Biography
There were two bands, both British, going by the name of Deep Feeling:
1) A rock band from Worcester (1966-1967), whose members would later form Traffic and Spooky Tooth.
2) A very obscure short-lived progressive rock band active in 1971, who issued one eponymous album in that year.
1. Previously known as The Hellions, they were lead by future Traffic drummer Jim Capaldi (The Hellions lineup had included another Traffic member, Dave Mason). Another important members were future Spooky Tooth founding member, Luther Grosvenor on lead guitar, Gordon Jackson (who would later release a notable solo album in 1969) on rhythm guitar and drums and future Family member, Poli Palmer on drums.
2. Deep Feeling was a short-lived obscure British band, whose only album originally released on DJM label in 1971 is tragically overlooked among the prog fans and collectors.
Being no less than a minor masterpiece, it contains six long songs, most of them falling stylistically somewhere between UK proto-prog groups (Cressida, Beggars Opera, Spring) and the excellent British bands of the first echelon (early Crimson, Marsupilami, Rare Bird). In fact, several tracks are just as complex as "The Court Of The Crimson King" or Rare Bird's suite "Flight".
The album starts with great "Welcome For A Soldier", a complex piece with several tempo shifts and some excellent guitar/keyboard interplay in the middle. The vocal melody is very dreamy and beautiful, evoking parallels with PFM's "River Of Life". But the instrumental parts are far more energetic, full of unexpected rhythmic changes and dazzling solos. Next comes the short acoustic "Old People's Home" - I don't know why but this track sounds very British and draws some references to the works of Greatest Show On Earth or the calm moments of Gravy Train.
"Classical Gas" is another story - the only entirely instrumental track on the album and probably its major highlight. This version is simply irresistible, with beautiful guitar passages (a-la Cressida's John Culley) and excellent harpsichord backing. "Guillotine" sounds much heavier on the contrast, but it's obviously not a hard-rock, but an accomplished full-blown early heavy progressive in the vein of Rare Bird's "Hammerhead" for example.
Two closing tracks can seem not on par with the rest of the album, but in its special context they work brilliantly. First we come across the fine guitar-driven "Country Heir", which could have been well recorded by The Kinks in 1967-1968. Only this song is almost six minutes long and still doesn't get boring! And the ending of this wonderful album is the funny homage to British rock scene of the 1960-1970s - a powerful rendition of rock'n'roll classic "Lucille" done with scorched guitar leads and the obvious drum-solo in the middle.
It is very sad that such a great progressive rock work remains so little-known, but there is a simple reason for that: Deep Feeling's sole album is notably hard to find. The original LP would cost you a small fortune, and the only (bootleg) CD reissue on some obscure Japanese label has been put out in the early 1990s and is obviously long out of print and virtually impossible to get hold of.
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