Tea Break Over-Back on Your 'Eads!

Tea Break Over–Back on Your 'Eads!, released in 1974, was the eighth and final studio album by British jazz-rock band If. It was followed in 1995 by a compilation CD covering tracks from the first three LPs featuring the band's previous line-up.

The album reflects the band's more rock-influenced style, perfectly balanced with Dick Morrissey's harsher hard bop/bebop sax playing. The title track "Tea Break", referring to the hardships of being "on the road", is the punch line to an old musicians' joke and contains a tribute to Charlie Parker in the lyrics ("The Bird was the man to be heard" and "The music was the word") as well as in a swirling bebop tenor solo. The "Ballad of the Yessirom Kid", a tribute by the band to Dick Morrissey, finishes with a roaring bebop tenor solo. "Song for Alison" features the flute more than holding its own with a rock accompaniment. The song "Don Quixote" opens with an extensive acoustic Spanish guitar solo by Whitehorn.

Track listing

(LP version^[1] - the CD re-release varies the order slightly)

Side one

1. "Merlin the Magic Man" (Davies) – 5:05
2. "I Had a Friend" (Davies) – 4:30
3. "Tea Break Over, Back on Your 'Eads" (Whitehorn, Davies, Monaghan) – 6:05

Side two

1. "Ballad of the Yessirrom Kid" (Davies) – 5:20
2. "Raw Sewage" (Davies) – 6:13
3. "Song for Alison" (Morrissey) – 3:55
4. "Don Quixote's Masquerade" (Davies) – 7:50

Personnel

• Dick Morrissey - saxophones, flute
• Geoff Whitehorn - electrics and acoustic guitars, vocals
• Gabriel Magno – organ, piano
• Walt Monaghan – bass, vocals
• Cliff Davies – drums, vocals, synthesiser
• Carlos Martinez – percussion

References