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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Comes in a deluxe matte laminate gatefold sleeve.

    Original 1969 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. Mystic Sister - Magick Brother
    2. Change The World
    3. Glad To Sad To Say
    4. Chain Store Chant - Pretty Miss Titty
    5. Fredfish - Hope You Feel OK

    SIDE 2
    1. Ego
    2. Gong Song
    3. Princess Dreaming
    4. 5 & 20 Schoolgirls
    5. Cos You've Got Green Hair

    Includes unlimited streaming of Magick Brother via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 5 days

      £25 GBP

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a deluxe matte laminate gatefold sleeve & printed inner wallet.

    Original 1969 BYG album
    Expanded with 2 original single-version tracks
    Digitally mastered from BYG tapes by Nick Robbins
    16-page booklet with photos & exclusive liner notes by author and journalist Kevin Le Gendre

    Includes unlimited streaming of Magick Brother 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.

    Comes with in-depth sleeve notes by author and music journalist Kevin Le Gendre in fully illustrated 16-page digital booklet featuring photos, original credits and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £8 GBP  or more

     

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Ego 03:57
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Gong Song 04:09
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about

GONG’S MESMERIZING 1969 DEBUT ALBUM TRIPPY & SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS PSYCHEDELIC ROCK OF THE HIGHEST ORDER

Having been part of the fabled ‘Canterbury scene’ along with luminaries such as Robert Wyatt and Pip Pyle the irrepressible Australian guitarist-vocalist-songwriter Daevid Allen formed Gong with Welsh vocalist Gilli Smyth in Paris at the end of the ‘60s as France was in state of ferment. The pair actually had to exit France and take refuge in Majorca after falling foul of the authorities and finding themselves subject to an arrest warrant.

Following their return to Paris in the summer of 1969 at the instigation of film director Jérome Laperrousaz, for whom they cut a soundtrack, Allen and Smyth were asked to record once again by Jean Karakos of BYG, the label formed by himself, Jean-Luc Young and Fernand Boruso. With the addition of French saxophonist Didier Malherbe, bass guitarist Christian Tritsch and drummer Rachid Houari Gong was born in earnest and waxed Magick Brother before going on to make an appearance at the Actuel festival in Amougies, Belgium. Although Tritsch couldn’t make the studio session, jazz double bassists Barre Phillips and Earl Freeman and pianist Burton Greene – all of whom released fine albums on BYG – contributed to several tracks.

The A side of the disc is Early Morning and the B is Side Of The Late Night. These sub-headings reflect a clearly stated premise.

That isn’t to say that the music can’t be enjoyed outside of the prescribed hours but the contrasts of mood that the musicians set out to create from one stage of the album to the next are noteworthy. The piercing voices and hissing guitars that greet the listener on side A are almost like a burst of energy at dawn, the moment when things stir from slumber as the first rays of the sun hit eyes that have been hitherto shut tight. These initially harsh sounds slope off into the distance and a gentle flute wafts into earshot over light yet resonant strains of bowed bass. A beautifully delivered melody, carried by acoustic guitar and sensual sotto voce, sets out Gong’s rich stylistic identity as well as its ability to create atmospheres found somewhere that is far from earth.

Magick Brother introduced Gong as one of the great oddities of the psychedelic and space rock age. The nucleus of Allen, Smyth and Malherbe was able to create a musical vocabulary very much of its own all the while searching for essential metaphysical truths.

“The band made strong political statements that comes through loud and clear on this re-mastered version of Gong’s debut album...” Kevin Le Gendre, 2022.

Original 1969 BYG album remastered from original BYG tapes.
Expanded with 2 original single-version tracks.
High definition digital audio 44.1kHz 24bit wav.

credits

released January 27, 2023

2022 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 1969 BYG Records
C 2022 Charly Acquisitions Ltd.

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

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all rights reserved

tags

about

BYG Records London, UK

Pioneering French independent record label launched in 1967.

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

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