Released in an attractive digipak gatefold packaging with Daevid Allen's "Ph.P" original drawings and wacky liner notes. Gong: Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth. Gong proper didn't come together until November of 1969. However, this recording, made a few months earlier, features the nucleus of that band along with a few friends, pursuing the same basic vision. Australian hippie/beatnik Daevid Allen was the band's guiding light, and his philosophical insights were leavened by humorous imagery that he later developed into an elaborate mythological world. Though the early sound of Gong, as represented here, was basically psychedelic folk-rock, Allen was musically informed enough to bring more outre influences to bear--the original album cover cites the influence of Monk, Terry Riley, Satie, Mingus, Soft Machine (a band he helped create) and others. This free-wheeling jazz/avant garde influence was key in setting Gong apart from the pack. Noted free jazz pianist Burton Greene even guests on one track. An auspicious beginning.
Mystic Sister, Magick Brother (5:56) Change The World (4:31) Rational Anthem (4:07) Glad To Sad To Say (3:41) Fable Of A Fredfish & Hope You Feel O.K. (4:27) Ego (3:59) Gong Song (4:13) Ego (3:57) Five & Twenty Schoolgirls (4:36) Cos You Got Green Hair (5:04) 5 And 20 Schoolgirls (4:26) Cos And Got Green Hair (5:00)