MEDICINE MAN

I enjoyed the article in Issue 331 on the Dandelion label. I have always looked out for an article/discography on the former Dandelion band Medicine Head and was wondering if any such article is in the pipeline for RC? There was a fairly comprehensive stab at the Med Head discography included in the booklet with the Repertoire Records CD issue of New Bottles, Old Medicine (RR 4080-WP) – and I think one of the John Fiddler post Med Head CDs included a similar listing. But neither are particularly complete. Certainly there were a couple of rare Medicine Head tracks (one penned by Peter Hope-Evans) on an obscure album (late 1960’s/early70’s I would guess) that also featured some Pete Townshend tracks dedicated to, I think, Meha Baba. Also, Medicine Head very regularly featured on John Peel’s Radio One shows – both in the late 60s and early 70s. Some of the tracks produced for these shows were excellent – I particularly remember a storming versions of Coast To Coast and Not Like A Soldier, But Like An Old Love Song on the shows (this latter track later became a Med Head Dandelion single How Does It Feel albeit in a slightly over-produced guise, obviously aimed at a more mainstream audience, but rather failing to sell, like most other Dandelion releases!). Most of the tracks laid down by the original two man band have never seen the light of day (as far as I know) – not even on a Peel Sessions album – which is a great shame. Med Head were best live – and most of these Radio Session tracks captured their very essence. Anybody know what happened to these recordings? Destroyed? – or still lurking in the BBC archives somewhere? I’m sure your article will bring about a resurgence of interest in all things Dandelion – and it would be nice to see some of the sessions recorded by Medicine Head, the label’s ‘most successful two man band’, see the light of day after all these years.

by Allan Sykes
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