The Idle Race - Back To The Story

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The Idle Race are a beloved band of British psychedelia collectors, because the music was rare, because the band was Jeff Lynne's first significant group, and because the music was, by and large, very good. There is a bit of a relative judgment there — this is not music that stands among the very best of British pop-psych of the '60s, since it's not as innovative or consistent as the Beatles, Pink Floyd, the Move, or even Tomorrow, but it's certainly among the best of the second tier, as singles like "Impostors of Life's Magazine," "Big Chief Wooly Bosher," and "Girl at the Window" illustrate. Since this band itself is a collector's item, it only makes sense for collectors to seek out EMI Premier's 1996 collection Back to the Story, which was only available for a brief period (possibly a matter of months) the year of its release. This is the complete Idle Race, containing the three albums (Birthday Party, Idle Race, Time Is), the ten non-album tracks, three previously unreleased alternate versions and two songs from the Nightriders, Lynne's first band. This is a treasure trove for both British psych and ELO fanatics, and while the best of this is on See for Miles' The Best of Idle Race, the hardcore are going to seek this out. But they will pay a price — just five years after its release, this was going for well over 120 dollars a pop on eBay. Is it worth it? If you have the cash and the inclination — the pure bloodlust to own this, damn the cost! — it probably is, but having that crazed collector mentality will is essential to shelling out that price. But if it can be found at an affordable price, by all means get it. [Finally, Back to the Story did show up in a much more affordable Zonophone edition in 2007.]

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Tracklist:
CD 1
01 Skeleton and the Roundabout Lynne 2:26
02 Happy Birthday Hill, Hill :23
03 The Birthday Lynne 3:00
04 I Like My Toys Lynne 2:12
05 Morning Sunshine Lynne 1:48
06 Follow Me, Follow Lynne 2:48
07 Sitting in My Tree Lynne 1:59
08 On with the Show Lynne 2:22
09 Lucky Man Lynne 2:38
10 Mrs. Ward Lynne 2:14
11 Pie in the Sky Pritchard 2:27
12 The Lady Who Said She Could Fly Lynne 2:22
13 End of the Road Lynne 2:09
14 Come with Me Lynne 2:45
15 Sea of Dreams Lynne 3:13
16 Going Home Lynne 3:44
17 Reminds Me of You Pritchard 2:54
18 Mr. Crow and Sir Norman Lynne 3:17
19 Please No More Sad Songs Lynne 3:20
20 Girl at the Window Lynne 3:44
21 Big Chief Wooly Bosher Lynne 5:15
22 Someone Knocking Pritchard 2:56
23 A Better Life (The Weatherman Knows) Lynne 2:45
24 Hurry Up John Lynne 3:33
25 Lucky Man [#] Lynne 2:35
26 Follow Man [#] Lynne 1:56
27 Days of the Broken Arrows [#] Lynne 3:39

CD 2
01 (Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree Wood 2:44
02 My Father's Son Pritchard 2:15
03 Impostors of Life's Magazine Lynne 2:21
04 Knocking Nails into My House Lynne 2:27
05 Days of the Broken Arrows Lynne 3:51
06 Worn Red Carpet Pritchard 3:03
07 In the Summertime 2:58
08 Told You Twice Pritchard 3:38
09 Neanderthal Man 3:56
10 Victim of Circumstance Pritchard 3:36
11 Dancing Flower Pritchard 2:14
12 Sad O' Sad Pritchard 3:28
13 The Clock Pritchard 3:22
14 I Will See You Pritchard 3:11
15 By the Sun Pritchard 6:42
16 Alcatraz Hopkins, Pritchard, Spencer ... 4:02
17 And the Rain Pritchard, Walker 2:52
18 She Sang Hymns Out of Tune Kincaid 3:07
19 Bitter Green Lightfoot 3:45
20 We Want It All Pritchard 4:13
21 It's Only the Dog McCracken, Wayne 2:15
22 Your Friend Wilde 3:22

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4