Angel's Egg (album)
Encyclopedia
Angel's Egg is an album by Gong
, recorded and originally released on Virgin Records
in 1973.
It was recorded using the Manor Mobile at Pavillon du Hay, France, and mixed at The Manor
, Oxfordshire
, England. The album was produced by Gong under the direction of Giorgio Gomelsky
.
Angel's Egg is the second in Gong's Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy of albums, following Flying Teapot
and preceding You
. The trilogy forms a central part of the Gong mythology. The original album did not have an apostrophe in the title.
The original vinyl edition came with a booklet containing an extensive explanation of the mythology, including lyrics, a glossary of terms, and profiles of characters in the story and band members. This edition also had a gatefold cover (omitted in later pressings), a plain inky blue innersleeve to match the gatefold and booklet, and had the original black and white Virgin label that was discontinued after 1973; it was one of the last albums to use the original label. Some copies had a sticker over top of the female nude in the moon on the cover.
The CD version released by Virgin Records
, and later reissued on Charly Records
contains an extra track: "Ooby-Scooby Doomsday or The D-day DJ's Got the D.D.T. Blues", that ends with a male voice choir glissando
(questionably regarded by some as a parody on Pink Floyd
's "Echoes"), starting with "Ahhhh" and ending with "Chooo", mimicking a sneeze. The track was originally released on the Live Etc.
album but was excluded from the CD release (which reissued that double album as one disc), and included on this album instead.
Side one (Yin / Side of the Goddess)
Side two (Yang / Side of the Fun Gods / The Masculung Side)
Bonus track on CD
The instrumental section at the end of "Sold to the Highest Buddha" is referred to as "6/8 sax" in the cover notes, and became a separate piece titled "6/8" on Live Etc.
"Selene" is a completely different song from one with the same title on an earlier Gong album, Camembert Electrique
.
Later CD editions add more bonus tracks, including demo vocal versions with altered mixing.
Gong (band)
Gong is a Franco-British progressive/psychedelic rock band formed by Australian musician Daevid Allen. Their music has also been described as space rock. Other notable band members include Allan Holdsworth, Tim Blake, Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Gilli Smyth, Steve Hillage, Francis Moze, Mike Howlett...
, recorded and originally released on Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
in 1973.
It was recorded using the Manor Mobile at Pavillon du Hay, France, and mixed at The Manor
The Manor Studio
The Manor Studio was a recording studio in the manor house at the village of Shipton-on-Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England, north of the city of Oxford. It was the first residential recording studio in the UK...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, England. The album was produced by Gong under the direction of Giorgio Gomelsky
Giorgio Gomelsky
Giorgio Gomelsky is a filmmaker, impresario, music manager, songwriter and record producer. He owned the Crawdaddy Club where The Rolling Stones were house band, and he was involved with their early management. He hired The Yardbirds as a replacement and managed them. He was also their...
.
Angel's Egg is the second in Gong's Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy of albums, following Flying Teapot
Flying Teapot (album)
Flying Teapot is an album by Gong, originally released by Virgin in 1973. A later edition was issued by BYG in France and Japan in 1976. Co-titled "Radio Gnome Invisible Part 1", it is the first of the Radio Gnome Trilogy of albums, and was followed by Angel's Egg and You...
and preceding You
You (Gong album)
You is an album by psychedelic rock band Gong, recorded and originally released in 1974.Recorded at The Manor, Oxfordshire, side 1 was mixed at Pye Studios, Marble Arch, while side 2 at the Manor...
. The trilogy forms a central part of the Gong mythology. The original album did not have an apostrophe in the title.
The original vinyl edition came with a booklet containing an extensive explanation of the mythology, including lyrics, a glossary of terms, and profiles of characters in the story and band members. This edition also had a gatefold cover (omitted in later pressings), a plain inky blue innersleeve to match the gatefold and booklet, and had the original black and white Virgin label that was discontinued after 1973; it was one of the last albums to use the original label. Some copies had a sticker over top of the female nude in the moon on the cover.
The CD version released by Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
, and later reissued on Charly Records
Charly Records
Charly Records is a British record label which specialises in reissued material.-History:Among the labels whose original releases are reissued by Charly are Vee-Jay, Sun, Immediate, BYG, Tomato, and Fania. Charly Records was founded in France in 1974 by Jean-Luc Young, who had been a promoter of...
contains an extra track: "Ooby-Scooby Doomsday or The D-day DJ's Got the D.D.T. Blues", that ends with a male voice choir glissando
Glissando
In music, a glissando is a glide from one pitch to another. It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French glisser, to glide. In some contexts it is distinguished from the continuous portamento...
(questionably regarded by some as a parody on Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's "Echoes"), starting with "Ahhhh" and ending with "Chooo", mimicking a sneeze. The track was originally released on the Live Etc.
Gong Live Etc
Gong Live Etc. is a live album by Gong, recorded between 1973 and 1975 and originally released in 1977. It is a set of live recordings , studio out-takes and BBC session recordings spanning the years 1973 to 1975.- Track listing :Credits to C.O.I.T...
album but was excluded from the CD release (which reissued that double album as one disc), and included on this album instead.
Track listing
Unusual spellings are as listed on the cover of the original edition.Side one (Yin / Side of the Goddess)
- "Other Side of the Sky" (Tim BlakeTim BlakeTimothy 'Tim' Blake , keyboards, vocalist instrumentalist and composer with both Gong, and Hawkwind. Blake is best known for his Synthesizer and Light performances as Crystal Machine, with the French Light Artist Patrice Warrener...
, Daevid AllenDaevid AllenDaevid Allen , sometimes credited as Divided Alien, an Australian poet, guitarist, singer, composer and performance artist is co-founder of psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine and Gong .-Biography:In 1960, inspired by the Beat Generation writers he had discovered...
) – 7:38 - "Sold to the Highest Buddha" (Mike HowlettMike HowlettMike Howlett is a Fijian-born musician, Grammy Award winning producer and teacher based in the United Kingdom and Australia....
, Allen) – 3:10 - "Castle in the Clouds" (Steve HillageSteve HillageSteve Hillage is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s...
) – 1:13 - "Prostitute Poem" (Gilli SmythGilli SmythGilli Smyth is a musician who performed with the bands Gong, Mother Gong and Planet Gong as well as several solo albums and albums in collaborations other members of Gong...
, Hillage) – 6:05 - "Givin My Luv to You" (Allen) – 0:42
- "Selene" (Allen) – 3:42
Side two (Yang / Side of the Fun Gods / The Masculung Side)
- "Flute Salad" (Didier MalherbeDidier MalherbeDidier Antonin Malherbe is a saxophonist and flautist. He was one of the founders of the Canterbury sound band Gong....
) – 2:46 - "Oily Way" (Allen, Malherbe) – 3:01
- "Outer Temple" (Blake, Hillage) – 1:09
- "Inner Temple" (Allen, Malherbe) – 3:21
- "Percolations" (Pierre MoerlenPierre MoerlenPierre Moerlen was a French drummer and percussionist, best known for his work with Gong and Mike Oldfield.-Biography:...
) – 0:40 - "Love is How Y Make It" (Moerlen, Allen) – 3:25
- "I Niver Glid Before" (Hillage) – 5:37
- "Eat That Phone Book Coda" (Malherbe) – 3:10
Bonus track on CD
- "Ooby-Scooby Doomsday or The D-day DJ's Got the D.D.T. Blues" (Allen) – 5:09
The instrumental section at the end of "Sold to the Highest Buddha" is referred to as "6/8 sax" in the cover notes, and became a separate piece titled "6/8" on Live Etc.
Gong Live Etc
Gong Live Etc. is a live album by Gong, recorded between 1973 and 1975 and originally released in 1977. It is a set of live recordings , studio out-takes and BBC session recordings spanning the years 1973 to 1975.- Track listing :Credits to C.O.I.T...
"Selene" is a completely different song from one with the same title on an earlier Gong album, Camembert Electrique
Camembert Electrique
Camembert Electrique is an album by Gong, recorded and originally released in 1971. The album was recorded at Château d'Hérouville near Paris, France, produced by Pierre Lattes and engineered by Gilles Salle...
.
Later CD editions add more bonus tracks, including demo vocal versions with altered mixing.
Personnel
Note: Pseudonyms and absurd instrument names selected by Daevid Allen are used on the album credits; real names are used in composer credits, and are shown in brackets.- Bloomdido Bad De Grass (Didier MalherbeDidier MalherbeDidier Antonin Malherbe is a saxophonist and flautist. He was one of the founders of the Canterbury sound band Gong....
) – ten/sop sax, floot, bi-focal vocal - Shakti Yoni (Gilli SmythGilli SmythGilli Smyth is a musician who performed with the bands Gong, Mother Gong and Planet Gong as well as several solo albums and albums in collaborations other members of Gong...
) – space whisper, loin cackle - T. Being esq. (Mike HowlettMike HowlettMike Howlett is a Fijian-born musician, Grammy Award winning producer and teacher based in the United Kingdom and Australia....
, spelled Howlitt on composer credits) – basso profundo - Sub. Capt. Hillage (Steve HillageSteve HillageSteve Hillage is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s...
) – lewd guitar - Hi T. Moonweed (the favorite) (Tim BlakeTim BlakeTimothy 'Tim' Blake , keyboards, vocalist instrumentalist and composer with both Gong, and Hawkwind. Blake is best known for his Synthesizer and Light performances as Crystal Machine, with the French Light Artist Patrice Warrener...
) – Cynthia "size a", lady voce - Pierre de Strasbourg (Pierre MoerlenPierre MoerlenPierre Moerlen was a French drummer and percussionist, best known for his work with Gong and Mike Oldfield.-Biography:...
, spelled Moerlin on composer credits) – bread & batteur drums, vibes, marimbaMarimbaThe marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ... - Mireille de Strasbourg (Mireille BauerMireille BauerMireille Bauer is a French percussionist and former member of Gong.Through her then boyfriend Pierre Moerlen, she first worked with Gong in a session capacity on Angel's Egg and You before joining the band fully for albums including Expresso II...
) – glockenspielGlockenspielA glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone... - Dingo Virgin (Daevid AllenDaevid AllenDaevid Allen , sometimes credited as Divided Alien, an Australian poet, guitarist, singer, composer and performance artist is co-founder of psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine and Gong .-Biography:In 1960, inspired by the Beat Generation writers he had discovered...
) – local vocals, aluminium croon, glissando guitar