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1974
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"...Wordlessly Beautiful..."
When Mike Oldfield issued solo platter No. 2 to a public hungry for more sidelong Progtastic Folk Rock - Virgin V 2013 took until the chart of 14 September 1974 to hit the number one spot (it was released in Blighty on 28 August 1974).
"Hergest Ridge" (named after a real place near the town of Kington in Wales) stayed atop for three weeks only to be replaced (yet again) by his first album "Tubular Bells" from 1973 - interest in the first reignited by the Celtic musical beauty conjured up in the second.
For Oldfield aficionados "Hergest Ridge" is "The Empire Strikes Back" in his voluminous catalogue. Not quite the groundbreaking "Star Wars: A New Hope" meisterwerk of the original 1973 template "Tubular Bells" - and considered by critics and large wads of the public to be a wee bit of a disappointment on release - it has nonetheless been beloved by real fans ever since. In fact (like others of the same persuasion) - I'd rather listen to the 1974 Celtic-influenced Folk Rock beauty that is inherently in Side One of "Hergest Ridge" than return to Side 2 of "Tubular Bells".
Can't say I'm digging the non-Bootleg artwork either that has been replaced by some glider thingy (Bootleg was the Irish Wolfhound who lived at the Manor Studio and graced the original 1974 artwork front and rear - its given a full page in the booklet). But the 2010 Mike Oldfield Remix and the following Paschal Byrne Remaster have lifted up the Acoustics in this to a point where it suddenly feels so damn fresh. To Grid Reference SO296565 (starting point in the Kington Car Park)...
UK released 7 June 2010 - "Hergest Ridge" by MIKE OLDFIELD on Mercury/Universal UMC 532 675-5 (Barcode 600753267554) is a 2010 Single CD Expanded Edition Remaster that plays out as follows (44:10 minutes):
1. Hergest Ridge (Part One) 19:21 minutes
2. Hergest Ridge (Part Two) 18:46 minutes
2010 Stereo Remix by Mike Oldfield
BONUS TRACKS:
3. In Dulci Jubilo (For Maureen) 2:45 minutes
Non-Album B-side of "Don Alfonso" - a February 1975 UK 45-single on Virgin VS 117 - a cover/rearrangement of a Bach melody
4. Spanish Tune (3:11 minutes) – 1A withdrawn 1974 UK Promotional-only One-Sided 45-single on Virgin VS 112 – Previously Unreleased on CD – it is a remixed edit of the final section of "Hergest Ridge (Part Two)".
The 16-page booklet (with new interviews from MO, trade adverts, original LP artwork etc) provides a deep insight into the personal and musical turmoil that seemed to surround the album at every turn – Oldfield under not entirely unreasonable pressure from Richard Branson at Virgin to provide Opus Two – and right quick my son. Oldfield admits that he had been running on musical empty since the years he had spent putting T Bells together - and got away to the country to seek inspiration. He bought a house called The Beacon on the edge of Bradnor Hill by the Welsh border near the town of Kington that needed renovation.
After teaming up with a local multi-instrumentalist called Leslie Penning – they hit the local restaurant and played multi-instrument gigs – Hurdy Gurdy, Recorders and The Crumhorn – for free wine. This got the spirit up, the Mediaeval tunes out and the creative juices flowing. And a local guidebook suggested rambling up the ancient path to a beauty spot called "Hergest Ridge"...
With Tom Newman engineering - again we get extensive overdubbing of a huge range of instruments for both Part One and Part Two passages. Mike Oldfield wielded armies of Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Mandolin, Organ, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Tubular Bells, Gongs and even Sleigh Bells (ring-ding-a-dinging). Ted Hobart played Trumpet, his brother Terry and sister Sally provided Flute and Backing vocals respectively (Sally Oldfield used to be in The Sallyangie with Mike). Backing Singers came from two other sources – the David Bedford arranged Choir of The London Sinfonietta and the well revered Clodagh Simmonds of cult Folk-Rock group Mellow Candle. William Murray of the Kevin Ayers Band provided Percussion too.
The new Stereo Mix for 2010 makes a real point of bringing out the acoustic guitar whilst that penny whistle theme that opens Part One is simply gorgeous. Even as it gets overly crowded on Side One – the Remaster lets out those Trumpet fills – those cymbals crashing as they introduce another coda – and I’d love to know just what the hell it is that the ladies are singing on Side 2. Both bonuses are interesting shall we say, but the real bully beef lies with the density and at times pastoral beauty of both principal parts.
Second best – maybe. But I find I come back for second helpings – and this major audio overhaul has only made that repeat decision all the more likely.
In one of the full-page period adverts Virgin ran in the trades – it states the music is "...Wordlessly Beautiful..." I agree. Soar over the magical landscape of this CD Reissue and soak up its deeply lovely greenery. Way to go minimalist M.O....
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