Henry Cow Concerts

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Henry Cow Concerts
Live album by Henry Cow
Released	1976
Recorded	Live in London, Italy, Netherlands and Norway between September 1974 and October 1975
Genre	Avant-progressive rock
Length	1:43:43
Label	Compendium (Norway) Caroline (UK)
Producer	Henry Cow
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Piero Scaruffi (6/10) link Ground and Sky (favorable) link
Henry Cow chronology
In Praise of Learning (1975) Henry Cow Concerts (1976) Western Culture (1979)

Henry Cow Concerts is a live double album by British avant-garde rock group Henry Cow, recorded at concerts in London, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway between September 1974 and October 1975. Sides one and two of the LP record consist of composed material while sides three and four contain improvised pieces.

The album includes Henry Cow's last John Peel Session, recorded in September 1975 and extracts from a concert with Robert Wyatt at the New London Theatre in May 1975. The opening bars of the improvised piece "Groningen" (recorded in September 1974) were later incorporated in Tim Hodgkinson's "Living in the Heart of the Beast", on In Praise of Learning (1975).

CD reissues of the album include Henry Cow's tracks on Greasy Truckers Live at Dingwalls Dance Hall (1974), a double LP of an October 1973 concert, featuring Camel, Henry Cow, Global Village Trucking Co and Gong.

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Personnel 2.1 Sound and art work 3 Concert venues and dates 4 Composed material 5 Singles 6 CD reissues 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Track listing

Side one – 22:50

1. "Beautiful as the Moon - Terrible as an Army with Banners" (Frith, Cutler)
2. "Nirvana for Mice" (Frith)
3. "Ottawa Song" (Frith, Cutler)
4. "Gloria Gloom" (Wyatt, McCormick)
5. "Beautiful as the Moon (Reprise)" (Frith, Cutler)

Side two – 25:36

1. "Bad Alchemy" (Greaves, Blegvad)
2. "Little Red Riding Hood Hits the Road" (Wyatt)
3. "Ruins" (Frith)

Side three – 29:02

1. "Oslo" (Henry Cow)

Side four – 26:15

1. "Groningen" (Hodgkinson, Henry Cow)
2. "Udine" (Henry Cow)
3. "Groningen again" (Henry Cow)

[edit] Personnel

• Lindsay Cooper – Bassoon, flute, oboe, recorder, piano
• Chris Cutler – Drums, piano
• Dagmar Krause – Voice, piano
• Fred Frith – Guitar, piano, violin, xylophone
• John Greaves – Bass guitar, voice, celeste, piano
• Tim Hodgkinson – Organ, clarinet, alto saxophone
• Robert Wyatt – Vocals ("Bad Alchemy" and "Little Red Riding Hood Hits the Road")

[edit] Sound and art work

• Henry Cow – Producers
• Maggie Thomas – Cover art

[edit] Concert venues and dates

• Side One: Peel Session, BBC Studios, 5 August 1975 ^[1], Recorded and Mixed by Bob Conduct and Tony Wilson.
• "Bad Alchemy" and "Little Red Riding Hood Hits the Road": New London Theatre (with Robert Wyatt), 21 May 1975, Mixed by Sarah Greaves.
• "Ruins" and "Udine": Palamostre Auditorium, Udine, Italy, 13 October 1975, Mixed by Neil Sandford, Recorded by Sandro Pascolo.
• "Oslo": Høvikodden Arts Centre, Oslo, Norway, 5 July 1975, Record and Mixed by Jack Balchin and Harold Clark.
• "Groningen" and "Groningen again": Vera Club, Groningen, the Netherlands, 26 September 1974, Mixed by Sarah Greaves.

[edit] Composed material

The composed material (with the exception of "Ottawa Song") originally appeared on the following albums:

• Matching Mole: Matching Mole's Little Red Record (1972) – "Gloria Gloom"
• Henry Cow: Leg End (1973) – "Nirvana for Mice"
• Henry Cow: Unrest (1974) – "Ruins"
• Robert Wyatt: Rock Bottom (1974) – "Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road"
• Slapp Happy/Henry Cow: Desperate Straights (1975) – "Bad Alchemy"
• Henry Cow/Slapp Happy: In Praise of Learning (1975) – "Beautiful as the Moon - Terrible as an Army with Banners"

[edit] Singles

• "In Concerto" (1977, 33⅓ rpm 7" single, Gong, Italy) – included with issue 4/4 of the Italian magazine, Gong
  1. "Beautiful as the Moon - Terrible as an Army with Banners" (Frith, Cutler)
  2. "Udine" (Henry Cow)

[edit] CD reissues

In 1995, East Side Digital reissued Henry Cow Concerts as a double CD with four extra tracks. The extra tracks came from Greasy Truckers Live at Dingwalls Dance Hall (1974), a double LP of an October 1973 concert performed by Camel, Henry Cow, Global Village Trucking Co and Gong, each band contributing to one side of the double album. Henry Cow's contribution, however, was actually recorded a week later at the Manor Studios because a power failure at the event had delayed the start of the concert and a 2am curfew reduced Henry Cow's set (billed last) to ten minutes.

The addition tracks are:

1. "Off the Map" (Hodgkinson, Cutler, Frith) – 8:30
2. "Cafe Royal" (Frith) – 3:22
3. "Keeping Warm in Winter" (Frith, Greaves) – 1:00
4. "Sweat Heart of Mine" (Henry Cow) – 9:06

The additional personnel on these tracks are:

• Geoff Leigh – tenor and soprano saxophone, recorder, flute, clarinet

In October 2006, Recommended Records released a remastered version of Henry Cow Concerts, plus Henry Cow's Greasy Truckers set, on a double CD. The remastering was done by Bob Drake in March 2006.

[edit] See also

• Henry Cow Box (2006)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Fred Frith discography

v • d • e Henry Cow Lindsay Cooper • Chris Cutler • Fred Frith • Tim Hodgkinson • Dagmar Krause Georgie Born • John Greaves • Geoff Leigh Dave Attwood • Rob Brooks • Martin Ditcham • Joss Graham • Andy Powell • Sean Jenkins Discography Leg End (1973) • Unrest (1974) • Henry Cow Concerts (1976) • Western Culture (1979) with Slapp Happy: Desperate Straights (1975) • In Praise of Learning (1975) Box sets Henry Cow Box (2006) Related bands Slapp Happy • Art Bears See also Rock in Opposition