Released 25 May 1973 Flying Teapot
(1973) Release date 25 May 1973 Label Virgin Records | Length 39:45 Artist Gong Producer Giorgio Gomelsky | |
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Recorded January 1973
The Manor Studios, Oxford, UK Genres Progressive rock, Psychedelic rock, Space rock, Jazz fusion, Canterbury scene Similar Gong albums, Canterbury scene albums, Other albums | ||
Gong radio gnome invisible
Flying Teapot is the third studio album by the progressive rock band Gong, originally released by Virgin Records in May 1973. It was the second entry in the Virgin catalogue (V2002) and was released on the same day as the first, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells (V2001). It was re-issued later in the year, with different cover art, by BYG Actuel in France and Japan. Recorded at Virgin's Manor Studios, in Oxfordshire, England, it was produced by Giorgio Gomelsky and engineered by "Simon Sandwitch 2 aided by Tom Zen" (Simon Heyworth and Tom Newman).
Contents
Subtitled Radio Gnome Invisible, Part 1, it is the first of the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy of albums, followed by Angel's Egg in December and You the following October. This trilogy forms a central part of the Gong mythology. The Flying Teapot idea itself was influenced by Russell's teapot. It was the first Gong album to feature English guitarist Steve Hillage, although he contributed relatively little as he arrived late in the recording process. According to Daevid Allen, "Steve Hillage arrived eventually, but there wasn't a lot of space left. He played some rhythmick wa wa [sic], some jazzy chords and a spacey solo on 'Flying Teapot'."
In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came #35 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".
Gong flying teapot
Track listing
- "Radio Gnome Invisible" (Allen) – 5:32
- "Flying Teapot" (Allen, Moze) – 12:30
- "The Pot Head Pixies" (Allen) – 3:00
- "The Octave Doctors and the Crystal Machine" (Blake) – 2:00
- "Zero the Hero and the Witch's Spell" (Allen, Blake, Tritsch) – 9:45
- "Witch's Song/I Am Your Pussy" (Smyth, Allen) – 5:10
Personnel
The original personnel listing is as follows:
All CD versions have shortened versions of the track "Flying Teapot" which was shortened from 12:30 to 11:52 and a shortened version of "The Octave Doctors And The Crystal Machine" which was shortened from 2:00 to 1:51 and also "Zero The Hero And The Witches Spell" shortened from 9:45 to 9:38. This editing is a source of much controversy and disappointment to fans of the original album.
These pseudonyms, in turn, represented:
Songs
1Radio Gnome Invisible5:33
2Flying Teapot11:52
3The Pot Head Pixies3:01