When I mentioned to my brother that I had received a set of four Pete Hammill albums, I thought he might be pleased. He was, afterall, eight years older than me and was alive and kicking in 1973 when bands like Van Der Graf Generator, Gryphon, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Genesis, Yes, Jethro Tull and King Crimson were loosening their leidenhosen and adjusting their codpieces and preparing not only supper and tales from a topographic ocean, but also lavishly extended improvisations in the key of A Major9#11. Instead he said, "well look at this way; on the one hand you have a set of Peter Hammill records, on the other a handy draught excluder". And as surprised as I was that our kid was no longer turned on by electronically-treated saxophones, 75-part harmonies and monstrously overwrought time signatures, I had to agree. "Flog ‘em to some disillusioned old hippy on Ebay", he suggested. And had it not been for the fact that that ‘disillusioned old hippy on Ebay ' was likely to have been anyone from Al Stewart to Peter Hammill himself, and the fact that these records had been ‘loaned’ to me on trust and only to be used for ‘promotional purposes’ (like sticking them at the back of a cupboard and forgetting about them) I probably would have. But that would have been a mistake, as this completists’ dream of a prog-rock collection actually yields no small amount of pleasure. It’s a barking mad kind of pleasure, admittedly. But a pleasure nevertheless.
Peter Hammill is, was - whichever end of the time spectrum you’re on - the great British idiosyncratic vocalist's favourite idiosyncratic vocalist, feted by David Bowie, Thom Yorke and the Fall's Mark E Smith. He was the colossal force behind Van der Graaf Generator - the seminal 1970s English progressive rock band and the first act signed to Charisma Records. In a 1977 radio interview, John Lydon of the Sex Pistols played two tracks from the album and expressed his admiration for Hammill in exceptionally pleasant terms: "Peter Hammill's great. A true original. I've just liked him for years. If you listen to his solo albums, I'm damn sure Bowie copied a lot out of that geezer. The credit he deserves, has just not been given to him. I love all his stuff".
And what you have, dear reader is indeed ‘all his stuff’. Well most of it. All of Hammill’s prodigious solo records expanded, remastered and redeployed by those kindly folk at Virgin with all manner of extras including bonus tracks and individual sleeve notes written by Hammill himself. Peter Hammill's verbose and screaming dalliances of an ever expanding mind. With saxaphones... Enjoy….
“Chameleon In The Shadow Of The Night” - 1972
“The Silent Corner and The Empty Stage” - 1972
“In Camera” -1973
“Nadir’s Big Chance” - 1974 Relevant sites:
http://www.petehamill.com
Alan Sargeant for Crud Magazine 2006© |
