Uploaded May 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Battered Ornaments were an English jazz-rock/psych band that released two albums on Harvest in 1969, the first with singer/poet Pete Brown, who later cut two albums with Piblokto! He also wrote lyrics for Jack Bruce during and after Cream. The Ornaments also included guitarist Chris Spedding, who fronted the band after Brown’s departure.
Mantle-Piece
In the summer of 1969, the Battered Ornaments recorded a second album, Mantle-Piece. Before its release, Brown quit due to conflicts with Spedding. (By some accounts, Brown was actually sacked from the band he’d founded.) Spedding erased Brown’s vocals from the Mantle-Piece tapes and sang the songs himself. The finished album appeared that November on Harvest.
Mantle-Piece features nine songs, including four Brown/Spedding co-writes: “Then I Must Go,” “Twisted Track,” “My Love’s Gone Far Away,” and the sung (by Spedding) version of “Late Into the Night.” Potter helped the pair on “Take Me Now” and co-wrote “Smoke Rings” with Spedding. The album also includes self-composed songs by Brown (“The Crosswords and the Safety Pins”), Spedding (“Sunshades”), and Khan (“Staggered”).
Despite the frontal shakeup, Mantle-Piece is a continuation of its predecessor. “Smoke Rings” engulfs the speakers with rapid-fire snare-spray and scratchy, fluid fretwork that oozes upward as the vocals clear. “Staggered” is underpinned with a guttural, organ-overlaid bassline, flanked with matching fuzztones; it soon breaks for a spiraling reed descent and, later, an ostinato sprayed with noodly steel-guitar. The boldly sung “Take Me Now” holds shape with crisp bass, selective drumrolls, spicy reeds, and brisk acoustic chords amid stop/start verses. In France, “Take Me Now” and “Staggered” were paired on 7″.
King produced the album at EMI Studios with engineer Peter Bown (not to be confused with Pete Brown), who’d notched technical credits on The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Tomorrow. The Mantle-Piece innerfold presents the Battered Ornaments as a five-piece with Spedding at the fore. (Hart, who didn’t take part, would later surface in Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance.) The front and back-cover show airbound microcephalic marble heads, conceived by designer Eddie O’Neill.
The Battered Ornaments barely outlasted the loss of its founder, who resurfaced months later (along with Tait) fronting Pete Brown & Piblokto!, which issued two albums and a standalone single on Harvest in 1970. The first of those, Things May Come, includes Piblokto! versions of the Mantle-Piece tracks “Then I Must Go” and “My Love’s Gone Far Away.” Post-Piblokto!, Brown cut a 1972 collaborative album with Graham Bond and continued as Bruce’s lyricist.
Discography
Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments
Album
- A Meal You Can Shake Hands With in the Dark (1969)
Single
- The Week Looked Good on Paper / Morning Call (1969)
Appears On
- My Last Band (1973) • Compilation • Pete Brown & Piblokto!
Compilation
- A Meal You Can Shake Hands With in the Dark / Mantle-Piece (2001) • Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments / The Battered Ornaments
V/A Compilation
- Harvest Specials (1969)
- Underground Show (1969)
- Harvest Festival (1999)
- A Breath of Fresh Air: A Harvest Records Anthology 1969-1974 (2007)
- Heavy Psych, Prog, Fuzz & Blues 101 (2018)
- Late 60s Heavy Rock Deep Cuts (2018)
- Banquet: Underground Sounds of 1969 (2021)
The Battered Ornaments
Album
- Mantle-Piece (1969)
Singles & EPs
- Chris Spedding's New Band, Chris Spedding And The Battered Ornaments Rock And Roll Band / Goodbye We Loved You (Madly) (7", Single)
- Take Me Now / Staggered (1970)
Appears On
- Stones Throw Podcast 18: Stone Cold Psychedelic Soul (2007) • DJ Mix • Egon
Compilation
- A Meal You Can Shake Hands With in the Dark / Mantle-Piece (2001) • Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments / The Battered Ornaments
V/A Compilation
- Picnic: A Breath of Fresh Air (1970)
- British Progressive Essentials (2016)
- The Krautrock & Progressive Box Set: The Secret Archives (2018)
Mantle-Piece (1969)
Tracklist
- 1. Sunshades
- 2. Late Into The Night
- 3. Then I Must Go
- 4. The Crosswords And The Safety Pins
- 5. Staggered
- 6. Twisted Track
- 7. Smoke Rings
- 8. Take Me Now
- 9. My Love's Gone Far Away
Credits
- Butch Potter: Bass Guitar, Vocals
- Pete Bailey: Congas, Vocals
- Rob Tait: Drums, Percussion, Tambourine, Vocals
- Nisar Ahmad Khan: Guitar, Reeds, Flute, Vocals
- Chris Spedding: Guitar, Steel Guitar, Guitar, Piano, Organ, Vocals
- Eddie O'Neill: Artwork, Design
- George Powell: Layout, Typography
- Valery Allen: Photography By
- Andrew King: Producer
- Peter Bown: Engineer
Source
- jazzrocksoul.com/artists/the-battered-ornaments
This video didnt upload for monetization. If you think this video violates the law of copyright please contact with me through email instead of contact with YouTube.
The Battered Ornaments were an English jazz-rock/psych band that released two albums on Harvest in 1969, the first with singer/poet Pete Brown, who later cut two albums with Piblokto! He also wrote lyrics for Jack Bruce during and after Cream. The Ornaments also included guitarist Chris Spedding, who fronted the band after Brown’s departure.
Mantle-Piece
In the summer of 1969, the Battered Ornaments recorded a second album, Mantle-Piece. Before its release, Brown quit due to conflicts with Spedding. (By some accounts, Brown was actually sacked from the band he’d founded.) Spedding erased Brown’s vocals from the Mantle-Piece tapes and sang the songs himself. The finished album appeared that November on Harvest.
Mantle-Piece features nine songs, including four Brown/Spedding co-writes: “Then I Must Go,” “Twisted Track,” “My Love’s Gone Far Away,” and the sung (by Spedding) version of “Late Into the Night.” Potter helped the pair on “Take Me Now” and co-wrote “Smoke Rings” with Spedding. The album also includes self-composed songs by Brown (“The Crosswords and the Safety Pins”), Spedding (“Sunshades”), and Khan (“Staggered”).
Despite the frontal shakeup, Mantle-Piece is a continuation of its predecessor. “Smoke Rings” engulfs the speakers with rapid-fire snare-spray and scratchy, fluid fretwork that oozes upward as the vocals clear. “Staggered” is underpinned with a guttural, organ-overlaid bassline, flanked with matching fuzztones; it soon breaks for a spiraling reed descent and, later, an ostinato sprayed with noodly steel-guitar. The boldly sung “Take Me Now” holds shape with crisp bass, selective drumrolls, spicy reeds, and brisk acoustic chords amid stop/start verses. In France, “Take Me Now” and “Staggered” were paired on 7″.
King produced the album at EMI Studios with engineer Peter Bown (not to be confused with Pete Brown), who’d notched technical credits on The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Tomorrow. The Mantle-Piece innerfold presents the Battered Ornaments as a five-piece with Spedding at the fore. (Hart, who didn’t take part, would later surface in Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance.) The front and back-cover show airbound microcephalic marble heads, conceived by designer Eddie O’Neill.
The Battered Ornaments barely outlasted the loss of its founder, who resurfaced months later (along with Tait) fronting Pete Brown & Piblokto!, which issued two albums and a standalone single on Harvest in 1970. The first of those, Things May Come, includes Piblokto! versions of the Mantle-Piece tracks “Then I Must Go” and “My Love’s Gone Far Away.” Post-Piblokto!, Brown cut a 1972 collaborative album with Graham Bond and continued as Bruce’s lyricist.
Discography
Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments
Album
- A Meal You Can Shake Hands With in the Dark (1969)
Single
- The Week Looked Good on Paper / Morning Call (1969)
Appears On
- My Last Band (1973) • Compilation • Pete Brown & Piblokto!
Compilation
- A Meal You Can Shake Hands With in the Dark / Mantle-Piece (2001) • Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments / The Battered Ornaments
V/A Compilation
- Harvest Specials (1969)
- Underground Show (1969)
- Harvest Festival (1999)
- A Breath of Fresh Air: A Harvest Records Anthology 1969-1974 (2007)
- Heavy Psych, Prog, Fuzz & Blues 101 (2018)
- Late 60s Heavy Rock Deep Cuts (2018)
- Banquet: Underground Sounds of 1969 (2021)
The Battered Ornaments
Album
- Mantle-Piece (1969)
Singles & EPs
- Chris Spedding's New Band, Chris Spedding And The Battered Ornaments Rock And Roll Band / Goodbye We Loved You (Madly) (7", Single)
- Take Me Now / Staggered (1970)
Appears On
- Stones Throw Podcast 18: Stone Cold Psychedelic Soul (2007) • DJ Mix • Egon
Compilation
- A Meal You Can Shake Hands With in the Dark / Mantle-Piece (2001) • Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments / The Battered Ornaments
V/A Compilation
- Picnic: A Breath of Fresh Air (1970)
- British Progressive Essentials (2016)
- The Krautrock & Progressive Box Set: The Secret Archives (2018)
Mantle-Piece (1969)
Tracklist
- 1. Sunshades
- 2. Late Into The Night
- 3. Then I Must Go
- 4. The Crosswords And The Safety Pins
- 5. Staggered
- 6. Twisted Track
- 7. Smoke Rings
- 8. Take Me Now
- 9. My Love's Gone Far Away
Credits
- Butch Potter: Bass Guitar, Vocals
- Pete Bailey: Congas, Vocals
- Rob Tait: Drums, Percussion, Tambourine, Vocals
- Nisar Ahmad Khan: Guitar, Reeds, Flute, Vocals
- Chris Spedding: Guitar, Steel Guitar, Guitar, Piano, Organ, Vocals
- Eddie O'Neill: Artwork, Design
- George Powell: Layout, Typography
- Valery Allen: Photography By
- Andrew King: Producer
- Peter Bown: Engineer
Source
- jazzrocksoul.com/artists/the-battered-ornaments
This video didnt upload for monetization. If you think this video violates the law of copyright please contact with me through email instead of contact with YouTube.
