Roy Harper - One For All

This is the soundtrack to one of my perfect moments. After a holiday, driving up through Wales with henry_the_cow and Alex Z at the wheel with this song on the stereo.

One For All is from Harper's 1971 album Folkjokeopus. Hippy-ish folk rock never got any better than this. It's a dreadful tag, isn't it? All sorts of unwanted connotations come with it. So, let me clear a few things up for the benefit of any doubters out there.

This is not twee. Despite being only acoustic guitar and voice, it's a powerful, driving track.

This is not mud and wellies. It's leather trousers and spliffs.

This is not stoned, aimless noodling. I don't know how anyone with a pair of functional ears could ever make that claim. Harper takes long, long melodic lines, then extends them even further by introducing raga elements, but always resolves things musically. It's a masterclass in guitar, both in terms of composition and playing, and never less than utterly compelling.