The Best Years of Our Lives (Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel album)

Background

In July 1974, the original line-up of Cockney Rebel split. The band had embarked on a major British tour earlier in May, to promote the band' second album The Psychomodo. As the tour progressed, the band began facing growing tensions, which ultimately led to the band's split in late July. On 18 July, the band received a 'Gold Award' for outstanding new act of 1974, and a week later they had split up over their disagreements. Jean-Paul Crocker, Milton Reame-James and Paul Jeffreys quit the band after having demanded to write material for the group, despite the initial understanding that Harley was the sole songwriter.

In August, Harley announced to Record Mirror magazine that he was going to return with "the greatest rock 'n' roll band ever heard." In the liner notes of the 2014 definitive release of The Best Years of Our Lives, Harley recalled: "The people at my record label, EMI, were right behind me. They believed I could find new band members without too much of a problem and continue on to a new level of success. They believed it wasn't a major stumbling block."

Soon afterwards, he began to assemble the new line-up. With the original band having been booked to play Aylesbury Friars and the Reading Festival on 24 and 25 August respectively, Harley formed a temporary line-up for the two shows. With original member Stuart Elliott remaining on drums, the line-up featured accomplished guitarist Jim Cregan, keyboard player Francis Monkman and bass guitarist George Ford. At the beginning of November, Harley would also release his debut solo single "Big Big Deal". By this time, the new line-up had been finalised. It featured the same musicians that appeared at the band's two August concerts, except with Monkman being replaced by keyboardist Duncan Mackay. Harley renamed the group Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel.

On 18 October 1974, the new line-up played their first concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London. Between November–December 1974, the band recorded Cockney Rebel's third album, The Best Years of Our Lives at Abbey Road Studios and Air Studios in London.

Preceding the album was the single "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)", which was released in January 1975. Becoming the band's biggest hit, the song reached the number one spot on the UK Chart in February, and received a UK Silver certification that month. As of 2015, it has sold around 1.5 million copies in the UK. Years later, Harley would reveal that the lyrics revolved around the split of the original band. In a television interview recorded in 2002, Harley described how the lyrics were vindictively directed at the former band members who, he felt, had abandoned him. Over 120 cover versions of the song have been recorded by other artists.

Following the success of the single, The Best Years of Our Lives was released in March 1975, and reached #4 on the UK Albums Chart. It debuted at that position on 22 March, and remained in the Top 50 for nineteen weeks. In May, the album's second single, "Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)", was released, and became another hit, reaching #13 in the UK Top 50. The song's titular character refers to the fictional thief A. J. Raffles, created by author E. W. Hornung.

To promote the album, the band embarked on a UK and European tour from March onwards. On the tour, the band hired guitarist Snowy White to play rhythm guitar. In a January 1975 issue of Record & Popswop Mirror, it was announced that the upcoming tour would feature "a specially built set and lighting to reflect songs and images featured on the forthcoming album." Later in the year, they toured America as a support act for The Kinks.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the album, along with "Make Me Smile", Harley announced a 16-date UK tour for November 2015. Harley, who has continued to play with various Cockney Rebel incarnations since the 1970s, reunited with the surviving members of the original second line-up for the tour; Cregan, Elliott and Mackay. The band's bassist George Ford died in 2007. The tour marked the first time the line-up had played together since 1976. On the tour, the band performed two sets at each show; one featured a selection of tracks from Harley and the band's career, and the second featured the album in its entirety. Speaking to Classic Rock in March 2015, Harley commented: "The three guys are still my mates. The fun we had back then, when we toured and recorded together, holds fabulous and special memories. I take life on the road a lot more seriously now, though, so they'd better be prepared. I'm thrilled to think they'll be up there on the great UK concert hall stages with me once again."

Release

The album was released by EMI Records on vinyl across the world, including in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Japan, Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Finland, Yugoslavia and Sweden. Later in 1991, the album received its first CD release through EMI, which featured two bonus tracks; "Another Journey", the B-Side to "Make Me Smile", as well as a live version of "Sebastian", recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on 14 April 1975. In 2001, BGO Records released a remastered edition of the album. Although it did not feature any bonus tracks, the album was remastered from the original master tapes, and featured faithfully restored artwork with additional sleeve notes.

On 23 June 2014, a definitive edition of the album was released by Parlophone as a four CD + DVD box-set. On disc one, aside from the original album, the B-Side "Another Journey" is included, as well as early demo version of "Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)" and "The Best Years of Our Lives" - both previously unreleased. The second and third discs feature live tracks from the band's concert at the Hammersmith Odeon on 14 April 1975. The 28-minute DVD features footage of the same concert. The edition's project manager was Bethany Dawson, while the sleeve notes were written by Geoff Barton.

In August 2014, a 180-gram vinyl reissue of the album was released in the Netherlands by Music on Vinyl.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Steve Harley.

Critical reception

In the 8 April 1975 issue of Record & Popswap Mirror, a review of The Best Years of Our Lives commented: "Forget No 1 singles; this will change everything. In nine songs, Harley wipes out his two-album apprenticeship with a stunning change of direction and commitment. Using the license of someone who knows he's on top, Harley continually swaps style and musical approach to present a progressive collage of youth. It is a coming of age, a political and religious protest, a brilliant snap-book for a generation, a puzzle. In short, this third album demands attention. It is completely fulfilling, a monster unleashed."

Donald A. Guarisco of AllMusic retrospectively reviewed the album, stating: "By his third album, Steve Harley had developed a strong grasp of how to combine his artistic ambitions with strongly crafted pop tunes that win the casual listener over to his artsy cause. The result was The Best Years of Our Lives, the most successful album of his mid-'70s heyday. All in all, it is a fine, slickly crafted album that will delight Steve Harley enthusiasts and will also appeal to fans of glam-oriented 1970s English rock."

Personnel

Band

Additional musicians

Production

Design