Tubular Bells is the debut album by English musician and composer Mike Oldfield. It was released on Virgin Records on May 25, 1973. He was 19 years old at the time.
vinyl LP front cover
photo by Trevor Key
photo of album cover by Styrous®
Of course, I will always remember hearing it for the first time; it was
another one of my drug inspired discoveries. I was living in a small village in Canada (link below)
with absolutely NOTHING to do and going crazy because of it. I was
bored and on whatever but even had I not, I would have stopped dead in
my tracks on hearing it. I remember thinking it was the most beautiful piece of music I had ever heard. It wasn't until later that year when I realized it could also be sinister when the horror film The Exorcist was released, on December 26, 1973, and used part of the music.
The Exorcist movie poster
Some viewers had adverse physical reactions, often fainting or vomiting,
to scenes such as its protagonist undergoing a realistic cerebral angiography
and masturbating with a crucifix. There were reports of heart attacks
and miscarriages; a psychiatric journal carried a paper on "cinematic
neurosis" triggered by the film. Many children were taken to see the
film, leading to charges that the MPAA ratings board
had accommodated Warner by giving the film an R rating instead of the X
they thought it deserved in order to ensure its commercial success; a
few cities tried to ban it outright or prevent children from seeing it,
and obscenity concerns kept the film from a home-video release in Britain until 1999.
vinyl LP front cover detail
photo by Trevor Key
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
Oldfield played extracts from Tubular Bells during the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London.
Oldfield formed a duo called the Sallyangie with his sister Sally, and after they broke up he became the bass player for the Whole World, a band put together by former Soft Machine member Kevin Ayers.
He stated he had been inspired to write a long instrumental piece after hearing the track Septober Energy by Centipede. He was also influenced by classical music, and by the experimental 1969 work, A Rainbow in Curved Air, by Terry Riley,
on which Riley played all the instruments himself and used tape loops
and overdubs to build up a long, repetitive piece of music.
vinyl LP front cover detail
photo by Trevor Key
detail photo of album cover by Styrous®
Oldfield played the majority of the instruments on the album as a series of overdubs, which was an uncommon recording technique at the time. Despite various guitars being listed on the album sleeve, such as "speed guitars", "fuzz guitars" and "guitars sounding like bagpipes", the only electric guitar to be used on the album was a 1966 blonde Fender Telecaster which used to belong to Marc Bolan and to which Oldfield had added an extra Bill Lawrence pick-up. All the guitars were recorded via direct injection into the mixing desk.
To create the "speed guitar" and "mandolin-like guitar" named in the
sleeve notes, the tape was simply run at half speed during recording. An
actual mandolin was only used on the final track, the "Sailor's
Hornpipe".
Oldfield also used a custom effects unit, named the Glorfindel box, to
create the "fuzz guitars" and "bagpipe guitars" distortion on some
pieces on the album. The Glorfindel box was given to David Bedford at a
party, who then subsequently gave it to Oldfield. Tom Newman criticised
the wooden cased unit in a 2001 interview with Q magazine, noting that it rarely gave the same result twice.
vinyl LP back cover
photo by Trevor Key
photo of album back cover by Styrous®
The designer and photographer for the album was Trevor Key who also worked on albums with Can, Sex Pistols, Pauline Murray and the Invisible Girls, O M D, New Order and many others. He died of a brain tumour in December of 1995.
vinyl LP back cover detail
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®
In 1973 Oldfield performed Tubular Bells live on the BBC. It took eleven musicians to reproduce what he created and performed by himself in his studio on the original work. Of course, it is slightly different but fascinating to watch (link below).
vinyl LP back cover detail
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®
vinyl LP back cover detail
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®
vinyl LP side 1
photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP label, side 1
photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP side 2
photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP label, side 2
photo by Styrous®
Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells
Label: Virgin – VR 13-105
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1973
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock, Experimental
Tracklist:
Side 1:
A1 - Tubular Bells (Part 1)
Chorus [Girlie] – Mundy Ellis, Sally Oldfield, Chorus [Nasal] – Nasal ChoirDouble Bass [String Basses] – Lindsay Cooper, Flute [Flutes] – Jon FieldMC [Master of Ceremonies] – Viv Stanshall, Piano [Grand, Honky Tonk], Glockenspiel [Glokenspiel], Organ [Farfisa, Lowrey], Bass Guitar, Electric Guitar, Guitar [Speed, Mandolin-like, Fuzz], Electronics [Taped motor drive amplifier organ chord], Percussion [Assorted], Acoustic Guitar, Flageolet, Tubular Bells – Mike Oldfield - 25:00
Side 2:
B1 - Tubular Bells (Part 2)
Chorus [Bootleg] – Manor Chior conducted by Mike Oldfield, Chorus [Girlie] – Mundy Ellis, Sally Oldfield, Drums – Steve Broughton (Courtesy Harvest), Electric Guitar [Electric Guitars], Organ [Farfisa, Lowrey, Hammond], Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitar [Acoustic Guitars], Piano, Guitar [Speed Elec., sounding like Bagpipes, Spanish], Timpani [Concert Tympani], Vocals [Piltdown Man], Chorus [Moribund] – Mike Oldfield - 23:50
Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Atlantic Recording Corporation
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Virgin Records Ltd.
Copyright (c) – Virgin Records Ltd.
Recorded At – The Manor
Credits:
Composed By – Mike Oldfield
Design [Sleeve Design], Photography – Trevor Key
Sound Designer [Sound] – Mike Oldfield, Simon Heyworth, Tom Newman (2)
Notes:
On back cover:
"In Glorious Stereophonic Sound
Can also be played on mono-equipment at a pinch.
Sound: Tom Newman, Simon Heyworth and Mike Oldfield
Sleeve Design and Photography: Trevor Key
Recorded at: The Manor/Autumn 1972 Spring 1973
Virgin Records
Distributed By Atlantic Recording Corporation
75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, New York 10019
℗ © 1973 Virgin Records, Printed in U.S.A."
and
"This stereo record cannot be
played on old tin boxes no
matter what they are fitted
with. If you are in possession
of such equipment please hand
it into the nearest police
station.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Rights Society: ASCAP
Matrix / Runout: Run Out Groove SIDE ONE: ST-VR 732929-AAA A71AA-11-11 11 D PR
Matrix / Runout: Run Out Groove SIDE TWO: ST-VR 732930-AAA-1-11 A7AB 1t PR D
Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells
Label: Virgin – VR 13-105
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1973
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock, Experimental
Viewfinder links:
Beemer Memory 17: Vietnam War Protests ~ 1973
Mike Oldfield
PIL (Public Image Ltd.) ~ Metal Box
Terry Riley - A Rainbow In Curved Air
Mick Ronson ~ Slaughter on 10th Avenue
Net links:
The Guardian ~ "We wouldn't have had Tubular Bells without drugs"
Liberty Park Music ~ Scary Movie Music: Tubular Bells in The Exorcist
Louder Sound ~ Mike Oldfield: punk rock, and why you should get a lawyer
Music Radar ~ Mike Oldfield's 1966 Fender Telecaster
Song Facts ~ Tubular Bells Pt. 1
Sound On Sound ~ Classic Tracks: Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells
WBEZ ~ The return of Mike Oldfield
YouTube links:
Beemer Memory 17: Vietnam War Protests ~ 1973
Mike Oldfield
PIL (Public Image Ltd.) ~ Metal Box
Terry Riley - A Rainbow In Curved Air
Mick Ronson ~ Slaughter on 10th Avenue
Net links:
The Guardian ~ "We wouldn't have had Tubular Bells without drugs"
Liberty Park Music ~ Scary Movie Music: Tubular Bells in The Exorcist
Louder Sound ~ Mike Oldfield: punk rock, and why you should get a lawyer
Music Radar ~ Mike Oldfield's 1966 Fender Telecaster
Song Facts ~ Tubular Bells Pt. 1
Sound On Sound ~ Classic Tracks: Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells
WBEZ ~ The return of Mike Oldfield
YouTube links:
“At least in the old days you could be a bit scruffy”
~ Mike Oldfield
No comments:
Post a Comment
PLEASE NOTE: comments are moderated BEFORE they are posted so DO NOT appear immediately.
Thank you.