Ommadawn
Encyclopedia
Ommadawn is the third record album by Mike Oldfield
, released in 1975
on Virgin Records
. The cover photograph was by David Bailey. It peaked at #4 on the UK Albums Chart
. The album was reissued in June 2010 with additional content.
and Tubular Bells
, Ommadawn is another two-movement work. Oldfield sought out the ancient Celtic
influence on English music and composed for traditional instruments such as uilleann pipes
on the original LP version. A set of Northumbrian smallpipes
were also recorded, and credited to "Herbie", but this recording was not used on the album.
The album was recorded at Oldfield's home at Hergest Ridge
, The Beacon, and was the only album to be recorded there (though Oldfield's previous album shares its name with the location).
A quadrophonic remix version of Ommadawn was released on Boxed
a year later. Oldfield's 1990 album Amarok
was conceived as a sequel to Ommadawn, but turned into something quite different; Virgin
had been pushing Oldfield for a sequel to Tubular Bells
. Excerpts from Ommadawn were featured in the 1979 NASA
film, The Space Movie
.
The topic of Ommadawn is covered in the final episode of the Tony Palmer
documentary series All You Need is Love
; episode 17 "Imagine (New Directions)".
In June 2010 the album was reissued by Mercury Records
.
Oldfield states that Clodagh phoned a relative or friend to translate into Irish for the song. The word "idiot" translated into amadán which he Anglicised into "Ommadawn" for the title of the album.
Oldfield previously denied this meaning of ommadawn, calling it a nonsense word
, apparently as a ruse to enhance the mystery of his music.
's Jackanory
on occasions when John Grant
narrated his Littlenose stories.
called "On Horseback". "On Horseback" relates to Oldfield, Murray and Leslie Penning's time riding ponies
around the area of Hergest Ridge.
In November 1975, Oldfield released the single "In Dulci Jubilo", with "On Horseback" as the B-side. It reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart
in January 1976. In France, "In Dulci Jubilo" was coupled to a remix of the end of part 1 of Ommadawn. Some copies of the album also include "In Dulci Jubilo" at the end, instead of "On Horseback".
and Paddy Moloney
. He combined this with heavy African influences
, mainly by the use of the drummers of Jabula
. This makes Ommadawn one of the first successful world music
albums in Europe.
Two electric guitars which feature on the album are a red Gibson
SG Junior
and a blonde Fender Telecaster
. Oldfield appears to have been using two electric bass guitars at the time; a Fender Precision
and a Gibson EB-3
. An acoustic bass built by Tony Zemaitis and a Ramirez
classical guitar feature on the album. The piano on the album is likely to be a Bösendorfer
. A Fender lap steel guitar
is also thought to feature on "On Horseback", although uncredited. Many of Oldfield's instruments from this period are shown in a photograph which was included in the Boxed
4-LP box set.
. This came part of a deal in which Oldfield's Virgin albums were transferred to the label. Bonus features for the album include a 2010 5.1 mix of the album and a track titled the 'lost version'. The album includes "In Dulci Jubilo", "First Excursion", "Argiers" and "Portsmouth".
The original LP artwork was restored; in previous CD issues the text had been centralised and increased in size. A 180 gram vinyl was released as a part of the Back to Black series. The digital edition contains the content from the 2 CDs of the Deluxe Edition. The Japanese release uses the SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) manufacturing process.
There is also a limited edition box set of the album, comprising a deluxe edition, an LP and a framed, numbered and signed print of the album artwork. Only 250 copies were produced which were sold through mikeoldfieldofficial.com and released on 14 June. There are no un-signed variants.
Mike Oldfield
Michael Gordon Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature...
, released in 1975
1975 in music
-January–April:*January 2 - New York City U.S. District Court Judge Richard Owen rules that former Beatle John Lennon and his lawyers can have access to Department of Immigration files pertaining to his deportation case....
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...
. The cover photograph was by David Bailey. It peaked at #4 on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
. The album was reissued in June 2010 with additional content.
Album history
As with Hergest RidgeHergest Ridge (album)
Hergest Ridge is the second record album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1974 on Virgin Records.Oldfield was not comfortable with the public attention that had come from the success of Tubular Bells, and retreated to the English countryside to work on the follow-up...
and Tubular Bells
Tubular Bells
Tubular Bells is the debut record album of English musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1973. It was the first album released by Virgin Records and an early cornerstone of the company's success...
, Ommadawn is another two-movement work. Oldfield sought out the ancient Celtic
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
influence on English music and composed for traditional instruments such as uilleann pipes
Uilleann pipes
The uilleann pipes or //; ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland, their current name, earlier known in English as "union pipes", is a part translation of the Irish-language term píobaí uilleann , from their method of inflation.The bag of the uilleann pipes is inflated by means of a...
on the original LP version. A set of Northumbrian smallpipes
Northumbrian smallpipes
The Northumbrian smallpipes are bellows-blown bagpipes from the North East of England.In a survey of the bagpipes in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University, the organologist Anthony Baines wrote: It is perhaps the most civilized of the bagpipes, making no attempt to go farther than the...
were also recorded, and credited to "Herbie", but this recording was not used on the album.
The album was recorded at Oldfield's home at Hergest Ridge
Hergest Ridge
Hergest Ridge is a large elongated hill which traverses the border between England and Wales between the town of Kington in Herefordshire and the village of Gladestry in Powys. Its highest point, which is in England, is 1397 feet high.- On Offa's Dyke Path :...
, The Beacon, and was the only album to be recorded there (though Oldfield's previous album shares its name with the location).
A quadrophonic remix version of Ommadawn was released on Boxed
Boxed (Mike Oldfield album)
Boxed is a compilation album written and mostly performed by Mike Oldfield, released in 1976 . It features quadraphonic remixed versions of his first three albums and some collaborations.- Background :Boxed features quadraphonic remixed versions of his first three albums...
a year later. Oldfield's 1990 album Amarok
Amarok (album)
Amarok is the 13th record album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1990. It is considered by fans to be his most distinctive work: a single sixty-minute track of continuous, uninterrupted but constantly-changing music....
was conceived as a sequel to Ommadawn, but turned into something quite different; Virgin
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...
had been pushing Oldfield for a sequel to Tubular Bells
Tubular Bells II
Tubular Bells II is the 15th music album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1992. The album - the first for his new record label, Warner Bros. Records, following an acrimonious departure from Virgin Records after twenty years - was conceived as a sequel to Oldfield's 1973 Tubular Bells...
. Excerpts from Ommadawn were featured in the 1979 NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
film, The Space Movie
The Space Movie
The Space Movie is a documentary film produced in 1979 by Tony Palmer at the request of NASA, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.The 78 minute film was released theatrically in 1980, on VHS in 1983 and on DVD in 2007...
.
The topic of Ommadawn is covered in the final episode of the Tony Palmer
Tony Palmer
Tony Palmer is an American football guard in the National Football League who is currently a free agent. The former University of Missouri guard who was selected by the St. Louis Rams. He was signed by the Green Bay Packers after being cut in the 2006 preseason by St. Louis...
documentary series All You Need is Love
All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music
All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music is the name of a 17-part television documentary series on the history of modern pop music directed by Tony Palmer, originally broadcast worldwide between 1976 and 1980...
; episode 17 "Imagine (New Directions)".
In June 2010 the album was reissued by Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
.
Album title and lyrics
In his autobiography, Changeling, Oldfield states that he just wanted "sounds" not "sensible" lyrics. He asked Clodagh Simmons to write down the first words that came into her head. This resulted in the following in English:- Daddy's in bed, The cats drinking milk, I'm an idiot, And I'm laughing.
Oldfield states that Clodagh phoned a relative or friend to translate into Irish for the song. The word "idiot" translated into amadán which he Anglicised into "Ommadawn" for the title of the album.
Oldfield previously denied this meaning of ommadawn, calling it a nonsense word
Nonsense word
A nonsense word, unlike a sememe, may have no definition. If it can be pronounced according to a language's phonotactics, it is a logatome. Nonsense words are used in literature for poetic or humorous effect. Proper names of real or fictional entities are sometimes nonsense words.-See...
, apparently as a ruse to enhance the mystery of his music.
Jackanory
A small portion of Ommadawn "Part One" was used as the theme music for the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Jackanory
Jackanory
Jackanory is a long-running BBC children's television series that was designed to stimulate an interest in reading. The show was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, the first story being the fairy-tale Cap o' Rushes read by Lee Montague. Jackanory continued to be broadcast until 24 March 1996,...
on occasions when John Grant
John Grant (children's author)
John Grant is a Scottish author and illustrator, possibly best known as the author of the Littlenose series of children's stories, which he read on the BBC's Jackanory in 55 programmes from 1968 to 1986....
narrated his Littlenose stories.
"On Horseback" and "In Dulci Jubilo"
Though the actual work Ommadawn is a two-part piece, there is a third track on the album, a short vocal song by Mike Oldfield and William MurrayWilliam Murray (musician)
William Murray was a drummer and photographer from Glasgow, Scotland.- Career :As a drummer in the early 1970s Murray played with acts including Richard and Linda Thompson's 'Sour Grapes' band and Irish progressive folk band Mellow Candle...
called "On Horseback". "On Horseback" relates to Oldfield, Murray and Leslie Penning's time riding ponies
Pony
A pony is a small horse . Depending on context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. There are many different breeds...
around the area of Hergest Ridge.
In November 1975, Oldfield released the single "In Dulci Jubilo", with "On Horseback" as the B-side. It reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in January 1976. In France, "In Dulci Jubilo" was coupled to a remix of the end of part 1 of Ommadawn. Some copies of the album also include "In Dulci Jubilo" at the end, instead of "On Horseback".
Instrumentation
Oldfield involved musicians noted for their work in folk music including Clodagh SimondsClodagh Simonds
Clodagh Simonds Clodagh; , is an Irish musician, songwriter and singer. She was born in Banbridge, Co. Down, Northern Ireland, UK and raised and educated in Killiney, Co...
and Paddy Moloney
Paddy Moloney
Paddy Moloney is one of the founders of the Irish musical group The Chieftains and has played on every one of their albums.He was born in Donnycarney in Dublin. His mother bought him a tin whistle when he was six and at the age of eight he started to learn the Uilleann pipes. He also plays button...
. He combined this with heavy African influences
Music of Africa
Africa is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa for the most part has a different history from sub-Saharan African music traditions....
, mainly by the use of the drummers of Jabula
Jabula
Jabula was a musical ensemble made of South African musicians "exiled" in England during the Apartheid Era.Under Apartheid, traditional African music was largely banned from radio and even private play, and groups who performed it were often forced into exile. The four members that became Jabula...
. This makes Ommadawn one of the first successful world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
albums in Europe.
Two electric guitars which feature on the album are a red Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
SG Junior
Gibson SG Junior
The Gibson SG Junior was a solid-bodied electric guitar manufactured by Gibson from the early 1960s to the late 60s. Like its earlier sister, the Gibson Les Paul Junior, it had been created for sale to anyone who wanted Gibson quality for a cheap price. It is known for its single P-90 treble...
and a blonde Fender Telecaster
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
. Oldfield appears to have been using two electric bass guitars at the time; a Fender Precision
Fender Precision Bass
The Fender Precision Bass is an electric bass.Designed by Leo Fender as a prototype in 1950 and brought to market in 1951, the Precision was the first electric bass to earn widespread attention and use. A revolutionary instrument for the time, the Precision Bass has made an immeasurable impact on...
and a Gibson EB-3
Gibson EB-3
The Gibson EB-3 is an electric bass guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.Introduced in 1961, the EB-3 was one of the bass guitar equivalents of the popular Gibson SG...
. An acoustic bass built by Tony Zemaitis and a Ramirez
José Ramírez
Ramírez Guitars is a Spanish manufacturer of high-quality classical and flamenco guitars.-History:Ramírez guitars have now been produced by four generations of the family....
classical guitar feature on the album. The piano on the album is likely to be a Bösendorfer
Bösendorfer
Bösendorfer is an Austrian piano manufacturer, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha. The brand is known for producing pianos with a uniquely rich, singing, and sustaining tone...
. A Fender lap steel guitar
Lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
is also thought to feature on "On Horseback", although uncredited. Many of Oldfield's instruments from this period are shown in a photograph which was included in the Boxed
Boxed (Mike Oldfield album)
Boxed is a compilation album written and mostly performed by Mike Oldfield, released in 1976 . It features quadraphonic remixed versions of his first three albums and some collaborations.- Background :Boxed features quadraphonic remixed versions of his first three albums...
4-LP box set.
Side two
- "Ommadawn, Part two" – 13:54
- "On Horseback" (not actually titled on album) – 3:23
- "On Horseback" is not listed on the record label, but added to the length of "Ommadawn (Part Two)", giving it a new length of 17:17. It is, however, referred to on the inner sleeve where it is noted that "the words to the horse song on side two by Mike Oldfield and William Murray". The songsheet for "On Horseback" says "Music by Mike Oldfield, Words by Mike Oldfield and William Murray".
Personnel
- Mike OldfieldMike OldfieldMichael Gordon Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature...
– acoustic bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, acoustic guitarSteel-string acoustic guitarA steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
, banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, bouzoukiBouzoukiThe bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
, bodhránBodhránThe bodhrán is an Irish frame drum ranging from 25 to 65 cm in diameter, with most drums measuring 35 to 45 cm . The sides of the drum are 9 to 20 cm deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side...
, classical guitarClassical guitarThe classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
, electric bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s, electronic organElectronic organAn electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds....
s, 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...
, harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, spinetSpinetA spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ.-Spinets as harpsichords:While the term spinet is used to designate a harpsichord, typically what is meant is the bentside spinet, described in this section...
, steel guitarSteel guitarSteel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s, twelve-string guitar and vocals. - Herbie – Northumbrian bagpipes
- Don Blakeson – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- The Hereford City Band conducted by Leslie Penning – brassBrass instrumentA brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
- JabulaJabulaJabula was a musical ensemble made of South African musicians "exiled" in England during the Apartheid Era.Under Apartheid, traditional African music was largely banned from radio and even private play, and groups who performed it were often forced into exile. The four members that became Jabula...
(Julian Bahula, Ernest Mothle, Lucky Ranku, Eddie Tatane) – AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Pierre MoerlenPierre MoerlenPierre Moerlen was a French drummer and percussionist, best known for his work with Gong and Mike Oldfield.-Biography:...
– timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet... - Paddy MoloneyPaddy MoloneyPaddy Moloney is one of the founders of the Irish musical group The Chieftains and has played on every one of their albums.He was born in Donnycarney in Dublin. His mother bought him a tin whistle when he was six and at the age of eight he started to learn the Uilleann pipes. He also plays button...
– uilleann pipesUilleann pipesThe uilleann pipes or //; ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland, their current name, earlier known in English as "union pipes", is a part translation of the Irish-language term píobaí uilleann , from their method of inflation.The bag of the uilleann pipes is inflated by means of a... - William MurrayWilliam Murray (musician)William Murray was a drummer and photographer from Glasgow, Scotland.- Career :As a drummer in the early 1970s Murray played with acts including Richard and Linda Thompson's 'Sour Grapes' band and Irish progressive folk band Mellow Candle...
– percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Sally OldfieldSally OldfieldSally Oldfield is a singer-songwriter, and the sister of the composers Mike Oldfield and Terry Oldfield.-Early life:...
– vocals - Terry OldfieldTerry OldfieldTerence "Terry" Oldfield is an English composer. He is brother to well-known music composers and performers Sally and Mike Oldfield.- Early life :...
– Panpipes - Leslie Penning – recorderRecorderThe recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
s - "The Penrhos Kids" (Abigail, Briony, Ivan and Jason Griffiths) – vocals on "On Horseback"
- Clodagh SimondsClodagh SimondsClodagh Simonds Clodagh; , is an Irish musician, songwriter and singer. She was born in Banbridge, Co. Down, Northern Ireland, UK and raised and educated in Killiney, Co...
– vocals - Bridget St JohnBridget St JohnBridget St John is a British singer and songwriter, best known for the three albums she recorded between 1969 and 1972 for John Peel's Dandelion label. Peel produced her debut album Ask Me No Questions. She also recorded a large number of BBC Radio and Peel sessions and toured regularly on the UK...
– vocals - David StrangeDavid StrangeDavid Strange, is an English cellist formerly head of strings at the Royal Academy of Music and a University of London Professor.-Biography:He studied cello at the Royal Academy of Music. In 1973 he was appointed Principal Cellist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra...
– celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
Mercury Records reissue
On 7 June 2010 the album was re-released by Mercury RecordsMercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
. This came part of a deal in which Oldfield's Virgin albums were transferred to the label. Bonus features for the album include a 2010 5.1 mix of the album and a track titled the 'lost version'. The album includes "In Dulci Jubilo", "First Excursion", "Argiers" and "Portsmouth".
The original LP artwork was restored; in previous CD issues the text had been centralised and increased in size. A 180 gram vinyl was released as a part of the Back to Black series. The digital edition contains the content from the 2 CDs of the Deluxe Edition. The Japanese release uses the SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) manufacturing process.
There is also a limited edition box set of the album, comprising a deluxe edition, an LP and a framed, numbered and signed print of the album artwork. Only 250 copies were produced which were sold through mikeoldfieldofficial.com and released on 14 June. There are no un-signed variants.
Standard Edition
- "Ommadawn (Part One) 2010 Stereo Mix by Mike Oldfield
- "Ommadawn (Part Two)" / "On Horseback" 2010 Stereo Mix by Mike Oldfield
- "In Dulci Jubilo"
- "First Excursion"
- "Argiers"
- "Portsmouth"
CD 1
- "Ommadawn (Part One) 2010 Stereo Mix by Mike Oldfield
- "Ommadawn (Part Two)" / "On Horseback" 2010 Stereo Mix by Mike Oldfield
- "In Dulci Jubilo"
- "First Excursion"
- "Argiers"
- "Portsmouth"
CD 2
- "Ommadawn (Part One)" 1975 Stereo Mix
- "Ommadawn (Part Two)" / "On Horseback" 1975 Stereo Mix
- "Ommadawn (Lost Version)" 1975 Demo
DVD
- "Ommadawn (Part One)" 2010 5.1 Surround Mix by Mike Oldfield
- "Ommadawn (Part Two)" / "On Horseback" 2010 5.1 Surround Mix by Mike Oldfield
- "In Dulci Jubilo"
- "Portsmouth"
Back To Black Vinyl Edition
- "Ommadawn (Part One)" 1975 Stereo Mix
- "Ommadawn (Part Two)" / "On Horseback" 1975 Stereo Mix
External links
- Mike Oldfield Discography - Ommadawn at Tubular.net
- Possible translations of Ommadawns lyrics at Tubular.net
- MikeOldfieldOfficial.com
- Towards Ommadawn: A critical study of Mike Oldfield's third studio album at Tubular.net