Banana Moon

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Banana Moon
Banana Moon.jpeg
Studio album by Daevid Allen
Released 1971
Recorded January and February, 1971 at Marquee Studios, London
Genre Psychedelic rock, space rock
Label BYG Actuel
Producer Jean Georgakarakos, Jean-Luc Young; Executive: Pierre Lattes
Daevid Allen chronology
Magick Brother
(1969)Magick Brother1969		 Banana Moon
(1971)		 Camembert Electrique
(1971)Camembert Electrique1971
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4.5/5 stars[1]

Banana Moon is the debut solo album by Australian singer/songwriter/guitarist and Gong frontman Daevid Allen, released in 1971 on the French BYG Actuel label. The album is sometimes referred to as Bananamoon and it was also reissued as a Gong album.[2]

The band features Allen's former Soft Machine bandmate Robert Wyatt on drums, Gary Wright from Spooky Tooth, Maggie Bell from Stone the Crows, as well as Gong's Gilli Smyth and Christian Tritsch. Drummer Pip Pyle would go on to join Gong after this recording. Some of the musicians on this album would subsequently contribute to Kevin Ayers' 1973 album Bananamour.

The track "Memories", basically a Robert Wyatt performance, was initially recorded in 1967 by Soft Machine (with Daevid Allen on guitar) and later also covered by Material on their 1982 album One Down with a lead vocal by Whitney Houston. "Stoned Innocent Frankenstein" was re-recorded in 1978 by Allen in collaboration with Here and Now as Planet Gong on their Floating Anarchy Live 1977 album.

The initial issue featured the painting (of moons or planets) by Didier Léon on the front of the gatefold cover, with liner notes written by Daevid Allen[3] Subsequent issues included even one by BYG Actuel that was credited to Gong and had the photo from the gatefold inside on the front.[2] The first UK pressing, in 1975 on Virgin Records subsidiary Caroline, had an alternative Daevid Allen drawn cover, featuring a peeled banana/moon playing a guitar.[4]

GAS website reported an alternate mix of the CD would be available, entitled Stoned Innocent Frankenstein, containing: "Unreleased mixes and versions. A 'Camembert Eclectique' job for Bananamoon. Stunning unreleased mixes and totally radical head-altering versions unheard for over 30 years. Robert Wyatt's drumming more obvious on a couple of the tracks is amazing. It does make you wonder whether the correct 'final' mix was sent to the pressing plant - no they wouldn't have got that wrong, would they?. With a annotated and illustrated booklet."[5]

In 2013, David Bowie included it in a list of 25 of his favourite albums, "Confessions of a Vinyl Junkie", saying that "it's possible, just possibly maybe, that strands of the embryonic glam style started here."[6]

Track listing

Side 1

  1. "It's the Time of Your Life" (Christian Tritsch) – 3:21
  2. "Memories" (Hugh Hopper, Robert Wyatt) 3:37
  3. "All I Want Is Out of Here" (Tritsch) – 4:48
  4. "Fred the Fish and the Chip On His Shoulder" (Daevid Allen) – 2:27
  5. "White Neck Blooze" (Allen) – 4:38
  6. "Codein Coda" (Allen) - 0:58

Side 2

  1. "Stoned Innocent Frankenstein" (Allen) – 3:28
  2. "And His Adventures In the Land of Flip" (Allen) – 11:44
  3. "I Am a Bowl" (Allen) – 2:46

Personnel

  • Daevid Allen – Guitar and vocals
  • Archie Legget – Bass
  • Robert Wyatt – Drums. Vocals and guitar ("Memories")
  • Barry St. John, Maggie Bell – Backing vocals
  • Gerry Fields – Violin
with
  • Christian Tritsch – Guitar and bass ("It's The Time Of Your Life")
  • Pip Pyle – Drums ("It's The Time Of Your Life")
  • Gary Wright – Piano ("Memories")
  • Gilli Smyth – Vocals [Space Whisper] (side 2)
  • Nick Evans – Trombone ("I Am A Bowl")
  • Kevin Ayers - Vocals ("White Neck Blooze")

Credits

  • Recorded January, 1971 at Marquee Studios, London.
  • Produced by: Jean Georgakarakos, Jean-Luc Young
  • Executive Producer: Pierre Lattès

Release history

  • 1971: BYG Actuel – 45 (529 345) – France – Gatefold cover with coloured circles/moon picture.[2]
  • 1971: BYG Actuel – 529 345 – France – Single sleeve cover with band photograph in green. Reissue as a Gong album.[2]
  • 1975: Caroline (Virgin) – C1512 – UK – Daevid Allen drawn Banana Moon cover.[4]
  • 1979: Charly Records – CR 30165 – UK [7]
  • 1990: Decal – CD LIK 63 – CD – Europe [8]
  • 1995: Spalax Music – CD 14945 – CD Digipak – France [9]
  • 1999: Get Back – GET 557 – Vinyl – Italy [10]
  • 2008: Charly – SNAP238CD – CD - UK [1]

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ http://www.planetgong.co.uk/bazaar/releases/planned.shtml
  6. ↑ http://scallemang.ca/bowie25albums/
  7. ↑ Banana Moon at Discogs
  8. ↑ Banana Moon at Discogs
  9. ↑ Banana Moon at Discogs
  10. ↑ Banana Moon at Discogs

External links

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