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National Health

Artist: National Health
Label: Visa Records
Catalog#: IMP 7002
Format: Vinyl
Country: United States
Released: 1978
Tracklist
A1 Tenemos Roads 14:43
A2 Brujo 10:19
B1 Borogoves (Excerpt From Part Two) 4:16
B2 Borogoves (Part One) 6:37
B3 Elephants 14:37
Credits

Artwork By - Kevin Burke
Bass - Neil Murray
Clarinet - Jimmy Hastings
Clarinet [Bass] - Jimmy Hastings
Clavinet - Dave Stewart
Congas - John Mitchell
Drums, Cowbell, Tambourine, Gong, Glockenspiel, Cymbal [Finger], Shaker, Bells, Pixiephone - Pip Pyle
Edited By - Pip Pyle
Effects [Synthi Hi-fli], Mixed By - Nick Levitt
Engineer - Brian Gaynor
Engineer - Mike Dunne
Engineer - Paul Northfield
Flute - Jimmy Hastings
Guitar - Phil Miller
Mixed By - National Health
Mixed By - Paul Northfield
Organ, Electric Piano, Piano - Dave Stewart
Percussion - John Mitchell
Photography - Laurie Lewis
Piano - Alan Gowen
Producer - National Health
Recorded By - Mike Ruysbroek
Synthesizer [Moog], Electric Piano - Alan Gowen
Temple Blocks, Guava - John Mitchell
Vocals - Amanda Parsons
Written By - Alan Gowen
Written By - Dave Stewart

Notes

Recorded at the Point, Victoria, London 1977 on the Mobile Mobile.
Intro to "Elephants" recorded live at the M.L.T.S., Tiel, Holland, 14/2/77.
Promotional copy.

Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
National Health's beginnings precede this debut recording by about two years. Two keyboardists, Hatfield and the North's Dave Stewart and Gilgamesh's Alan Gowen, founded the group as a large-scale rock ensemble in 1975. Early lineups included Stewart and Gowen, along with Phil Lee and Phil Miller on guitars, Mont Campbell on bass, Amanda Parsons on vocals and Bill Bruford on drums. Large indeed. Lee left first, to be temporarily replaced by Steve Hillage. Bruford was the next to depart, followed by Campbell and Gowen. By the time Stewart's head stopped spinning, he'd settled with Miller, Neil Murray and Pip Pyle on drums: basically, the Hatfield and the North lineup he had left! In March 1977, National Health recorded their self-titled debut, with Gowen, Parsons and long-time Canterbury stand-in Jimmy Hastings augmenting the lineup. Their music is instantly recognizable: intricate, highly arranged, partly frenetic and always melodic. "Tenemos Roads" rides over the Pyle/Murray rhythm section; Parsons's vocals are angelic and Miller's guitar tone thick, while four hands worth of keyboards fill out the lush sound. Shifting between sections with ease, it is one of Stewart's finest compositions. "Brujo," penned by Gowen, follows with the same tenacity, though punctuated by his lead Moog. "Borogoves (Excerpt from Part Two)" features Murray's bass work; the second section sneaks in a bit of that fuzz organ, something often associated with Canterbury bands. The chaotic introduction to "Elephants" is followed by a more frenetic than usual pace, before the record returns to "Tenemos Road" for a final coda. The group signed to Charly Records late in 1977, leading to the album's release in 1978. But as to be expected, more change was just around the corner.
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