Lovechild is the seventh studio album credited to progressive rock band Curved Air

Curved Air

Curved Air are a pioneering British progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classic, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band was a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fusion with classical elements...

, though only half the tracks are actually performed by the group. The album consists of previously unreleased demos overseen by Clifford Adams in the early 1970s: one by John O'Hara, two by Eddie Jobson

Eddie Jobson

Edwin "Eddie" Jobson is an English keyboardist and violinist noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K., and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zappa's band in 1976-77...

, a demo for Kirby

Kirby Gregory

Graham "Kirby" Gregory, often credited simply as Kirby is a British musician best known for playing with rock bands Curved Air and Stretch....

's first solo single, and four by Curved Air. Vocalist Sonja Kristina explained the album's origin:

Now that album was total piracy. Those were demo tapes I made for Warner Brothers

Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

, who had suddenly realized that I was the only original member — that it wasn't really Curved Air as it had been before. So Clifford Davis presented the tapes to Warners who decided for various reasons that they weren't going to continue with the contract.

As implied in Sonja Kristina's comment, Lovechild is essentially an "official" bootleg; neither Warner Brothers nor any of the band members gave permission for the demos to be released, and no royalties were paid to any of the band members from its sales. Years after she made the above comments, however, Repertoire Records

Repertoire Records

Repertoire Records is a German record label from Hamburg, Germany, specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 60s and 70s. The chairman is Thomas Neelsen....

 obtained permission from both Warner Brothers and the musicians to reissue the album, and in 2011 a legit version with new liner notes was released, though unlike the original release it appeared only on CD.

The four Curved Air demos were recorded between Air Cut

Air Cut

Air Cut is the fourth studio album by Curved Air and was recorded in 1973, following the departure of three of the band's founder members. Only Sonja Kristina and Mike Wedgwood remained in the band from their previous album and Air Cut took them in a more rock-oriented direction.-Reception:While...

and the band's breakup. Jim Russel and Kirby Gregory had already left, and were replaced on the demos by Florian Pilkington-Miksa

Florian Pilkington-Miksa

Florian Pilkington-Miksa was the drummer in the original line-up of the British rock group Curved Air. He subsequently joined Kiki Dee's band. In 2008 he became a founding member of the most recent incarnation of Curved Air.-References:...

 and a Norwegian guitarist known to the other band members as simply "Thor".

The album's cover is simply the artwork from the front cover of Airconditioning

Airconditioning

-Side one:#"It Happened Today"  – 4:55#"Stretch"  – 4:05#"Screw"  – 4:03#"Blind Man"  – 3:32#"Vivaldi"  – 7:26-Side two:...

superimposed on the artwork from the back cover of the same album.

Tracklisting

Personnel

• Kirby Gregory
  Kirby Gregory
  Graham "Kirby" Gregory, often credited simply as Kirby is a British musician best known for playing with rock bands Curved Air and Stretch....
  
   – electric guitar on "The Flasher"
• Eddie Jobson
  Eddie Jobson
  Edwin "Eddie" Jobson is an English keyboardist and violinist noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K., and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zappa's band in 1976-77...
  
   – keyboards(except on "Exsultate Jubilate"), violin
• Sonja Kristina – vocals, acoustic guitar
• Florian Pilkington-Miksa
  Florian Pilkington-Miksa
  Florian Pilkington-Miksa was the drummer in the original line-up of the British rock group Curved Air. He subsequently joined Kiki Dee's band. In 2008 he became a founding member of the most recent incarnation of Curved Air.-References:...
  
   – drums(except on "The Flasher")
• Jim Russell – drums on "The Flasher"
• Mike Wedgwood
  Mike Wedgwood
  Mike Wedgwood is an English bassist and singer. He is related to the Wedgwood family of pottery fame.Wedgwood joined The Overlanders in 1968 following their biggest hit, a cover of The Beatles song, "Michelle", and remained with them until 1971.Following a stint with Arthur's Mother from 1971–72,...
  
  – bass(except on "The Flasher")
• Thor - electric guitar(except on "The Flasher")
• John O'Hara – keyboards on "Exsultate Jubilate"

Credits

• Produced by Clifford Adams
• Published by C.A.M.
• Mixing Engineer Steve Price, Assistant Declan McGoven
• Recorded in London July 1973
• Mixed at C.T.S. Studios London March 1990