From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hawkwind
Studio album by Hawkwind
Released	August, 1970
Recorded	March, 1970, Trident Studios
Genre	Space Rock
Length	39:25
Label	Liberty Records - LBS 83348
Producer	Dick Taylor and Hawkwind
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Prog Archives link (22 ratings)
Hawkwind chronology
Hawkwind (1970) In Search of Space (1971)

Hawkwind, the self-titled debut psychedelic rock album by Hawkwind was released in 1970, originally on Liberty Records (catalogue no. LBS 83348).

Contents 1 Band Formation 2 Recording 3 Songs 4 Sleeve 5 Critical Reaction 5.1 Band Members 6 Track listing 7 Personnel 8 Credits 9 Release History 10 References

Hawkwind had assembled at the end of the 1960s as a bunch of stoner freaks, hanging out and jamming around Ladbroke Grove in London. Gatecrashing a local talent night, they were so untogether as to not even have a name, plumping for Group X at the last minute, nor any songs, choosing to play an extended 20-minute jam on The Byrds "Eight Miles High" [1]. BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel was in the audience and was impressed enough to tell budding impresario Doug Smith to keep an eye on them. He duly did, signed them up and got them a deal with Liberty Records on the back of a deal he was setting up for Cochise [2].

Even back then, Dave Brock was the central figure of the band. Having been in the blues turned psychedelic band Famous Cure with Mick Slattery, a meeting with jazz-dance band bassist John A Harrison revealed a mutual interest in electronic music that kicked this new venture off. An advert in one of the music weeklies turned up 17 year old drummer Terry Ollis. Both Nik Turner and Dik Mik Davies were old acquaintances of Brock who had offered help with transport and gear, but were soon pulled into the band when their respective hidden talents for messing around on saxophones and electronics were exposed. No sooner had it started, but Slattery did a flit to be replaced by Huw Lloyd-Langton, who had been working in a music shop selling guitar strings to the busking Brock.

Pretty Things guitartist Dick Taylor, who was looking for a new venture after leaving the band, was pulled into Hawkwind playing some gigs and producing this album. After several unsuccessful attempts to capture the band's sound in the studio, it was decided simply to record it live in the studio.[3]

All songs on the original release were credited to Dave Brock to the amazement of the others as they had been borne from band jams. From the 1996 Remasters onwards the tracks have been credited to the entire band.

The bulk of the album is composed of a freeform instrumetal piece that the band named "Sunshine Special" but it was separated into different tracks on this album. On the LP, "Paranoia" ends after the first minute with the music slowing down as though the turntable is stopping, and then picks up as the first cut on Side 2. Lyrics are scant, but those that are present and the song titles are a reference to the drug experience, as the sleeve notes explain:

This is the beginning. By now we will be past this album. We started out trying to freak people (trippers), now we are trying to levitate their minds, in a nice way, without acid, and ultimately a completely audio-visual thing. Using a complex of electronics, lights and environmental experiences.

The two book-end pieces of "Hurry on Sundown" and "Mirror Of Illusion" are more of a nod to Brock's alternative activity of busking and were released as a single in edited form.

The cover is a fantasy painting that shows several dragon figures emerging from piles of leaves that also spell out the name of the band. On the front cover, the dragons are shown with human arms, while the reverse cover shows a dragon's head as an automobile with a driver wearing sunglasses.^[1]

Adverts for the album proclaimed Hawkwind Is Space Rock.

Mark Plummer from Melody Maker reviewed the album in the context of electronic music as "interesting and exciting. The reason for this is that the group never goes too mad, and they keep within musical bounds, using sound discriminatingly, and only when they are needed to convey a feeling." adding that "Seeing It As You Really Are is a lesson in electronic music itself. Any group thinking of using weird sounds should listen to this album, it's tremendous." ^[2]

Members of the band warmly regard the album, many feeling that it was the band's best. Various reactions include:

• "That was the great magical album. It was quite daring, I thought" - Dave Brock^[3]

• "I remember being a bit apprehensive because Dick Taylor was the main man there and he was an older guitarist - I felt intimidated and didn't really enjoy doing it. It was a good album though and I still enjoy hearing it, even now." - Huw Lloyd-Langton^[4]

• "We're very much a live band - with the exception of the first album which I had nothing to do with, and which I think was the best studio album Hawkwind's done - I think the "Space Ritual" album is the best one we've done, because that was live, that's Hawkwind, that's us as we are." - Simon King^[5]

• "My fav Gong album, and my fav H-W one, curiously-or obviously, I don't know, are records I've not played on... Camembert & Hawkwind (1) !" - Tim Blake^[6]

• "Some of the band hated that album, but I thought it was the most musical they did" - Dik Mik^[7]

Side 1

1. "Hurry on Sundown" (Brock/Hawkwind) 4:50
2. "The Reason Is?" (Brock/Hawkwind) 3:30
3. "Be Yourself" (Brock/Hawkwind) 8:09
4. "Paranoia (part 1)" (Brock/Hawkwind) 1:04

Side 2

1. "Paranoia (part 2)" (Brock/Hawkwind) 4:11
2. "Seeing It As You Really Are" (Brock/Hawkwind) 10:43
3. "Mirror Of Illusion" (Brock/Hawkwind) 7:08

bonus tracks on 1996 Remasters CD

1. "Bring It On Home" (Willie Dixon) 3:18
2. "Hurry On Sundown" (Brock/Hawkwind) 5:06
3. "Kiss Of The Velvet Whip" [aka "Sweet Mistress Of Pain"] (Brock/Hawkwind) 5:28
4. "Cymbaline" (Roger Waters) 4:04

• Dave Brock - guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Nik Turner - saxophone, flute, vocals
• Mick Slattery - guitar (bonus tracks)
• Huw Lloyd-Langton - guitar, vocals (original album)
• John A Harrison - bass guitar, vocals
• Dik Mik Davies - Synthesizer
• Terry Ollis - drums

• Recorded at Trident Studios, London, March and April 1970. Produced with Dick Taylor.
• Sleeve by Arthur Rhodes.
• "Bring It On Home" was recorded pre-Hawkwind by Dave Brock.
• The other bonus tracks were recorded by Hawkwind Zoo at Abbey Road Studios 1969, produced with Don Poole.

• Aug-1970: Liberty Records, LBS83348, UK vinyl - gatefold sleeve. First pressing had blue label, subsequent ones had black label.
• 1971: United Artists Records, UAS-5519, USA vinyl
• Sep-1975: Sunset Records, SLS50374, UK vinyl - single sleeve
• Feb-1980: UA Rockfile, LBR1012, UK vinyl - single sleeve, red on green Doremi shield.
• Feb-1984: Liberty Records, SLS1972921 UK vinyl, single sleeve; SLSP1972921, UK picture disc
• Sep-1992: One Way Records, S2157658, USA CD
• Mar-1996: EMI Remasters, HAWKS1, UK CD - initial issues in digipak

1. ^ Collectable Records - Original gatefold cover
2. ^ Melody Maker; 29th August 1970 - HAWKWIND (Liberty)
3. ^ Record Collector, May-2002
4. ^ Ptolemaic Terrascope, 1992
5. ^ Sounds, 1-Sep-1973
6. ^ Planet Gong Forum, 18-Feb-2005
7. ^ Pete Frame's Hawkwind Family Tree, 1979

v • d • e Hawkwind
Members
Dave Brock – Mr Dibs – Jason Stuart – Richard Chadwick
Former members: John Harrison – Terry Ollis – Dik Mik Davies – Nik Turner – Huw Lloyd-Langton – Dave Anderson – Del Dettmar – Robert Calvert – Lemmy – Simon King – Simon House – Alan Powell – Paul Rudolph – Adrian Shaw – Harvey Bainbridge – Steve Swindells – Martin Griffin – Tim Blake – Ginger Baker – Keith Hale – Alan Davey – Danny Thompson Jr – Bridget Wishart – Ron Tree – Jerry Richards
Discography
Studio Albums: Hawkwind – In Search of Space – Doremi Fasol Latido – Hall of the Mountain Grill – Warrior on the Edge of Time – Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music – Quark, Strangeness and Charm – 25 Years On – PXR5 – Levitation – Sonic Attack – Church of Hawkwind – Choose Your Masques – The Chronicle of the Black Sword – The Xenon Codex – Space Bandits – Electric Tepee – It Is the Business of the Future to Be Dangerous – White Zone – Alien 4 – Distant Horizons – In Your Area – Spacebrock – Take Me to Your Leader – Take Me to Your Future
Live Albums: Space Ritual – Live Seventy Nine – Live Chronicles – Palace Springs – The Business Trip – Love in Space – Hawkwind 1997 – Yule Ritual – Canterbury Fayre 2001 – Spaced Out in London
Archive Albums: The Weird Tapes – Hawkwind, Friends and Relations – The Text of Festival – Zones – This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic – Bring Me the Head of Yuri Gagarin – Space Ritual Volume 2 – Hawkwind Anthology – Out & Intake – BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert – The Friday Rock Show Sessions – Hawklords Live – California Brainstorm – Undisclosed Files Addendum – The 1999 Party – Glastonbury 90 – Choose Your Masques: Collectors Series Volume 2 – Complete '79: Collectors Series Volume 1 – Atomhenge 76 – Live 1990
Singles: "Hurry on Sundown" – "Silver Machine" – "Urban Guerilla" – "Psychedelic Warlords" – "Kings of Speed" – "Kerb Crawler" – "Back on the Streets" – "Quark, Strangeness and Charm" – "Psi Power" – "25 Years" – "Shot Down in the Night" – "Who's Gonna Win The War?" – "Angels of Death" – The Earth Ritual Preview EP – "Needle Gun" – "Zarozinia" – Decide Your Future EP – Quark, Strangeness and Charm EP – Area S4 EP – "Love In Space" – "Spirit of the Age"
Related articles
Barney Bubbles – Liquid Len – Michael Moorcock – Stacia – Sonic Assassins – Hawklords – John Coulthart – Hawkfest