Audience go off-piste on eclectic third album The House On The Hill

In the early 70s, Audience had a high enough profile to fill college gigs, but this popularity never fully translated into record sales. Although they wore their soul and R&B influences on their sleeves, Audience’s originality put them right in the progressive milieu. In the words of singer and guitarist Howard Werth they were always looking “to distort things a little bit and go in off-beat directions”.

The excellent House On The Hill (1971) shows this. Produced by Gus Dudgeon, Jackdaw opens with Werth’s soulful yell and acoustic guitar surrounded by Keith Gemmell’s horns. This leads into a lengthy instrumental section with Gemmell’s flute and clarinet lines, played in unison with Trevor Williams’ fuzz bass, filling out the sound field.

At times it shares some ground with Family or the anglicised jazz and R&B of groups like The Alan Bown. You’re Not Smiling could have been a big hit, with its classic 70s ‘Na-na na-na na-na’ singalong chorus – one similar to Van Morrison’s Caravan – with blazing horns and hyperactive bass guitar. Then there’s the pastoralia of Raviolé, with Werth’s intricate guitar picking veering Eastwards at times, and a string arrangement by Robert Kirby, famous for his work with Nick Drake.

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Other albums released in May 1971

• Leon Russell and the Shelter People – Leon Russell
• Peaceful World – The Rascals
• Weather Report – Weather Report
• Carpenters – Carpenters
• Relics – Pink Floyd 
• Ram – Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney
• Rory Gallagher – Rory Gallagher
• 28 Songs for Beginners – Graham Nash
• And So: On – Jimmy Webb
• Another Dimension – Bo Diddley
• Edgar Broughton Band – Edgar Broughton Band
• Live Johnny Winter And – Johnny Winter
• Man in Black – Johnny Cash
• Smash Your Head Against the Wall – John Entwistle
• Summer Side of Life – Gordon Lightfoot
• Winwood – Steve Winwood
• Every Picture Tells A Story – Rod Stewart

What they said…

“I Had a Dream” sounds like Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door played by Creedence. Eye To Eye is pure Jethro Tull in both the use of the voice and flute. House On The Hill has its prog jazz opening and Van der Graaf-like sax. Jackdaw, with Werth’s vocal openings as if he were Chris Cornell. Raviolè, a refined instrumental based on classical guitar accompanied by the strings of the London Symphony Orchestra. The strange cover of I Put a Spell on You by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Progressive? Just like the cover: this is art rock.” (Debaser)

“Leading off with the adventurous Jackdaw, it’s here that the band present their most powerful prog-rock statement on the album, a lengthy piece with soaring vocals from Howard Werth, searing sax courtesy of Keith Gemmell, and a wild fuzz drenched bass solo from Trevor Williams. You’re Not Smiling could have easily been a hit single, a real memorable folk rocker that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. album, featuring hook-laden vocals, jazzy sax, and plenty of Werth’s lush electric classical guitar.” (Sea Of Tranquillity)

“Arguably their best album, House On The Hill was released in 1971 and benefits from its direct nature and jazz/folk/blues vibe. There is plenty of energy on offer, which hits you squarely in the face with the first track, Jackdaw, helped by Howard Werth’s distinctive vocals. The introduction of flute, woodwind hypnotics and vibraphone adds an eclectic twist to the presentation.” (The Audiophile Man)

What you said…

John Davidson: Well, this was an odd one. Take bits of Roxy Music, throw in some Jethro Tull and blend with a range of 1970s pop-rock offcuts and you might end up with Audience. It was nearly enjoyable but just kept missing the mark for me. 4/10.

Warren Bubb: Listened to this album as I loved the single Eye To Eye, which should have been a chart hit, fitting in with bands like Curved Air and Lindisfarne. The rest of the album is a bit of a mixed bag with several conflicting styles. Still a great lost single and worth a listen for that track alone. Only 5/10 for me.

Adam Ranger: Thanks to the club for another artist and album that I was not familiar with. Art rock? Something we Brits seemed to do lots in the 70s and 80s.

The album starts strongly with Jackdaw. Well, the first three minutes, at least. Then it all goes a bit wrong. I like the flute interlude, but the remainder felt like a good song ruined.

And that is my problem with this album. Some nice, even great moments, amongst some jarring moments. It’s not sure of its identity, which may be the point.

Talking of the flute, Eye To Eye could easily have been a Jethro Tull track. I like this one. It’s short and does not meander.

I quite like the cover of I Put A Spell On You. It’s true to the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins original, but different enough to be worth the listen. I also quite like Indian Summer. But overall, this is not my thing, and I found myself not enjoying the listen for much of the time.

Mike Canoe: I don’t know how I learned about House On The Hill first. Either I saw the album cover in a Hipgnosis coffee table book or a friend put Audience’s cover of I Put A Spell On You from this album on a mix CD he gave me. Either way, I decided House On The Hill was worth seeking out.

“Art rock” seems to be one of those catch-all genres when something sounds too weird to be pop but not complicated or pretentious enough to be straight-up prog rock. The description does seem to fit Audience, though.

Howard Werth’s unique and charismatic voice was the initial draw. He seems equally comfortable with folk-adjacent songs like Jackdaw or I Had A Dream, as well as jazz-comfortable numbers like Eye To Eye or I Put a Spell On You. The latter gives Screaming Jay Hawkins’ classic a jazzy Moondance makeover, providing a nice contrast to the malice-filled lyrics.

Then there’s Keith Gemmell and his arsenal of woodwind instruments taking the solos instead of keyboards or electric guitar. You’re Not Smiling and Nancy are essentially pop songs but with instrumentation more akin to classical music. Howard Werth gets to show off his electric classical guitar on the mostly instrumental Raviole, but honestly that’s a trifle compared to the rest of the album.

The swirling, surging, sinister title track finds the band playing to all of its art rock strengths. It also brings to life the murder mystery playing out in the cool Hipgnosis sleeve design.

As has become a bit of a theme with the club recently, the band’s lifespan was relatively short the first time around, but their music has been rediscovered through streaming. I think House On The Hill defines the term “lost classic.”

Hylton Blignaut: A famous late-night DJ in South Africa, Chris Priorr, played the title track one night in the early 80s. The next day I hunted down the album. An import on a student’s odd job pay, but well worth it

Philip Qvist: This was a first for me, or so I thought. When I saw this week’s album choice courtesy of Mike Canoe (many thanks), my first thoughts were that I had never heard of this band, far less the album.

And that thought remained the same while listening to what was a pretty decent record, until we got to the final track on the album, mainly The House On The Hill. Within seconds, I recognised the track, courtesy of a period during the 1980s and 90s, when mainstream South African radio stations used to play modern and classic rock music, featuring songs such as this track.

The title track, complete with sinister lyrics by bassist Trevor Williams and some great sax and flute playing from Keith Gemmell, is my highlight on this album. The instrumental Raviole, which allowed Howard Werth to showcase his guitar playing skills, along with opening songs Indian Summer and You’re Not Smiling, were my other standout numbers. Their version of I Put A Spell On You, a track covered by so many artists, doesn’t really add much to the song, while the other tracks were good without leaving their mark on me.

I doubt I will listen to this album again, but it was fun to listen to, and it is always great to listen to another one of these lost treasures. Another 7 from me this week.

Greg Schwepe: Total new one for me. We’re on a streak with the “never heard of ‘em” picks with The House On The Hill by Audience. But no preconceived notions about anything at all here; clean slate, open mind.

Jackdaw leads off the show, and I hear horns, then flute, then fuzzed-out guitar, squawking sax. Checks release date; 1971. Yep, that all checks out. The longer the song went on, the more intertwined that instrumentation got.

The second track, You’re Not Smiling, kind of actually described me halfway through, but that changed a little by the end. I Had A Dream actually did have me figuratively smiling, as this was the best track so far. But then I got to Raviole, and that took the best track so far mantle. A little more to my liking with the acoustic and nylon-string guitars. The cover of I Put A Spell On You may be the most odd version I’ve ever heard.

Basically, I grew into the album as I went on, until I didn’t. Each successive song seemed to have slightly less of the characteristics of the prior song that maybe kept me from liking it 100%. OK, here we go…this is good. But then the next song was kind of a turn-off after a few to my liking. Jekyll and Hyde. One step forward, two steps back, whatever goofy analogy you want to use.

I will say, the sax sound was very reminiscent at times of what you heard on King Crimson’s debut. But it had this weird way of me liking it one song, then not caring for it the next track. The title track featured even more off-the-wall sax. That guy must have blown through (no pun intended!) a whole box of reeds while recording that track. I did like the big loud acoustic guitar though.

6 out of 10 on this one for me. Still trying to figure this one out, to tell you the truth.

Final score: 6.13 (22 votes cast, total score 135)

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