I remember buying Camembert Electrique in 1971 because it cost 50p. I had no idea what to expect, and when I listened to it I did not get it at all. I thought it was rubbish actually. I was listening to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin and the like so Gong were nothing like what I was used to. But later on when my musical tastes began to change and I got into jazz and Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheard and in particular Soft Machine and Hatfield and The North I gave it another listen and suddenly I liked it and went on to love all their albums.
Likewise. A schoolmate introduced me to it. I'm quite sure we were the only two in our year who wore what are now highly popular 'beanie' hats. Everyone thought we were made and that the music was awful. Did we care? We did NOT! I now have four copies of Camembert and the Gnome trilogy on original vinyl, 40-year re-release vinyl and CD. And probably more copies of 'You' than are good for me haha. I also bagged Shapeshifter a few months back. I guess the pothead pixie in me will live on forever.
I love them, especially Angel's Egg and You. Pierre Moerlen, one of the most underrated drummers of all time. For me Gong lineup make me think about the ingredients to make an incredible group: a charismatic leader/singer/lyricist(Daevid Allen, Peter Gabriel/Jon Anderson/Robert Fripp) surrounded by great musicians(in this case: Steve Hillage, Didier Malherbe and Pierre Moerlen) and also good musicians (Mike Howlett and Tim Blake). Fantastic stuff. I always enjoyed them without any drug!.
Lovely to hear a video about Gong. 'You' is my favourite of the trilogy and the track 'A Sprinkling of Clouds' is Gong's masterpiece in my opinion. Tim Blake's (Hi T Moonweed) synths are fantastic throughout the trilogy and for me he is THE sound of Gong. That particular track has echoes of Terry Riley's 'A Rainbow in Curved Air', and I hear Tim's atmospheric droning, bubbling synth sounds everywhere in 90s and later ambient, downtempo electronica. The 'You' album became the focus for an excellent electronica album called 'You Remixed' in 1997.
Chuffed to hear this, G.A.S, the gong appreciation society run by Johnny Green is on/off Glastonbury high st. master builder is my favourite (the great om riff) great versions also by hillage and the ozrics, honoured to have known and live engineered Daevid, the gong family tree is worth an explore, thanks Andy.
If you are the man who recorded the album Neptune, I wanna let you know I really like that one! I found Gong back in the early 80s through my obsession with all things Holdsworth. I love all their albums, but especially the RGI trilogy through all the later Moerlen led albums which are all different from each other
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer If you have the most recent releases (and AFAIK all CD releases of Flying Teapot) you may notice that they sound very different from that LP you hold up in this video. I have remastered FT from pristine 1973 vinyl and you might appreciate the results if you have a good sound system on your computer: ua-cam.com/video/0YYCBaBNmoA/v-deo.html One other odd thing I noticed in the Cd releases is that it sounds as though the tape is crinkled at the 9:17-9:24 mark of the title song, whereas my remaster does not sound crinkled.
I recently purchased Live at Sheffield. It's an early performance of the classic lineup with Pierre Moerlin and without Gilli Smyth, which to me is the optimum Gong band. If you ever wondered what the Flying Teapot material would sound like with Pierre on drums you need this album. I saw them play shortly after Daevid Allen left in 75 at the Amsterdam Paradiso. They played all the the Radio Gnome stuff with Hillage singing, plus a couple of new things. After the show I spoke briefly to Didier Malherbe. He was very cool.
I heard "You" first -- a loaner from a cousin when I was a kid; so getting into the story backwards, I never really followed the story at all... still loved all three of these records a lot, just for the music, the immersive experience of the sound, even without the story! I love some of the Hillage solo stuff, too.
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Those are my two favorites of Hillage, along with the Live at Deeply Vale; and I also like the Khan record, with Dave Stewart. But yeah, how "Gong-y" varies!
Dunno how I missed this one, Andy. Absolutely love Gong. My favourite prog band, by a country mile. The later fusion stuff is excellent, but for me it’ll always be the Daevid Allen albums. Would it be fair to say that the ‘English Aesthetic’ is a part of their sound, despite the different nationalities in the band? 🤔
Great video!!! Shamal is another one of my favorite albums!! I also think Acid Motherhood is an amazing album! It features Kawabata Makoto from Acid Mothers Temple, another great psychedelic band!!!
I was listening to You in the car with my 10 year-old daughter and two of her friends. I was surprised by how much they liked it, nay loved it! That wouldn,t happen with ELP!
Checkout the recently released on Madfish album: Live a Longlaville 27/10/1974. Encapsulates the Gong trilogy in a live set with a fair amount of improvisation.
Thank you for this one, Andy. Just working my way through your older videos. I came to Gong not from progressive rock (although I was a fan of VDGG and early Genesis) but from the "Canterbury" direction. Soft Machine, Caravan, Egg, Hatfield and the North. All the hippy hashish stuff. I know you like the Hillage/Moerlen virtuoso side of things but in many ways I feel Didier Malherbe and Tim Blake were more central to the Gong sound.
Great video. One of my all-time favourite bands, and these albums are the pick of the catalogue. I'd probably rank them in order of release, but there is little to separate them. I'd also highly recommend the Live Etc. album, which I prefer to the Gong Est Mort album.
I can't keep up with the rate you're bring videos out! My introduction to Gong came with Angel's Egg which was a Christmas present to myself in 1973. I remember my parents' wire-haired fox terrier puppy being frightened by the noises of what sound like someone getting hit on the Percolations track and jumping on my knee for protection. Then Camembert Electrique being released in 1974 as a cheapo at 59p - just seen it for £75.00 second hand on Google! And i've never seen that cover on You before. I've just been looking through my Gong recordings and realised that I've also got the re-released version of Bananamoon which I had totally forgotten about - I'll need to give it a play. Thanks for all your videos.
Love all Gong, there is something special about most of them but especially the albums with Daevid Allen on. Had to get the Planet Gong box set remastered by Howlett their bass player and with Steve Hillage involved. Wonderful sound and You in 5.1 is amazing. Got Hillage's Searching for the Spark as well, brilliant albums. I also love System 7, to me a continuation of the sound, very progressive and very Gong in a lot of ways. The new Gong are still worth getting. Ozric Tentacles remind me of Gong a lot, especially the early stuff.
Thanks for the video Andy. I've got some later Gong with Holdsworth etc, but for some reason never heard this period of the band. I guess some stuff just slips past you over the years. I'll give it a go though. I gave your recommendation of the Lonely Bears a try and really enjoyed them so thanks for that!
Ps are you related to Gary Edwards? (think I've got the name right).. I attended one of his music tech courses many moons ago and he introduced me to Zanzibar Gomez!
I love Gong, and have seen them a good few times. Steve brought on a fishing rod at one concert. The Teapot trilogy got better with each album, culminating in You, which is wonderful. Shamal is even better, and I was lucky enough to see that version of the band too. Feeling smug here.
Not the one he is showing. The original has a kind of spectral pyramid in the centre against a starry backdrop and YOU in red yellow and blue at the top.
At the time I saw Gong live more then any one but You didn't have that cover originally , least in the UK. You missed out the soundtrack Continental Circus which while different is also great. Also, was horribly disappointed when Shamel came out. It was an OK jazz rock album but had nothing to do with Gong. I was robbed.
As usual, another excellent informative video....but I must disagree with you.....the greatest prog recordings were done by the mighty Gentle Giant.....are you a fan?
I love “You”, such a great album. The entire Teapot series album is great. R.I.P. Daevid Allen.
I remember buying Camembert Electrique in 1971 because it cost 50p. I had no idea what to expect, and when I listened to it I did not get it at all. I thought it was rubbish actually. I was listening to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin and the like so Gong were nothing like what I was used to. But later on when my musical tastes began to change and I got into jazz and Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheard and in particular Soft Machine and Hatfield and The North I gave it another listen and suddenly I liked it and went on to love all their albums.
Likewise. A schoolmate introduced me to it. I'm quite sure we were the only two in our year who wore what are now highly popular 'beanie' hats. Everyone thought we were made and that the music was awful. Did we care? We did NOT! I now have four copies of Camembert and the Gnome trilogy on original vinyl, 40-year re-release vinyl and CD. And probably more copies of 'You' than are good for me haha. I also bagged Shapeshifter a few months back. I guess the pothead pixie in me will live on forever.
Camembert electrique changed my life! VIVE GONG, GONG EST MORT!
I love them, especially Angel's Egg and You. Pierre Moerlen, one of the most underrated drummers of all time. For me Gong lineup make me think about the ingredients to make an incredible group: a charismatic leader/singer/lyricist(Daevid Allen, Peter Gabriel/Jon Anderson/Robert Fripp) surrounded by great musicians(in this case: Steve Hillage, Didier Malherbe and Pierre Moerlen) and also good musicians (Mike Howlett and Tim Blake). Fantastic stuff. I always enjoyed them without any drug!.
Howlett's bass playing made it work for me-cosmic funk.
Lovely to hear a video about Gong. 'You' is my favourite of the trilogy and the track 'A Sprinkling of Clouds' is Gong's masterpiece in my opinion. Tim Blake's (Hi T Moonweed) synths are fantastic throughout the trilogy and for me he is THE sound of Gong. That particular track has echoes of Terry Riley's 'A Rainbow in Curved Air', and I hear Tim's atmospheric droning, bubbling synth sounds everywhere in 90s and later ambient, downtempo electronica. The 'You' album became the focus for an excellent electronica album called 'You Remixed' in 1997.
The real backbone of Gong is Daevid,Gilli and Blooms--everything else is progressing and still is.....
Chuffed to hear this, G.A.S, the gong appreciation society run by Johnny Green is on/off Glastonbury high st. master builder is my favourite (the great om riff) great versions also by hillage and the ozrics, honoured to have known and live engineered Daevid, the gong family tree is worth an explore, thanks Andy.
And Hillage's "Fish Rising", which came out soon after "You"? Steve Hillside-Village as he was amusingly named.
Get the Trilogy 2018 remasters. Each contains a bonus live disc.
Love the video! It is the Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy by the way;
Love Gong!! My favorite of the favorites!
If you are the man who recorded the album Neptune, I wanna let you know I really like that one! I found Gong back in the early 80s through my obsession with all things Holdsworth. I love all their albums, but especially the RGI trilogy through all the later Moerlen led albums which are all different from each other
I am that man
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Great album dude! And I like your Yoot channel too
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer If you have the most recent releases (and AFAIK all CD releases of Flying Teapot) you may notice that they sound very different from that LP you hold up in this video. I have remastered FT from pristine 1973 vinyl and you might appreciate the results if you have a good sound system on your computer: ua-cam.com/video/0YYCBaBNmoA/v-deo.html
One other odd thing I noticed in the Cd releases is that it sounds as though the tape is crinkled at the 9:17-9:24 mark of the title song, whereas my remaster does not sound crinkled.
I recently purchased Live at Sheffield. It's an early performance of the classic lineup with Pierre Moerlin and without Gilli Smyth, which to me is the optimum Gong band. If you ever wondered what the Flying Teapot material would sound like with Pierre on drums you need this album. I saw them play shortly after Daevid Allen left in 75 at the Amsterdam Paradiso. They played all the the Radio Gnome stuff with Hillage singing, plus a couple of new things. After the show I spoke briefly to Didier Malherbe. He was very cool.
I heard "You" first -- a loaner from a cousin when I was a kid; so getting into the story backwards, I never really followed the story at all... still loved all three of these records a lot, just for the music, the immersive experience of the sound, even without the story! I love some of the Hillage solo stuff, too.
Musically You is a great place to start so I get that. Fishing Rising by Hillage is more Gong-y than some Gong albums. L is fantastic too...
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Those are my two favorites of Hillage, along with the Live at Deeply Vale; and I also like the Khan record, with Dave Stewart. But yeah, how "Gong-y" varies!
Top notch review Mate, off to watch your other Gong stuff. .
Dunno how I missed this one, Andy. Absolutely love Gong. My favourite prog band, by a country mile. The later fusion stuff is excellent, but for me it’ll always be the Daevid Allen albums. Would it be fair to say that the ‘English Aesthetic’ is a part of their sound, despite the different nationalities in the band? 🤔
Great video!!! Shamal is another one of my favorite albums!! I also think Acid Motherhood is an amazing album! It features Kawabata Makoto from Acid Mothers Temple, another great psychedelic band!!!
I was listening to You in the car with my 10 year-old daughter and two of her friends. I was surprised by how much they liked it, nay loved it! That wouldn,t happen with ELP!
And You and I is greater than Close To The Edge for me...but what do I know....
ah sorry You by Gong
Checkout the recently released on Madfish album:
Live a Longlaville 27/10/1974.
Encapsulates the Gong trilogy in a live set with a fair amount of improvisation.
Thank you for this one, Andy. Just working my way through your older videos.
I came to Gong not from progressive rock (although I was a fan of VDGG and early Genesis) but from the "Canterbury" direction. Soft Machine, Caravan, Egg, Hatfield and the North. All the hippy hashish stuff. I know you like the Hillage/Moerlen virtuoso side of things but in many ways I feel Didier Malherbe and Tim Blake were more central to the Gong sound.
Great video. One of my all-time favourite bands, and these albums are the pick of the catalogue. I'd probably rank them in order of release, but there is little to separate them. I'd also highly recommend the Live Etc. album, which I prefer to the Gong Est Mort album.
Just heard You for the first time this week and instantly hooked. Great to hear they’re held in such high regard.
have you heard fish rising by Steve hillage? Excellent extension of the gong mythos imo
I can't keep up with the rate you're bring videos out! My introduction to Gong came with Angel's Egg which was a Christmas present to myself in 1973. I remember my parents' wire-haired fox terrier puppy being frightened by the noises of what sound like someone getting hit on the Percolations track and jumping on my knee for protection. Then Camembert Electrique being released in 1974 as a cheapo at 59p - just seen it for £75.00 second hand on Google! And i've never seen that cover on You before. I've just been looking through my Gong recordings and realised that I've also got the re-released version of Bananamoon which I had totally forgotten about - I'll need to give it a play. Thanks for all your videos.
Your welcome...not enough people talk about Gong!
If you pay attention to the story YOU is what ZERO is heading for all the time it also continues through Shape-shifter, Zero to infinity, 2032 as well
Love all Gong, there is something special about most of them but especially the albums with Daevid Allen on. Had to get the Planet Gong box set remastered by Howlett their bass player and with Steve Hillage involved. Wonderful sound and You in 5.1 is amazing.
Got Hillage's Searching for the Spark as well, brilliant albums.
I also love System 7, to me a continuation of the sound, very progressive and very Gong in a lot of ways.
The new Gong are still worth getting.
Ozric Tentacles remind me of Gong a lot, especially the early stuff.
Thanks for the video Andy. I've got some later Gong with Holdsworth etc, but for some reason never heard this period of the band. I guess some stuff just slips past you over the years. I'll give it a go though. I gave your recommendation of the Lonely Bears a try and really enjoyed them so thanks for that!
It's pretty wacky but amazing musically. i'm sure you will love it...
Great informative videos, man! :-)
Ps are you related to Gary Edwards? (think I've got the name right).. I attended one of his music tech courses many moons ago and he introduced me to Zanzibar Gomez!
@@Shivabraxus108 No but I am acquainted with Gary
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer Is he on le web?
@@Shivabraxus108 ua-cam.com/users/GEdwardsPhilosophyvideos
@@AndyEdwardsDrummer thank you! :-)
I love Gong, and have seen them a good few times. Steve brought on a fishing rod at one concert. The Teapot trilogy got better with each album, culminating in You, which is wonderful. Shamal is even better, and I was lucky enough to see that version of the band too. Feeling smug here.
Love Gong
Can anyone tell me which album art is the original for the album You?
Not the one he is showing. The original has a kind of spectral pyramid in the centre against a starry backdrop and YOU in red yellow and blue at the top.
@@thescrewfly cheers, I have the right one then 😂👍
At the time I saw Gong live more then any one but You didn't have that cover originally , least in the UK. You missed out the soundtrack Continental Circus which while different is also great. Also, was horribly disappointed when Shamel came out. It was an OK jazz rock album but had nothing to do with Gong. I was robbed.
As usual, another excellent informative video....but I must disagree with you.....the greatest prog recordings were done by the mighty Gentle Giant.....are you a fan?
I might just agree with that too..watch this space :)
I'm not really into Gong, didn't like the "twee" stuff. Much more into Black Sabbath