Duncan Browne -

Duncan Browne (March 25, 1947 — May 28, 1993) was an English singer/songwriter who released the album Give Me Take You on Immediate in 1968, followed by a self-titled album on RAK in 1973. After a one-album stint in the symphonic/art-pop trio Metro, he released the 1978/79 albums The Wild Places and Streets of Fire on Logo/Sire.

Background

He was born Duncan John Browne on March 25, 1947, the only child of Air Commodore C. D. A. Browne. As a schoolboy, he excelled in acting and mastered the clarinet. Though he aspired to follow his father into the Royal Air Force, he was declined on physical grounds. He then entered the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, where he studied Composition and Harmony under conductor/composer Anthony Bowles.

By 1967, Browne was an aspiring actor and accomplished classical guitarist. With his then girlfriend and a third wheel, he formed the folk trio Lorel, which was signed to Immediate Records by music mogul Andrew Loog Oldham (Rolling Stones, Chris Farlowe, Twice as Much). They cut a single, produced by singer Mike D’Abo (Manfred Mann), then promptly disbanded. Oldham shelved the single and offered to produce an album of Browne’s own material.

Give Me Take You

Duncan Browne released his debut album, Give Me Take You, in July 1968 on Immediate.

The album pairs Browne’s classical guitar work and chamber-influenced textures with poetic lyrics by David Bretton, a fellow student from the London Academy. Structured around delicate melodies and baroque-influenced arrangements, the songs blend folk cadences with soft orchestration, underscoring a stately and narrative vocal approach. The album’s twelve tracks present a cohesive suite of introspective vignettes, each shaped by lyrical storytelling and subtle compositional shifts.

Browne plays all guitar parts and handles the vocal arrangements throughout the album. Harpsichord and other keyboard duties fall to Nicky Hopkins.

A1. “Give Me Take You” (3:23)
A2. “Ninepence Worth of Walking” (3:27)
A3. “Dwarf in a Tree (A Cautionary Tale)” (3:11)
A4. “The Ghost Walks” (5:55)
A5. “Waking You (Part One)” (1:09)
A6. “Chloe in the Garden” (5:07)
A7. “Waking You (Part Two)” (0:57)

B1. “On the Bombsite” (3:10)
B2. “I Was, You Weren’t” (2:02)
B3. “Gabilan” (4:03)
B4. “Alfred Bell” (4:30)
B5. “The Death of Neil” (4:30)

Andrew Loog Oldham produced the album for Immediate Records. Irish engineered the sessions, and Max Edwards and Gered Mankowitz handled photography for the packaging, which also credited Browne and Bretton with cover design. Sessions likely occurred at Olympic Studios, where Oldham recorded most Immediate releases. Browne composed the music for each track while Bretton supplied the lyrics, written prior to the sessions and drawn from a joint portfolio of school-era writings. No full ensemble or session lineup appears in the credits, suggesting an intimate production dominated by solo and overdubbed performances.

“On the Bombsite” appeared as the lead single, backed with “Alfred Bell.” Despite Oldham’s promotional efforts, the release failed to generate chart interest. “The Death of Neil” appeared on the Immediate sampler Immediate Lets You In, issued shortly before the label’s dissolution.

The cover art was illustrated by Paul Weldon of the Canadian design company The Stanford Group. (Weldon, a musician in his own right, would eventually find chart success in Toronto popsters Edward Bear.) Musically, Give Me Take You combines psychedelic folk and baroque pop in a similar manner to concurrent albums by Al Stewart (Bed Sitter Images), Nick Garrie (The Nightmare of J. B. Stanislas), and Donovan (A Gift From a Flower to a Garden).

Give Me Take You became a rarity after Immediate’s 1970 financial collapse. In the years that followed, the album gained a cult reputation. Daffodil reissued it in Canada during the mid-1970s, and a piecemeal CD edition appeared in 1991, compiled from vinyl sources due to the loss of the original master tapes. Castle issued a remastered UK CD in the early 2000s, followed by an expanded edition from Grapefruit in 2009 that included rehearsal takes and demos.

In 1969, Browne did choral arrangements for The Nice on their recording of Tim Hardin’s “Hang On to a Dream,” included on their eponymous third album.

In July 1970, Browne returned with “Resurrection Joe,” a standalone backed with “The Final Asylum,” both co-written with folkster Thomas Yates. Browne resurfaced on RAK with the July 1972 single “Journey,” his preview of an album in-progress, backed with the elusive “In a Mist.”

Duncan Browne

Duncan Browne released his self-titled second album in February 1973 on RAK.

This album builds on the acoustic chamber-folk approach of Give Me Take You with a fuller, studio-backed sound that incorporates orchestration, electric textures, and subdued rhythmic interplay. Browne sings and plays both acoustic and flamenco guitar, with arrangements that mix baroque and contemporary tonalities. He composed and arranged all ten tracks and handled much of the album’s instrumental character, supported by a seasoned rhythm section and studio collaborators.

Guitar parts are performed by Duncan Browne, who also plays flamenco guitar and arranges all tracks. Jim Rodford contributes bass guitar across the album. Drumming is handled by Robert Henrit, with keyboard duties shared between John Cameron and John “Rabbit” Bundrick, who play piano, organ, and synthesizer. Additional vocal lines are provided by Keith Hodge, Suzi Quatro, and Tony Carr.

A1. “Ragged Rain Life” (3:02)
A2. “Country Song” (3:46)
A3. “The Martlet” (4:19)
A4. “My Only Son” (4:12)
A5. “Babe Rainbow” (4:23)

B1. “Journey” (3:22)
B2. “Cast No Shadow” (4:23)
B3. “Over the Reef” (5:39)
B4. “My Old Friends” (4:12)
B5. “Last Time Around” (4:51)

Mickie Most produced the album and co-arranged it alongside Browne. Recording took place under the RAK label, known for Most’s production stable. The album blends acoustic frameworks with electric enhancements and orchestral color, drawing from Browne’s interest in classical structure and singer-songwriter introspection. Most assembled a core of musicians drawn from the British pop-rock studio scene to reinforce Browne’s compositions with atmospheric backing and subtle layering.

“Journey” appeared as the album’s lead single and reached No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart in early 1973. It marked Browne’s highest-charting release and remains his most widely recognized song. A second single paired “Send Me the Bill for Your Friendship” with “My Only Son.” Folksters Therapy covered “Journey” on their 1973 second album One Night Stand.

In 2002, EMI reissued Duncan Browne on CD with four bonus tracks recorded during the same era.

1974–77

Duncan worked as a sessionist on 1974–75 albums by Thomas Yates, actress Stacy Dorning, ex-Zombies frontman Colin Blunstone, and Mike Heron’s Reputation. Swedish folksters Leif Strands Kammarkör covered “My Only Son” on their fourth album, Allt Under Himmelens Fäste.

In 1976, Brownse teamed with singer/musicians Peter Godwin and guitarist Sean Lyons in Metro for a self-titled album on Transatlantic. Their blend of Euro-noir melodrama, poetic lyrics, quasi-symphonic lushness, and chic attire wed ’70s cosmopolitan glam (Roxy Music) with orchestral art-pop (Al Stewart, APP) and presaged the ’80s New Romantic and sophisti-pop movements. They followed with a stripped-down single as Public Zone, then Browne left Metro in Godwin’s hands and resumed his solo career.

The Wild Places

Duncan Browne released his third solo album, The Wild Places, in November 1978 on Logo (Europe) and Sire (US).

Departing from the chamber-folk style of his earlier work, Browne embraces a fully electric setting shaped by layered synthesizers, dynamic percussion, and studio-enhanced arrangements. He retains a romantic vocal delivery but shifts the sonic palette toward modernist textures, drawing from electronic, progressive, and cosmopolitan pop idioms. The album showcases a streamlined ensemble of studio players with backgrounds in fusion and art rock, providing a sleek and immersive backdrop to Browne’s songwriting.

Guitar parts are played by Duncan Browne, who also contributes percussion, keyboards on “Kisarazu,” and lead vocals throughout. John Giblin handles fretless bass across the album. Simon Phillips plays drums and percussion and performs piano on “Camino Real.” Tony Hymas plays synthesizer across the record and co-writes “Camino Real.”

A1. “The Wild Places” (5:55)
A2. “Roman Vécu” (4:43)
A3. “Camino Real, Part I, Part II, Part III” (8:30) – Browne, Giblin, Thomas, Hymas

B1. “Samurai” (4:25) – Peter Godwin
B2. “Kisarazu” (7:10)
B3. “The Crash” (3:53)
B4. “Planet Earth” (6:15) – Peter Godwin

Browne produced the album independently following his departure from Metro earlier that year. Sessions drew on advanced studio resources and featured players with ties to the British jazz-rock and electronic scenes. Hymas, Phillips, and Giblin contribute both performance and compositional input, notably on the extended suite “Camino Real.” The album’s sonic signature contrasts sharply with Browne’s prior acoustic material, replacing string arrangements with synth textures and electronic rhythm tracks.

As a single, “The Wild Places” charted in the Netherlands, where Duncan mimed it for TopPop, flanked by the album’s cover model clad in the same bodysuit.

Streets of Fire

Duncan Browne released his fourth solo album, Streets of Fire, in December 1979 on Logo and Sire.

The album expands on the electronic orientation of The Wild Places while scaling back its overt progressive structure. Browne leans into atmospheric synth textures and song-based arrangements that reflect an art-pop sensibility shaped by studio refinement and subtle rhythmic dynamics. The material incorporates electronic keyboards and layered vocal arrangements within a modernist framework, supported by a familiar cast of collaborators from his prior release.

Guitar parts are played by Duncan Browne, who also performs all lead vocals and oversees production. Tony Hymas contributes keyboards across the album. John Giblin returns on bass guitar. Simon Phillips plays drums and percussion throughout, with Dick Morrissey featured on alto saxophone for the third track.

A1. “Fauvette” (3:54)
A2. “American Heartbeat” (3:39)
A3. “She’s Just a Fallen Angel” (5:08)
A4. “Streets of Fire” (8:09)

B1. “Nina Morena” (4:56)
B2. “Things to Come” (5:52)
B3. “(Restless) Child of Change” (3:35) – Peter Godwin
B4. “Canción de Cuna: Street Echoes (for M.)” (3:58)

Browne produced the album himself during sessions that retained the core lineup of his previous project. Dennis Weinreich and Ray Hendriksen engineered the recording. Jean Luke Epstein handled graphic design for the sleeve, and Vince Loden provided the photography. “Nina Morena” incorporates text from a Pablo Neruda poem, blending literary material into the album’s thematic framework. Browne’s arrangements emphasize tonal balance between guitars, layered keyboard parts, and subtle rhythmic structure, with the title track extending into longer-form territory.

“American Heartbeat” and “She’s Just a Fallen Angel” were issued as singles. The album received a Japanese CD reissue in 2000 alongside The Wild Places, reviving interest in Browne’s late 1970s output.

Discography:

Give Me Take You (1968)
Duncan Browne (1973)
The Wild Places (1978)
Streets of Fire (1979)
Travelling Man: The Music From the Granada T.V. Series (TV, 1985 • Duncan Browne & Sebastian Graham-Jones)