Henry Cow - In Praise of Learning
£
42
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56
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Description
Henry Cow - In Praise of Learning
Classic album on vinyl in mint condition. This is the original 1975 Virgin release V 2027.
Henry Cow were an English avant-rock group, founded at Cambridge University in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler and bassoonist/oboist Lindsay Cooper were important long-term members alongside Frith and Hodgkinson.
An inherent anti-commercial bias kept them at arm's length from the mainstream music business, enabling them to experiment at will. Critic Myles Boisen writes, "their sound was so mercurial and daring that they had few imitators, even though they inspired many on both sides of the Atlantic with a blend of spontaneity, intricate structures, philosophy, and humor that has endured and transcended the 'progressive' tag."
While it was generally thought that Henry Cow took their name from Twentieth century American composer Henry Cowell, this has been repeatedly denied by band members. According to Hodgkinson, the name "Henry Cow" was "in the air" in 1968, and it seemed like a good name for the band. It had no connection to anything.
In Praise of Learning was the most overtly political album Henry Cow made. Printed on the back of the album cover is filmmaker John Grierson's quote "Art is not a mirror - it is a hammer", and the Tim Hodgkinson 16 minute composition "Living in the Heart of the Beast", augmented by Dagmar Krause'sArmageddon-like vocals, made it quite clear where Henry Cow's political aspirations lay. Krause's powerful voice had added a new dimension to their music. The album opener, "War" (Moore/Blegvad) had been recorded the previous year during the making of the first Slapp Happy/Henry Cow collaborative album, Desperate Straights (1975).
"Living in the Heart of the Beast" began as an unfinished instrumental that Hodgkinson presented to the group, which was cut up and performed live in 1974 with improvisational sections added.
One such performance, "Halsteren" was recorded in Halsteren in September 1974, and appears in Volume 2: 1974-5 of The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set (2009). After the merger with Slapp Happy, Hodgkinson commissioned Peter Blegvad to write lyrics for the piece for Dagmar Krause to sing. But after several attempts, Blegvad admitted that he was "out of [his] depth", and Hodgkinson wrote the lyrics himself.
Chris Cutler's lyrics on "Beautiful as the Moon - Terrible as an Army with Banners" were the first song texts he had written, and the song was the first writing collaboration between Cutler and Fred Frith that later grew into Art Bears. The song also became the longest lasting "building block" the band used in subsequent live performances.
Track Listing
Side one- "War" (Moore, Blegvad) – 2:25
- "Living in the Heart of the Beast" (Hodgkinson) – 15:30
- "Beginning: The Long March" (Henry Cow, Slapp Happy) – 6:26
- "Beautiful as the Moon - Terrible as an Army with Banners" (Frith, Cutler) – 7:02
- "Morning Star" (Henry Cow, Slapp Happy) – 6:05
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