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Fairy Tales

Artist: Mother Gong
Label: Charly Records Ltd.
Catalog#: CRL 5018
Format: Vinyl
Country: United Kingdom
Released: 1979
Tracklist
A1 Three Riders  
A2 The Baba-Yaga's Cottage  
A3 The Forbidden Room  
A4 Time Machine  
A5 Flying  
A6 Wassilissa Returns Home  
A7 Through The Machine Again  
A8 The Baba-Yaga  
B1 The Shoemaker's Son  
B2 Land Of The Dogs  
B3 The Frog  
B4 An Irish Inn In Rome  
B5 The Arena  
B6 Turtles  
B7 Birds  
B8 The Feast  
B9 Hamelin  
B10 Rats Amok  
B11 An Angry Crowd  
B12 Rat-Rock  
B13 A Thousand Guilders?  
B14 Children!  
B15 Magic Land  
Credits

Bagpipes [Uilleann] - Ronnie Wathen
Bass - Trevor Darks
Composed By - Harry Williamson
Engineer [Inspirational] - Dave Anderson
Flute [Muzma], Oboe - Nik Turner
Guitar - Eduardo Niebla
Guitar - Harry Williamson
Harp - Marianne Oberasher
Keyboards - Mo Vicarage
Percussion, Drums - Ermano Ghisio Erba
Reeds, Woodwind - Bloomdido Bad de Grass
Vocals - Gilli Smyth
Written-By - Gilli Smyth
Written-By - Harry Williamson

Notes

Charly Music Ltd., 9 Beadon Road, London W6 0EA
Distributed by Spartan Records.
Sleeve printed in England by Gothic Press Ltd., London SE9 2EQ
Published by Charly Music Ltd.

Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
Gilli Smyth, aka Shakti Yoni, first met Daevid Allen in 1964 by which time she had already earned her degrees from King's College London, taught in Paris and had her first child. When Allen was barred from England in 1967 for visa irregularities, the pair returned to Paris and founded Gong. Following their stint with Planet Gong in the mid-70s, Smyth's first album, Mother, was assembled (mostly) with various Gong recordings, some dating back to the early 70s. With her non-singing space whisper, Allen's tape loops and loose backing music to her half-sung spoken word musings on all things motherhood (she had recently given birth to two sons with Allen), the blueprint for her Mother Gong works was set. In 1979, with her relationship with Allen behind her, she partnered with Harry Williamson, and lived in Devon until 1982. Williamson had previously worked with ex-Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips on a soundtrack to his father's renowned Tarka The Otter (also released as Battle Of The Birds: A Celtic Tale, with Smyth narrating), and cut a single "Nuclear Waste" b/w "Digital Love" as The Radio Actors: Sting, Mike Howlett, Steve Hillage, Steve Broughton and Nik Turner. Recorded at Dave Anderson's Foel Studio, Fairy Tales stands as the first Mother Gong album. The album sets three classic fairy tales—Wassilissa, The Three Tongues (Languages) and The Pied Piper, all recited by Smyth—to Williamson's musical backing with a host of guests, Gong-related and otherwise. Keyboardist Mo Vicarage and drummer Dino Ferari (from Nik Turner's Inner City Unit), and Automatic Fine Tuning's bassist Trevor Darks make up the core band, with guitarist Eduardo Niebla on guitar (from the Spanish band Atila). Mother Gong toured extensively, performing at Glastonbury festival in both 1979 and 1981. Smyth and Williamson would next record the Robot Women trilogy of albums, based on Ira Levin's Stepford Wives and recorded with Guy Evans, Didier Malherbe, Yan Emeric Vagh and a revolving cast of other musicians. In 1982, Smyth and Williamson would immigrate to Australia, continuing Mother Gong down under, and eventually recording again with Allen.
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