T. Rex (album)

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T. Rex
T. Rex (Album).jpg
Studio album by
T. Rex
Released18 December 1970 (1970-12-18)
Recorded14 May – 31 August 1970
Studio Trident, London
Genre Folk rock
Length37:41
Label
Producer Tony Visconti
T. Rex chronology
A Beard of Stars
(1970)		T. Rex
(1970)		 Electric Warrior
(1971)

T. Rex is a 1970 album by Marc Bolan's band T. Rex, the first under that name and the fifth since their debut as Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1968. It was released on 18 December by record labels Fly and Reprise. The album continued the shift begun by its predecessor from the band's previous folk style to a minimal rock sound, [1] with an even balance of electric and acoustic material. [2]

Contents

Content and music

Although the album was credited to T. Rex, all the recordings (as well as the cover shot) were done when they still were Tyrannosaurus Rex, with the two-man lineup of singer/songwriter/guitarist Marc Bolan and percussionist Mickey Finn, although producer Tony Visconti played bass and recorder on a couple of tracks. Bolan had considered calling the album The Wizard or The Children of Rarn, before opting for a self-titled album. [2] Bolan wanted to be pictured with his electric guitar to suit the new electric image he was trying to create. [2]

The album continued in the vein of the duo's previous album A Beard of Stars , with an even further emphasis on an electric rock sound and the addition of strings, scored by Visconti, on several tracks. [3] Certain tracks like "The Time of Love is Now", "Suneye" and "Root of Star", were stylistically closer to the folk music of Tyrannosaurus Rex. [2] AllMusic wrote that "The tone of the album is a bit more pastoral" than on the previous album but electric guitars are fully integrated in tracks like "Jewel", "Childe", "Beltane Walk", "Diamond Meadows", "Is It Love", and "Summer Deep", predating the style of the follow-up. Lyrics were inspired in part by Tolkien, [4] including poetry about wizards, Druids, and a "Liquid Poetess in a buckskin dress". Journalist Tom Everett observed that Bolan was "clearly infatuated with mysticism, as well as the pure sounds of the English language", although it would be the final time this subject matter would dominate his work. [5] Elsewhere, "The Visit" details a UFO abduction while "Diamond Meadows" and "Suneye" are more conventional love songs that presage future ballads.

The album contained electric reworkings of two old Tyrannosaurus Rex songs, one of which, "The Wizard", was originally recorded as the A side of Bolan's (solo) first single back in 1965. [2] The second was an electric version of the second Tyrannosaurus Rex single, "One Inch Rock", with an intro of scat-singing by Bolan and Finn, which the duo had been incorporating into live acoustic versions for some months prior to the album sessions. The remaining songs, however, were new material. "The Children Of Rarn" and its reprise, which opened and closed the UK album, were an incursion into symphonic rock which Bolan had wanted to develop into a full concept album although the reprise was replaced on the American version with the debut T. Rex single "Ride a White Swan". The B-side, a cover of "Summertime Blues", plus the intricate guitar instrumental outtake "Deep Summer" were also recorded during the sessions. [2]

Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, aka "Flo and Eddie", sang backup vocals for the first time on a T. Rex song, "Seagull Woman". [5] They would go on to sing on most of the group's subsequent string of hits.

Release

The album was released on 18 December 1970 by Fly and Reprise. The sleeve design was unusual, requiring a sideways look to unfold the cover, or to have the artwork sideways to remove the LP.

It broke T. Rex in the UK, following the surprise success of the then-recent single "Ride a White Swan", which reached No. 2 in the charts, and before its No. 1 follow-up "Hot Love". The album is today listed by the Official Charts Company's website as having eventually reached a chart peak of No. 7 and accumulated several runs on the charts totaling 25 weeks. [6] This peak however took place during the 1971 United Kingdom postal workers strike during which no album chart was issued and therefore the site recognises the Melody Maker chart for February–April 1971. [7] The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums which did not recognise any album chart for the missing weeks, listed the album as having peaked at number 13. [8]

The US pressing of the LP concluded with "Ride a White Swan", rather than "The Children of Rarn (Reprise)".

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Rolling Stone very favourable [5]

Upon release, Rolling Stone published a glowing review saying, "It's difficult to isolate any one or two songs as being special favorites". Reviewer Todd Everett praised the band for "their ability to intermix vocal and instrumental sounds — the voices often go into a feedback guitar imitation. It's not the kind of trick every group should try". [5] In the UK reception was also highly positive, with Ray Hollingworth of Melody Maker describing it as "energy-packed rock, basted with Bolan's poetic and imaginative vocals", [9] while Nick Logan of New Musical Express opined it was "immensely enjoyable".

In his retrospective review, Mark Deming of AllMusic wrote, "T. Rex is the quiet before the storm of Electric Warrior , and it retains a loopy energy and easy charm that makes it one of Bolan's watershed works". [4]

Richard Barone of the Bongos covered "The Visit" on his first solo album, Cool Blue Halo (1987). [10] Siouxsie Sioux covered "Jewel" in 1999 with her second band the Creatures. [11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Marc Bolan, except where noted

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."The Children of Rarn"0:53
2."Jewel"2:46
3."The Visit"1:55
4."Childe"1:41
5."The Time of Love Is Now"2:42
6."Diamond Meadows"1:58
7."Root of Star"2:31
8."Beltane Walk"2:38
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Is It Love?"2:34
2."One Inch Rock"2:28
3."Summer Deep"1:43
4."Seagull Woman"2:18
5."Suneye"2:06
6."The Wizard"8:50
7."The Children of Rarn (Reprise)" (the U.S. version features "Ride a White Swan" in place of this track)0:36
2004 Expanded Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
16."Ride a White Swan" (Single A-side) 2:30
17."Summertime Blues" (Single B-side) Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart 2:42
18."Poem" 0:34
19."The Visit" (Take 4) 1:57
20."Diamond Meadows" (Take 6) 1:56
21."One Inch Rock" 2:26
22."Seagull Woman" 2:19
23."The Wizard" 8:33
24."The Children of Rarn" 0:42

Personnel

T.Rex

with:

Charts

Chart (1970/71)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [12] 37
UK Albums Chart 7 (Official Charts website) [6]
13 (Guinness Book of British Hit Albums) [8]

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References

  1. ↑ Deming, Mark. "T. Rex biography". Allmusic . Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Paytress, Mark. Bolan: The Rise and Fall of a 20th Century Superstar. Omnibus Press. 2003.
  3. ↑ "... in December, he released the T.Rex album which also became a smash hit. Strings added by producer Tony Visconti had given an extra dimension to T.Rex's music ..." Bolan - Born To Boogie, Chris Welch, Simon Napier Bell, Plexus Publishing 2008 edition p77
  4. 1 2 3 Deming, Mark. "T-Rex – T. Rex". AllMusic . Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Everett, Todd (22 July 1971). "T. Rex review". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  6. 1 2 "T. Rex | Artist | Official Charts". Official Charts . Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  7. ↑ "Who We Are - History of the Official Charts - the Seventies". Official Charts . Archived from the original on 25 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  8. 1 2 Guinness Book of British Hit Albums, Guinness Books, 1977-2006 editions
  9. ↑ Hollingworth, Roy (26 December 1970). "T. Rex review". Melody Maker through Rocksbackpages.com. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Ned Raggett "Richard Barone Cool Blue Halo". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  11. ↑ "Siouxsie / the Creatures 'Jewel' (T. Rex cover) live in Oxford, Zodiac 1999". Youtube. February 1999. Retrieved 2 June 2018
  12. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 302. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
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