Roy Harper album with Jimmy Page guest spot remastered

Roy Harper's 1971 album Stormcock, which features the lead guitar of Jimmy Page on one track, is to be reissued next month on CD.

Page's contribution to the second of the LP's four tracks, "The Same Old Rock," was a fine acoustic guitar track credited on the original album artwork to the pseudonym S. Flavius Mercurius.

The four-song studo set was released on CD through the Science Friction label in 1994, but liner notes prepared for that edition promised, "Greater sleeve-notes will be written with a special edition."

This remastered version, now said to be ready for release in October, is said to make good on that promise, offering 20 pages of liner notes with new observations from Harper and plenty of photographs.

In addition, the sound is greatly improved over the previous CD release, according to a quote attributed to Harper in a posting at a fan discussion site.

"Certain lines and certain words will not chop your ears off at high volume any more," said Harper. "Bottom end is taken care of properly."

He also alluded to at least one hidden surprise fans might appreciate, but he wouldn't specify exactly what they are. "There are one or two secrets. You may eventually spot them," he said. "It won't matter much to the general public that much, but it sure does matter to me."

No official release date has been touted as of yet, but it will be related here as the information becomes available.

Last August, Page was scheduled to join Harper at the 2006 Rhythm Festival as part of a live performance of Stormcock in its entirety, along with David Bedford, who provided the orchestral arrangement that closes the album. Page canceled, however, saying recuperation from arthroscopic knee surgery made him unable to play, and Harper's son, guitarist Nick Harper, replaced him. It would have been Page's fifth performance in all since giving up regular stage appearances in August 2000 due to a back injury.