Space ritual

The album was recorded at Liverpool Stadium on December 22, 1972 and in Brixton Sundown on December 30, 1972, with the participation of sound engineer Vic Maile, who worked for Pye Mobile. The films were mixed at Olympic Studios , in the Barnes district of London , by Vic Mail and Anton Matthews. During the Space Ritual Tour Hawkwind, they performed mostly Doremi Fasol Latido material; the songs from there make up the bulk of the double live album.

To them were added recordings of three new compositions (“Born to Go”, “Upside Down” and “Orgone Accumulator”), as well as fragments of recitation, which together with electronic effects serve as connecting links between tracks. “ Silver Machine ”, shortly before rising to # 3 in the UK Singles Chart, was not included in the album; of the songs of the first two albums, only “Master of the Universe” is present here. Sonic Attack was written by science fiction writer Michael Moorcock , who often performed with the group when it found it possible for itself or when Calvert could not go on stage. In the original version of the album, the text is recited by Calvert.

The album cover by Barney Bubbles ^{[2] is} on the list of Q's top 100 album covers.

Comments on songs

• Earth Calling was written under the influence of Germany Says, a series of radio shows from World War II conducted by Lord Haw Haw .
• “Black Corridor” is a spoken-word-track based on the book of the same name by Michael Moorcock .
• “Orgone Accumulator” was written under the influence of the books of William Reich . In its musical part, a fragment of the composition Canned Heat “Fried Hockey Boogie” was used. In 1987, Pop Will Eat Itself included this song in the single release, “Love Missile F1-11.”

Concerts

The Space Ritual series of concerts aimed to recreate in full “audio-video-cerebral volume” the concept of Robert Calvert and Barney Bubbles , associated with a journey in the interstellar space of a spaceship called Hawkwind ^[3] . At the entrance to the hall, the audience was given a program (later it was reproduced for remastering in 1996), with a short sci-fi story by Bubbles, which described the return of the spacecraft to Earth.

In concerts, in addition to the musicians of the group, dancers Stasya and Miss Renee, as well as mime Tony Carrera took part. Calvert read out poetic fragments during performances, the scene was designed by Barney Bubbles, lighting effects were created by Liquid Len ^[4] .

Reprints

The original version of the album contained studio overlays and editorial corrections. The cover said: "We had to cut out a fragment of Brainstorm and Time We Left because they were too long." The 1985 album Space Ritual Volume 2 featured full, unreacted versions of live recordings. The previously unreleased edited version of “You Shouldn't Do That” (turning into “Seeing It As You Really Are,” not included in the track list) performed at the same concert, was included in the 1976 Roadhawks collection , and then as a bonus -track - in 1996 remastered, published on CD. The full, unedited version of the track can only be found in Hawkwind Anthology .

• May 1973: United Artists Records, UAD60037 / 8, UK Vinyl
• September 1992: One Way Records, S2257659, USA CD
• March 1996: EMI Remasters, HAWKS4, UK CD
• June 2007: EMI Remasters, UK 2CD + DVD

Side 1

1. Earth Calling ( Robert Calvert ) - 1:46
2. “Born To Go” (Calvert, Dave Brock ) - 9:56
3. Down Through The Night (Brock) - 6:16
4. The Awakening (Calvert) - 1:32

Side 2

1. Lord Of Light (Brock) - 7:21
2. Black Corridor ( Michael Moorcock ) - 1:51
3. Space Is Deep (Brock) - 8:13
4. "Electronic No. 1 "(Dik Mik Davies, Del Dettmar ) - 2:26

Side 3

1. “Orgone Accumulator” (Calvert, Brock) - 9:59
2. Upside Down (Brock) - 2:43
3. 10 Seconds Of Forever (Calvert) - 2:05
4. Brainstorm (Turner) - 9:20

Side 4

1. 7 By 7 (Brock) - 6:13
2. Sonic Attack (Moorcock) - 2:54
3. “Time We Left This World Today” (Brock) - 5:47
4. “Master Of The Universe” ( Nik Turner , Brock) - 7:37
5. '' Welcome To The Future "(Calvert) - 2:03

Bonus Tracks (1996 CD)

1. “You Shouldn't Do That” (Turner, Brock) / “Seeing It As You Really Are” [unlisted] (Brock) - 6:55
2. “Master Of The Universe” (Turner, Brock) - 7:26
3. “Born To Go” (Calvert, Brock) - 13:04

2007 (CD)

The bonus track “You Shouldn't Do That” was recorded at Brixton Sundown, December 30, 1972. It was originally released on the Roadhawks album. The bonus tracks "Master Of The Universe" and "Born To Go" were recorded at The Roundhouse on February 13, 1972 and were first released on the Greasy Truckers Party 'album.

Space Ritual Volume 2

In 1985, Space Ritual Volume 2 , an archived concert album, was released on American Phonograph (APK8), which included recordings on December 30, 1972 (from the side of Space Ritual), but without cuts and no processing whatsoever. These films were licensed to Dave Anderson by Dave Brock.

List of Songs

1. "Electronic No. 1 "(Dettmar / Dik Mik) - 2:15
2. Orgone Accumulator (Calvert / Brock) - 8:45
3. Upside Down (Brock) - 2:45
4. Sonic Attack (Moorcock) - 2:50
5. “Time We Left This World Today” (Brock) / “Paranoia” (Brock) - 13:20
6. “10 Seconds Of Forever” (Calvert) - 2:10
7. Brainstorm (Turner) - 12:00
8. "Wind Of Change" (Brock)
   7 By 7 (Brock) - 8:50
9. “Master of the Universe” (Turner / Brock) - 7:40
10. Welcome to the Future (Calvert) - 2:55

• Robert Calvert - vocals
• Dave Brock - guitar , vocals
• Nik Turner - saxophone , flute , vocals
• Lemmy - bass , vocals
• Dik Mik - Synthesizer
• Del Dettmar - synthesizer
• Simon King - drums

• www.starfarer.net , a complete catalog of album releases and re-releases
• Jon's Attic - Sounds review, May 19, 1973
• HawkFanFare - Melody Maker, May 19, 1973
• Starfarer - NME, 19 May, 1973
• Starfarer - Mojo, July 1999
• Starfarer - Classic Rock, Nov 2000