Noel Harrison

The World of Noel Harrison (1969)

LP only

A curious Decca record, released in August 1969, two years after Noel had left the label, it was probably put out to cash-in on The Windmills of Your Mind's success in 1968.

The compilation features four tracks from the original Noel Harrison album of 1966 as well as eight other songs recorded around the same time which were previously only used as B sides or singles.

Apart from the tracks featured on Noel Harrison, stand-outs include For You, the Dylan song One Too Many Mornings and Bonsoir Dame. The music hall tune The Future Mrs Awkins - sung in a cockney accent - seems odd at first, but is a grower.

Other tracks, including Trees, In a Dusty Old Room and I Just Can’t Wait, are not brilliant, although In a Dusty Old Room’s orchestration does have echoes of The Windmills of Your Mind.

In their 1969 review, Gramophone magazine said: "Noel Harrison is agreeably unpretentious in "The World Of Noel Harrison" with a wide selection of material, from Bob Dylan's Love Minus Zero to Albert Chevalier's The Future Mrs 'Awkins, but I think that some people may object to his beat version of Barbara Allan."

Unusually, when Noel was shown the record in 2011 by thewindmillsofyourmind.com, he said he had never actually seen a copy before and was unaware of its release.

Watch:

Watch Noel perform the song In a Dusty Old Room on the December 11, 1966 edition of the Andy Williams Show.

The song is about a dead child, but for the Andy Williams Show, the lyrics were altered from the fairly depressing 'the child is dead', to the slightly more upbeat 'the child has fled'.

Advert:

A November 1966 advert for the single In a Dusty Old Room, highlighting Noel as 'America's brightest new star' and pointing out his role in the Girl From U.N.C.L.E. television show. (The name of the single is printed incorrectly on the advert.)