The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set
Encyclopedia
The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set is a nine-CD
plus one-DVD
limited edition box set by English
avant-rock group
Henry Cow
, and was released by RēR Megacorp
in January 2009. It consists of over 10 hours of previously unreleased recordings made between 1972 and 1978 from concerts, radio broadcasts, one-off projects, events and the studio. Included are new compositions, over four hours of free improvisation
, and live performances of some of Henry Cow's original LP repertoire.
Chris Cutler
, of Henry Cow and Recommended Records
, planned and coordinated the whole project. Assembly of the recordings began in the mid-1990s and were edited by Cutler. He also prepared and edited two books that are included in the box set. Bob Drake
remaster
ed and, where possible, non-invasively remixed
the original recordings at Studio Midi-Pyrenees in France between 2004 and 2008.
The box set was expected to be ready before the end of 2008 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the formation of Henry Cow, but the discovery of additional material delayed its release. Volume 6 of the box set, Stockholm & Göteborg
was released separately by RēR Megacorp in September 2008 in advance of the box set's release.
said that it "offers, for the first time, a comprehensive account of Henry Cow's breadth and depth." He went on to say that "If ever there were a group with a wrong to be righted, it would have to be Henry Cow. With a wellspring of unreleased material, an impressive editing and mastering job that's made even audience cassette recordings sound crystal clear, [...] The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set is the set die-hard fans have been waiting for." This review was listed at position 41 in All About Jazz "Top 100 Recommended CD Reviews of All Time".
François Couture of Allmusic described the box set as a "monument" and a "treasure trove". He said that it "present[s] for the first time a complete picture of Henry Cow, from the rehearsal-intensive compositions to the ever-important improvisations, through all incarnations of the band and including both highs and lows." Dusted Magazine said that the set "fills in many missing historical and compositional links" and that it is a "fitting monument to one of the most interesting and eclectic groups to come out of the 1970s."
Subscribers to this box set received a third, empty box entitled The Studio: Volumes 1–5 to hold the five Henry Cow studio recordings re-issued on CD. Space was left in The Road: Volumes 1–5 box for the CD re-issue of Henry Cow Concerts
. These six original albums were re-issued by Recommended Records
in the Henry Cow Box
in 2006. Combining the Henry Cow Box and The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set gives the complete works of Henry Cow.
----
Extracts from rehearsal and other tapes from before Legend (1973).
"Pre-Teenbeat I/II" are fragments later incorporated into "Teenbeat". Track 6 is an extended version of "Teenbeat" with a lengthy guitar solo from Fred Frith and an embedded free improvisation section. "Citizen King" became "Nine Funerals of the Citizen King", and "Nirvana for Moles" became "Nirvana for Mice" on Legend. "Rapt in a Blanket" and "Came to See You" are two songs composed and sung by Frith around arrangements by Henry Cow. Frith had presented the songs to the group as just chords and a tune and in need of elaboration, which forced the band to adjust their approach from only working on longish instrumentals. At the time Chris Cutler had been rehearsing part time with Henry Cow, and he has stated that it was this new challenge which prompted him to join the group permanently.
With the Yellow Half-Moon and Blue Star is a Frith composition that was commissioned by the Cambridge Contemporary Dance Group under Liebe Klug, and was named after a painting by Paul Klee
("Avec la demi-lune jaune et l'étoile bleue"). Only an extract of it appeared on Legend, whereas it is featured here for the first time in its entirety. Guider Tells of Silent Airborne Machine is a suite of three instrumentals, "Olwyn Grainger" and "Betty McGowan" by the group and "Lottie Hare" ("a neo-classical miniature") by John Greaves. Its inspiration came from a news item that appeared on 23 August 1971 in The Times
about a group of Girl Guide leaders, Olwyn Grainger, Lottie Hare and Betty McGowan who had reported witnessing a UFO
.
With the Yellow Half-Moon and Blue Star (Frith
)
Guider Tells of Silent Airborne Machine
----
A collection of live performances from 1974 and 1975.
Halsteren is an instrumental suite that incorporates an early version of Tim Hodgkinson
's "Living in the Heart of the Beast
" from In Praise of Learning
(1975). Recorded in Halsteren
in September 1974 when Henry Cow was a quartet of Cutler, Frith, Greaves and Hodgkinson, Hodgkinson's unfinished instrumental is performed here in sections interspaced with improvisations by the group. Part of another performance of this suite also features in "Groningen" on Henry Cow Concerts
(1976). Halsteren concert organiser Jan Smagge recounts in the box set booklets an anecdote where the band were approached by several people during an interval and asked whether they could play any songs by Mud
, a contemporary mainstream pop act. Halsteren is followed here by "Living in the Heart of the Beast" from a Paris concert with Robert Wyatt
in May 1975. It is the first live recording of the completed vocal version of the composition, and is sung by Dagmar Krause
, her first public appearance with the band, with Wyatt accompanying her in the closing verses.
Halsteren (Hodgkinson
, Frith
, Greaves
, Cutler
on themes by Hodgkinson)
24–32. "Living in the Heart of the Beast
" (Hodgkinson
) – 13:46
----
Recordings from Henry Cow's March 1976 NDR
Jazz Workshop in Hamburg
, Germany
, plus two songs with Robert Wyatt
from concerts in Paris and Rome in May and June 1975, respectively.
"Fair as the Moon", followed later by "Terrible as an Army with Banners" are based on "Beautiful as the Moon – Terrible as an Army with Banners" from In Praise of Learning
(1975), and became the longest lasting "building block" the band used in live performances. "Nirvana for Rabbits" is a rework of the Frith composition "Nirvana for Mice" from Legend (1973), while "Ottawa Song" is part of a longer suite Frith composed for the Ottawa Company, the rest of which never survived, except for fragments that appeared in "Muddy Mouse" and "Muddy Mouth" on Wyatt's solo album, Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard
(1975). This performance of "Ottawa Song" also appears (by accident) on Volume 6: Stockholm & Göteborg, but without the introductory bassoon solo. "Gloria Gloom" is from Matching Mole
's second album, Matching Mole's Little Red Record
(1972). "Hamburg 1–5", "Red Noise 10" and "A Heart" are improvisations by the band, the last two titled at the request of NDR.
Wyatt sings on "Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road" from his solo album, Rock Bottom
(1974), and on "We Did It Again", a "surprising and wackily absurdist" cover of the Soft Machine
song from their debut album, The Soft Machine
(1968). The version of "We Did It Again" that appears on this CD is a combination of two different recordings of the same performance, one from an audience cassette recording with "a lot of audience reaction, a lot of guitar, thin-sounding drums and bass, and only a faint echo of the vocals", and one from the mixing desk with "almost no guitar, but plenty of drums, bass, and vocals".
----
, Norway
on 26 May 1976, later broadcast on the Sveriges Radio
radio program, Tonkraft on 14 July 1976.
When Henry Cow prepared to embark on their May 1976 tour of Scandinavia
, they were two members short: John Greaves had left the band after the March 1976 Hamburg
concert, and Dagmar Krause had remained behind in Hamburg due to ill-health. As they were committed to the tour, Henry Cow, as a quartet of Cutler, Frith, Hodgkinson and Cooper, abandoned their familiar set list
s and decided improvise all the concerts on the tour in the dark. They were also accompanied by "shadows that were not us", which were two-hour tapes that Cooper, Hodgkinson and Frith had each prepared. The subject of the tapes were: Cooper – youth to old age; Hodgkinson – history of language; and Frith – history of Henry Cow. The tapes ran continuously and inaudibly throughout the duration of the show, but were made audible by their creators from time to time with a foot pedal, without knowing what part of the tape would be heard. Chris Cutler explained that it was an "attempt to inhabit a dramaturgy anchored in narratives of origins, evolution, history and ritual". They also decided to disguise and "primitivise" themselves and their equipment, and hence the darkness.
François Couture at Allmusic called Trondheim the "crown jewel" of the box set, saying it was "some of [Henry Cow's] darkest and most thrilling music". John Kelman at All About Jazz
described Trondheim as "about as unapproachable as Henry Cow ever got, and yet amongst the densities and at times harsh realms are moments of profound beauty. The 80-minute improvisation [...] demonstrates the kind of intuitive push-and-pull that could only come from musicians not just spending a great deal of time playing together, but also living together, with a potent ability to sometimes shift ambience and color at the drop of a dime."
1–10. "Trondheim I" (Cooper
, Cutler
, Frith
, Hodgkinson
) – 48:25
Disk 2
1–6. "Trondheim II" (Cooper
, Cutler
, Frith
, Hodgkinson
) – 31:54
----
Swedish Radio
recordings of concerts performed in May 1976 in Gothenburg
and May 1977 in Stockholm
. This CD was released separately from the box set by RēR Megacorp in September 2008.
2–6. "Erk Gah
" (aka "Hold to the Zero Burn, Imagine") (Hodgkinson
) – 16:46
9–11. "Göteborg 1" (Cooper
, Cutler
, Frith
, Hodgkinson
) – 16:53
----
A collection of live performances from late 1976 and 1977.
"Joan" and "On Suicide", traditionally associated with Art Bears
and Hopes and Fears
(1978), feature here and show that they were Henry Cow songs long before Art Bears came into being. "On Suicide" is longer than the Art Bears version and ends with a cello solo by Georgie Born
. The Art Bears version of "Joan" also differs from the live recording here in that it is shorter (several sections are "telescoped" into one), and the lyrics are not the same. Chris Cutler
wrote the original lyrics for "Joan" and Tim Hodgkinson
's "The Pirate Song", but the group were unhappy with them, and the songs were withdrawn from Henry Cow's repertoire. "Joan" was only performed a few times, and "The Pirate Song" not at all. Prior to Henry Cow's recording session at Sunrise in Switzerland in January 1978, Cutler rewrote the lyrics of the two songs, but once again there were objections from factions within the group. Dagmar Krause
, however, supported the new lyrics and both songs were recorded by Henry Cow with the revised texts, only to be released later on Hopes and Fears as a result of further disagreements with the group.
"Untitled Piece" was a work-in-progress by Lindsay Cooper
that was only performed a few times by Henry Cow, and foreshadowed some of her work that appeared later on her 1998 solo album A View From the Bridge. "Chaumont 1", "Chaumont 2" and "March" are from a Paris concert featuring an improvisation by the group, a bassoon and saxophone duet by Cooper and Hodgkinson, and Fred Frith
's familiar "March" to close the set. Also included are new renditions of "Teenbeat" and "Bittern Storm Over Ulm". According to All About Jazz
, "Teenbeat 2" features "some of Frith's most searing guitar playing of the box", and "Teenbeat 3" has "Hodgkinson's saxophone at its most visceral."
"Post-Teen Auditorium Invasion" and "Bucket Waltz" are from a concert in Amsterdam
that feature guests Annemarie Roelofs
and ex-Henry Cow member Geoff Leigh
. Roelofs, who was attending the concert, began playing trombone from the audience and was invited to join Henry Cow on stage. She ended up touring with the band the following year and playing on Western Culture
. Leigh, whose band Red Balune was playing at the same concert, was invited by his former band to guest with them.
----
Extracts from a live radio broadcast on Radio Bremen
for New Jazz Live on 22 March 1978.
Henry Cow perform here as a quintet
of Hodgkinson/Frith/Cooper/Born/Cutler; Dagmar Krause had left the band the previous November due to ill health. "Armed Maniac/Things We Forgot" is a titled improvisation with references "in ambience" to contemporary classical composers Krzysztof Penderecki
and György Ligeti
. New Suite is a Fred Frith composition with an instrumental version of Tim Hodgkinson's "Viva Pa Ubu" added. "Viva Pa Ubu" is a song that had been recorded, with the whole group singing, during (what became) the Hopes and Fears
recording sessions in January 1978, and was the start of a musical production by Hodgkinson of Alfred Jarry
's play Ubu Roi
(Pa Ubu being a character in the play). It was later released as a bonus track on the CD reissue of Western Culture
. Die Kunst Der Orgel is a 34-minute improvisation that ends with an instrumental version of Tim Hodgkinson's "Erk Gah
".
New Suite
Die Kunst Der Orgel
----
A collection of performances from June and July 1978, plus Henry Cow's set at the inaugural Rock in Opposition Festival
in March 1978.
"Joy of Sax" is a saxophone trio of Lindsay Cooper, Tim Hodgkinson and David Chambers from The Orckestra
, which was a merger of Henry Cow, the Mike Westbrook
Brass Band and folk singer Frankie Armstrong
that took place in 1977. "Jackie-ing", also featuring Chambers, is a Westbrook arrangement of a Thelonious Monk
composition that The Orckestra had performed. "The Herring People" is a Fred Frith instrumental he wrote to "counterbalance" the increasingly complex Hodgkinson and Cooper compositions. It was later recorded by Henry Cow during the July and August 1978 Western Culture
sessions, but was only released for the first time, as "Waking Against Sleep", on the 1990 CD re-issue of Frith's solo album, Gravity
(1980). It was also recorded by Curlew
under the title "Time and a Half", and appeared on their album, North America (1985), which was produced by Frith.
The improvisation "RIO" and Cooper's "Half the Sky" was Henry Cow's set at the inaugural Rock in Opposition
(RIO) festival that took place on 12 March 1978 at the New London Theatre
. RIO was a collective of "progressive
" bands that were united in their opposition to the music industry. Henry Cow initiated the movement and the other inaugural members, who also performed at the concert, were Stormy Six
(Italy), Samla Mammas Manna
(Sweden), Univers Zero
(Belgium) and Etron Fou Leloublan
(France). Dusted Magazine described Henry Cow's "RIO" improvisation at this event as "one of their most cacophonous and cataclysmic". Cooper's "Half the Sky", which had been recorded in January 1978 at Sunrise in Switzerland and was later released on Western Culture, was named for Chairman Mao
's dictum "Women hold up half the sky".
5–8. "RIO" (Born
, Cooper
, Cutler
, Frith
, Hodgkinson
) – 17:09
----
A 75-minute video of Henry Cow performing in Vevey
, Switzerland
in August 1976, recorded for the Swiss TV program, Kaleidospop. This is the only known video recording of Henry Cow.
The DVD features the group live outdoors on the grass and playing a set that was representative from the time. It includes Tim Hodgkinson
's two "epic" compositions, "Living in the Heart of the Beast
" and "Erk Gah
", and two improvisations, "Vevey 1" and "Vevey 2". Allmusic described the multi-camera work on the DVD as "pretty good" and the editing "dated", but added that "seeing the band in action, both navigating through its most complex material and engaging in collective improvisation, is quite an experience."
A limited edition CD given to subscribers of the box set. The title alludes to the name of Bob Drake
's band, Cabinet of Curiosities.
"Pre Virgin Demo 1/2" include fragments that were later incorporated into tracks on Legend. "Lovers of Gold" is an alternate version of "Beginning: The Long March" from In Praise of Learning
that was created by Chris Cutler
. "The Glove" is derived from raw material recorded during the Unrest
sessions.
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
plus one-DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
limited edition box set by English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
avant-rock group
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
Henry Cow
Henry Cow
Henry Cow were an English avant-rock group, founded at Cambridge University in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler and bassoonist/oboist Lindsay Cooper were important long-term members...
, and was released by RēR Megacorp
Recommended Records
Recommended Records is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected music released on other independent labels.In 1982 Cutler established November...
in January 2009. It consists of over 10 hours of previously unreleased recordings made between 1972 and 1978 from concerts, radio broadcasts, one-off projects, events and the studio. Included are new compositions, over four hours of free improvisation
Free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....
, and live performances of some of Henry Cow's original LP repertoire.
Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, of Henry Cow and Recommended Records
Recommended Records
Recommended Records is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected music released on other independent labels.In 1982 Cutler established November...
, planned and coordinated the whole project. Assembly of the recordings began in the mid-1990s and were edited by Cutler. He also prepared and edited two books that are included in the box set. Bob Drake
Bob Drake (musician)
Bob Drake is an American multi-instrumentalist musician and recording engineer. He was a founding member of the avant-rock band Thinking Plague in the early 1980s, and a member of the 5uu's, Hail and The Science Group . He formed his own band, Bob Drake's Cabinet of Curiosities in 2007...
remaster
Remaster
Remaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began...
ed and, where possible, non-invasively remixed
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
the original recordings at Studio Midi-Pyrenees in France between 2004 and 2008.
The box set was expected to be ready before the end of 2008 to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the formation of Henry Cow, but the discovery of additional material delayed its release. Volume 6 of the box set, Stockholm & Göteborg
Stockholm & Göteborg
Volume 6: Stockholm & Göteborg is a live CD by English avant-rock group Henry Cow, and is disc 6 of the 10-disc 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set...
was released separately by RēR Megacorp in September 2008 in advance of the box set's release.
Reception
In a review of this box set, John Kelman at All About JazzAll About Jazz
All About Jazz is a leading jazz music website for enthusiasts and industry professionals based in Philadelphia in the United States.Founded by Michael Ricci in 1995, the Web-Site is maintained by a volunteer staff of writers, editors, and musicians, and provides coverage of all genres of jazz from...
said that it "offers, for the first time, a comprehensive account of Henry Cow's breadth and depth." He went on to say that "If ever there were a group with a wrong to be righted, it would have to be Henry Cow. With a wellspring of unreleased material, an impressive editing and mastering job that's made even audience cassette recordings sound crystal clear, [...] The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set is the set die-hard fans have been waiting for." This review was listed at position 41 in All About Jazz "Top 100 Recommended CD Reviews of All Time".
François Couture of Allmusic described the box set as a "monument" and a "treasure trove". He said that it "present[s] for the first time a complete picture of Henry Cow, from the rehearsal-intensive compositions to the ever-important improvisations, through all incarnations of the band and including both highs and lows." Dusted Magazine said that the set "fills in many missing historical and compositional links" and that it is a "fitting monument to one of the most interesting and eclectic groups to come out of the 1970s."
Content
The box set is split into two boxes:- Box 1: The Road: Volumes 1–5 consists of five CDs and a book, and covers the period 1972 to 1976. Included is the March 1976 HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
radio show that was John GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
’s last concert with the band, and the TrondheimTrondheimTrondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
concert that followed in May where Henry Cow improvised as a quartet in the dark. - Box 2: The Road: Volumes 6–10 consists of four CDs, a DVD and a book, and covers the period 1976 to 1978. Included is the March 1978 BremenBremenThe City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
radio broadcast and the May 1977 Swedish RadioSveriges RadioSveriges Radio AB – Swedish Radio Ltd – is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. The Swedish public-broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Radio - like Sveriges Television - shares many characteristics with...
broadcast. The DVD is a 75 minute video of Henry Cow (with Georgie BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
and Dagmar KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) performing in Switzerland in 1976.
Subscribers to this box set received a third, empty box entitled The Studio: Volumes 1–5 to hold the five Henry Cow studio recordings re-issued on CD. Space was left in The Road: Volumes 1–5 box for the CD re-issue of Henry Cow Concerts
Henry Cow Concerts
Henry Cow Concerts is a live double album by English avant-rock group Henry Cow, recorded at concerts in London, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway between September 1974 and October 1975...
. These six original albums were re-issued by Recommended Records
Recommended Records
Recommended Records is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected music released on other independent labels.In 1982 Cutler established November...
in the Henry Cow Box
Henry Cow Box
Henry Cow Box is a seven-CD limited edition box set by English avant-rock group Henry Cow. It was released in December 2006 by Recommended Records and comprises the six original albums Henry Cow released between 1973 and 1979, including those recorded with Slapp Happy...
in 2006. Combining the Henry Cow Box and The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set gives the complete works of Henry Cow.
Box 1: The Road: Volumes 1–5
A 60-page book accompanies this box and contains the following:- Volumes 1–5 track notes
- Memoirs by John GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, Chris CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, Geoff LeighGeoff LeighGeoff Leigh is an English jazz and progressive rock musician, playing primarily soprano sax and flute. He was a member of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow and founded several bands himself, including Red Balune, Random Bob, Black Sheep, Mirage, and Ex-Wise Heads.-Biography:Geoff Leigh's...
, Lindsay CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, Peter BlegvadPeter BlegvadPeter Blegvad is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and cartoonist. He was a founding member of the avant-pop band Slapp Happy, which later merged briefly with Henry Cow, and has released many solo and collaborative albums...
and Dagmar KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler... - Henry Cow concert list, May 1968 to August 1978
----
Volume 1: Beginnings
Extracts from rehearsal and other tapes from before Legend (1973).
"Pre-Teenbeat I/II" are fragments later incorporated into "Teenbeat". Track 6 is an extended version of "Teenbeat" with a lengthy guitar solo from Fred Frith and an embedded free improvisation section. "Citizen King" became "Nine Funerals of the Citizen King", and "Nirvana for Moles" became "Nirvana for Mice" on Legend. "Rapt in a Blanket" and "Came to See You" are two songs composed and sung by Frith around arrangements by Henry Cow. Frith had presented the songs to the group as just chords and a tune and in need of elaboration, which forced the band to adjust their approach from only working on longish instrumentals. At the time Chris Cutler had been rehearsing part time with Henry Cow, and he has stated that it was this new challenge which prompted him to join the group permanently.
With the Yellow Half-Moon and Blue Star is a Frith composition that was commissioned by the Cambridge Contemporary Dance Group under Liebe Klug, and was named after a painting by Paul Klee
Paul Klee
Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
("Avec la demi-lune jaune et l'étoile bleue"). Only an extract of it appeared on Legend, whereas it is featured here for the first time in its entirety. Guider Tells of Silent Airborne Machine is a suite of three instrumentals, "Olwyn Grainger" and "Betty McGowan" by the group and "Lottie Hare" ("a neo-classical miniature") by John Greaves. Its inspiration came from a news item that appeared on 23 August 1971 in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
about a group of Girl Guide leaders, Olwyn Grainger, Lottie Hare and Betty McGowan who had reported witnessing a UFO
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
.
Track list
- "Pre-Teenbeat I" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 1:44 - "Pre-Teenbeat II" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 1:28 - "Rapt in a Blanket" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 5:06 - "Came to See You" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 6:43 - "Amygdala extract (pre-Legend demo)" (HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 3:35 - "Teenbeat" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 10:19 - "Citizen King" (HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 5:21 - "Nirvana for Moles" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 4:09
With the Yellow Half-Moon and Blue Star (Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
)
-
- "Introduction" – 0:46
- "Invocation" – 2:08
- "Demi-Lune Jaune" – 2:10
- "Three Little Steps" – 2:13
- "Red Riff" – 1:50
- "Chorale Flautando" – 1:51
- "Cycling Over the Cliff" – 4:08
- "First Light" – 0:51
Guider Tells of Silent Airborne Machine
-
- "Olwyn Grainger" (CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 2:24 - "Betty McGowan" (CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, LeighGeoff LeighGeoff Leigh is an English jazz and progressive rock musician, playing primarily soprano sax and flute. He was a member of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow and founded several bands himself, including Red Balune, Random Bob, Black Sheep, Mirage, and Ex-Wise Heads.-Biography:Geoff Leigh's...
) – 6:12 - "Lottie Hare" (GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
) – 1:24
- "Olwyn Grainger" (Cutler
Personnel
- Chris CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
– drums, piano (start of track 18) - Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
– guitar, violin, voice (tracks 3,4) - John GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
– bass guitar, piano (end of tracks 18,19), voice (tracks 7,18) - Tim HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
– organ, alto saxophone, melodica, clarinet, voice (track 7) - Geoff LeighGeoff LeighGeoff Leigh is an English jazz and progressive rock musician, playing primarily soprano sax and flute. He was a member of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow and founded several bands himself, including Red Balune, Random Bob, Black Sheep, Mirage, and Ex-Wise Heads.-Biography:Geoff Leigh's...
– tenor saxophone (tracks 1,2,5–19), flute (tracks 1,2,5–19), voice (tracks 7,9,16)
Guests
- Amanda Parsons – conversation (track 6)
- Ann Rosenthal – conversation (track 6)
- D.J. Perry – spoken passage (tracks 9,16)
- Dave Stewart – celeste (track 6), conversation (track 6)
Track notes
- Tracks 1,2,5 are from rehearsal tapes, recorded by Jack Balchin before Legend
- Tracks 3,4,6 were recorded in London, 28 February 1972
- Tracks 7,8,17–19 were recorded in London, 24 April 1973
- Tracks 9–16 were recorded in London, 17 October 1972
----
Volume 2: 1974–5
A collection of live performances from 1974 and 1975.
Halsteren is an instrumental suite that incorporates an early version of Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
's "Living in the Heart of the Beast
Living in the Heart of the Beast
"Living in the Heart of the Beast" is the title of an extended song written and composed by Tim Hodgkinson in 1975 for the English avant-rock group Henry Cow...
" from In Praise of Learning
In Praise of Learning
In Praise of Learning is an album by British avant-rock groups Henry Cow and Slapp Happy, recorded at Virgin Records' Manor studios in February and March 1975...
(1975). Recorded in Halsteren
Halsteren
Halsteren is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Bergen op Zoom, about 1 km north of that city. Halsteren has an old church from 1457 and a new church, built in 1919...
in September 1974 when Henry Cow was a quartet of Cutler, Frith, Greaves and Hodgkinson, Hodgkinson's unfinished instrumental is performed here in sections interspaced with improvisations by the group. Part of another performance of this suite also features in "Groningen" on Henry Cow Concerts
Henry Cow Concerts
Henry Cow Concerts is a live double album by English avant-rock group Henry Cow, recorded at concerts in London, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway between September 1974 and October 1975...
(1976). Halsteren concert organiser Jan Smagge recounts in the box set booklets an anecdote where the band were approached by several people during an interval and asked whether they could play any songs by Mud
Mud (band)
Mud were an English glam rock band, formed in February 1968, best remembered for their single "Tiger Feet", which was the UK's best-selling single of 1974...
, a contemporary mainstream pop act. Halsteren is followed here by "Living in the Heart of the Beast" from a Paris concert with Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
in May 1975. It is the first live recording of the completed vocal version of the composition, and is sung by Dagmar Krause
Dagmar Krause
Dagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
, her first public appearance with the band, with Wyatt accompanying her in the closing verses.
Track list
- "Introduction" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
) – 1:52 - "Ruins I" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 6:35 - "Half Asleep, Half Awake" (GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
) – 4:11 - "Ruins II" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 0:59 - "Heron Shower over Hamburg" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 2:29 - "Nix" – 0:06
Halsteren (Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, Greaves
John Greaves (musician)
John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, Cutler
Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
on themes by Hodgkinson)
-
- "Halsteren 1" – 1:08
- "Solo 1" (HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 1:08 - "Solo Extension 1" – 2:21
- "Halsteren 2" – 1:24
- "Extension 1" – 0:17
- "Halsteren 3" – 0:52
- "First Suspension" – 4:28
- "Extension 2" – 2:58
- "Extension 3" – 1:19
- "Solo 2" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 1:20 - "Solo Extension 2" – 2:32
- "Halsteren 4" – 0:17
- "Second Suspension" – 2:34
- "Extension 4" – 1:58
- "Solo 3" (GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
) – 0:49 - "Solo Extension 3" – 3:17
- "Halsteren 5" – 1:21
24–32. "Living in the Heart of the Beast
Living in the Heart of the Beast
"Living in the Heart of the Beast" is the title of an extended song written and composed by Tim Hodgkinson in 1975 for the English avant-rock group Henry Cow...
" (Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 13:46
Personnel
- Lindsay CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
– oboe (tracks 1–5,24–32), bassoon (tracks 1–5,24–32), piano (tracks 24–32) - Chris CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
– drums, glass bowls and clatter (tracks 7–23) - Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
– guitar (tracks 1–5,24–32), viola (tracks 1–5,24–32), piano (track 1,2), electric and acoustic guitars (tracks 7–23), prism (tracks 7–23), xylophone (tracks 24–32) - John GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
– bass guitar, piano (track 3), clothes pegs (tracks 7–23) - Tim HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
– organ, alto saxophone, clarinet (tracks 7–23) - Dagmar KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
– voice (tracks 24–32)
Track notes
- Tracks 1–5 were recorded in London, 25 April 1974
- Tracks 7–23 are from a concert at the Verenigingsgebouw in HalsterenHalsterenHalsteren is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Bergen op Zoom, about 1 km north of that city. Halsteren has an old church from 1457 and a new church, built in 1919...
, 26 September 1974, recorded by Jan Smagge on a stereo reel-to-reel - Tracks 24–32 are from a concert at the Théâtre des Champs-ÉlyséesThéâtre des Champs-ÉlyséesThe Théâtre des Champs-Élysées is a theatre at 15 avenue Montaigne. Despite its name, the theatre is not on the Champs-Élysées but nearby in another part of the 8th arrondissement of Paris....
, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 8 May 1975, with live mix by Sarah Greaves
----
Volume 3: Hamburg
Recordings from Henry Cow's March 1976 NDR
Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Norddeutscher Rundfunk is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR transmits for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein...
Jazz Workshop in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, plus two songs with Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
from concerts in Paris and Rome in May and June 1975, respectively.
"Fair as the Moon", followed later by "Terrible as an Army with Banners" are based on "Beautiful as the Moon – Terrible as an Army with Banners" from In Praise of Learning
In Praise of Learning
In Praise of Learning is an album by British avant-rock groups Henry Cow and Slapp Happy, recorded at Virgin Records' Manor studios in February and March 1975...
(1975), and became the longest lasting "building block" the band used in live performances. "Nirvana for Rabbits" is a rework of the Frith composition "Nirvana for Mice" from Legend (1973), while "Ottawa Song" is part of a longer suite Frith composed for the Ottawa Company, the rest of which never survived, except for fragments that appeared in "Muddy Mouse" and "Muddy Mouth" on Wyatt's solo album, Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard
Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard
-Background:The follow-up to Rock Bottom, for which Wyatt had written all of the music and lyrics, Ruth... consisted of Wyatt's adaptations and arrangements of other people's music with Wyatt adding his own lyrics in much the same way as he'd done on...
(1975). This performance of "Ottawa Song" also appears (by accident) on Volume 6: Stockholm & Göteborg, but without the introductory bassoon solo. "Gloria Gloom" is from Matching Mole
Matching Mole
Matching Mole was a short-lived UK progressive rock band from the Canterbury scene best known for the song "O Caroline". Robert Wyatt formed the band in October 1971 after he left Soft Machine and recorded his first solo album The End of an Ear...
's second album, Matching Mole's Little Red Record
Matching Mole's Little Red Record
Matching Mole's Little Red Record is the second album of the English Canterbury Scene band Matching Mole. The band was formed in 1971 by Robert Wyatt after he left Soft Machine. Compared to their first album, Little Red Record was more of a team effort, with Wyatt taking a less involved role...
(1972). "Hamburg 1–5", "Red Noise 10" and "A Heart" are improvisations by the band, the last two titled at the request of NDR.
Wyatt sings on "Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road" from his solo album, Rock Bottom
Rock Bottom (album)
-Personnel:*Robert Wyatt - Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion, Slide Guitar *Mike Oldfield - Guitar *Gary Windo - Bass Clarinet, Tenor Sax *Ivor Cutler - Voice , Baritone Concertina *Alfreda Benge - Voice *Mongezi Feza - Trumpets...
(1974), and on "We Did It Again", a "surprising and wackily absurdist" cover of the Soft Machine
Soft Machine
Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...
song from their debut album, The Soft Machine
The Soft Machine (album)
The Soft Machine, as reissue also titled "Volume One", is the debut album by the British psychedelic rock band Soft Machine, one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene....
(1968). The version of "We Did It Again" that appears on this CD is a combination of two different recordings of the same performance, one from an audience cassette recording with "a lot of audience reaction, a lot of guitar, thin-sounding drums and bass, and only a faint echo of the vocals", and one from the mixing desk with "almost no guitar, but plenty of drums, bass, and vocals".
Track list
- "Fair as the Moon" (CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 6:01 - "Nirvana for Rabbits" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 4:48 - "Ottawa Song" (CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 3:41 - "Twilight Bridge" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 2:04 - "Gloria Gloom" (WyattRobert WyattRobert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
, McCormick) – 2:17 - "Hamburg 1" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 4:15 - "Hamburg 2" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 3:27 - "Red Noise 10" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 3:16 - "Hamburg 3" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 5:30 - "Hamburg 4" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 2:40 - "Hamburg 5" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 5:25 - "Terrible as an Army with Banners" (CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 3:34 - "A Heart" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 9:03 - "Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road" (WyattRobert WyattRobert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
) – 5:12 - "We Did It Again" (AyersKevin AyersKevin Ayers is an English singer-songwriter and was a major influential force in the English psychedelic movement...
) – 6:31
Personnel
- Chris CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
– drums - Lindsay CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
– oboe, bassoon, flute, piano (tracks 7–11) - Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
– guitar, piano (tracks 1,4,12,13) - John GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
– bass guitar, voice (track 3) - Tim HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
– organ, alto saxophone - Dagmar KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
– voice
Track notes
- Tracks 1–13 are from a public concert recorded for the NDRNorddeutscher RundfunkNorddeutscher Rundfunk is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR transmits for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein...
Jazz Workshop, HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, 26 March 1976 - Track 14 are from a concert at the Piazza NavonaPiazza NavonaPiazza Navona is a city square in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans came there to watch the agones , and hence it was known as 'Circus Agonalis'...
, RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, 27 June 1975, mixed by Sarah Greaves - Track 15 are from a concert at the Théâtre des Champs-ÉlyséesThéâtre des Champs-ÉlyséesThe Théâtre des Champs-Élysées is a theatre at 15 avenue Montaigne. Despite its name, the theatre is not on the Champs-Élysées but nearby in another part of the 8th arrondissement of Paris....
, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 8 May 1975, with live mix by Sarah Greaves
----
Volume 4–5: Trondheim
A double CD of a complete concert recorded in TrondheimTrondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
on 26 May 1976, later broadcast on the Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio AB – Swedish Radio Ltd – is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. The Swedish public-broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Radio - like Sveriges Television - shares many characteristics with...
radio program, Tonkraft on 14 July 1976.
When Henry Cow prepared to embark on their May 1976 tour of Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, they were two members short: John Greaves had left the band after the March 1976 Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
concert, and Dagmar Krause had remained behind in Hamburg due to ill-health. As they were committed to the tour, Henry Cow, as a quartet of Cutler, Frith, Hodgkinson and Cooper, abandoned their familiar set list
Set list
A set list, or setlist, is a document that lists the songs that a band or musical artist intends to play, or has played, during a specific concert performance...
s and decided improvise all the concerts on the tour in the dark. They were also accompanied by "shadows that were not us", which were two-hour tapes that Cooper, Hodgkinson and Frith had each prepared. The subject of the tapes were: Cooper – youth to old age; Hodgkinson – history of language; and Frith – history of Henry Cow. The tapes ran continuously and inaudibly throughout the duration of the show, but were made audible by their creators from time to time with a foot pedal, without knowing what part of the tape would be heard. Chris Cutler explained that it was an "attempt to inhabit a dramaturgy anchored in narratives of origins, evolution, history and ritual". They also decided to disguise and "primitivise" themselves and their equipment, and hence the darkness.
François Couture at Allmusic called Trondheim the "crown jewel" of the box set, saying it was "some of [Henry Cow's] darkest and most thrilling music". John Kelman at All About Jazz
All About Jazz
All About Jazz is a leading jazz music website for enthusiasts and industry professionals based in Philadelphia in the United States.Founded by Michael Ricci in 1995, the Web-Site is maintained by a volunteer staff of writers, editors, and musicians, and provides coverage of all genres of jazz from...
described Trondheim as "about as unapproachable as Henry Cow ever got, and yet amongst the densities and at times harsh realms are moments of profound beauty. The 80-minute improvisation [...] demonstrates the kind of intuitive push-and-pull that could only come from musicians not just spending a great deal of time playing together, but also living together, with a potent ability to sometimes shift ambience and color at the drop of a dime."
Track list
Disk 11–10. "Trondheim I" (Cooper
Lindsay Cooper
Lindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, Cutler
Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 48:25
Disk 2
1–6. "Trondheim II" (Cooper
Lindsay Cooper
Lindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, Cutler
Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 31:54
- "March" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
arr. Henry CowHenry CowHenry Cow were an English avant-rock group, founded at Cambridge University in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler and bassoonist/oboist Lindsay Cooper were important long-term members...
) – 6:25
Personnel
- Lindsay CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
– oboe, bassoon, tapes, voice, flute (CD 1), recorder (CD 1), piano (CD 1, tracks 7–9), jaw harp (CD 2) - Chris CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
– drums, telephone mouthpieces, amplification, flotsam (CD 1), voice (CD 1), jetsam (CD 2), piano (CD 2) - Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
– guitar, 6-string bass guitar, xylophone, tapes, violin (CD 1), tubular bells (CD 1), - Tim HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
– organ, clarinet, voice, tapes, alto saxophone (CD 2), mbira (CD 2)
Track notes
- All tracks from a cassette recording made by Henry Cow at the mixing desk at a concert at Studentersamfundet, TrondheimTrondheimTrondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
, 26 May 1976, mixed by Joel Schwartz
Box 2: The Road: Volumes 6–10
A 60-page book accompanies this box and contains the following:- Volumes 6–10 track notes
- Memoirs by Nick Hobbs, Franco FabbriFranco FabbriFranco Fabbri is a Brazilian-born Italian musician, musicologist and broadcaster.Born in São Paulo in 1949, from 1965 Fabbri was guitarist, vocalist and composer for Stormy Six, regarded as one of the most interesting Italian progressive bands, and one much admired by the specialist press: in 1980...
, Georgina BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
, Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, Chris Wangro and Tim HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968... - Post Henry Cow collaborations
- A summary economic history of Henry Cow
- Appendix 1: Equipment – PA system, studio, vehicles
- Appendix 2: 1977 Henry Cow accounts
- Appendix 3: Extract from the Henry Cow Weekly Meeting Minute Book, 13 December 1976, TrappesTrappesTrappes is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the center in the new town of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.-Transport:...
----
Volume 6: Stockholm & Göteborg
Swedish Radio
Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio AB – Swedish Radio Ltd – is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. The Swedish public-broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Radio - like Sveriges Television - shares many characteristics with...
recordings of concerts performed in May 1976 in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
and May 1977 in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. This CD was released separately from the box set by RēR Megacorp in September 2008.
Track list
- "Stockholm 1" (BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
, CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 6:38
2–6. "Erk Gah
Erk Gah
"Erk Gah" is the title of an extended song written and composed by Tim Hodgkinson in 1976 for the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. "Erk Gah" was performed live by the band between 1976 and 1978, but was never recorded in the studio...
" (aka "Hold to the Zero Burn, Imagine") (Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 16:46
- "A Bridge to Ruins" (HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 5:08 - "Ottawa Song" (CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 3:27
9–11. "Göteborg 1" (Cooper
Lindsay Cooper
Lindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, Cutler
Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 16:53
- "No More Songs" (OchsPhil OchsPhilip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...
arr. FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 3:35 - "Stockholm 2" (BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
, CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 6:13 - "March" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 4:15
Personnel
- Georgie BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
– bass guitar, cello (tracks 1–7,12–14) - Lindsay CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
– bassoon, flute, recorder, piano (tracks 1–2), tapes (tracks 9-11) - Chris CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
– drums, electrification, piano (track 10) - Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
– guitar, xylophone, tapes (tracks 9-11), piano (tracks 13–14) - Tim HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
– organ, alto saxophone, clarinet, voice (tracks 9-11), tapes (tracks 9-11) - Dagmar KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
– singing (tracks 1–7,12–14) - John GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
– bass guitar (track 8), voice (track 8)
Track notes
- Tracks 1–7 and 12–14 were recorded for Tonkraft by Sveriges RadioSveriges RadioSveriges Radio AB – Swedish Radio Ltd – is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. The Swedish public-broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Radio - like Sveriges Television - shares many characteristics with...
at a concert in StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
on 9 May 1977 and broadcast on 8 June and 11 June 1977; the programme producer was S. Vermalin - Track 8 was recorded for the NDRNorddeutscher RundfunkNorddeutscher Rundfunk is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR transmits for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein...
Jazz Workshop in HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
on 26 March 1976 - Tracks 9-11 were recorded for Tonkraft by Sveriges Radio at a concert in GothenburgGothenburgGothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
on 28 May 1976 and broadcast on 14 July and 17 July 1976; the programme producer was Christer Eklund
----
Volume 7: Later and Post-Virgin
A collection of live performances from late 1976 and 1977.
"Joan" and "On Suicide", traditionally associated with Art Bears
Art Bears
Art Bears were an English avant-rock group formed during the disassembly of Henry Cow in 1978 by three of its members, Chris Cutler , Fred Frith and Dagmar Krause...
and Hopes and Fears
Hopes and Fears (Art Bears album)
Hopes and Fears is the debut album by the English avant-rock group Art Bears. It comprises tracks by Henry Cow, Art Bears's predecessor, recorded at Sunrise Studios, Kirchberg in Switzerland in January 1978, and tracks by Art Bears, recorded at Kaleidophon Studios in London in March...
(1978), feature here and show that they were Henry Cow songs long before Art Bears came into being. "On Suicide" is longer than the Art Bears version and ends with a cello solo by Georgie Born
Georgina Born
Georgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
. The Art Bears version of "Joan" also differs from the live recording here in that it is shorter (several sections are "telescoped" into one), and the lyrics are not the same. Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
wrote the original lyrics for "Joan" and Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
's "The Pirate Song", but the group were unhappy with them, and the songs were withdrawn from Henry Cow's repertoire. "Joan" was only performed a few times, and "The Pirate Song" not at all. Prior to Henry Cow's recording session at Sunrise in Switzerland in January 1978, Cutler rewrote the lyrics of the two songs, but once again there were objections from factions within the group. Dagmar Krause
Dagmar Krause
Dagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
, however, supported the new lyrics and both songs were recorded by Henry Cow with the revised texts, only to be released later on Hopes and Fears as a result of further disagreements with the group.
"Untitled Piece" was a work-in-progress by Lindsay Cooper
Lindsay Cooper
Lindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
that was only performed a few times by Henry Cow, and foreshadowed some of her work that appeared later on her 1998 solo album A View From the Bridge. "Chaumont 1", "Chaumont 2" and "March" are from a Paris concert featuring an improvisation by the group, a bassoon and saxophone duet by Cooper and Hodgkinson, and Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
's familiar "March" to close the set. Also included are new renditions of "Teenbeat" and "Bittern Storm Over Ulm". According to All About Jazz
All About Jazz
All About Jazz is a leading jazz music website for enthusiasts and industry professionals based in Philadelphia in the United States.Founded by Michael Ricci in 1995, the Web-Site is maintained by a volunteer staff of writers, editors, and musicians, and provides coverage of all genres of jazz from...
, "Teenbeat 2" features "some of Frith's most searing guitar playing of the box", and "Teenbeat 3" has "Hodgkinson's saxophone at its most visceral."
"Post-Teen Auditorium Invasion" and "Bucket Waltz" are from a concert in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
that feature guests Annemarie Roelofs
Annemarie Roelofs
Annemarie Roelofs , also spelt Anne-Marie Roelofs and Anne Marie Roelofs, is a Dutch trombone player and violinist, and is a professor at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. She is a member of several musical groups and has performed in Holland and England.-Biography:Roelofs...
and ex-Henry Cow member Geoff Leigh
Geoff Leigh
Geoff Leigh is an English jazz and progressive rock musician, playing primarily soprano sax and flute. He was a member of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow and founded several bands himself, including Red Balune, Random Bob, Black Sheep, Mirage, and Ex-Wise Heads.-Biography:Geoff Leigh's...
. Roelofs, who was attending the concert, began playing trombone from the audience and was invited to join Henry Cow on stage. She ended up touring with the band the following year and playing on Western Culture
Western Culture (album)
Western Culture is an album by English avant-rock group Henry Cow, recorded at Sunrise Studios in Kirchberg, Switzerland in January, July and August 1978. It was their last album and was released on Henry Cow's own private label, Broadcast, in 1979. Later editions appeared on Interzone in the US...
. Leigh, whose band Red Balune was playing at the same concert, was invited by his former band to guest with them.
Track list
- "Joan" (CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 5:26 - "Teenbeat 2" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 8:05 - "Would You Prefer Us to Lie?" (CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
) – 4:28 - "Untitled Piece" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
) – 11:31 - "Chaumont 1" (BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
, CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 9:01 - "Chaumont 2" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 2:14 - "March" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 7:00 - "Brain Storm Over Barnsley" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 3:23 - "Teenbeat 3" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 6:45 - "Post-Teen Auditorium Invasion" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, LeighGeoff LeighGeoff Leigh is an English jazz and progressive rock musician, playing primarily soprano sax and flute. He was a member of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow and founded several bands himself, including Red Balune, Random Bob, Black Sheep, Mirage, and Ex-Wise Heads.-Biography:Geoff Leigh's...
, RoelofsAnnemarie RoelofsAnnemarie Roelofs , also spelt Anne-Marie Roelofs and Anne Marie Roelofs, is a Dutch trombone player and violinist, and is a professor at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. She is a member of several musical groups and has performed in Holland and England.-Biography:Roelofs...
) – 3:56 - "Bucket Waltz" (BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
, CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, LeighGeoff LeighGeoff Leigh is an English jazz and progressive rock musician, playing primarily soprano sax and flute. He was a member of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow and founded several bands himself, including Red Balune, Random Bob, Black Sheep, Mirage, and Ex-Wise Heads.-Biography:Geoff Leigh's...
, RoelofsAnnemarie RoelofsAnnemarie Roelofs , also spelt Anne-Marie Roelofs and Anne Marie Roelofs, is a Dutch trombone player and violinist, and is a professor at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. She is a member of several musical groups and has performed in Holland and England.-Biography:Roelofs...
) – 4:26 - "On Suicide" (BrechtBertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
, EislerHanns EislerHanns Eisler was an Austrian composer.-Family background:Eisler was born in Leipzig where his Jewish father, Rudolf Eisler, was a professor of philosophy...
) – 3:42
Personnel
- Tim HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
– organ, alto saxophone, clarinet (track 12), voice (track 5), tapes - Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
– guitar, xylophone, tubular bells, violin, piano (track 7) - Lindsay CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
– bassoon, oboe, jaw harp, flute, piano (tracks 3–5), accordion (track 5) - Georgie BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
– bass guitar, cello - Dagmar KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
– voice (track 1,3,7,12) - Chris CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
– drums, contact microphone amplification (tracks 5–7)
Guests
- Geoff LeighGeoff LeighGeoff Leigh is an English jazz and progressive rock musician, playing primarily soprano sax and flute. He was a member of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow and founded several bands himself, including Red Balune, Random Bob, Black Sheep, Mirage, and Ex-Wise Heads.-Biography:Geoff Leigh's...
– tenor saxophone (tracks 10–11) - Annemarie RoelofsAnnemarie RoelofsAnnemarie Roelofs , also spelt Anne-Marie Roelofs and Anne Marie Roelofs, is a Dutch trombone player and violinist, and is a professor at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. She is a member of several musical groups and has performed in Holland and England.-Biography:Roelofs...
– trombone (tracks 10–11)
Track notes
- Tracks 1–3 were recorded on cassette from the audience at Wandsworth Town Hall, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 13 February 1977, live mix by Jack Balchin - Track 4 was recorded on cassette from the audience at De Plek, VlissingenFlushing, NetherlandsVlissingen is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries. It was granted city rights in 1315. In the 17th century...
, 22 May 1977, live mix by Jack Balchin - Tracks 5–7 were recorded on cassette from the audience at Salle des Fetes, Chaumont, 25 November 1976, live mix by Jack Balchin
- Tracks 8–11 were recorded on cassette from the audience at Melkweg, AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, 16 December 1977, live mix by Jack Balchin - Track 12 was from an unidentified cassette recording, probably May/June 1977
----
Volume 8: Bremen
Extracts from a live radio broadcast on Radio Bremen
Radio Bremen
Radio Bremen , Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state of Bremen...
for New Jazz Live on 22 March 1978.
Henry Cow perform here as a quintet
Quintet
A quintet is a group containing five members.It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single unit....
of Hodgkinson/Frith/Cooper/Born/Cutler; Dagmar Krause had left the band the previous November due to ill health. "Armed Maniac/Things We Forgot" is a titled improvisation with references "in ambience" to contemporary classical composers Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
and György Ligeti
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...
. New Suite is a Fred Frith composition with an instrumental version of Tim Hodgkinson's "Viva Pa Ubu" added. "Viva Pa Ubu" is a song that had been recorded, with the whole group singing, during (what became) the Hopes and Fears
Hopes and Fears (Art Bears album)
Hopes and Fears is the debut album by the English avant-rock group Art Bears. It comprises tracks by Henry Cow, Art Bears's predecessor, recorded at Sunrise Studios, Kirchberg in Switzerland in January 1978, and tracks by Art Bears, recorded at Kaleidophon Studios in London in March...
recording sessions in January 1978, and was the start of a musical production by Hodgkinson of Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side....
's play Ubu Roi
Ubu Roi
Ubu Roi is a play by Alfred Jarry, premiered in 1896. It is a precursor of the Theatre of the Absurd and Surrealism. It is the first of three stylised burlesques in which Jarry satirises power, greed, and their evil practices — in particular the propensity of the complacent bourgeois to abuse the...
(Pa Ubu being a character in the play). It was later released as a bonus track on the CD reissue of Western Culture
Western Culture (album)
Western Culture is an album by English avant-rock group Henry Cow, recorded at Sunrise Studios in Kirchberg, Switzerland in January, July and August 1978. It was their last album and was released on Henry Cow's own private label, Broadcast, in 1979. Later editions appeared on Interzone in the US...
. Die Kunst Der Orgel is a 34-minute improvisation that ends with an instrumental version of Tim Hodgkinson's "Erk Gah
Erk Gah
"Erk Gah" is the title of an extended song written and composed by Tim Hodgkinson in 1976 for the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. "Erk Gah" was performed live by the band between 1976 and 1978, but was never recorded in the studio...
".
Track list
- "Armed Maniac/Things We Forgot" (BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
, CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 11:55
New Suite
-
- "Van Fleet" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 1:49 - "Viva Pa Ubu instrumental extract" (HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 4:35 - "The Big Tune Begins" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 0:45 - "The Big Tune Continues" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 2:11 - "The Big Tune Ends" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 1:30 - "March" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 3:46
- "Van Fleet" (Frith
Die Kunst Der Orgel
- 8–12. "Bremen" (BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
, CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 34:25 - 13–14. "Erk Gah instrumental extract" (HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 13:04
Personnel
- Tim HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
– organ, alto saxophone, clarinet, mbira, voice (track 9) - Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
– guitar, tubular bells, marimba (track 8), xylophone (track 14), violin, piano (track 7) - Lindsay CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
– bassoon, oboe, sopranino saxophone, recorder, piano (tracks 9-11,14), accordion, egg-slicer - Georgie BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
– bass guitar, cello - Chris CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
– drums, marimba (tracks 9–10), piano (tracks 1,14)
Track notes
- Recorded for New Jazz Live at a public concert at Sendesall, Studio F, Radio BremenRadio BremenRadio Bremen , Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state of Bremen...
, 22 March 1978, produced by Bernd Meier, concert mix by Jack Balchin
----
Volume 9: Late
A collection of performances from June and July 1978, plus Henry Cow's set at the inaugural Rock in Opposition Festival
Rock in Opposition
Rock in Opposition or RIO was a movement representing a collective of progressive bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music...
in March 1978.
"Joy of Sax" is a saxophone trio of Lindsay Cooper, Tim Hodgkinson and David Chambers from The Orckestra
The Orckestra
The Orckestra were a 12-piece English avant-garde jazz and avant-rock ensemble formed in March 1977 with the merger of avant-rock group Henry Cow, the Mike Westbrook Brass Band and folk singer Frankie Armstrong...
, which was a merger of Henry Cow, the Mike Westbrook
Mike Westbrook
Michael John David 'Mike' Westbrook is an English jazz pianist, composer, and writer of orchestrated jazz pieces.-Early work:Mike Westbrook grew up in Torquay...
Brass Band and folk singer Frankie Armstrong
Frankie Armstrong
Frankie Armstrong is a singer and voice teacher.She has worked as a singer in the folk scene and the women's movement and as a trainer in social and youth work...
that took place in 1977. "Jackie-ing", also featuring Chambers, is a Westbrook arrangement of a Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
composition that The Orckestra had performed. "The Herring People" is a Fred Frith instrumental he wrote to "counterbalance" the increasingly complex Hodgkinson and Cooper compositions. It was later recorded by Henry Cow during the July and August 1978 Western Culture
Western Culture (album)
Western Culture is an album by English avant-rock group Henry Cow, recorded at Sunrise Studios in Kirchberg, Switzerland in January, July and August 1978. It was their last album and was released on Henry Cow's own private label, Broadcast, in 1979. Later editions appeared on Interzone in the US...
sessions, but was only released for the first time, as "Waking Against Sleep", on the 1990 CD re-issue of Frith's solo album, Gravity
Gravity (Fred Frith album)
Gravity is a 1980 solo album by English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith from Henry Cow and Art Bears. It was Frith's second solo album and his first since the demise of Henry Cow in 1978...
(1980). It was also recorded by Curlew
Curlew (band)
Curlew is an experimental free jazz group founded by saxophone player George Cartwright in 1979. Members of the band have included cellist Tom Cora, guitarists Davey Williams and Fred Frith, and bassist Bill Laswell.-Discography:*Curlew...
under the title "Time and a Half", and appeared on their album, North America (1985), which was produced by Frith.
The improvisation "RIO" and Cooper's "Half the Sky" was Henry Cow's set at the inaugural Rock in Opposition
Rock in Opposition
Rock in Opposition or RIO was a movement representing a collective of progressive bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music...
(RIO) festival that took place on 12 March 1978 at the New London Theatre
New London Theatre
The New London Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden...
. RIO was a collective of "progressive
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
" bands that were united in their opposition to the music industry. Henry Cow initiated the movement and the other inaugural members, who also performed at the concert, were Stormy Six
Stormy Six
Stormy Six were an Italian progressive and folk rock band founded in Milan in 1966. They performed and recorded until 1983, mostly as a sextet but occasionally as a quartet, a quintet and a septet. Although their line-up changed considerably over the years, founding member Franco Fabbri remained...
(Italy), Samla Mammas Manna
Samla Mammas Manna
Samla Mammas Manna was a Swedish progressive rock band, often characterized by its virtuoso musicianship, circus references and silly humour, similar in many ways to the song-writing styles of Frank Zappa. They were one of the founding members of the Rock in Opposition movement in the late 1970s....
(Sweden), Univers Zero
Univers Zéro
Univers Zero are an instrumental Belgian band known for playing dark music heavily influenced by 20th century chamber music. The group's name has had three variant spellings, the others being Univers Zéro and Univers-Zero....
(Belgium) and Etron Fou Leloublan
Etron Fou Leloublan
Etron Fou Leloublan, also known as EFL, were a French avant-rock band founded in 1973 by actor and saxophonist Chris Chanet. They recorded five studio albums between 1976 and 1985, and released a live album, En Public Aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique recorded during a tour of the United States in 1979...
(France). Dusted Magazine described Henry Cow's "RIO" improvisation at this event as "one of their most cacophonous and cataclysmic". Cooper's "Half the Sky", which had been recorded in January 1978 at Sunrise in Switzerland and was later released on Western Culture, was named for Chairman Mao
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
's dictum "Women hold up half the sky".
Track list
- "Joy of Sax" – 3:50
- "Jackie-ing" (MonkThelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
arr. WestbrookMike WestbrookMichael John David 'Mike' Westbrook is an English jazz pianist, composer, and writer of orchestrated jazz pieces.-Early work:Mike Westbrook grew up in Torquay...
) – 1:15 - "Untitled 2" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
) – 1:32 - "The Herring People" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 2:07
5–8. "RIO" (Born
Georgina Born
Georgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
, Cooper
Lindsay Cooper
Lindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, Cutler
Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 17:09
- "Half the Sky" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
) – 5:05 - "Virgins of Illinois" (trad.) – 2:13
- "Viva Pa Ubu" (HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 2:18
Personnel
- Tim HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
– organ, alto saxophone, clarinet, voice (track 7) - Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
– guitar, violin, xylophone - Lindsay CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
– bassoon, oboe, recorder, sopranino saxophone - Georgie BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
– bass guitar, cello - Chris CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
– drums
Guests
- Annemarie RoelofsAnnemarie RoelofsAnnemarie Roelofs , also spelt Anne-Marie Roelofs and Anne Marie Roelofs, is a Dutch trombone player and violinist, and is a professor at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. She is a member of several musical groups and has performed in Holland and England.-Biography:Roelofs...
– trombone (tracks 4,10) - Dave Chambers – saxophone (tracks 1,2)
Track notes
- Tracks 1–4,10 are from an audience recording commonly believed to be from the Festa del PdUP (Partito di Unità Proletaria) in Monza, Italy, 9 July 1978, though this is disputed by Chris Cutler; live concert mix by E. M. Thomas
- Tracks 5–9 are from the Rock in OppositionRock in OppositionRock in Opposition or RIO was a movement representing a collective of progressive bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music...
Festival at New London TheatreNew London TheatreThe New London Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden...
, Drury LaneDrury LaneDrury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 12 March 1978, recorded by Hasse Bruniusson of Samla Mammas MannaSamla Mammas MannaSamla Mammas Manna was a Swedish progressive rock band, often characterized by its virtuoso musicianship, circus references and silly humour, similar in many ways to the song-writing styles of Frank Zappa. They were one of the founding members of the Rock in Opposition movement in the late 1970s....
, live concert mix by Jack Balchin - Track 11 was recorded on cassette from the audience at CerviaCerviaCervia is a town and comune in the province of Ravenna , central Italy.-History:Originally called Ficocle, it was probably of Greek origin and was located midway from current Cervia and Ravenna...
, 23 July 1978, live concert mix by E. M. Thomas
----
Volume 10: Vevey (DVD)
A 75-minute video of Henry Cow performing in Vevey
Vevey
Vevey is a town in Switzerland in the canton Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne.It was the seat of the district of the same name until 2006, and is now part of the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
in August 1976, recorded for the Swiss TV program, Kaleidospop. This is the only known video recording of Henry Cow.
The DVD features the group live outdoors on the grass and playing a set that was representative from the time. It includes Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
's two "epic" compositions, "Living in the Heart of the Beast
Living in the Heart of the Beast
"Living in the Heart of the Beast" is the title of an extended song written and composed by Tim Hodgkinson in 1975 for the English avant-rock group Henry Cow...
" and "Erk Gah
Erk Gah
"Erk Gah" is the title of an extended song written and composed by Tim Hodgkinson in 1976 for the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. "Erk Gah" was performed live by the band between 1976 and 1978, but was never recorded in the studio...
", and two improvisations, "Vevey 1" and "Vevey 2". Allmusic described the multi-camera work on the DVD as "pretty good" and the editing "dated", but added that "seeing the band in action, both navigating through its most complex material and engaging in collective improvisation, is quite an experience."
Track list
- "Beautiful As ..." (CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 6:50 - "Vevey 1" (BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
, CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 8:49 - "Terrible As ..." (CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 2:19 - Tim speaks – 1:04
- "No More Songs" (OchsPhil OchsPhilip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...
arr. FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 3:48 - "Living in the Heart of the BeastLiving in the Heart of the Beast"Living in the Heart of the Beast" is the title of an extended song written and composed by Tim Hodgkinson in 1975 for the English avant-rock group Henry Cow...
" (HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 16:57 - "Vevey 2" (BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
, CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 13:51 - "March" (FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 2:42 - "Erk GahErk Gah"Erk Gah" is the title of an extended song written and composed by Tim Hodgkinson in 1976 for the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. "Erk Gah" was performed live by the band between 1976 and 1978, but was never recorded in the studio...
" (HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 18:28
Personnel
- Georgie BornGeorgina BornGeorgina Born is a British academic, anthropologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born, but in academic circles she does not use the diminutive form.-Background:...
– bass guitar, cello - Lindsay CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
– bassoon, oboe, recorder, sopranino saxophone, piccolo, piano - Chris CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
– drums - Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
– guitar, violin, xylophone, piano, tubular bells - Tim HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
– organ, alto saxophone, clarinet - Dagmar KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
– voice
Track notes
- Recorded 25 August 1976, VeveyVeveyVevey is a town in Switzerland in the canton Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne.It was the seat of the district of the same name until 2006, and is now part of the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District...
, SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, concert mixed by Joel Schwartz
A Cow Cabinet of Curiosities
A limited edition CD given to subscribers of the box set. The title alludes to the name of Bob Drake
Bob Drake (musician)
Bob Drake is an American multi-instrumentalist musician and recording engineer. He was a founding member of the avant-rock band Thinking Plague in the early 1980s, and a member of the 5uu's, Hail and The Science Group . He formed his own band, Bob Drake's Cabinet of Curiosities in 2007...
's band, Cabinet of Curiosities.
"Pre Virgin Demo 1/2" include fragments that were later incorporated into tracks on Legend. "Lovers of Gold" is an alternate version of "Beginning: The Long March" from In Praise of Learning
In Praise of Learning
In Praise of Learning is an album by British avant-rock groups Henry Cow and Slapp Happy, recorded at Virgin Records' Manor studios in February and March 1975...
that was created by Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
. "The Glove" is derived from raw material recorded during the Unrest
Unrest (Henry Cow album)
Unrest is an album by British avant-rock group Henry Cow, recorded at Virgin Records's Manor studios in February and March 1974. It was their second album and was released in May 1974.The album was dedicated to Robert Wyatt and Uli Trepte...
sessions.
Track list
- "Pre Virgin Demo 1" (mostly FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
) – 3.55 - "Pre Virgin Demo 2" (mostly HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 1:02 - "Unidentified Improvisation 1" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 1:30 - "Unidentified Improvisation 2" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 5:37 - "Unidentified late composition" (probably CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
) – 2:04 - "Exploded Amygdala/Teen Introduction" (CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, LeighGeoff LeighGeoff Leigh is an English jazz and progressive rock musician, playing primarily soprano sax and flute. He was a member of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow and founded several bands himself, including Red Balune, Random Bob, Black Sheep, Mirage, and Ex-Wise Heads.-Biography:Geoff Leigh's...
) – 3:37 - "Lovers of Gold" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 6:29 - "Hamburg 6" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 5:33 - "Ruins extract" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 8:24 - "Hamburg 7" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
) – 9:44 - "Half the Sky" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
) – 5:03 - "Extract from The Glove" (CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
, CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
, HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
) – 2:19
Personnel
- Chris CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
– all tracks, piano (track 10), voice (track 12) - Fred FrithFred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
– all tracks, voice (track 12) - Tim HodgkinsonTim HodgkinsonTim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
– all tracks, voice (track 12) - John GreavesJohn Greaves (musician)John Greaves is a British bass guitarist and composer, best known as a member of Henry Cow and his collaborative albums with Peter Blegvad...
– tracks 1–10,12, voice (track 12) - Geoff LeighGeoff LeighGeoff Leigh is an English jazz and progressive rock musician, playing primarily soprano sax and flute. He was a member of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow and founded several bands himself, including Red Balune, Random Bob, Black Sheep, Mirage, and Ex-Wise Heads.-Biography:Geoff Leigh's...
– tracks 1,2,6, voice (track 1) - Lindsay CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
– tracks 3–5,7–12, voice (track 12) - Dagmar KrauseDagmar KrauseDagmar Krause is a German singer, best known for her work with avant-rock groups like Slapp Happy, Henry Cow and Art Bears. She is also noted for her coverage of songs by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler...
– tracks 4,8–10 - Peter BlegvadPeter BlegvadPeter Blegvad is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and cartoonist. He was a founding member of the avant-pop band Slapp Happy, which later merged briefly with Henry Cow, and has released many solo and collaborative albums...
– clarinet (track 7) - Anthony MooreAnthony MooreAnthony Moore is a British experimental music composer, performer and producer. He was a founding member of the band Slapp Happy, worked with Henry Cow and has made a number of solo albums, including Flying Doesn't Help and World Service .As a lyricist, Moore has collaborated with Pink Floyd on...
– mounted and amplified tuning forks (track 7)
Track notes
- Tracks 1,2 were recorded in Henry Cow's rehearsal space by Jack Balchin, probably 1972
- Tracks 3–6 were extracted from a forgotten tape from 1975–77 which surfaced while this box set was being compiled
- Track 7 is an out-take from In Praise of LearningIn Praise of LearningIn Praise of Learning is an album by British avant-rock groups Henry Cow and Slapp Happy, recorded at Virgin Records' Manor studios in February and March 1975...
mixed by Tim Hodgkinson at Cold Storage in 1984; previously issued on the 1991 CD (remixed) edition of In Praise of Learning - Tracks 8–10 were recorded at a public concert for NDRNorddeutscher RundfunkNorddeutscher Rundfunk is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR transmits for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein...
Jazz Workshop, HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, 26 March 1976 - Track 11 recorded at a public concert at Sendesaal, Studio F, Radio BremenRadio BremenRadio Bremen , Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state of Bremen...
, 22 March 1978, produced by Bernd Meier - Track 12 is an extract from an UnrestUnrest (Henry Cow album)Unrest is an album by British avant-rock group Henry Cow, recorded at Virgin Records's Manor studios in February and March 1974. It was their second album and was released in May 1974.The album was dedicated to Robert Wyatt and Uli Trepte...
out-take mixed by Tim Hodgkinson at Cold Storage in 1984; previously issued in full (6:35) on the 1991 CD edition of Unrest
External links
- The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set. All About JazzAll About JazzAll About Jazz is a leading jazz music website for enthusiasts and industry professionals based in Philadelphia in the United States.Founded by Michael Ricci in 1995, the Web-Site is maintained by a volunteer staff of writers, editors, and musicians, and provides coverage of all genres of jazz from...
review... - Henry Cow 40th Anniversary Box Set remastering notes (including booklet corrections) by Bob DrakeBob Drake (musician)Bob Drake is an American multi-instrumentalist musician and recording engineer. He was a founding member of the avant-rock band Thinking Plague in the early 1980s, and a member of the 5uu's, Hail and The Science Group . He formed his own band, Bob Drake's Cabinet of Curiosities in 2007...
. - Interview with Chris Cutler on the box set (2008). Clouds and Clocks.
- Henry Cow lyrics. The Canterbury Website.
- RēR Megacorp.