Open
Up Derek
Parrott is a bearer of light. For those who know him, this is as obvious as that
the grass is green. Light is transformed full spectrum by his consciousness into
the rainbow of words and music and deeds that make up this man’s life. The
music we’ve heard from him (most recently My Back Yard and
2000 A.D.) is a music of wholeness - always embracing, encompassing,
compassionate, uplifting and challenging - excellent food for seekers of truth,
no matter the path. It goes as deep as any music I know. So
it is a great joy to witness the resurrection of these "lost" songs
- breathed back into life. In this flashback to 1977, we find the Parrott’s
flight has been straight and true. Hearing this album, it is no great stretch
of the imagination to believe that - were it not for a simple twist of fate that
relegated this Open Up to a vault almost a quarter of a century
ago - Derek Parrott might well be known as one of the great songwriters of our
time. Recorded
at Morgan Studios, mastered at Abbey Road, Open Up was never released.
The musicians who appear here with Derek - Madeline Bell (who backed Joe Cocker
on "With A Little Help From My Friends"), Tony "Gad" Robinson
(one of the prime movers of U.K. reggae), Robbie McIntosh (guitarist with the
Pretenders and Paul McCartney), and journeyman guitarist Kevin Peek, to name just
four - are testaments to the power of the Parrott’s vision. The
session crew - John Benson, Paul Dunstan, Simon Griffiths, and Lee Stapleford
- put down some of the best music of their lives, only to see it sleep - until
now. Although
his recording company had lost the masters, Derek had always had the A side on
acetate. When he discovered a friend had an original tape of the B side, it was
only a matter of time. When fellow musician and technical wizard Steve Trembley
of 7th Fret Music said he would love to descratch, declick, and otherwise denoise
these back-up recordings, Derek realized his dream could come true, and he pressed
the project forward full-bore. "I’ve
been listening to it again lately," says Derek. "I realized it relates
to the consciousness-raising of the time - but it also relates to today. There’s
just as much need to open up now…and eternally. It’s the connection
between us and the life-giving thing - whatever that is for you." The
culture is more jaded now. Everyone has seen it all. But there’s still a
lot of good aged Djin in the magic lantern, and every time this music is played,
wherever this music is played, it’ll come out - the powerful message of this
labor of love. The
way Derek Parrott saw things in 1977, there was a window, a moment in time. It
opened wide, then it began to close. This is something that squeezed through. Drew
Kampion (3 November 1999) | 
