From the verdant landscapes of Gravesend, Kent, emerged one of British progressive rock's most enigmatic treasures. Deep Feeling's solitary 1971 statement on DJM Records represents a fascinating metamorphosis: the transformation of The Guy Darrell Syndicate, a soul-infused pop outfit, into something far more adventurous and sublime.
When John Swail (the artist formerly known as Guy Darrell) shed his stage persona and joined forces with Martin Jenner (guitar, vocals), David Green (bass, flute, vocals), Derek Elson (Hammond organ, harpsichord, piano, vocals), and Graham Jarvis (drums, percussion, vocals), they created something unprecedented. Here was a progressive band that retained the soul and warmth of their origins, weaving Beach Boys-style harmonies through nine-minute epics, transforming Mason Williams' "Classical Gas" into an eight-minute journey, and treating Little Richard's "Lucille" to a thunderous heavy prog assault.
The album's six tracks showcase what set Deep Feeling apart from their progressive contemporaries: those dazzling multi-part harmonies that could shift from ethereal folk passages to Uriah Heep-styled organ-driven power, from Procol Harum baroque sophistication to sunshine pop euphoria. While the Canterbury scene was blossoming just miles away with Soft Machine's jazz experiments, Caravan's whimsical prog, and the emerging sounds of Egg and Matching Mole, Deep Feeling carved their own path, creating music that existed somewhere between the intricate keyboard wizardry of Dave Stewart and the harmonic complexity of Hatfield and the North (though predating the latter by several years).
"Welcome for a Soldier" opens with choral arrangements that wouldn't sound out of place on Pet Sounds, while "Guillotine" delivers progressive rock with genuine melodic sensibility, anticipating the jazz-fusion directions that bands like National Health would later explore. "Old Peoples Home" demonstrates their gentler side with acoustic delicacy reminiscent of Spirogyra's pastoral moments, while the Jenner-Green originals throughout prove their compositional talents extended far beyond their cover versions. Long sought after by UK progressive rock collectors, this album exists in that magical space where pop craftsmanship meets progressive ambition, where superior musicianship serves the song rather than overwhelming it. Deep Feeling created a work that was both of its time and timeless, a perfect synthesis of harmony and heaviness that paralleled but never quite intersected with the Canterbury scene developing simultaneously in the same corner of Kent.
Finally officially reissued for a new generation to discover what the cognoscenti have known for decades: this is progressive rock with soul.
