Julian's Treatment - A Time Before This. 1970 England

Julian Jay Savarin is something of an enlightened individual. He is a writer and a musician, and was very much a member of the London avant garde of the late 60s, even though he was only a teenager at the time. Mostly known for his science fiction novels, he decided to cobble a group of fellow minded individuals to put words to music. Taking in the music of the day, and given his predilection for creativity, it comes as no surprise Savarin embraced the oncoming progressive rock movement. In addition to his Hammond organ, the band featured the usual guitar, bass, and drums backup. The two key sound elements that distinguish his new band were the addition of flute (the sole reason he chose Del Watkins as his guitarist was because he could double up on flute), and most importantly the vocals of Australian Cathy Pruden. Apparently, along with her distinctive voice, she was just as striking looking (there are scant pictures of her, but what one can find she does add a couple of degrees to the room), and was considered the perfect front person for the band. And she was quite "active" on the stage as well. According to those who saw them live, the concert left many a male in a cold sweat afterward.

I consider A Time Before This one of the cornerstone albums of my Post psychedelic, proto progressive with female vocals list. What does that mean really? Basically their sound borrows from the late 60s psychedelic movement of Jefferson Airplane et al, and takes the idea a few steps further in the creativity department. Every track here is excellent, but highlights include 'The Black Tower', 'The Terran', and the lengthy closing title track. Essential listening.

Much is made of the difference between the UK and US releases, given the former is a double LP. I don't agree that it's that jarring. The UK version is 52 minutes, which is quite short for a double. The American release is 42 minutes. Where did the 10 minutes ago? Trimming, shaving, and editing. I think they did a masterful job at capturing the essence of the recording, and I was hard pressed to notice the difference on a back to back listen of both versions. Of course, I highly suggest one hears it as originally presented first, which is easy to do today given the numerous CD and LP reissues. But don't toss your Decca LP out either, if already in possession.

Personal collection
LP: 1970 Decca (USA)
CD: 1990 See For Miles

One of the very rare cases where the US cover (scan 2) supersedes the original (scan 1) in terms of artwork. The album also comes in a nice uni-pak designed cover. UK originals are a fortune. But as noted in the review section, it's easy to obtain now via reissue. The first CD to market was the See For Miles version (scan 3), and I snapped it up immediately, and I was already in possession of the Decca LP (which I scored in the late 1980s). In addition to A Time Before This - in its entirety - you also get most of Julian Jay Savarin's followup album Waiters on the Dance, excepting one lengthy track (which is fantastic, so you'll want to obtain this album on its own eventually).