Edwards Hand

The "I-Own-Every-Record-You’d-Never-Buy" CD Consumer’s Guide isn’t much into conspiracy theories, but take a close look at this album cover and tell me you don’t see the image of a person standing in the middle of those tree branches. Maybe it’s just my fading eyesight. The music of Edwards Hand—folk-influenced psychedelic pop that critic Richie Unterberger describes as “Bee Gees-lite”—doesn’t necessarily lend itself to shadowy figures lurking in treetops anyway. Rod Edwards (keyboards, vocals) and Roger Hand (guitar, vocals) got their start in a one-record band called Picadilly Line before venturing out as a duo. Produced by George Martin and released in 1969 on GRT Records, the group’s self-titled debut is breezy, lightweight psychedelia. “Close My Eyes” and “Sing Along with the Singer” best represent the band’s musical blueprint—acoustic-based soft rock awash in lush two-part harmonies and sweeping orchestral arrangements. The lyrical content borders on mawkish—“I will bring you happiness/wrapped up in a box and tied/with a yellow ribbon/I will bring you rainbow skies/and summer rain to make your/garden grow”—but the album is bolstered by the inclusion of several of the era's top-notch studio musicians. All in all it’s a pretty if not entirely original affair. Edwards Hand released two more albums, including 1970’s slightly heavier Stranded.

Notes: “Close My Eyes” by Edwards Hand: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AQEnCQN92A.