Roy Harper
Roy Harper
Roy Harper is an English folk rock singer, songwriter and guitarist who has been a professional musician since 1964. Harper has released 32 albumsacross his 50-year career...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionFolk Singer
Date of Birth12 June 1941
age bits classical echoes hall listening music stuff
As a really young child, I was listening to the echoes of the age before, music hall and stuff like that, as well as classical bits on the radio.
attitude english-musician interested leave rather
I've always had a 'take it or leave it' attitude to fame; I'm much more interested in what I'm doing, rather than in anything like that.
attitudes life music towards
I wanted to modernize music, but more than that, to completely modernize people's attitudes towards life in general.
attending best shape sure travels
I'm attending to my legacy, making sure that it travels the universe in the best shape I can get it into. For as long as I'm alive, I'll still be its interpreter.
knew
As soon as I heard skiffle, I loved it and I knew that I wanted to play it.
album burden handed hell led saw song zeppelin
They showed me this album sleeve, the new Led Zeppelin album, and I said 'very nice' and handed it back. 'No, go on - look again' they said, and then I saw this song 'Hats off to Harper'. It was very, uh... to be honest, it's been more of a burden than anything. A hell of a thing to live up to.
against religion stand taken
I've taken a stand against religion for as long I've been able to write and think.
bound
What is our destiny? Does it matter? Is it bound up with 'our' planet? In my opinion, yes.
mores notice painting
When you look at a Hogarth painting or a Picasso, they didn't take any notice of the mores and constraints of their age: they went and did something that they wanted to do. That's how I see myself.
wicked hearing height
What I lack in height, I make up for in wicked good hearing.
regret inspiration should-have
I regret that I've never actually managed to be inspired enough to get into anything else, and I should've been, I really should have been, because the piano can be a wonderful instrument. But I'm afraid that my inspiration is just purely on the words... and it's gonna stay there.
abuse way rooms
In some ways, I lament the introduction of civilisation on such a huge scale, because it has given us a lot of room to abuse each other, which we continue to do.
couple people together
Id just like to prove to myself that Im all here and all together and can get the best out of myself. Id also like to prove that to a couple of other people.
beard goal hanging hardly shades wearing
When I was 15, I was wearing sandals and corduroys, Guernsey, striped pullover, a beard that was hardly there, shades and a beret, and the goal was hanging out.