‘Raise a Hand ‘ is my contribution to the 2020 American election. In doing it I was helped by my former Electric Light Orchestra colleague Martin Smith, my wife Mandy, Karl Pior, Alan Smith, Matt O’Malley and of course, the inclusion of Martin Luther King’s famous words from 1963.
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[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.3.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″]The ‘Morgan’ Album was produced for me by Lou Reizner in London in 1970 and then released in America. Some time later, in 1971, I sat with The Bird (aka Warren Samet) in our Miami apartment while he wrote these liner notes for it:
Dave Morgan is among the new wave of lyrical, acoustical folk-rock performers who have taken the recording industry by storm. Forceful, earthy, and yet gentle he is an artist who fell into the musical pudding rather by accident at the ripe age of twenty-two. Now twenty-eight, he is a veteran of several rock groups in England, still having manage to find the time to write two hit songs, ‘Mary Collinto’ and ‘Something’ plus all the songs on a soon-to–be-released LP by a new group, Wishful Thinking.
Dave has a deceptively rangy voice and the ability to call upon a throaty, gravel-like quality which can change in a moment to a sound that is soft and sensitive. Virtually self-taught, he assembles things which he has heard with things that he feels, and comes up with a sound that is distinctly Dave Morgan.
The Bird
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The Secret Album was recorded in conditions of discretion which have remained to this day. Some would call it absolute secrecy, but anyway it’s time Jim and I put and end to all that cloak and dagger stuff.
However, we are still not sure if the studio was ever paid for, so we don’t want to draw too much attention, you understand.
After all, we’ve survived obscurity for this long, it isn’t so terrible. Hence our marketing strategy has consisted of furtively passing CDs to people inside plain brown paper bags. In case of trouble and in order to spread the blame, Jim and I would like to point out that Richard Tandy was the producer and that we were immensely egged on by guitarist and vocalist Bob Daffurn (born with magic fingers and a left-handed guitar). Steve Wheate was also heavily complicit in the proceedings, both with encouragements and the wonderful throb from his drumkit.
Dave
