Space Ritual are a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 space rock

Space rock

Space rock is a subgenre of rock music; the term originally referred to a group of early, mostly British, 1970s progressive and psychedelic rock bands such as Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, characterised by slow, lengthy instrumental passages dominated by electric organs, synthesizers, experimental...

 band, formed in 2000 fronted by Nik Turner

Nik Turner

Nik Turner is a British musician, best known as a founding member of space rock pioneers Hawkwind. Turner plays saxophones, flute, sings and is a composer...

, and composed principally of former Hawkwind

Hawkwind

Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....

 members. They play a mix of early Hawkwind material and their own compositions.

History

The Hawkestra event took place on 21 October 2000 at the Brixton Academy which featured nearly all past members of Hawkwind, but disagreements between various participants led to any restaging of the event being unlikely. Turner did, however, stage another event under the banner The Greasy Truckers Party, featuring members of the Hawkestra on 21 October 2001 at the London Astoria

London Astoria

The London Astoria was a music venue, located at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000. It was closed on 15 January 2009 and has since been demolished...

 which, despite being invited, all of the then members of Hawkwind refused to participate.

A loose band formed from this event performing further gigs and eventually went by the name of xhawkwind.com. An appearance at Guilfest

GuilFest

GuilFest, formerly the Guildford Festival of Folk and Blues is a music festival held in Stoke Park, Guildford, England each July. The festival, like the larger Glastonbury Festival, features a range of genres including rock, folk, blues, and in recent years pop...

 in 2002 led to confusion as to whether this actually was Hawkwind, sufficiently irking Dave Brock

Dave Brock

David Anthony "Dave" Brock is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He plays electric guitar, synthesizer, bass and oscillators. He is best known as being one of the founders and musical focus of the English space rock group Hawkwind...

 into taking legal action to prohibit Turner from trading under the name Hawkwind, a case which Turner lost.

Turner then chose to name the band Space Ritual, after Hawkwind's 1973 live album

Live album

A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

 The Space Ritual Alive

Space Ritual

The Space Ritual Alive in Liverpool and London is a 1973 live double album recorded in 1972 by UK rock band Hawkwind. It is their fourth album, reached #9 in the UK album charts and briefly dented the Billboard Top 200, peaking at #179....

, despite having previously used this name during the mid 1990s for a North America tour.

Principal members

• Nik Turner
  Nik Turner
  Nik Turner is a British musician, best known as a founding member of space rock pioneers Hawkwind. Turner plays saxophones, flute, sings and is a composer...
  
   - vocals, sax, flute (Hawkwind 1969-77, 1982-84)
• Mick Slattery - lead guitar, vocals (Hawkwind 1969-70)
• Thomas Crimble - keyboards (previously bass and rhythm guitar) (Hawkwind 1970-71)
• Terry Ollis - drums, percussion (Hawkwind 1969-72)
• Chris Purdon (a.k.a. Chris Mekon) FX,
• Gary 'Slapper' Smart - bass guitar
• Miss Angel - Dancer

Affiliates

• Del Dettmar - electronics (Hawkwind 1971-74)
• Ron Tree - vocals (Hawkwind 1995-2001)
• Meurig Griffiths - drums

Former members and occasional contributors

• Dave Anderson - analogue synthesiser, bass (Hawkwind 1971)
• Commander Jim Hawkman - keyboards
• John Greves - keyboards & synthesisers (1999-2006)
• Thomas Hewitt - guitar
• Huw Lloyd-Langton
  Huw Lloyd-Langton
  Huw Lloyd-Langton is an English guitarist, best known as the guitarist for Hawkwind. He also had his own band, the Lloyd Langton Group with bass player Kenny Wilson and drummer John Clark , and is the session lead guitarist for UK band The Meads of Asphodel.As a member of Hawkwind he appeared on...
  
   - guitar (Hawkwind 1970-71, 1979-88)
• Jaki Windmill - Djembe, Vocals
• Debespace
• Sam Ollis - drums, DJ record decks

Discography

2001 - A Space Rock Odyssey - live CD (Ozit-Morpheus, OZIT CD55) - Ystalyfera, Wales and Birkenhead Stairways* 2000

• tracks: "Sonic Attack"; "You Shouldn't Do That"; "Odyssey Improvisation"; "Dragon Rider"; "Space Ritual"; "Waiting for Tomorrow"; "Master of the Universe"; "Silver Machine"; "Spirit of the Age"; "Sonic Attack"*; "Odyssey Improvisation"*; "Space Ritual"*; "Ten Seconds of Forever"*
• personnel: Nik Turner; Huw Lloyd-Langton; Thomas Crimble; Terry Ollis; Lloyd George, John Greves; Commander Jim Hawkman; Thomas Hewitt

2002 - Live At Glastonbury And Guildford Festival - live CD (Ozit-Morpheus, OZIT CD211)

• tracks: "Orion Sunrise"; "The Awakening"; "Osiris"; "The Landing"; "Blue Train" (Coltrane); "Space Grab" (Ollis, Crimble, Slattery, Turner); "Thunder Rider Rap"; "Warp Out" (Ollis, Crimble, Slattery, Turner); "D Rider"
• personnel: Nik Turner; Mick Slattery; Thomas Crimble; Terry Ollis; Sam Ollis; John Greves; Commander Jim Hawkman; Thomas Hewitt, Jaki Windmill

2003 - Greasy Truckers Party 2002-2003 (Ozit-Morpheus, OZIT CD221)

• Various Artists: SpaceRitual.net; Tractor
  Tractor (band)
  Tractor is a band founded in Rochdale, Lancashire, England by guitarist/vocalist Jim Milne and drummer Steve Clayton in 1971. Both had been members of a beat group, The Way We Live since 1966. They are notable both for their appreciation by John Peel and Julian Cope, but also for their longevity...
  
  ; Richard Strange
  Richard Strange
  For the Jesuit, see Richard Strange Richard "Kid" Strange is an English writer, actor, musician, curator, teacher, adventurer, and the founder and front man of seminal mid-seventies protopunk art rock band Doctors of Madness.-Music:Strange's first band was Doctors of Madness, formed in 1975,...
  
  ; Guitar George Borowski; The Theory
• tracks: "Brainstorm"; "Sonic Savages"; "Watching The Grass Grow"; "D-Rider"
• personnel: Nik Turner; Mick Slattery; Thomas Crimble; Terry Ollis; Dave Anderson; John Greves; Del Dettmar; Jaki Windmill

2005 - Live At The Venusian Electric Ballroom In The Cygnus 5 Galaxy - live CD (SRR0001CD)

• tracks: "Cosmic Chant"; "Watching the Grass Grow"; "Born to Go"; "D Rider"; "Brainstorm"; "Ejection"; "Sonic Attack"; "Master of the Universe"; "Silver Machine"

2005 - Sonic Savages - studio CD EP (SRR0002CD)

• tracks: "Sonic Savages" (6:32); "Ritual Of The Savage Earth" (3:27); "Jazzy Jam" (5:07)
• personnel: Nik Turner; Mick Slattery; Thomas Crimble; Terry Ollis; Dave Anderson; John Greves; Sam Ollis

2006 - Satiricon - live DVD - The Buttermarket, Shrewsbury, 29 February 2004

• tracks: "Launch"; "Cosmic Chant"; "Born To Go"; "Welcome To The Future"; "Watching The Grass Grow"; "Sonic Savages"; "D Rider"; "Time Crime"; "Children Of The Sun"; "Jazzy Jam"; "Brainstorm"; "Orgone Accumulator"; "Sonic Attack"; "Ejection"; "You Shouldn't Do That"; "Master Of The Universe"; "Silver Machine"; "Inspector Clouseau Theme"
• personnel: Nik Turner; Mick Slattery; Thomas Crimble; Terry Ollis; Dave Anderson; John Greves; Sam Ollis; Jaki Windmill; Debespace; The Fabulous Ms Angel

2007 - Otherworld - studio CD (Esoteric Recordings, ECLEC2011)

• tracks: "The Return"; "Otherworld"; "Black Corridor"; "Bubbles"; "Communique II"; "Ritual Of The Ravaged Earth"; "ASDF"; "Sonic Savages"; "Droid Love"; Time Crime"; "Arrival In Utopia"; "Atomik"; "The Riddle"; "Notes From A Cold Planet"; "Walking Backwards"
• personnel: Band members: Nik Turner; Dave Anderson; Terry Ollis; Del Dettmar; Mick Slattery; John Greves; Thomas Crimble; with guest credits for Sam Ollis, Jacki Windmill, Russ Russell, Chris Fielding and Jerry Richards

2009 - Otherworld Live 2007 - live 2CD (SRCD001)

• tracks: 1.The Right Stuff 2.Steppenwolf 3.The Awakening 4.Sonic Savages 5.Walking Backwards 6.Otherworld 7.Ritual Of The Ravaged Earth 8.Time Crime 9.Bubbles 10.The Riddle 11.D-Rider 13.Master of the Universe 14.Brainstorm
• personnel: Band members: Nik Turner, Mick Slattery, Thomas Crimble, Terry Ollis, Jerry Richards, Chris Purdon; with guest credits for Sam Ollis and Mark Powell

External links

• www.spaceritual.org - Official site
• www.myspace.com/spaceritualofficial - MySpace site
• Ham Life blog - Fan's reviews and photos