On A Clear Day

The Peddlers: On A Clear Day
From: Three In A Cell (CBS, 1968)

It dawned on me today that I've now been music blogging for over a year and, looking back on my early posts on Evigan Funk, it amazes me how much my musical knowledge has expanded over the past 12 months.

One of the most satisfying aspects of the increased rate of digging blogging has encouraged in me is discovering the names of, and getting my hands on, tracks that I'd heard many years earlier.

One of the most elusive of these was The Peddler's cover of On A Clear Day that I first heard in a club back in the mid nineties. Having hummed the song to everyone I knew and didn't know over the subsequent years I finally unearthed the track purely by accident on the sixties British jazz/r'n'b group's 1968 album Three In A Cell. You can read more about the group's history here.

There's something about the offset of those heavy heavy drums and organ riff with the crooning vocals of pianist Roy Phillips that gets me every time. This hypnotic mood is rudely broken by a totally astounding and unexpected organ solo that breaks in at the 2 minute mark before the tune recovers its original course, string accompaniment adding to the overall feeling of bliss. This is truly one of the greatest 3am songs I have ever come across. Enjoy, have a happy new year and see you on the other side.........