Gong? Daevid Allen?
Patrick Hester
looking in used record stores and the like for anything by these guys.
So far I haven't found much. I've got "You" and "Live Floating Anarchy"
and a New York Gong EP called Jungle Windo(w).
So what else is there? Does Daevid Allen have any solo stuff?
Steve Hillage is listed on one of these albums. Is he a Gong regular?
Where can I find any Gong? Is there any on CD or just in the used racks?
"Gong is One and One is You"
--
8=====8 =8(/\/) --<-@ 8=====8 (201)-562-6533
Simon Kirby
It is interesting that this message should appear on the net at this
time, since Gong (under the name GongMaison) have just reformed after a
very long absence. They have just finished a month long tour of the UK
and have released an album "GongMaison" on the English record label
"Demi-Monde" (distributed by the Cartel).
I was unable to go to any of the Gong gigs last month but I have heard
very good reports about the concerts. The Gong band at the moment seems
to include Daevid Allen, Pip Pyle, Graham Clark (on
violin), Keith da Bass (from the Here and Now band),
Shyamal Maitra (on various percussion) and one or two others. The
notable exception to the live line up is Harry Williamson who played
guitar and synth on the album.
The concerts included stuff of the new album (somewhat folkier than the
older Gong material) and old favourites from the T.Pot era. (This era
being the time when Gong released a trilogy of albums that expanded on
Daevid's "Planet Gong" mythology.)
Daevid describes the Gong tour as the first "phase" in Gong's
restructuring, so we can hope to see more new material from this
fascinating band... Meanwhile, here are some records that you should
contemplate listening to....
You : my fave Gong album, Tim Blake's synth work is at its best and
Hillage's guitar playing is superb. "A Sprinkling of Clouds" achieves
the sound a number of English bands on the festival circuit are just
discovering fifteen years later...
Angels Egg : Another of the Trilogy albums, it has much to say
lyrically... if you can make any sense of it. :-)
Camembert Electrique : An earlier Gong album without Steve Hillage
(don't expect stunning guitar solos!). Some classic songs including the
anti-drug (!) track, "Fohat Digs Holes in Space".
Floating Anarchy : Gong teams up with the Here and Now band in the
late seventies to produce this (mainly live) punky album... good
positive energy stuff.
Live Etc. : The best live Gong album and a very good introduction to
the many sides of their nature.
The Mystery and The History : A recent Demi-Monde release that
preceded the new Gong album by a few months. It contains rare snippets
from Gong's archives that trace its history from Daevid's crazed poetry
in the sixties to his work with the Invisible Opera Company of Thibet
in the eighties.
Green (Steve Hillage) : the best of Hillage's solo LPs, complete with
a rendition of the Glorious Om Riff that first appeared on the You
classic, "Master Builder".
The Owl and The Tree : This is an album by Daevid Allen and Gilli
Smyth's band "Mother Gong". I'm not all that keen on it but it is the
last album Daevid did before reforming Gong last year. Very mellow and
"earthy".
Pungent Effulgent (Ozric Tentacles) : Not really anything to do with
Gong, but this London band seem to be taking up where Hillage and Gong
left off after the You album. They produce the best instrumental "space
rock" in the world. :-)
Flaming / Khaos (The Ullulators) : Another band that owe a lot to the
sound pioneered by Gong during the early seventies. Superb guitar and
vocal work.
One word of warning about Gong: After the album, You, Daevid Allen and
some of the others left Gong and the album that followed (Shamal) seemed
to fall short of what could be expected of the band. After this album,
Hillage split to start a solo career and the band continued under the
supervision of the jazz drummer Pierre Moerlen. The albums that followed
have little in common with previous Gong material. The spirit of Gong
was later picked up by the vocalist Gilli Smyth who released several
records with a band called Mother Gong. These records are worth
listening to since they have a lot in common with the new nineties Gong.
Good luck in finding Gong records on CD. Virgin should have a lot of the
Gong stuff on CD, but I think the Demi-Monde releases may only be
available on vinyl.
Please write and tell me how you get on...
Simon.
"I could swear that I saw you up in the sky,
Only teapots, I never knew they could fly...
It was as green as an emerald in the blue,
Now I wonder if it was really true... are you?"
David Ewing
>looking in used record stores and the like for anything by these guys.
>So far I haven't found much. I've got "You" and "Live Floating Anarchy"
>and a New York Gong EP called Jungle Windo(w).
>
>So what else is there? Does Daevid Allen have any solo stuff?
>Steve Hillage is listed on one of these albums. Is he a Gong regular?
>Where can I find any Gong? Is there any on CD or just in the used racks?
There's a LOT of Gong and Gong related material. Maybe someone could
post a discography (was Gong included in the excellent Canterbury
discography of about a year ago ?).
My recommendations :
The Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy : 1) _Flying_Teacup_
2) _Angel's_Egg_
3) _You_
Also check out the excellent live reunion album _Gong_est_Mort_,
_Viva_Gong_ . This was recorded in the late seventies, early
eighties in Paris. Hillage plays on this (his sound is
unmistakable) although he is not mentioned in the liner notes.
The group photo even has his face whited out. I suspect
contractual problems with the record companies involved.
Note : Gong continued without Daevid Allen as a more conventional
jazz-rock band led by drummer Pierre Moerlen (Pierre de
Strassburg).
Further note : Daevid Allen was one of the original members of
Soft Machine.
Yes, Steve Hillage was the lead guitar player during the height
of the band (he is on all three of the above). He has many
solo albums -- my favorites : _Fish_Rising_, _L_, _Green_.
Warning : the band members all used aliases --
Daevid Allen -- Dingo Virgin, Bert Camembert, Daevid the Alien
Steve Hillage -- Submarine Captain Spillage
Didier Malhabre (sp?) -- Bloomdido Bad De Grasse,
Bloomdido Glid De Briese
etc
Hope this helps.
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dave Ewing "Act like a dumbshit and they'll
ew...@se-sd.sandiego.ncr.com treat you like an equal."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nou Dadoun
(David Ewing) wrotes about (Patrick Hester) writing:
>>So what else is there? Does Daevid Allen have any solo stuff?
>>Steve Hillage is listed on one of these albums. Is he a Gong regular?
>>Where can I find any Gong? Is there any on CD or just in the used racks?
>There's a LOT of Gong and Gong related material. Maybe someone could
^^^^^^^^
Was this prescient or simply coincidental? Of course, New York Gong
eventually evolved into Material, a band which along with Bill Laswell
has been very influential in 80's rock/funk.
---------------------------------------------------------------> Nou
Nothing temporary about this music...
==
Nou Dadoun | ubc-cs!cs.ubc.ca!dadoun
Dept. of Computer Science | dad...@cs.ubc.ca
Univ. of British Columbia |
Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1W5 |---------------------
(604) 228-4912 |(604) 228-5485 [FAX]
Chris Koenigsberg
(sort of like Syd Barrett leaving Pink Floyd) to do weird solo stuff
including "This is the Time of the Bananamoon" and "Today is the
Happiest Day of Your Life". Daevid Allen was NOT in the band Gong when
the "You" album was recorded (the third of the trilogy), and I don't
recall if he was on the first two of the trilogy either (Flying Teacup,
Angel's Egg).
Then Steve Hillage left after recording "You". He did a solo album "Fish
Out Of Water" (followed by "L", with members of Todd Rundgren's Utopia).
Others left too (maybe the synth player and the sax player Bloomdido?)
Meanwhile Pierre Moerlein, the xylophonist/percussionist on the flying
teapot trilogy, took over the group name, hired Alan Holdsworth to play
guitar, and recorded "Espresso" (?spelling?), changing the group into an
instrumental jazz/rock band.
Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth (known as "Shakti Yoni", one of the two
disembodied female background voices on the flying teapot trilogy) were
married (still are?). In the original Planet Gong, Gilli mainly moaned,
cooed, giggled, added backing harmonies, and occasionally spoke some
words in conversation with Daevid Allen's lead, like on "Mystic
Brother/Magick Sister". (she was NOT the "lead singer" as someone
incorrectly suggested in a recent post, unless they're referring to her
own spinoff Mother Gong ).
At one point around 1977 there were three separate Gong bands playing -
Daevid Allen's re-formed NY Gong, Gilli Smyth's Mother Gong, and Pierre
Moerlein's jazz/rock version with Alan Holdsworth, using the original
name Gong. Plus, Steve Hillage was playing with his own band.
I saw a concert in Philadelphia where Gilli Smyth's Mother Gong opened
up for Daevid Allen's NY Gong, circa 1977.
Gilli Smyth as Mother Gong basically did a sort of Lydia Lunch thing,
wearing a leather dominatrix outfit, cooing and squealing into lots of
echo effects, chanting things like "I am the earth, I am mother, I am
lover, I am whore, I am bull dyke lesbian, I am your master" while an
acoustic guitar and synthesizer played.
Then Daevid Allen and NY Gong came out and rocked the house hard. Sort
of like punk rock with a druid treefrog wizard singing lead, with lots
of real outer space intervals mixing it up.
On the Live Floating Anarchy album, there's a single studio cut, "Opium
for the People", which is basically how the NY Gong played in the
concert I saw when it was rocking. I can easily believe that this band
evolved into Material with Bill Laswell.
There was also a lot of real spacey stuff - Daevid Allen has his
patented technique, also used by Steve Hillage (don't know which of them
invented it) of using metal spoons to bow the guitar strings. Daevid
even had a spoon dangling from his guitar by a thread so it was always
available for him to grab it and use it quickly. If you thought you
heard a mellotron or string synthesizer on Gong albums, it was really
the electric guitars rubbed with spoons!
R o d Johnson
>
>Daevid Allen was NOT in the band Gong when
>the "You" album was recorded (the third of the trilogy), and I don't
>recall if he was on the first two of the trilogy either (Flying Teacup,
>Angel's Egg).
This is *not* true. The whole Radio Gnome trilogy was Allen's show.
He left sometime after "You".
>On the Live Floating Anarchy album, there's a single studio cut, "Opium
>for the People", which is basically how the NY Gong played in the
>concert I saw when it was rocking. I can easily believe that this band
>evolved into Material with Bill Laswell.
Nou mentioned this too. First I've heard about it. Can anyone supply
details?
--
Rod Johnson - U Michigan Linguistics : Internet: r...@um.cc.umich.edu
in exile in Minnesota : Phone: (507) 645 9804
Richard Todd
>There's a LOT of Gong and Gong related material. Maybe someone could
>post a discography (was Gong included in the excellent Canterbury
>discography of about a year ago ?).
Yes it was. Here's the Gong section from that discography:
(note: I haven't yet seen the reported new Gong album "The Owl and the Tree".
If you've got it, give me the same sort of info I've got on the other Gong
albums (musicans, etc) so I can add it to the discography.)
[ If you have any changes/additions to this list, *please* send them to
rmt...@chinet.chi.il.us or rmt...@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu ]
The format for the listing is: name of artist, title, date of the record,
and the record label (when known), followed by a list of the musicians playing
on the record (important, since as Canterbury fans know, the lineup changes on
practically every record :-). On some of the listings for albums, the list of
musicians may be absent or incomplete; either I haven't heard anything about
this album or the record company never listed it in the first place. (If you
know who's on some of these records, let me know at the address above). The
characters [#] in a listing means I actually have the album (as opposed to
just having heard about its existence or having gotten a listing from one of
my informants). [CD] indicates that an album is available on CD.
Gong: Magick Brother, Mystic Sister, 1970 (Byg) [CD (Charly)]
<The original release (on Byg) was credited to Allen/Smyth, later rereleases
were credited to Gong>.
Daevid Allen: vcls, guitar (& bass) Gilli Smyth: vcls Didier
Malherbe: Flute, Sax Rachid Houari: drums Dieter Gewissler: bass
Earl Freeman: bass, piano Burton Green: bass
Gong: Camembert Electrique, 1971 (Byg/Caroline) [#, CD(Charly)]
Didier Malherbe <Bloomdido Bad de Grasse>: sax,flute Christian Tritsch: bass
Pip Pyle: drums Daevid Allen <Bert Camembert>: guitars, vocals
Gilli Smyth <Shakti Yoni>: vocals,space whispering <Venux De Luxe> Francis
Linon: switch doctor
<The members of Gong seem inordinately fond of appearing under rather bizarre
aliases. The real names of the musicians are always given here, followed or
preceded by the alias in angle brackets. >
Gong: Continental Circus, 1971 (Philips)
Daevid Allen: guitars,vocals Gilli Smyth: vocals. C. Tritsch: bass
Pip Pyle: drums Didier Malherbe: sax,flute
Gong: Greasy Truckers:Live At Dingwall's Dance Hall, 1973
<Bloomdido Bad de Grass> Didier Malherbe: Sax
<Stevie Hillside Village> Steve Hillage: guitar
<Pierre de Strasbourg> Pierre Moerlen: drums
<Mr. T. Being> Mike Howlett: bass
<Hi T. Moonweed the Favourite> Tim Blake: synth
<Dingo Virgin> Daevid Allen: guitar.
[1 side is Gong; the other three sides are by Camel, Henry Cow and the
Global Village Trucking Co., all of whom were bands on the periphery of
the Canterbury scene, though never quite properly in it:
Richard Sinclair played on Camel albums; Lol Coxhill, Robert
Wyatt, Mike Oldfield appeared on Henry Cow, Lindsay Cooper played on all
albums (the core line-up being Chris Cutler, Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson);
The Global Village Trucking Co played at many of the same gigs as the main
Canterbury bands.]
<I am told that Jan Schelhaas of Caravan also appeared on two Camel albums,
"I Can See Your House From Here" and "Nude" -- RMT>
Gong: Radio Gnome Invisible Part 1-Flying Teapot, 1973 (Virgin) [#]
<Dingo Virgin> Daevid Allen: gtrs,voc. Gilli Smyth <Good Witch Yoni>:
vocals <Hi T. Moonweed> Tim Blake: synth, voc. Stevie <Hillside> Hillage:
gtrs <Francis Bacon> Francis Mose: bass,kybds <Venux de Luxe> Francis
Linon: switch doctor (engineer) <Lawrence the Alien> Laurie Allan(?):drums
<Submarine Captain> Tritsch: gtr
Gong: Radio Gnome Invisible Part 2-Angel's Egg, 1973 (Virgin)
Didier Malherbe: sax <Shakti Yoni> Gilli Smyth: vocals
<T. Being esq.> Tritsch: gtr, bass Steve Hillage: gtrs
<Hi T. Moonweed> Tim Blake: synth <Pierre de Strasbourg> Pierre Moerlen:drums
<Mireille de Strasbourg> Mireille Bauer: Percussion,
<Dingo Virgin> Daevid Allen: gtrs,voc.
[Note, some members had several aliases, notably Didier, who was Bloomdido
Bad de Grass (a play on his name, in French Malherbe translates literally
as 'bad grass'), Bloomdido Bad de Glis (glis being a Steve Hillage word for
the musical term 'glissando' ), Bloomdido Glid de Breeze, Bloomdido Glad
de Brass, Gnome Pipo Bal de Glass.]
Gong: Radio Gnome Invisible Part 3-You, 1974 (Virgin)
Mike Howlett: bass Pierre Moerlen: drums Steve Hillage: gtr
Didier Malherbe: sax <Hi T. Moonweed> Tim Blake:synth
<Dingo Virgin> Daevid Allen: gtr,voc. <Shakti Yoni> G.Smyth: vocals
<Bambaloni Yoni> Miquette Giraudy: voc. Mirielle Bauer: perc.
Benoit Moerlin: perc.
Gong: Shamal, 1976 (Virgin) [#] [CD]
Mirielle Bauer: perc. Patrice Lemoine: kybds Pierre Moerlin: drums
Miquette Giraudy: voc.,kybds Steve Hillage: gtrs Mike Howlett: bass
Didier Malherbe: sax Francis Moze: bass Jorge Pinchevsky: violin
Gong: Gazeuse!, 1977 (Virgin) [CD]
Mireille Bauer: percussion Allan Holdsworth: guitar Pierre Moerlen: drums
Benoit Moerlen: perc. Didier Malherbe: sax Mino Cinelon: perc.
Gong: Gong Live Etc, 1977 (Virgin) [double album, #]
Allen & Smyth: the usual. Malherbe: flute, sax. Steve Hillage: gtr
Mike Howlett: bass Pierre Moerlin: drums Rob Tate: drums Mirielle
Bauer: perc. Dianne Stewart: voc. Patrice Lemoine: kybds. Miquette
Giraudy: vocals.
Gong: Vive Gong/Gong est Mort, 1977 (Tapioca) [double album]
Daevid Allen: gtr, voc. Gilli Smyth: voc Steve Hillage: gtr
Tim Blake: synths Didier Malherbe: sax Pierre Moerlin: drums
<Monsieur T Shirt> (either Howlett or Tritsch): bass
Gong: Expresso II, 1978 (Virgin) [#] [CD]
Mireille Bauer: percussion Allan Holdsworth: guitar Pierre Moerlen: drums
Benoit Moerlen: percussion Francis Causse: congas Darryl Way: violin
Hanny Rowe: bass Mick Taylor: guitar
<Darryl Way was the violinist for Curved Air and Darryl Way's Wolf.>
Gong: Floating Anarchy, 1978 (Charly) (recorded as 'The Planet Gong') [CD,#]
Daevid Allen: gtr,voc. Gilly Smyth: voc. Sam Gopal: perc., synth,
Pepe Milan: guitar, vcls Juan Biblioni: guitar, vocals
<The CD is another 2-on-1 deal, with the other one being
New York Gong.>
Gong: Downwind, 1979 (Arista)
Mirielle Bauer: perc. Francis Causse: congas Allen Holdsworth: gtr
Pierre Moerlen: drums Terry Oldfield: flute Mike Oldfield: gtr
Didier Malherbe: sax Darryl Way: violin Steve Winwood: keyboards
Mick Taylor: guitar Hanny Rowe: bass Didier Lockwood: violin
Gong: Time is the Key, 1979 (Arista)
Allan Holdsworth: gtr Pierre Moerlen: drums Darryl Way: violin
Hanny Rowe: bass Nico Ramsden: gtr Didier Malherbe: sax
Peter Lemer: kybds Joe Kirby: bass
Pierre Moerlen's Gong: P. Moerlen's Gong Live, 1980 (Arista) [#]
Pierre Moerlen: drums Benoit Moerlen: perc. Hanny Rowe: bass
Francis Causse: congas
Gong: Leave It Open, 1981 (Arista)
Charlie Mariano: sax, flute Hanny Rowe: bass Francis Chausse: congas
Brian Holloway: gtr
New York Gong: About Time, 1980 (Charly) [CD,#]
Daevid Allen: gtr, voc. Bill Laswell: bass Bill Bacon: drums
Fred Maher: drums Cliff Cultreri: gtr Gary Windo: sax
Michael Beinhorn: synth Don Davis: sax Mark Kramer: organ
<The CD is another 2-on-1 release, with the other one being
_Floating Anarchy_ aka _The Planet Gong.>
Pierre Moerlen's Gong: Breakthrough, 1986 (ARC) [#]
Hansford Rowe: bass Lena Andersson: vocals Nina Andersson: sax,vocals
Christer Rhedin: moog Ake Zieden: elec. gtr Dag Westling: acoustic gtr
Michael Zykla: Chapman Stick Pierre Moerlin: synth,vibraphone,xylophone,
drums, timpani, vocals, gong
Gong: Wingful of Eyes, ? (Virgin) [CD]
<Compilation from Shamal, Gazeuse, Expresso II.>
Gong: The History and Mystery of the Planet Gong, 1989 (Demi-Monde) [#,CD]
<CD-only release of rare Gong live material and outtakes, plus some of
Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth's recent solo material. Contains a
recording of "Love Makes Sweet Music" by the Daevid Allen-era Soft
Machine.>
Gong: Live au Bataclan '73, 1990 (Mantra) [CD]
Daevid Allen: gtr, vocals Gilli Smyth: space whisper Tim Blake: synth.
Steve Hillage: gtr. Mike Howlett: bass Pierre Moerlen: drums Didier
Malherbe: sax, flute.
<CD release of a previously unreleased Gong concert in Paris in 1973.
Includes a nice 18-page booklet with a recent interview of Daevid
Allen. Alas, it's all in French...>