Anyway (album)

Anyway is the fourth album by the British progressive rock band Family. Side one was recorded at a concert at Fairfield Halls in Croydon, south London; side two is a collection of new studio recordings.[1]

Anyway
Studio album / Live album by
Family
ReleasedNovember 1970
RecordedJuly 26, 1970 live tracks
VenueFairfield Halls, Croydon
StudioOlympic Sound Studios, London
GenreProgressive rock, hard rock, psychedelic rock
Length39:57
LabelReprise (UK), United Artists (U.S.)
ProducerFamily for Bradgate Bush, Ltd.
Family chronology
A Song for Me
(1970)		 Anyway
(1970)		 Old Songs New Songs
(1971)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideC+[2]

Background

Anyway is Family's follow-up album to their Top 5 UK charting album, A Song for Me. It peaked at No. 7 on the UK charts, and remained on the charts for eight weeks.[3]

Production credit for the album was attributed to Family (for their company Bradgate Bush Ltd) and Tony Gourvish (manager) was credited as 'Co-ordination'. Tony is credited between live tracks by singer Roger Chapman as 'shining in his new Kings Road suit'.

The album was released on the Reprise label (RSX 9005) as a stereo pressing. Editions are known to have been released in France (gatefold card sleeve, no bag SRV 6120 and later in a stouter card sleeve with a greyer coloured illustration) and Canada and the USA (singlepocket card sleeve with 'In My Own Time' - a later single, - added as first track on the studio side with the track 'Normans' severely edited to make room). The band was moving from US Reprise to US United Artists, and the album was not issued in the US initially. When it did get issued, it initially had the same tracks as the UK album did, but was quickly replaced with "In My Own Time" and "Normans" being edited. The Canadian edition was released on the United Artists label after Family had delivered 'Bandstand' the following album, and had an explanatory sticker on the shrink-wrap.

The UK edition of the album came housed in a plastic see-through sleeve with a gatefold non-pocket inner card design by Hamish and Gustav. The outer illustration was licensed from Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan and was titled 'Mortars With Explosive Projectiles' by Leonardo da Vinci. No track listing was printed on the outside of the sleeve.

'The track 'Normans' was named after a light-hearted band name for people who were deemed idiotic. Radio One disc jockey John Peel rated 'Lives And Ladies' as one of the most powerful anti-war songs he had ever heard, and he was known to play the track long after 1970.

It is also the band's longest studio album.

Track listing

All tracks written by John "Charlie" Whitney and Roger Chapman, except where noted.

Side One: Fairfield Halls, Croydon [4]
  1. "Good News - Bad News" – 8:06
  2. "Willow Tree" – 4:40
  3. "Holding the Compass" – 4:28
  4. "Strange Band" – (Whitney, Chapman, Jim Williamson[5]) - 3:35
Side Two: Olympic Studios
  1. "Part of the Load" – 4:41
  2. "Anyway" – 3:28
  3. "Normans" (instrumental) (Palmer, Whitney, Weider) – 4:22
  4. "Lives and Ladies" – 6:37

Family's single "In My Own Time" was added to the American edition of Anyway (and editing down the song "Normans") when it was released by United Artists Records in 1971, although there were some early copies that had the full length version of "Normans" and did not include "In My Own Time".

Personnel

Musicians

Technical

Chart positions
  • Highest chart position (UK) - #7

References
  1. DeGagne, Mike (2011). "Anyway - Family". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: F". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 24, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. "Anyway UK Official Charts".
  4. http://www.discogs.com/Family-Anyway/release/1546283
  5. Liner notes of album's CD reissue 2015, p.7
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