Keith Christmas
From page 80 of Classic Rock Magazine June 2011
Tomorrow Never Ends: The Anthology 1974-1976
MANTICORE/ESOTERIC
Essex folkie’s wildly eclectic 70s output.
Committed Bowiephiles will no doubt be familiar with Keith Christmas as veteran of the Beckenham Arts Lab folk scene and acoustic guitarist on 1969’s Space Oddity album. The early 70s also found him issuing a trio of solo records before signing to ELP’s new label, Manticore.
Tomorrow Never Ends comprises 1974’s Brighter Day and 1976’s Stories From The Human Zoo , alongside half a dozen extras. It’s the former that really impresses here, his erudite jazz-folk musings framed by delicate arrangements and a voice that sounds like a less robust Steve Winwood or Terry Reid. Produced by Greg Lake and Pete Sinfield, there are distinct
traces of Traffic and Pentangle in its rootsy Englishness. Christmas was whisked off to LA for the follow-up, where he was joined in the studio by Booker T legends Steve Cropper and ‘Duck’ Dunn. Alas, the songs often seem overblown, with Christmas affecting vocal Dylanisms that never quite fit. nnnnnnnnnn Rob Hughes


