Deluxe reissue of the seventh and final studio album from the mighty Family.

Release Date:  26^th January 2024

Label: Esoteric/ Cherry Red Records

Formats: 2CD

And so the Cherry Red programme of Family reissues reaches its zenith.  We’ve already featured reviews of the reworkings of the band’s seminal 1970 masterpiece, Anyway and it’s worthy 1971 follow-up, Fearless, in these pages and, to complete the sequence, our friends at Cherry Red have worked their magic one more time with this most unique of bands’ final studio offering, their 1973 ‘farewell’ album, It’s Only A Movie.

The package is a bit of a mixed bag, if the truth be told.  After a string of electrifying, high-performing albums, initial reactions to It’s Only a Movie, when it first appeared back in September 1973 were underwhelming.  Hindsight does reveal several charms that were, perhaps, not noted first time around but it’s certainly the Family album that has spent less time on my turntable than any of their other offerings, over the years.  But Cherry Red have, nevertheless, come up, once again, with an engaging package, thanks to Ben Wiseman’s thoughtful remastering of the original tapes and, particularly, to the inclusion of a spine-tingling BBC Radio One ‘In Concert’ session from January 1973.

This new 2-disc edition of the album has been newly remastered from the source tapes and includes 19 bonus tracks featuring B-sides of singles, studio out-takes, a late-career BBC Top Gear session and that fantastic ‘In Concert’ live performance.  The illustrated booklet that accompanies the package is up to the usual Cherry Red standard, packed with fascinating photographs, song details and lyrics along with an informative essay from music writer Steve Pilkington.

You wouldn’t have believed it at the time, given the energy that Family continued to put into their live performances, but, by mid-1973, the band were beginning to run out of steam.  They’d had a glittering past since evolving from Leicester combo The Farinas in 1967.  Early albums, Music In A Doll’s House (1968) and Family Entertainment (1969) saw a progression from their early work as psychedelic space-travellers to the hard-hitting, folk-tinged, progressive rock that became the band’s signature sound.  Third album, A Song For You, hit the heady heights of No.4 in the UK Album Chart, and was followed by further chart successes: Anyway, Fearless and Bandstand (1972) despite undergoing fairly continual changes to a fluid lineup.

By late 1970, Family had also managed to breach the higher reaches of the UK Singles Chart with their 3-track EP, Strange Band, which included the definitive version of magnum opus, The Weaver’s Answer, and that success had been followed by further hits – In My Own Time, Burlesque and My Friend The Sun.

But, come 1972, significant changes were afoot.  It wasn’t long after the Bandstand album hit the racks before bassist John Wetton decided he’d had enough and he quit Family to spend a few years with King Crimson.  He was replaced by Jim Cregan, who had previously worked with Family’s keyboardist/ flautist John ‘Poli’ Palmer in the late, lamented, Blossom Toes.  Cregan, of course later went on to achieve global fame as a guitarist with Steve Harley and Rod Stweart.

Poli was the next to leave.  His departure from Family was announced in the UK music press in late 1972, shortly after the band had returned from a problematic US tour supporting Elton John.  Keyboardist Tony Ashton, formerly of hit trio Ashton, Gardner and Dyke, stepped forward to fill the gap.

So, it was Family’s final lineup: Roger Chapman (vocals), John ‘Charlie’ Witney (guitar), Rob Townsend (drums), Tony Ashton (keyboards and vocals) and Jim Cregan (bass, guitar and vocals) that assembled, with the Rolling Stones’ mobile rig, at Knowle Hall in Bawdrip village, near Bridgewater, Somerset, to record It’s Only a Movie.

It’s Only a Movie is a strange album.  It has some fine moments – the enduring title track, for one and the semi-forgotten gem, Buffet Tea For Two is another.  Family sound like their old selves as the song’s quiet passages are punctured by the rumbustious crashes of guitar and drums.  Del Newman’s string arrangements blend beautifully with Tony’s piano as Roger tells his story of leaving his Leicester hometown to seek his fortune in the big smoke.  He even namechecks St. Pancras Station in the lyrics!

Other album highlights include the exquisite, timeless Sweet Desiree, a joyful funky singalong that deserved better when it was released as the album’s second single, Suspicion – a slice of classic rock & roll, enlivened by Newman’s saxes, and original closing track, Check Out, a hard-rocking jail-break song, co-written by Jim Cregan that, along with Buffet Tea… reminded listeners that the classic Family sound was still alive and kicking.  The strings on the folky Leroy are, maybe, a touch too far over the schmaltz line, but there’s a good-time feel to the song that peels away the years.

But my enthusiasm for the original album remains tempered by a belief that there’s perhaps just a little too much filler scattered around the undeniable highlights.  I could never feel comfortable with the schoolboy porn of the lyrics to lead single Boom Bang (“Moon Lune girl erection for a cure…”), jazzy instrumental Banger is pleasant enough but struggles to find a purpose and, whilst the jazzy Boots ‘N’ Roots keeps up the album’s ‘Western Movie’ theme, ultimately – it’s forgettable.

It’s really the bonus offerings that push this latest edition of It’s Only a Movie into the ‘Essential’ category, and they make a gentle start.  Disc 1 is concluded by five contemporaneous tracks from the …Movie sessions: Stop This Car was the B-side to the Boom Bang single.  With a Tony Ashton vocal and an instrumental backing that includes an accordion – surely a Family ‘first’ – it’s a song that I can imagine being sung in the van on the way to a gig, but, perhaps, should have stayed there.  By way of contrast, Drink to You, the flip-side to the Sweet Desiree single is a down ‘n’ dirty rocker with a textbook Chapman vocal and sprinkling of shimmering sax that had me wondering why it was left off the parent album.  Disc 1 is completed with early takes of Boom Bang, Suspicion and Stop This Car.

And then, the whole package really slips into gear…

Recorded on 26^th January 1973, the 10-song BBC ‘In Concert’ Session showcases one of Britain’s finest-ever bands at its spine-tingling best.  It’s not the first time that this session has seen light of day – it was previously released by Turning Point Music back in 2000 as a 2LP set, 1973 BBC Radio Show, but be that as it may, it’s still a revelation.  OK – my usual complaint with BBC sessions still applies – WHY did they always have a DJ (Pete Drummond, in this case) announcing the songs instead of letting the band do their own introductions?  But we can’t alter a decision that was made over 50 years ago, and the band are on fire.

Chappo sets the mood with a chant that turns into the opening chords of Sat’d’y Barfly, and we’re off.  The organ and guitar solos are stunning, and I never tire of hearing Roger make his demand – “Hey – gimmie a gin!”

At the time of the recording, Family were still in the process of plugging the Bandstand album, and four of the ten songs featured in the session are drawn from that source.  First off is a dramatic take of Top Of The Hill, which is followed by a sparkling version of My Friend The Sun, announced as “The new single.”  Jim Cregan plays acoustic guitar and throws in a solo that accurately predicts his most famous moment – the Come Up And See Me solo.

Pete Drummond introduces the performance of Buffet Tea For Two – then still a work-in-progress, of course – as a “Mini momentous occasion” – it was, apparently, the first public airing of the song.  Next, the band revisit the Fearless album for a version of Children that leaves the original stuck in the traps.  Then, it’s back to Bandstand for a tasty run through Glove and a stunning Ready To Go.  On both songs, it’s easy to detect how comfortably the new members, Tony Ashton and Jim Cregan, were settling into the ranks.

A thunderous drum pattern and a barrage of Stones-y guitar/ piano provide the intro to a simmering version of Burlesque, described by Drummond as “One of the best and most original singles released in 1972” – and I wouldn’t argue with that summary – before Jim picks up his Ovation acoustic once again for Holding the Compass and the band impressively manage to improve on the excellent Anyway original.

This breathtaking concert is rounded off with a cracking version of Huey Smith’s Rockin’ Pneumonia & The Boogie Woogie Flu, Family’s default choice of encore back in 1973.  Tony’s piano parts are fantastic, the band is rock solid and Roger urges the audience to make their contribution too.  It’s all a wonderful reminder of what a great band family were, even as they approached the final straight of their initial existence.

The collection doesn’t end there – there’s still space for four songs from Family’s final BBC session, a Top Gear appearance on 22^nd May 1973 – but vibrant though these additional tracks may sound, it’s still an anti-climax after the excitement of that sizzling live show.  They’d moved on to promoting It’s Only a Movie by this stage and the selected tracks – another version of Boom Bang, plus performances of Buffet Tea…, Check Out and Sweet Desiree seem to be included for the sake of completeness, rather than to add further value.  That 10-song live sequence was, in all honesty, impossible to follow.

There was no pretence about the UK tour that followed the September 1973 release of It’s Only a Movie; it was billed as the band’s farewell tour, and the excellent souvenir programme, produced for the tour by Zigzag Magazine, stands as a lasting eulogy to one of the Great British Bands.  Each member of the band, and each of the band’s first six albums (It’s Only a Movie gets a full-page advert but no further mention) are the subject of detailed features.  Even in 1973, the programme was a snip at just 10p…  And Chappo and Co were, once again, ablaze as they treated the good citizens of Manchester, Sheffield, Cambridge, Portsmouth, Leicester (of course…) et al to a final salvo from their formidable arsenal.

It was devastatingly sad to see such a great band disappear, but good things never die, and Family did eventually return.  In February 2013, Family rode again.  Chappo and Rob T were rejoined by Jim Cregan and Poli (Charlie was enjoying retirement in Greece) and supplemented by, amongst others, Guitarist Geoff Whitehorn, saxophonist Nick Payn and keyboard player Paul Hirsh for a pair of historic shows at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.  Introduced to the stage by a paralytically refreshed Frank Worthington – 70s hero of Leicester City and, less we forget, Bolton Wanderers – they surged through a set that included all the hits, plus a selection of deeper dives from across the band’s career.  Even It’s Only A Movie got a look as the band ended the evening with a memorable rendition of Sweet Desiree.  They must have enjoyed themselves, because they returned to the same venue a year later, then again in December 2016 for more of the same.

Family – We (still..) Love You.

Listen to It’s Only A Movie, the album’s title track, here:

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