Blue Whale, by Aynsley Dunbar

Blue Whale

by Aynsley Dunbar

supported by

	/

Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Comes in a deluxe matte laminate sleeve.

Original 1971 BYG album facsimile-edition
Mastered to vinyl from BYG tapes by Nick Robbins
Lacquers cut by Cicely Balston at AIR STUDIOS
Exclusive liner notes by author and journalist Kevin Le Gendre

SIDE 1
1. Willing To Fight
2. Willie The Pimp

SIDE 2
1. It's Your Turn
2. Days
3. Going Home

Includes unlimited streaming of Blue Whale via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 5 days

£24 GBP or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Comes in a deluxe matte laminate gatefold sleeve & printed inner wallet.

Original 1971 BYG album
Digitally mastered from BYG tapes by Nick Robbins
8-page booklet with photos & exclusive liner notes by author and journalist Kevin Le Gendre

Includes unlimited streaming of Blue Whale via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 5 days

£13 GBP or more
Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

£6 GBP or more

1.	Willing To Fight 06:39	buy track
2.	Willie The Pimp 14:31	buy track
3.	It's Your Turn 10:00	buy track
4.	Days 05:50	buy track
5.	Going Home 08:16	buy track

about

LEGENDARY BRITISH DRUMMER’S ADVENTUROUS SOPHOMORE ALBUM IS STILL FULL OF SURPRISES DECADES AFTER IT WAS MADE

Liverpool-born drummer Aynsley Dunbar was one of the most respected musicians on the international rock scene of the late ‘60s. His work with trailblazers such as John Mayall, David Bowie, Lou Reed and Frank Zappa, with whom he had a lengthy association, have assured his place in history. But Dunbar also laid down a marker as a bandleader in his own right. His debut album, Doctor Dunbar’s Prescription was a confident set of electric blues that was full of snappy tunes and high energy riffing.

Recorded in 1971, Blue Whale is considerably more experimental, though. It is really a case of Dunbar drifting towards a hybrid of progressive rock and psychedelia not far removed from Zappa’s surreally comic, bitingly sardonic world. And indeed the cover of his seminal ‘Willie The Pimp’ is one of the highlights of the set. Accompanied by excellent rhythm section players and soloists such as guitarists Ivan Zagni and Roger Sutton, bassist Peter Friedberg, pianist-organist Tommy Eyre, and vocalist Paul Williams, Dunbar hit a creative peak here that is emphatically maintained elsewhere on the album, which has mostly long pieces full of notable light and shade.

As the album unfolds it becomes clear that this is the era in which technology was taken to another level by skilled engineers who shaped audio landscapes with increasing imagination. Here the incumbent is Colin Caldwell, and if the artful vapour trails of reverb on the horns and subtle simmer and crackle around the guitar sound familiar then that is because he was the man who also mixed a superlative album by Dunbar’s label mates Alice.

“This newly re-mastered version of Blue Whale puts one of the highpoints of Aynsley Dunbar’s illustrious career back under the spotlight. He was rightly inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017 and there could be no more fitting example of his achievement than an album that sounds impressively fresh 50 years after it was made.” Kevin Le Gendre

Original 1971 BYG album remastered from original BYG tapes.
High definition digital audio 96kHz 24bit wav.

credits

released April 28, 2023

2023 Remastered Audiophile Edition
Executive producer for this re-issue: Jean-Luc Young
Re-issue produced for release by Geoffrey Cousin
Audio restoration and mastering from BYG tapes by Nick Robbins
Graphic design for this re-issue by Phil Rogers

A BYG Production
P 1971 BYG Records
C 2023 Charly Acquisitions Ltd.

An Original BYG Recording
Courtesy of Charly Acquisitions Ltd.
Licensed from LicenseMusic.com ApS.

license

about

BYG Records London, UK

Pioneering French independent record label launched in 1967.

Avant-Garde / Free Jazz / Experimental / Psychedelic & Prog Rock

bygrecords.com

contact / help

Contact BYG Records

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Blue Whale, you may also like:

How Long This Time? Live 1970
by The Keith Tippett Group

supported by 7 fans who also own “Blue Whale”

Incredible album, "Vacant Mood" sublime. Rich Robinson
go to album
Live at the Baked Potato
by Soft Machine

supported by 5 fans who also own “Blue Whale”

The legendary Soft Machine are firing on all cylinders here and this is a real musical treat and a superb offering from top to bottom. fgmoods
go to album
First Light
by Barbara Thompson

supported by 5 fans who also own “Blue Whale”

"Among the countless possible ways to get acquainted with her work this surely isn't a top-tier starting point, but if you're fan enough to look past the technical imperfectness this is a very intriguing release, which presents the wide range of a great artist during a short span of time." https://derohlsen.blogspot.com/2023/07/jazz-in-britain-barbara-thompson-first.html Der Ohlsen
go to album
Pith
by Tomas Fujiwara

featured on Bandcamp Radio Apr 2, 2024
go to album
Memoirs of a Dream
by The Sea Ensemble

Imbued with spirit, openness, and curiosity, The Sea Ensemble played improvisational music as if they were trying to capture the sound of something greater. Bandcamp Album of the Day Dec 2, 2022
go to album
Spider Season
by Nick Dunston

featured on Bandcamp Radio Jun 7, 2022
go to album
Kaleidoscope Of Rainbows: Live '75
by Neil Ardley

supported by 5 fans who also own “Blue Whale”

Love love love 🙃😂♥️♥️♥️🙏💯🙏👋🌟👍 albertwyattcarleo
go to album