CD - Band of Joy, BOJCD008 (UK, 94) |
Van der Graaf Generator:
Maida Vale (The BBC Radio One Sessions)
1. Darkness [7:21] |
| Musicians: |
Peter Hammill - vocals, guitars, keyboards Guy Evans - drums Hugh Banton - organ, bass pedals and guitar David Jackson - saxes, flutes |
| Other credits: |
Produced by John Muir (tracks 1 and 2) for "Sounds of Seventies" and by Tony Wilson (tracks 3-8) for the "John Peel Show" Recorded at the BBC on 6th October 1971 (tracks 1, 2), 7th March 1975 (tracks 3, 4), 4th January 1976 (tracks 5, 6) and 11th November 1976 (tracks 7, 8) Engineered by Adrian Revill and John White © 1994 Band of Joy Music Ltd |
R e l e a s e N o t e s
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There were always two Van der Graafs: the one which skirted the limits of making "pop records" in the studio... and the live one. The latter was as noisy as it was unpredictable. In any sequence of three shows one was likely to be an execrable cacophonie maelstrom, one a comparatively measured representation of songs and arrangements... and one the real, chaotic/controlled, Tempest/calm, thing which was our aim and our raison d'etre.
The recorded legacy of VdGG, though almost complete in terms of studio work, doesn't show how much of the live aspect. The only live recording made of the band was at the end of its days in an atypical line-up. Apart from the predictable crop of dodgy cassette-recorded bootlegs these BBC sessions are probably the closest thing to the sound and style of the live band which still exists. The line-up throughout is the classic four-piece one: myself (vox, piano, guitar and moods), Hugh Banton (organ, bass pedals and design), Guy Evans (drums and tiptoe) and David Jackson (saxes, flutes and his own devices) and the sonds are presented in their chronological order. Many people thought we were mad to play music like this... for us it was always Serious fun. There you go... there we went. Pass me my mirrors shaders.
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