Transmissions Live At The BBC
- First fully authorised release comprising Colosseum recorded live at the BBC 1969-1971
- Over 60 tracks, many recordings new to CD - over 6 hours playing time
- Painstakingly researched by Colin Harper, Nigel Lees and Ashley Wood
- Restored and remastered by Eroc for optimum sound quality throughout
- In-depth liner notes by Chris Welch with a foreword by Pete Brown
- Includes 44-page booklet, photographs and contributions from former band members
“This is the BBC Radio 1 Service. We proudly present one of the world’s greatest bands... Colosseum!” Fans tuning into their wireless sets during the great age of progressive rock would have been thrilled to hear the announcer introduce one of their favourite bands about to hit the airwaves. They wouldn’t be disappointed. Few bands played with such power, fire and intensity whether in a club, at a festival or even in the confines of a radio station studio. Led by drumming legend Jon Hiseman, Colosseum was guaranteed to give an exciting performance as soon as the red recording light went on and the engineer gave the thumbs up. Even so, it seemed like a fleeting moment, once the broadcasts were over, never to be heard again. But here is the exciting news. Many of the shows when Colosseum roared into epic arrangements like ‘Walking In The Park,’ ‘Daughter Of Time’, ‘Tanglewood ’63’ and ‘Rope Ladder To The Moon’ were captured on tape for posterity, not only by the BBC but by listeners armed with their own home recorders. So now it is Repertoire’s turn to proudly announce the release of an amazing 6CD set Transmissions Live At The BBC featuring shows like John Peel’s ‘Top Gear’ and ‘Sounds Of The 70s’, and comprising some 60 tracks recorded between 1969 and 1971. We hear the earliest version of Colosseum with founder members Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Dave Greenslade and Tony Reeves joined by guitarist/vocalist James Litherland. Later classic line-ups include Dave Clempson on guitar with Chris Farlowe (vocals) and Mark Clarke (bass) with guest appearances by Barbara Thompson (sax/flute) and the New Jazz Orchestra. This vast treasure trove of material has been rescued from the BBC and Colosseum archives, along with rare recordings by fans and enthusiasts. It has been painstaking collected, collated, restored and digitalised by the combined forces of historian and archivist Colin Harper, Jon’s daughter Ana Gracey and Repertoire’s own audio genius the mighty Eroc. With liner notes by Repertoire’s Chris Welch including new interviews with Dave Greenslade, Tony Reeves and Chris Farlowe, this promises to be the biggest classic rock album release of the year. So ‘The Machine Demands A Sacrifice’? Here it is!
CD1:
Top Gear, 19 January 1969:
1. The Road She Walked Before
2. Backwater Blues
3. A Whiter Shade Of Powell
Symonds On Sunday, 16 March 1969: (re-broadcast World Service version)
4. Walking In The Park
5. Interview with Jon Hiseman
6. Beware The Ides Of March
7. Plenty Hard Luck
Johnnie Walker, 24 May 1969:
8. Elegy
9. Walking In The Park
10. Butty’s Blues
11. I Can’t Live Without You
Top Gear, 6 July 1969:
12. Elegy
13. The Grass Is Greener
14. Hiseman’s Condensed History Of Mankind
15. February’s Valentyne
Symonds On Sunday, 20 July 1969:
16. Elegy
17. The Road She Walked Before
18. Walking In The Park
19. Butty’s Blues
CD2:
Radio 1 Jazz Workshop, 17 July 1969:
1. Elegy (take 1)
2. I Can’t Live Without You
3. Walking In The Park
4. Those About To Die (take 1)
5. Butty’s Blues (Take 1)
6. Mandarin
7. The Grass Is Greener
Top Gear, 22 November 1969:
8. Interview with Dick Heckstall-Smith
9. Lost Angeles
10. Arthur’s Moustache
Unknown session, late 1969 – early 1970:
11. Jumping Off The Sun
12. Theme For An Imaginary Western
13. Take Me Back To Doomsday
14. Lost Angeles (partial)
15. Angle
16. The Machine Demands A Sacrifice
CD3:
John Peel’s Sunday Concert, 8 March 1970:
1. Lost Angeles
2. Downhill And Shadows
3. Theme For An Imaginary Western
4. Introduction: John Peel
5. The Machine Demands A Sacrifice
Sounds Of The 70s, 7 April 1970:
6. Bring Out Your Dead
7. Time Lament
8. Daughter Of Time
CD4:
John Peel’s Sunday Concert, 8 November 1970:
1. Introduction: John Peel
2. Rope Ladder To The Moon
3. Introduction: John Peel
4. Downhill And Shadows
5. Introduction: John Peel
6. Tanglewood ’63
7. Time Lament
8. Lost Angeles
CD5:
Sounds Of The 70s, 21 July 1970:
1. Butty’s Blues
2. Shades Of Blue
3. Rope Ladder To The Moon
4. Tanglewood ’63
Sounds Of The 70s, 19 February 1971:
5. Take Me Back To Doomsday
6. Skelington
7. The Pirate’s Dream
8. Tanglewood ’63
CD6:
Sounds Of The 70s, 10 September 1971:
1. Jumping Off The Sun
2. Sleepwalker
3. The Pirate’s Dream
4. Upon A Tomorrow
bonus tracks:
Symonds On Sunday, 16 March 1969:
5. Walking In The Park (off-air)
Jazz Workshop 1969 – extra takes:
6. Those About To Die (take 2)
7. Butty’s Blues (take 2)
8. Elegy (take 2)
