Renowned for their stomping 1972 debut release, the Top 5 smash Standing In The Road, history has been ungenerous to the outfit centred around identical twins David and Tom Farmer. 60s contemporaries of local stars Jeff (The Idle Race) Lynne and Robert (Band Of Joy) Plant, the Farmers held similarly broad ambitions. Glittery Obituary, a sardonically good-humoured farewell to the nascent glam scene, signalled the changes rung on first album Nothing To Hide. Shit-kicker country licks, superior filial harmonies, skyscaling guitars (Messiah) and modal scale instrumental Gypsy Jam resisted easy classification. 1974 sequel Strangers added to the mystery, homegrown Lynyrd Skynyrd stripes flaunted on the Black Country funk of Shoot All Strangers, and nascent pomp prog excesses on 1812.
Now disinterred – with a previously missing mellotron track reinstated – 1975’s Gun Running is a fascinating document of a fearless, stubborn outfit ploughing a wilfully diverse course. Reinvestigation merited