Comus (band)

Comus are a British progressive folk band which had a brief career in the early 1970s; their first album, First Utterance, gave them a cult following which persists. They reunited in 2009 and have played several festivals and released a new album.

History

Comus was formed in 1969 by fellow art students Roger Wootton and Glenn Goring who developed their musical style performing in folk clubs in and around Bromley in Kent. The band was named after Comus (a masque by John Milton), and is also from the name of the Greek god Comus. The band grew from the early folk duo to the six piece ensemble that David Bowie came to appreciate. They appeared regularly at his Arts Lab project in Beckenham, Kent. He also invited them as support act for a 1969 concert at London's Purcell Rooms.^[1]

Their first album, First Utterance, with cover art by Wootton and Goring, appeared in 1971. The music is largely acoustic art rock (also described as acoustic metal and acid folk) that blends elements of Eastern percussion, early folk and animal-like vocals. The lyrics involve violence, murder, mental disorder and the mystical.

After the album, woodwind player Rob Young was replaced by Lindsay Cooper, and the new lineup developed material for a never-released second album. No recording by this lineup would see the light of day for another 40 years. The group disbanded for a time, but Wootton, Hellaby, and Watson reformed the band with new members for their second album, To Keep from Crying, in 1974.

In 2005, a complete box set was released which featured both studio albums, their only single, "Diana", and a previously unreleased track called "All the Colours of Darkness". The liner notes feature an exclusive interview with some members of the band. They reformed for the Mellotronen Festival in Sweden in March 2008.^[2] They have continued to perform occasional gigs, including some new material.^[3]

On 13 June 2009 Comus performed for the first time in the UK in 37 years at the Equinox Festival at Conway Hall.^[4]

In June 2012 a reunion album, Out Of The Coma, was released. It contains three new tracks; The Return (Goring) Out of The Coma (Wootton) The Sacrifice (Wootton) and a 1972 live recording of material from their abandoned followup to First Utterance, "The Malgaard Suite".^[5]

Wootton also appears on some recordings by Slapp Happy. Cooper went on to join Henry Cow. Reed player Jon Seagroatt is also a member of free improvising trio Red Square. Seagroatt and singer Bobbie Watson married in 2003.^[6]

Influence

In 1998, Opeth singer and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt used a part of a sentence from "Drip Drip" for the title of the album My Arms, Your Hearse. The full line was "As I carry you to your grave, my arms your hearse".

Another nod to Comus was given on the 2005 Opeth album, Ghost Reveries. The second track "The Baying of the Hounds" was derived from a line in the song "Diana" which reads "And she knows by the sound of the baying, by the baying of the hounds".

English experimental band Current 93 covered the song "Diana" from First Utterance on their studio album Horsey. Musically this version is considerably different from the original, with David Tibet singing the lyrics in an agonizing fashion and constructing most of the song from a loop based around a vertiginous violin arrangement from the original.

Personnel

Current members

• Roger Wootton – acoustic guitar, lead vocals (1969–1972, 1974, 2008–present)
• Glenn Goring – 6–12 acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide, hand drums, backing vocals (1969–72, 2008–present)
• Andy Hellaby – fender bass, slide bass, backing vocals (1969–1972, 1974, 2008–present)
• Colin Pearson – violin, viola (1969–72, 2008–present)
• Bobbie Watson – lead and backing vocals, percussion (1969–1972, 1974, 2008–present)
• Jon Seagroatt – flute, oboe, hand drums (2008–present)

Former members

• Rob Young – flute, oboe, hand drums (1969–71)
• Gordon Coxon – drums (1974)
• Keith Hale – keyboards (1974)
• Lindsay Cooper – bassoon (1972, 1974)

Discography

Studio albums

• First Utterance (1971)
• To Keep from Crying (1974)
• Out of the Coma (2012)

Live albums

• East of Sweden: Live at Melloboat Festival 2008 (2011)
• Out of the Coma (2012) recorded 1972

Box sets

• Song to Comus: The Complete Collection (2005)

EPs

• "Diana / In the Lost Queen's Eyes / Winter is a Coloured Bird" (1971)

Roger Wootton solo single

• "Fiesta Fandango" / "New Tide"

References

External links

• Official Website
• Comus at AllMusic
• 2010 interview with Roger Wootton on Prog Sphere