Between Today And Yesterday

Between Today and Yesterday is considered to be ex-Animal, R&B bandleader, and film soundtrack composer Alan Price's pop masterpiece. Released in 1974 after he won awards for his soundtrack to the Lindsay Anderson film O Lucky Man, Between Today and Yesterday was a humble collection of songs built around Price's growing up in arrow, a deeply impoverished area outside Newcastle, and his place in a world where poverty is more the norm than the exception. "Jarrow Song," the album's centerpiece, details the 1936 march by its residents to London to make the government aware of the poor's plight. It is the stuff of British legend and so, now, is Price's song. Generally, Price was an underachiever in the pop world, but this album is a masterpiece. There are no excesses for a mid-'70s concept recording, and the anger and finger pointing is beyond the accusation of self-righteousness. The title track is one of the most moving, songs about aging ever written, and "Look At My Face" is one of the most sophisticated and graceful pop songs from the entire era. Lyrically, Price was in a class by himself, and compositionally, he was more astute than almost all of his British peers -- Elton John and Procol Harum's Gary Brooker excepted. This set features the album in all its remastered glory, with five bonus tracks including the hit 45 version of "Jarrow Song," alternate takes of "In Times Like These," and a track left off the original album called "Sell, Sell, Sell." In addition, redone versions of the title cut and "Jarrow Song" (neither of which are inferior to the original versions) from 1986 are included. ~ Thom Jurek|