Overnight I received a text message from good mate and lifetime record collector, Mr 1537. No greetings or preamble necessary; like any true music tragic, Joe cut straight to the chase. “Are you familiar with this platter of pure delight?” he asked.
I am, Joe, to a degree at least. And I agree with the two-word summary as well.
Sadly I have never owned that particular Nucleus album on vinyl. In fact I have just two of their catalogue on the black stuff. What I do have, however, is a comprehensive and exasperating CD boxed set released by Esoteric Recordings in 2019.
Between 1970 and 1975 the UK jazz-rock-prog outfit Nucleus released an impressive nine albums. Purists will tell you that the first two are the “essentials” but I’d beg to differ. The whole collection has lots of variety, invention, and brass-driven energy.
Roots, the one being offered for show-and-tell by Joe, was released in 1973—arguably one of the best years for progressive music in the history of, well, music. As well as lashing of the very cool and grooving jazz-rock, it has a rather sexy ballad sung by Joy Yates. It also has one of the oddest mismatches between music/title and cover art. That strange futuristic lounge is about as un-rootsy as you could get, though the way the chap in the yellow shirt is skirting the robot yarn holder as he heads for the lounging lady on the settee does suggest an alternate meaning of ‘root’.
The Nucleus story is a complex and fascinating one. Trumpeter and flugelhorn player Ian Carr was the driving force behind the band, recruiting some massively talented players over the years. Chris Spedding and Kenny Wheeler played on Nucleus recordings while no lesser electronic pioneer than Paddy Kingsland (he of BBC Radiophonic Workshop fame) appears on Labyrinth (perhaps my favourite). Shoot, even Tony Levin shows up. All in all, Wiki lists forty-seven contributors to the outfit. Of that almost four dozen, it’s the cluster of Nucleus member who jumped ship to join Soft Machine who provide the real soap opera of Carr’s band. Karl Jenkins, Roy Babbington, John Marshall, Alan Holdsworth… here you have some of the best British musicians of the era who abandoned Carr for softer pastures.
What makes the Esoteric collection so maddening is that they have chosen to save a few cents by running these concise albums together. Take Disc 4, for example. The first two tracks are side two of Labyrinth. Then we have the entire Roots album followed by the first half of Under The Sun. For a poor sod whose DNA is coded A-L-B-U-M, this is hugely frustrating. Almost as bad as listening to Spitify. You can see from the photo how I’ve tried to group the tracks by album but it’s rather like mapping a Daedalus maze.
If you have a thought to check out Nucleus (and they are def worth listening to) then any of the first six are recommended. Though I’d not argue with Joe about the delights of Roots. The funk is strong in that one.
vinylconnection.com.au 
Record companies know dollars and cents, but usually lack “sense,” hence the running together of tracks. I’m not sure if all Nucleus LPs saw U.S. release, but I was able to grab In Flagrante Dilecto years ago, which I like and which recalls later, fusion-era Soft Machine.
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The Soft Machine connection is highly appropriate, Pete. Indeed, Karl Jenkins essentially took over Soft Machine when he ‘migrated’ there from Nucleus. ‘Bundles’ and ‘Softs’ are both fine LPs.
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I guess as recently as 4-5 years ago, I would have told you, ‘nope, not my cup of tea.’ But thanks to music blogging and, frankly, fellow bloggers like you who keep introducing me to music that’s new or largely new to me, I can definitely say I’ve broadened my horizon. “Roots” and Ian Carr & Nucleus are all new to me. Based on sampling a few tracks of that albums, I’m definitely intrigued and have earmarked them for my Sunday feature. They would be a cool alternative to my “usual ’50s or ’60s jazz tune” I tend to use to open these posts. I’ve had some jazz fusion before like Weather Report or Santana, but it has been more of an exception. 🙂
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There is a really interesting aspect of jazz-rock (or fusion) embedded in your comment, Christian. It relates to how diverse this sub-genre is, something often overlooked. On the early albums Nucleus play a brass-driven music that is a big sound that is, perhaps, closer to jazz. Then progressive and funk flavours creep in. I find I really like bands where the sound changes or develops. Hope your explorations bring pleasure!
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Fabulous opening paragraph, Bruce – it brought a smile immediately!
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Hey Geoff. How lovely to see your 1001 image appear! Thanks for dropping by. 🙂
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Never heard if this before, but listening to Roots now.
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Yes, a top-notch band and a very fine album.
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Thought they might be known suspects to you, Phil.
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Wonderful Bruce – a simple ‘yes’ would have sufficed!!
Roots (and Ian Carr) is a very new discovery. I keep a rotating cast of old Mojo magazines in the smallest room in the house for my perusal and this just sounded great – and it does! primo Miles Davis vibes.
I hate it when record companies mess with the sanctity of the album, to my mind they should always be presented as was.
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Full agreement on that, Joe. Especially with CD, so cheap to produce. Anyway, it is what it is, and I don’t regret having the entire Nucleus cat. on hand. I’m really rather grateful for your prompt, as I’ve been spending quality time with them as a result. 🙂
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I am touched and honoured by this Bruce.
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You and that 1537 keep certain torches blazing. good thing.
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