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Cover
photograph: Buy
Ommadawn now from Amazon.co.uk
Not
listed but believed to be there...Electric
Lap Steel guitar, Vocals. Other
musicians Mike's
vocals on 'On Horseback' go uncredited
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Bridget St John - British folk rock singer. Made some LPs on the Dandelion record label, run by British DJ John Peel in the early 70s (albums on this label are now extremely rare and change hands for huge amounts of money). Did some vocals for Kevin Ayers' Shooting at the moon album. She put her recording career on hold in 1976 to move to New York. William Murray - A Glaswegian drummer, who played with Richard and Linda Thompson's 'Sour Grapes' band, as well as with Mellow Candle. He also played drums with Kevin Ayers in 1971 on the 'Whatevershebringswesing' album and later worked with Paul Kossoff. He was a good friend of Mike's. Mike bought William Murray a camera as a present, which sparked off an interest in photography. He later moved to Dallas, Texas, USA, where he worked as a photographer. William took the photograph of Mike that's on the cover of Amarok. He died in 1999. Don Blakeson - A session trumpet player, Don played with the London Jazz Orchestra in 1963 when they made a recording entitled 'Stonehenge'. Also produced an arrangement of Händel's Fireworks music for brass band. David Strange - Classical cellist, has played with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Appears now to be a member of the string staff at the Royal Academy of Music, London, England. Paddy Moloney - Leader of Irish folk group 'The Chieftains', which Paddy formed in 1963. Most famously, the group featured on the soundtrack to the Stanley Kubrick film 'Barry Lyndon'. Jabula
- The word means 'Rejoice' in Zulu. The government in South Africa
forced many musicians into exile, also banning their music from
being listened to (either being played over the radio, or played
privately). The musicians in Jabula had been exiled in this way
and were all living in London, where they formed the group in 1974.
Mike heard them and invited them down to his studio to play. He
liked what he heard and ended up using them for Ommadawn, as well
as Incantations and later, Amarok. They released two LPs of their
own - Jabula (1975) and Thunder into our Hearts (1976). The Penhros Kids - Children of the owners of the Penhros Court Hotel in Kington, which was fairly near to Mike's home. Mike met Leslie Penning in the hotel and later played with him there. The kids sang on 'On Horseback', the song at the end of the album. Herbie
- Full name Herbie Armstrong (according to the Amarok Mike Oldfield
FAQ - my research drew a blank on him). It seems his northumbrian
bagpipe parts were later replaced with Paddy Moloney's uillean pipes
(though I did have a vague thought that I might have found the sound
of the northumbrian pipes buried deep in the mix somewhere in part
2. I don't remember where it was, and it was probably something
else anyway...). Herbie Armstrong played guitar with Van Morrison
on a couple albums during the late 70s and early 80s. This was the only album of Mike's recorded at The Beacon, his own studio in his home near Hergest Ridge. The house was situated on the steep slopes of Bradnor hill, which made getting things like the grand piano in rather difficult. Shortly after recording the album, Mike moved to Througham, the home/studio where he began working on Incantations. The
release date is approximate. Ommadawn seems to have had no official
release date. Buy
Ommadawn now from Amazon.co.uk
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Ommadawn
