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STARRY EYED AND LAUGHING 7” 45
'FOREVER YOUNG' b/w 'ECHOES' (Shagrat/Aurora YOUNG 1)
STARRY EYED AND LAUGHING - 'Forever Young' Vinyl Single
NOW SOLD OUT - SORRY !

Shagrat Records in association with AURORA is proud to present a limited edition 7” (run of 100 copies) of ‘Forever Young’ and ‘Echoes’ by Starry Eyed And Laughing, two numbers recorded in 1974.

The more eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that SE&L head honcho, Tony Poole has been involved with Shagrat for some years now as our audio guru, design demon and website wunderkind, so we’re thrilled to be finally releasing some music by him.

Tony issued a CD of Starry Eyed & Laughing archival material Forever Young last autumn on his Aurora label. Shagrat’s Nigel Cross was particularly blown away by the title track and both agreed that it was something of a throwaway number when Dylan recorded it for Planet Waves in 1973.

Starry Eyed inject it with a super boost of rousing electric 12 strings and spine-tingling Byrdsian harmonies to create a classic that surely would have gained massive radio coverage and placed them in the charts, akin to what ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ had done for their West Coast counterparts nine years before. Sadly though rightfully at the time, fellow band mate Ross McGeeney insisted the group release only original material and the song lay unused till 2014.

The bonus here is the flip side, a lovingly performed version of the classic Gene Clark song, ‘Echoes’ (originally done as the opening track for his 1967 debut solo LP, Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers) – the singing here is glorious and the backwards raga-like guitars give it a really lovely psychedelic sound. Indeed Tony plays the song at solo gigs to this day. The track originally recorded by Bob Parsons for the Dan Loggins’ list of potential cover versions the band might release, has never been released before.

The line-up of the group is the classic quartet that recorded those two fabulous CBS LPs in the mid-70s and comprises Tony Poole (12-string guitar and vocals), Ross McGeeney (guitar and vocals), Iain Whitmore (bass and vocals), and Michael Wackford (drums and percussion).

The 7” has been hand cut on a lathe by our mate Phil Macy on the South Coast, comes in a plain bag and once again boasts dazzling label artwork by the amazing John Hurford.

There are only a 100 of these beauties – and the title track has been endorsed by no lesser deity than the former Byrds leader himself -

‘Hi Tony, Did I tell you how much I enjoyed your version of "Forever Young?" The Rickenbacker on that was incredible!’ Roger McGuinn, Milton Keynes (October 2014)

…and we’re hoping to work with Tony and Iain on some new Starry Eyed & Laughing recordings later this year featuring some special guests

Single ships first week of March 2015

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