Fool's Mate
Artist:
Peter Hammill
Label:
Charisma
Catalog#:
CAS 1037
Format:
Vinyl
Country:
United States
Released:
1971-07
| Tracklist | |||
| A1 | Imperial Zeppelin | 3:38 | |
| Notes: |
Composed By - Judge Smith |
||
| A2 | Candle | 4:14 | |
| Notes: |
Performer - Martin Pottinger |
||
| A3 | Happy | 2:33 | |
| Notes: |
Performer - David Jackson |
||
| A4 | Solitude | 4:54 | |
| Notes: |
Performer - Martin Pottinger |
||
| A5 | Vision | 3:11 | |
| Notes: |
Performer - Hugh Banton |
||
| A6 | Re-Awakening | 3:55 | |
| Notes: |
Performer - Benny On The High Bits |
||
| B1 | Sunshine | 3:55 | |
| Notes: |
Performer - David Jackson |
||
| B2 | Child | 4:22 | |
| Notes: |
Performer - David Jackson |
||
| B3 | Summer Song (In The Autumn) | 2:14 | |
| Notes: |
Performer - Guy Evans |
||
| B4 | Viking | 4:40 | |
| Notes: |
Composed By - Judge Smith |
||
| B5 | The Birds | 3:37 | |
| Notes: |
Performer - Guy Evans |
||
| B6 | I Once Wrote Some Poems | 2:40 | |
| Notes: |
Performer - Peter Hammill |
||
Credits
Artwork By [Cover] - Cleen Mashine Studio
Artwork By [Cover] - Paul Whitehead
Bass - Nic Potter
Bass, Violin - Rod Clements
Composed By - Peter Hammill
Drums - Martin Pottinger
Drums, Percussion - Guy Evans
Electric Guitar - Robert Fripp
Engineer - Robin Geoffrey Cable
Harp, Mandolin - Ray Jackson
Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano - Peter Hammill
Percussion [Tam-tam] - Paul Whitehead
Photography - Sebastian Rich
Piano, Organ - Hugh Banton
Producer - John Anthony
Saxophone [Alto+tenor], Flute - David Jackson
Notes
All tracks: Stratsong/Carlin.
Recorded at Trident Studios, London W.1. April 20/21/27/28 1971.
Thank you for the loans of:-
Bob Fripp - Island Records and King Crimson
Rod Clements, Ray Jackson - Lindisfarne (the fabulous Holy Islands)
Martin Pottinger - Aberdeen College of Architecture.
This isn't intended to be any kind of statement of my present musical position, but at the same time it is an album which involves a great deal of me, the person, being basically a return to roots. The songs are, for the most part, three to four years old, and were written in the formative years of Van der Graaf, some of them were originally played by the band in its early days and forms. This is, therefore, an album of songs rather than musical extravaganzae, and as such is dedicated to all the people who encouragised/energised them at the time they were written, who have shed new light on them since, and all those who helped in the making of the album, directly or indirectly.
Peter Hammill.
*and the Fluctuating Chorale:-
Guy, Hugh, Dave, Ray, John, Norman, Alastair, John, Peter.
Distributed By Buddah Records
(P) & (C) 1972 Buddah Records
Strawberry Bricks Entry:
Having already spent most of the year on tour with VdGG, Peter Hammill’s first solo album was recorded in what must have been an exceptionally busy year for him. As a solo artist, Hammill was a slightly different creature. It wouldn’t be incorrect (at this stage) to call the singer-songwriter acoustic; but in true progressive tradition, his song-form certainly was original. The album, as Hammill states on the liner notes, is “an album of songs rather than a musical extravaganza” (that of course, he was saving for the next VdGG album). Most of the songs were years old by the time the album was recorded, many first being cataloged in the early days of VdGG. Adding to the overall color of the album, Fool’s Mate features a host of colleagues, including all of VdGG and Robert Fripp, plus Ray Jackson and Rod Clements from Lindisfarne. Both sides of the album open with uncharacteristically rollicking numbers. “Imperial Zeppelin” is one of two songs co-written with former VdGG member Chris Judge Smith (the other being the excellent “Viking”). Some of the album shows the zest of The Aerosol Grey Machine-in particular, the lumbering “Candle” and the brisk “Re-awakening.” But the portraits of “Solitude” and “Child,” both simultaneously bleak and beautiful, point in the direction that Hammill’s solo career would follow (for now, anyway). Two other tracks, “Vision” and “The Birds,” would both crop up a decade later in re-recordings, again reaffirming their timelessness. Hammill would become one of the most prolific solo artists of the genre, but all of that would have to wait; there was still much unfinished business in VdGG to attend to.
