Gong were/are one of those bands that are hard to describe. They sort of fall into that Progressive/experimental category. And then there's that "never quite got out of the 60's" category. But one thing was constant - they were always changing. And they are still quite together.
Initially, Gong came about as the result of a visa problem Australian musician Daevid Allen had while he was with Soft Machine (during their early incarnation). Allen relocated to Paris where he assembled something of a rag-tag Hippy commune experimental band before vacating France during the 1968 Paris strikes. When he finally returned he had a new band, a new direction and new musicians. And it's that band (mostly) that is featured on tonight's track.
Over the years, Gong has been host to a wide and eclectic group of talents. From Steve Hillage and Bill Bruford to Don Cherry making for a very interesting group of albums in their discography and certainly making them unpredictable from one album to the next.
Tonight's track is actually three tracks pasted into one - because on the original lp, the tracks were banded together to flow one right into the other. And so for that, this track comprises all of Side Two from the Album You which was issued by Virgin in the UK and U.S. in 1974. The three tracks are Perfect Mystery/Isle Of Everywhere and You Never Blow Yr Trip Forever. Twenty minutes worth of Gong.
A good end to the week and a hopeful start to the new one.
