National Health - National Health (1977)

Steve:

If you've read our previous posts about the Canterbury bands (Soft Machine, Caravan, Hatfield & the North), you'll know that my discovery of these bands came together very quickly, mostly during my junior year of college (roughly 1989) when many of their recordings first became available on CD. By end of year, my friend Rob and I were virtual experts on the subject of Canterbury prog, and yet... there was one key band in the scene which we had not yet heard: National Health.

During a trip to the CD store in our senior year, we were thrilled to see that not only was National Health now finally available again, but also as a deluxe 2-CD set containing all three of their albums (National Health Complete). The self-titled album at hand is the first of the three albums included. 

Once I brought it home, we found the liner notes inside to be both enlightening and seriously entertaining. Dave Stewart, primary composer and keyboardist, wrote in vivid detail about the difficulties the band had in getting gigs, getting a record deal, and finding a suitable drummer. Undeniably, the experiences behind the stories were frustrating and painful, but with the passage of time it became easier for him to laugh at how unlucky the band was. "Comedy = Tragedy + Time", as Mark Twain (or Steve Allen, take your pick) once put it.

Stewart had put an address at the end of the booklet essay, inviting letters from fans with the promise, "we answer all letters". Rob and I quickly collaborated on a fan letter and sent it on to merry olde England. Stewart's reply came a month or two later as a handwritten letter with the finest penmanship I had ever seen and the same dry wit of his liner notes, along with a few stickers and other fun stuff. He even gave us contact information for Richard Sinclair, though I never found the nerve (or the reason) to make use of it. It was a nice gesture though, underlining how personable these musicians were, and how pleased they were to finally be introduced to a new generation of fans that arguably appreciated them more than the general public circa 1977. Between punk and disco, 1977 was a bad time to be a prog band.

With those long anecdotes out of the way, on to the music! Rob and I were sure we knew Canterbury inside and out, but National Health was like entering a college-level course after acing high school. No easygoing pop-friendly breathers on National Health - every track is a dense, highly developed work, extending past ten minutes in length with no time wasted on spontaneous jamming. Surprisingly, this "difficult" music is easy to listen to; melodies and harmonies are there in spades and are neither dissonant nor harsh. But here are so many of them that you might lose track if you're not paying attention. But even as background music, National Health can be enjoyable to hear.

"Tenemos Roads", the opening track, perfectly sums up the band in just under 15 minutes. Stewart establishes a triumphant keyboard melody at the outset, returning to it at the climax of the piece. In between, several exciting musical themes are introduced and developed, with occasional lyrics sung by Amanda Parsons. The piece is so impressive that it's easy to forget that three more equally intricate pieces share space with it on the same platter. But you could be forgiven for feeling full after "Tenemos Roads" and not needing more.

In addition to Stewart, who was a member of Hatfield and the North, the band consisted of... well, the remainder of Hatfield and the North minus Richard Sinclair. Also figuring heavily in the band's history is keyboardist/composer Alan Gowen, who had to leave the band prior to their first album and died of leukemia in 1981. Gowan left behind a trove of quietly complex pieces, one of which ("Brujo") is included on National Health. Although it was not Stewart's intention to become "Hatfield Mk. 2", that's how it ended up. But National Health is more compositionally complex than Hatfield, and vocal pieces are rarer. 

Bass duties on National Health were handled by Neil Murray, a name I recognized from.... hmm, was it that 1987 Whitesnake album? The one I air-guitared to in high school with "Here I Go Again" on it? Yes, the very same. Fun bit of trivia there.

Dan:

Naturally, Steve was the one to share the Complete CD set with me. It seems like a long time ago (1991?) around the time Steve graduated and before we moved to Atlanta in 1995. I remember encountering the self-titled LP at Yesterday and Today records in Miami, priced at about $2, but I already had tape recorded the compilation. I should have bought the LP just for the funny cover art. 

What I liked most about the discovery of National Health was the song "Tenemos Roads," which Steve refers to above. It's a special track, made awesome by Amanda Parsons' vocals. I have not studied any of the other tracks in depth; they're just something to please my ears whenever I want. I also like the choice of the band's name, National Health being the name of Britain's national health service. 

It's cool to learn about Steve's correspondence with Dave Stewart. I have had only one such experience with an artist, which involved a number of old fashioned "letters" (not just emails or messages) sent by postal mail. That was with vibes artist Gary Burton. Not relevant to prog, but it's something that should be more common. Fan mail is always welcome by artists who might often wonder what listeners think about their music. Why not tell them nice things about your interest in their music?

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