Slapp Happy & Henry Cow - Desperate Straights

Desperate Straights is an album by British avant-rock groups Slapp Happy and Henry Cow, recorded at Virgin Records' Manor studios in November 1974. It was the first of two collaborative albums by the two groups and was released in February 1975. Almost all of the album comprises Slapp Happy composed material and it is for this reason that it is generally regarded as a Slapp Happy album with backing by Henry Cow. The music is an unusual blend of avant-garde music and nostalgic pop, and the success of this collaboration led to the two bands merging. The lyrics of the song "A Worm Is at Work" refers to the song "War", which was recorded during the same sessions as this album, but was released later on In Praise of Learning, the second Henry Cow/Slapp Happy album. Slapp Happy Dagmar Krause (credited as "Dagmar") – voice, Wurlitzer ("In the Sickbay") Peter Blegvad – guitar, voice Anthony Moore – piano Henry Cow Tim Hodgkinson – clarinet, piano ("Caucasian Lullaby") Fred Frith – guitar, violin John Greaves – bass guitar, piano ("Bad Alchemy") Chris Cutler – drums, etc. Additional musicians Geoff Leigh – flute Pierre Moerlen – percussion ("Europa") Mont Campbell – French horn Mongezi Feza – trumpet Nick Evans – trombone Lindsay Cooper – bassoon, oboe Production Slapp Happy – producer Henry Cow – producer Simon Heyworth – producer Peter Blegvad – cover art Bob Drake – remastered 2004 CD reissue 00:00 Some Questions About Hats 01:53 The Owl 04:10 A Worm Is at Work 06:03 Bad Alchemy 09:10 Europa 11:59 Desperate Straights 16:13 Riding Tigers 18:16 Apes in Capes 20:32 Strayed 22:27 Giants 24:24 Excerpt from The Messiah 26:13 In the Sickbay 28:23 Caucasian Lullaby