{"title":"Bill Fay","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBill Fay is a UK-based singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began writing music in the early 1960s while studying at university. In 1966, he recorded a demo that caught the attention of ex-Them drummer Terry Noon. With Noon's help, Fay signed a recording contract with Decca Records. Between 1967 and 1971, Decca released a single and two albums by Fay. Despite critical acclaim, these recordings did not sell well, leading to the end of his contract.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the late 1970s, Fay returned to the studio to record his third album, which was finally released in January 2005 on Durtro\/Jnana Records under the name Bill Fay Group. In 2004, Lost Highway Records released a collection of demos recorded between 1966 and 1970 titled \"Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow.\" After over four decades without releasing new material (except for one track in 2000), Bill released a new album of original songs in 2012 called \"Life Is People.\" This was followed by another album in 2015 titled \"Who Is The Sender?\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBill has gained a devoted fan base over the years including country rockers Wilco, songwriter\/producer Jim O'Rourke, Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin and David Tibet of Current93.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"life-is-people","title":"Life Is People","description":"\u003cp\u003ebill fay is one of english music's best kept secrets. at the dawn of the 1970s, he was a one-man song factory, with a piano that spilled liquid gold and a voice every bit the equal of ray davies, john lennon, early bowie, or procol harum's gary brooker. he made two solo albums but his contract wasn't renewed, which left his lps and his reputation to become cult items. but he never stopped writing, the music kept on coming. now, in his late sixties, he has produced life is people, a brand new studio album that shows his profoundly humanist vision is as strong as it ever was. his debut on the underground decca nova label, 'bill fay' (1970), included spacious big band jazz arrangements by mike gibbs, but it was the follow-up, 'time of the last persecution' (1971), that cemented his reputation - a harrowing, philosophical and painfully honest diagnosis of an unhealthy society and a messed-up planet, that featured the cream of london's fieriest jazz session players such as guitarist ray russell. unable to make ends meet as a musician, fay wandered through a succession of jobs for years, writing songs privately. both solo albums were re-issued in 1998, and when the likes of jeff tweedy began singing his praises in the early 2000s, bill began to come back into view and wilco even convinced the shy singer to join them onstage in london in 2007. a few cds of bill's early demos and home recordings have since emerged, but life is people is his first properly crafted studio album since 1971. he was motivated by american producer joshua henry, who grew up listening to his dad's bill fay albums on vinyl. spooling through bill's home demos, joshua discovered an incredible trove of material. matt deighton (oasis, paul weller, mother earth) assembled a cast of backup musicians to bring out the songs' full potential. these include deighton on guitar, tim weller (who's played drums for everyone from will young to noel gallagher and goldfrapp), and keyboardist mikey rowe (high flying birds, stevie nicks, etc). in addition, bill is reunited on several tracks with ray russell and drummer alan rushton, who played on 'time of the last persecution'. and it's a stunning return to form. ranging from intimate to cosmic, epic but never grandiose, bill's deeply committed music reminds you of important, eternal truths, and the lessons to be drawn from the natural world, when the materiality and greed threaten to engulf everything. it's time to recognise one of the great english voices. after nearly 50 years, bill fay has finally delivered his masterpiece: as rapturous and soul-stirring as any music you'll hear this year.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50409868099915,"sku":"353186","price":44.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50409868296523,"sku":"353185","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/c389ef19-2e3e-4205-a4bd-c87a441b433e_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726630750"},{"product_id":"time-of-the-last-persecution-1","title":"Time Of The Last Persecution","description":"\u003cp\u003eRemastered reissue of the exceptional second collection from Bill Fay which was originally released in 1971 on Deram. While still being infectiously melodic, \u003ci\u003eTime of the Last Persecution\u003c\/i\u003e is far darker and self indulgent. Think a cross between Leonard Cohen's \u003ci\u003eSongs of Love and Hate\u003c\/i\u003e and Skip Spence's \u003ci\u003eOar\u003c\/i\u003e. Doom-laden, apocalyptic imagry abounds. On the cover Fay looks like a long lost member of the manson family. Yet, as paranoid and bizarre as it all is, Fay's penchant for melody shines through. The sparse instrumentation was provided by a band that featured Ray Russell on guitar, Alan Rushton on drums and Darryl Runswick on bass. If anything the record was a bigger creative triumph than \u003ci\u003eBill Fay\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Esoteric Recordings","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":53322567090507,"sku":"R7845-2062","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50435942383947,"sku":"255370","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2000x2000bb_77ca24b3-2e5e-4287-8098-f878ba00b65b.jpg?v=1757081275"},{"product_id":"bill-fay-1","title":"Bill Fay","description":"\u003cp\u003eAs a songwriter, the music written and recorded by Bill Fay has taken many years to reach the audience it deserved, thanks mainly to Wilco covering Fay's \u003ci\u003eBe Not so Fearful\u003c\/i\u003e, a song featured on Fay's first album. Now highly regarded, Fay's debut album is now released by Esoteric recordings. \u003ci\u003eBill Fay\u003c\/i\u003e, first released on the nova label, was a work both sumptuous and delicately melancholic. featuring string arrangements by jazz musician Mike Gibbs, sessions would also feature guitarist Ray Russell. Cited by uncut magazine as 'the missing link between Nick Drake, Ray Davies and Bob Dylan', Bill Fay's work now has the patronage of a younger generation of musicians to bring Fay the critical accolades he deserved. Fay's supremely creative muse has deservedly come full circle. This reissue also adds fay's first recorded offerings, the single \u003ci\u003eScreams in the Ears\u003c\/i\u003e and b-side \u003ci\u003eSome Good Advice\u003c\/i\u003e. These recordings first appeared in 1967, produced by Peter Eden and featured Southend band the Fingers, as the backing band.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Endless Happiness","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black (Proper Records Version)","offer_id":53322563125579,"sku":"R1250-1667","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - Black (Endless Happiness Version)","offer_id":52114816401739,"sku":"R1250-5737","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50435943006539,"sku":"255369","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/e3d51d15-13cf-4553-9d4c-d318113f35aa_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726909937"},{"product_id":"love-is-the-tune","title":"Love Is The Tune","description":"\u003cp\u003eFresh reimagining of a classic Bill Fay track by Mary Lattimore.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dead Oceans","offers":[{"title":"Black | 7\"","offer_id":50459214348619,"sku":"1147146","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/6115b295-934c-42d4-add1-00ce047a88ff_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727218577"},{"product_id":"just-to-be-a-part","title":"Just To Be A Part","description":"\u003cp\u003eJulia Jacklin with a cover of legendary English singer-songwriter Bill Fay’s ‘Just To Be A Part’. Jacklin’s take on the legendary singer’s beautiful melancholy is simply sublime. All the wistful yearning and uncertainty that flowed through Fay’s voice is amplified by the cracks and creaks of Jacklin’s own bray, and when she reaches those wild chorus melodies, the song simply soars.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dead Oceans","offers":[{"title":"Black 7\"","offer_id":50465418543435,"sku":"1147145","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/6aa6bbab-1079-42e6-85bc-f9c78349b83b_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727288873"},{"product_id":"still-some-light-part-1","title":"Still Some Light: Part 1","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBill Fay\u003c\/strong\u003e has always sung about attempting to understand the most universal questions: those of nature, spirituality, humanity. His songs are \u003cem\u003ecalming hymns for another chaotic time\u003c\/em\u003e, he says.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHis influence can be traced through many artist’s work, and so it only seemed right to celebrate this with a collection of newer voices interpreting his timeless tracks. Originally released in 2010 by David Tibet (Current 93), \u003cem\u003eStill Some Light\u003c\/em\u003e was released as a double CD, made up of 70’s album demos (Disc One) and 2009 home recordings (Disc Two).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis year, for the first time, this collection of recordings will be pressed to vinyl and released digitally, presented alongside contemporary reimaginings of the tracks by Kevin Morby, Steve Gunn, Julia Jacklin and Mary Lattimore. \u003cstrong\u003eBill Fay\u003c\/strong\u003e’s words and melodies remain unaffected by the passing of time and changing trends; and here alongside the original recordings, these reinvented versions still calmly guide us through another moment of chaos.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eStill Some Light Part 1\u003c\/em\u003e collects Fay’s archival recordings from 1970 and 1971. Many of the songs are intimate sketches which were eventually re-recorded for Fay’s self-titled debut and for his landmark album, \u003cem\u003eTime of the Last Persecution\u003c\/em\u003e. This double LP set includes heart wrenching versions of some of his timeless works, such as \"\u003cem\u003eI Hear You Calling\u003c\/em\u003e\" and \"\u003cem\u003ePictures of Adolf Again\u003c\/em\u003e,\" and features equally powerful songs like \"\u003cem\u003eArnold is a Simple Man\u003c\/em\u003e\" and \"\u003cem\u003eLove is the Tune\u003c\/em\u003e,\" which only appear in this collection.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dead Oceans","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50466844803403,"sku":"1136987","price":34.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50466844901707,"sku":"1136986","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/f820f602-dfd0-481b-9ed2-01370d563ded_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727324903"},{"product_id":"still-some-light-part-2","title":"Still Some Light: Part 2","description":"\u003cp\u003eBill Fay has always sung about attempting to understand the most universal questions: those of nature, spirituality, humanity. His songs are “calming hymns for another chaotic time”, he says. His influence can be traced through many artist’s work, and so it only seemed right to celebrate this with a collection of newer voices interpreting his timeless tracks. Originally released in 2010 by David Tibet (Current 93), \u003ci\u003eStill Some Light\u003c\/i\u003e was released as a double CD, made up of 70’s album demos (Disc One) and 2009 home recordings (Disc Two). This year, for the first time, this collection of recordings is pressed to vinyl and released digitally, presented alongside contemporary reimaginings of the tracks by Kevin Morby, Steve Gunn, Julia Jacklin and Mary Lattimore. Bill Fay’s words and melodies remain unaffected by the passing of time and changing trends; and here alongside the original recordings, these reinvented versions still calmly guide us through another moment of chaos.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dead Oceans","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50479316894027,"sku":"1147143","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50479317156171,"sku":"1147144","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2bdd70b8-fbe5-4393-8df5-afafe47b92c5_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727506868"},{"product_id":"who-is-the-sender","title":"Who is the Sender?","description":"\u003cp\u003eAsk Bill Fay about his relationship with his instrument and he says something revealing, not \"Ever since I learnt to play the piano,\" but \"Ever since the piano taught me...\" What the piano taught him was how to connect to one of the great joys of his life. \"Music gives,\" he says. And he is a grateful receiver. But, it makes him wonder, 'Who is the sender?' Fay - who after more than five decades writing songs is finally being appreciated as one of our finest living practitioners of the art - asserts that songs aren't actually written but found, perhaps people like him or Dylan or Leonard Cohen are simply getting glimpses of what music itself wants us to know. He recorded two phenomenal but largely overlooked albums for Decca offshoot Nova in 1970 and 1971. After 27 years of neglect, people like Nick Cave, Jim O' Rourke, and Jeff Tweedy were praising those records in glowing terms. Recorded in Ray Davies' Konk Studios, North London, 'Who Is The Sender?' sees Bill expanding upon themes he has touched on from the beginning, spiritual and philosophical questions, observations about the natural world and the people in the city he has lived in all his life.LP - Double LP with Download. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dead Oceans","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50483981418827,"sku":"383075","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50483981779275,"sku":"383076","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5ee2b49c-4f86-4688-8f82-1f48b6ce2c3c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727577904"},{"product_id":"countless-branches","title":"Countless Branches","description":"\u003cp\u003eBill Fay returns with the third album in the celebrated second phase of his recording career. A prime Fay song is a deceptively simple thing which carries more emotional weight than its concision and brevity might imply. There are ten of these musical haikus on Countless Branches, as pointed and as poignant as anything he’s ever recorded.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor decades now - it’s almost 50 years since he cut his classic albums “Bill Fay” and “Time of the Last Persecution” - songs like these have been Fay’s ambassadors helping rave reviews and endorsements from the likes of Jim O’Rourke (Tortoise) and Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) which led to a huge revival of interest in his music. He had continued to make music almost every day in the intervening decades. For Countless Branches he’s completed new toplines over some of his cache of backing tracks, most of them 20 to 40 years old.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dead Oceans","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP | x2","offer_id":50498728165707,"sku":"1080985","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50498728001867,"sku":"1080983","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50498728362315,"sku":"1080984","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/b547af8c-09ef-49b9-b352-ca50471a32fc_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727755578"},{"product_id":"dust-filled-room","title":"Dust Filled Room","description":"\u003cp\u003eFresh reimagining of a classic Bill Fay track by Steve Gunn.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dead Oceans","offers":[{"title":"Black | 7\"","offer_id":50512222486859,"sku":"1136993","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/04b6662c-1129-4575-b1ff-97d81f59bd09_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727899555"},{"product_id":"tomorrow-tomorrow-and-tomorrow","title":"Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe temptation to mythologize Bill Fay can be overwhelming; Fay was, for decades, as prolific as he was under-appreciated. Fay’s unsung-hero status has changed slowly, steadily, on the order of almost twenty-five years. With each new album comes new hosannas and evangelizers — Jeff Tweedy, Kevin Morby, Adam Granduciel and Julia Jacklin, to name just a few.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Bill Fay Group, in particular, is Fay’s most significant collaborative work; he records as a member of a larger group here, and the result summons a grander sonic scale, an elegent counterweight to Fay’s instincts for the understated. \u003ci\u003eTomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow\u003c\/i\u003e brings to bear the galactic qualities of early rock, the intricacy of jazz improv, and Fay’s earthy folk magic.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eTomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow\u003c\/i\u003e has a patchy release history: recorded between 1978 and 1981, it was not released until 2005, when it appeared on CD with limited streaming and no vinyl companion. A 2006 reissue brought the album onto vinyl but with a truncated sequence and nine song missing. Now, finally, \u003ci\u003eTomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow\u003c\/i\u003e arrives in full worldwide. Pressed to a double-album vinyl edition, it features the album’s original 22 songs and includes rare and previously unseen photographs from \u003ci\u003eTomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow’\u003c\/i\u003es original recording session.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the words of Gary Smith and Rauf Galip, missing Bill Stratton, and abbreviated from the forthcoming album notes:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe chose five songs to record as finished pieces: Life, Spiritual Mansions, Cosmic Boxer, Strange Stairway, Isles of Sleep, all recorded in two studio sessions. We sent them out to try and get a record deal. There were few really independent labels back then and Punk was in the record labels’ ears. No deal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd now, Dead Oceans who have a lot of faith in Bill’s music wants to re- release the ‘Tomorrow’ album. A double vinyl package. Is there any more unreleased music for the fourth side? Of course. So, we’ve been opening old boxes, finding CDRs, cassettes, a musical archaeological dig. This is our choice from all the music we found.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dead Oceans","offers":[{"title":"Black LPx2","offer_id":50530518434123,"sku":"2173353","price":39.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50530518171979,"sku":"2173352","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/doc345.bf.tomorrow.fc.3000_1494cf5e_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728080348"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_a58fa61f_thumbnail_4096_28c9ef97-d936-430f-a382-550cec82159f.jpg?v=1726630723","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/bill-fay.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}