Today Is Yesterday is a 2002 compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 by English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

/rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Roy Harper

Roy Harper

Roy Harper is an English folk / rock singer-songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since the mid 1960s...

. Amongst its 17 tracks are six unreleased and eight rare songs. All the tracks were recorded between 1964 and 1969.

History

Tracks 1–9 date from 1964–1965 and were recorded on an old mono Ferrograph quarter-inch Reel-to-reel audio tape deck

Reel-to-reel audio tape recording

Reel-to-reel, open reel tape recording is the form of magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording medium is held on a reel, rather than being securely contained within a cassette....

. These tracks formed a demo tape that landed Harper his first record contract. Track 10 is a re-recording of a part of that demo tape and became the B-side of Harper's first single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

.

Tracks 11 and 13 became Harper's second single, while track 12 was a single contender which didn't make the cut. Track 14 is the earliest recording on this album. Tracks 15 and 16 were both recorded in 1967. Track 15 became the A-side of Harper's third single, however track 16 was rejected. Track 17 goes back to 1965–1966 and is the A-side of Harper's first single.

Track listing

All tracks credited to Roy Harper

1. "Long Hot Summer's Day" – 3:47
2. "The Scaffold Of The Daylight" – 2:40
3. "Black Clouds" – 4:48
4. "Girlie" – 3:31
5. "In The Morning" – 2:25
6. "Love" – 3:06
7. "Forever" – 2:53
8. "Little Old Lady" – 4:50
9. "Mountain" – 3:40
10. "Pretty Baby" – 2:31
11. "Midspring Dithering" – 2:43
12. "(It's Tomorrow And) Today Is Yesterday" – 4:06
13. "Zengem" – 1:34
14. "Zaney Janey" – 3:28
15. "Life Goes By" – 3:16
16. "Night Fighter (Ballad Of A Songwriter)" – 3:05
17. "Take Me Into Your Eyes" – 2:27

External links

• Roy Harper Official Site
• Excellent Roy Harper resource