Happy The Man - The Arista Years (1976-78)

The Arista Years (1976-78)

Happy the Man's self-titled debut LP was recorded at A&M Studios towards the end of 1976, with Ken Scott (whose groundbreaking work with such luminaries as The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Supertramp and David Bowie had highly impressed them) handling production duties, and appeared in 1977. It remains one of the most important albums in American progressive music. Two long, episodic instrumentals, Watkins' "Mr Mirror's Reflection On Dreams" and Wyatt's "New York Dream's Suite", are the obvious pieces de resistance, but both contribute other gems, such as the opening piece, the spacey/orchestral "Starborne", which immediately establishes the trademark HTM sound, or Watkins' tone poem "Hidden Moods". Whitaker's tunes, such as "Stumpy Meets The Firecracker In Stencil Forest" with its addictive, jagged and bouncy melody line, allowed the band to venture into more rocking territory. The album included only two songs with vocals (with lyrics by Wyatt and singing by Whitaker), but they are among the weaker cuts.

Much of 1977 was spent on the road. HTM’s management put them on tours supporting various artists, including Foreigner, Renaissance, Stomu Yamash’ta and the Jefferson Airplane offshoot Hot Tuna, with whom they performed to an audience of almost 10,000 at the Field House in Long Island.

In late 1977, Beck left the band, who replaced him with Ron Riddle, previously a member of an embryonic incarnation of The Cars. Riddle appeared on HTM's second (and most acclaimed) album, Crafty Hands, but although he was a full member for the duration of the process, even contributing the album's striking opening track, "Service With A Smile" (co-written with The Cars' keyboard player Greg Hawkes, in 1973), he left before he had played a single gig with HTM. The compositions and performance on the second effort were even more refined, and many tracks were instant classics - from the atmospheric "Morning Sun" and "Nossuri" to the upbeat "Steaming Pipes" and "I Forgot To Push It", and the more epic "Ibby It Is". Another highlight was "Open Book", an excerpt from the abandoned "Death's Crown" suite. This time only one track, "Wind Up Doll Day Wind", featured any vocals.