Ring The Bells And Sing is the latest in Esoteric Recordings’s series of focussing on the music released in a particular year. This new release focuses on the music of 1975, a year which many critics pinpoint as the one year in the seventies when absolutely nothing happened and the music scene stagnated sufficiently to create the groundswell for punk the following year. But the fact is, across the over five hours of music on these discs, an awful lot of good music was released this year, despite ’75 being the year of ‘Rollermania.’
1975 (the year, not the band) was a transformative year for music and, in some ways, quite a strange year. Prog rock had likely reached its zenith in terms of creativity and had begun to stagnate. Despite the increasing ambition and length of albums like Topographic Oceans (Yes), Snow Goose (Camel), and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (Genesis), the genre—characterised by critics as featuring side-long LP tracks, extended solos, fantastical lyrics, and a meticulous dedication to musical skill—seemed to have hit its peak. The criticisms that prog was becoming self-indulgent were growing increasingly difficult to dismiss. Pub Rock was also now in full swing and below the surface the nascent stirrings of the punk tidal wave were beginning to make themselves heard. It was also the year which saw the advent of classic rock and songs which became anthemic such as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (Queen), ‘Born To Run’ (Bruce Springsteen) and others which became timeless classics, notably ‘I’m Not In Love’ (10cc).
However, as the sum total of this varied selection of tracks suggest, there was indeed a lot of good music still being made and released in ’75, not a lot of what’s included here coming anywhere near to bothering the charts and of the acts included, only about a half dozen ever saw any chart action. However, several bands featured, nearly fifty years on are still drawing crowds and making albums, including Yes, Hawkwind and Caravan; whose ‘Dabsong Conshirtoe,’ running to eighteen minutes, is the longest piece included.
There are several major acts included here .. Hawkwind, Camel, Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Van der Graaf Generator. There are also bands who’d been tipped to go all the way but who, for whatever reason, didn’t get the success they deserved .. Hatfield & the North, Stackridge (who later begat The Korgi’s), Babe Ruth, Be Bop de Luxe and Baker Gurvitz Army. Some bands made their name in prog but not in the mainstream .. Gentle Giant, Fruupp, Man and Barclay James Harvest, and some who released a couple of singles / albums and then disappeared without trace, notably Druid and Kestrel.
Included also are several tracks from musicians who released solo albums but who, at the same time, were still members of established bands, notably Steve Hackett (Genesis), Chris Squire (Yes), Alan Hull (Lindisfarne), Clive John (Man) and Peter Hammill (Van der Graaf). A few bands were barely known outside of their fanbase, such as the Global Village Trucking Co and String Driven Thing. Al Stewart was a solo singer who in 1975, was on the cusp of achieving mega fame in the USA when 1976 became the Year Of The Cat. Of the 46 tracks on these discs, several of which are deep cuts, only three were from bands outside of the UK, Nektar (Germany), PFM (Italy) and Wigwam (Finland), of which only Nektar came close to making a name in these Isles.
These discs contain quite a varied collection of tunes, and together this package offers a fascinating insight into the music of 1975, a year when increasingly bands used the album to show their real capabilities .. it’s mostly album tracks here .. and when the Old Grey Whistle Test, with Whisperin’ Bob, was fully in its pomp and essential viewing. For this reviewer, however, 1975 was the year I saw Genesis performing The Lamb Lies Down, Pink Floyd at Knebworth and Led Zep at Earls Court .. what’s not to like ??
