REVIEW: NATIONAL HEALTH - Of Queues and Cures

 

NATIONAL HEALTH - Of Queues and Cures (1978)

Charly Records

National Health emerged in 1975 from the Canterbury scene, the loose community of English musicians connected to Soft Machine, Caravan, Gong, Egg and Hatfield and the North. After Hatfield and the North disbanded, keyboardist Dave Stewart and guitarist Phil Miller continued working together and were joined by keyboardist Alan Gowen, whose earlier band Gilgamesh shared the same jazz-rock orientation. The group was never a commercial force. It was a collective of highly skilled composers and players who favored intricate writing over radio-friendly songs. Their self-titled debut appeared in 1978, and Of Queues and Cures followed in 1978.

The second album arrived with a changed lineup. Bassist Neil Murray, who played on the debut, was replaced by John Greaves, previously of Henry Cow, which brought a more angular, Rock in Opposition sensibility into the group. Murray’s career is worth noting because it took him far from Canterbury. A bassist of remarkable range, he worked with Colosseum II, Gogmagog, Gary Moore, Cozy Powell’s Hammer, Whitesnake, Vow Wow, Black Sabbath, the Brian May Band, the Peter Green Splinter Group, the Michael Schenker Group and Snakecharmer. His time in National Health shows how fluidly musicians moved between jazz-rock and hard rock and metal in this period, and it is one of the more concrete links between the Canterbury world and heavier music.

The core quartet on the record was Stewart on organ, electric and acoustic piano, and synthesizer, Miller on guitar, Greaves on bass and vocals, and Pip Pyle on drums, supported by guests who add flute, clarinets, oboe, trumpet and steel drums. The album was recorded in July 1978 at Ridge Farm in Surrey using a mobile studio, which gives the sessions a relaxed, countryside character. Charly Records issued it in the UK under catalogue number CRL 5010. The title plays on the “queues” and “cures” of the National Health Service, a dry joke that fits the group’s name and the understated, slightly absurd wit that runs through Canterbury music.

The music is largely instrumental and built on composition rather than improvisation alone. The album opens with Dave Stewart’s “The Bryden 2-Step (for Amphibians),” whose first part is a brisk, shifting theme in which organ, electric piano and guitar interlock. Its second part closes the album and frames the record as a whole. “Collapso” is a lighter piece with a Caribbean flavor and steel drums, offering a humorous break from the denser material. John Greaves’s “Squarer for Maud” is the most cerebral track, a long and carefully structured piece that reflects his Henry Cow background. Side two begins with Phil Miller’s “Dreams Wide Awake,” a lyrical showcase for his warm, distinctive guitar tone. Pip Pyle’s “Binoculars” is another extended piece, and “Phlakaton,” an eight-second fragment, is a characteristic joke. Because the band is mostly instrumental, its lyrical themes are secondary and tend toward gentle surrealism, wordplay and English eccentricity rather than protest or narrative. Much of the humor lives in the titles themselves.

As for rarity, the original Charly pressing is a sought-after item among progressive rock collectors rather than an extreme rarity. It was a small-label release by a cult act, and clean copies tend to command moderate prices. CD reissues, including those from Cuneiform, make the music easy to obtain. Current market values vary with condition, so Discogs sales history is the most reliable guide.

The band’s legacy is that of a respected but specialist group. The album is frequently cited among the high points of late-1970s Canterbury jazz-rock, and it was followed by D.S. al Coda (1982), a tribute to Alan Gowen, who died in 1981. Its influence is better described as part of a broader tradition than as a direct lineage. Metal musicians drawn to jazz-fusion and progressive music, such as those in Opeth, Cynic and Atheist, share some of its harmonic and structural ambition, but I am not aware of documented statements crediting National Health specifically, so the connection should be presented as stylistic affinity rather than confirmed inspiration. Stewart’s rigorous writing and the group’s blend of complexity and humor remain its most lasting contributions. Drummer Pip Pyle died in 2006 and guitarist Phil Miller in 2017, and their work continues to find listeners through reissues and word of mouth.

Nick Parastatidis