Clive John - You Always Know Where You Stand With A Buzzard (1975)

Clive John, or Clint Space or just Clint to Man-band fans, was the beloved keyboardist and sometimes guitarist for Man through most of their classic periods. His contribution to the sound and humour of the band was a big one, though you might not really realise it until you place him apart to record his one and only solo album, ie. this one. Of all the Man off-shoots and solo projects that I’ve heard (which I have to admit isn’t all of them), this is far and away the best and most consistently high in quality (and other substances), but for some reason it’s also one of the most obscure. I only discovered its existence when I stumbled across it in a random rack-shuffling in a large discount music store, and although I was instantly intrigued by a) the Man connection, b) the title and c) the cover, I was also wary of the late date (1975, by which time Man were no longer so hot on record) and the fact that I’d never heard of it before. A quick internet search later and I’d read some reports that it was supposedly a good album if you like Man, though with only a few tracks that were that great. Well, after I thought I’d take a gamble and just buy it, I was pleasantly surprised, because not only did I thoroughly enjoy pretty much the whole album, I’d go so far as to say that this is some of the best Man-and-related music that I’d heard. I’m not saying the best as far as Man goes – I can certainly think of superior Man stuff – just up there with some of the best. On the other hand, this is surely better and more consistent than either of the patchy Deke Leonard albums, which are roughly 50% filler to my ears. You may not agree, but I’ll try to state my case. At this time, Clint was holed up in a remote farm in Breton, and after being asked by Andrew Lauder of UA to do a solo album, he transferred holes to Rockfield Studios in Wales to record it. Clint handled most of the instruments on this album – guitars, keyboards and vocals – but he’s backed by Man’s Martin Ace on bass, and Help Yourself’s Dave Charles on drums and engineering, as well as sundry guests on various tracks including Phil Ryan (Eyes of Blue, Quicksand, Piblokto, Man, Neutrons) and Andy Fairweather Low (Amen Corner). The cover features the still-hairy prototypical hippy freak Clint generously holding out a giant fake-looking orange. The title of the album came from what Clint said to a visitor who fled after being attacked by buzzards whose nest site he’d unwittingly approached, the point being that you’re supposed to stand your ground and the buzzards will hold back. Don’t ask me to test that one out...(source)