Happy the Man wasn't nearly as well known as Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Rush, Kansas or Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but they did enjoy a small cult following -- and those who remember Happy the Man from that era will be glad to know that much of their late-'70s lineup is present on Muse Awakens. This reunion album of 2004 is quite faithful to the spirit of '70s progressive rock, but unlike a lot of prog rock releases, Muse Awakens is primarily an instrumental album. The only track that features guitarist Stanley Whitaker as a vocalist is the moody "Shadowlites"; everything else on this 56-minute CD is an instrumental, and that includes the playful "Barking Spiders" as well as the quirky "Lunch at the Psychedelicatessen," the pensive "Slipstream" and the haunting "Maui Sunset." Back in the '70s, a lot of people who fancied progressive rock were also into fusion; it wasn't uncommon to find an ELP or Yes fan who was also an admirer of Weather Report, electric Miles Davis, Caldera, Return to Forever or the Mahavishnu Orchestra -- and Happy the Man wanders into fusion territory on the melancholy "Adrift." But Muse Awakens is, for the most part, an album of progressive rock -- not fusion. It's important to understand that while fusion is a form of jazz that incorporates rock and funk elements, progressive rock belongs in the rock bins instead of the jazz bins. And for prog rock enthusiasts, this enjoyable disc demonstrates that Happy the Man's reunion was a good idea. Alex Henderson  
Tracklist :
1    Contemporary Insanity 3'25
Written-By – Rosenthal
2    The Muse Awakens 5'34
Written-By – Whitaker
3    Stepping Through Time 6'32
Written-By – Wyatt
4    Maui Sunset 5'35
Written-By – Rosenthal
5    Lunch At The Psychedelicatessen 4'58
Written-By – Whitaker
6    Slipstream 4'43
Written-By – Wyatt
7    Barking Spiders 4'12
Written-By – Whitaker
8    Adrift 4'03
Written-By – Whitaker
9    Shadowlites 3'53
Written-By – Whitaker
10    Kindred Spirits 5'26
Written-By – Rosenthal
11    Il Quinto Mare 7'22
Written-By – Wyatt
Credits :
Bass – Rick Kennell
Drums, Percussion – Joe Bergamini
Guitar [Guitars], Vocals – Stanley Whitaker
Keyboards – David Rosenthal
Producer [Produced By], Arranged By – Happy The Man
Saxophone [Saxes], Keyboards, Woodwind [Woodwinds] – Frank Wyatt