the beautiful changes

Cherry Tree Records is pleased and extremely excited to announce the reissue of the original 1971 EMI recording of Julie Covington’s debut solo album The Beautiful Changes. Unavailable for many years with original copies fetching legendarily large sums on eBay, the album is one of the great ‘lost’ masterpieces of the era—affection and admiration for it continues to grow among the many fans and aficionados of intelligent and ornate early ’70s pop.

Penned almost entirely by acclaimed songwriters Pete Atkin and Clive James, this album was recorded at EMI’s renowned Abbey Road studios. Produced by Don Paul and impeccably arranged by Nick Harrison, Don Fraser and Pete Atkin himself, The Beautiful Changes is a baroque pop tour de force that captures Julie Covington’s intense and expressive voice across her eclectic selection of material, including classic torch songs, lyrical ballads and character vignettes.Includes a beautifully produced 16-page booklet with reminiscences and tracking notes written by Ms. Covington together with photographs from her archive.

It also includes recollections from Pete Atkin, Don Paul and Don Fraser as well as session notes and complete lyrics. The epic closer ‘My Silks And Fine Array’ appeared on St Etienne’s 2004 compilation CD, The Trip.

Track listing