Where Bruford Belongs!

BaldFriede wrote: Did you know Bill Bruford was a member of Gong once? As far as I know there don't exist any recordings of this though. Gong seems to be a band that attracts great drummers, since Pip Pyle and Pierre Moerlen played there too.

NetsNJFan wrote: Yea too bad there are no recordings he must have sounded excellent.

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=84460

If you are not a DIME member you will have to sign up... but here is the info for that exquisite bootleg in case you are interested:

Gong (featuring Bill Bruford)
Oslo (Norway), Château-Neuf - 15-12-1974
Rotterdam (Netherlands), Eksit - 7-12-1974

source: sbd (good to excellent)

An instance of lucky synchronicity, the untimely break-up of King Crimson in September 1974 happened just a few weeks before Gong, while on a European tour, were once again left without a drummer. The drummer in question, Laurie Allan, hadn't left of his own accord to join the Percussions de Strasbourg, or been kicked out - he was arrested while crossing the French-German border in the possession of illegal 'substances'. Why he was the only one in the band thus convicted remains shrouded in mystery, but although Laurie was able to perform on the band's German tour in early November, a replacement had to be found pronto.

A recommendation by journalist and mutual friend Steve Lake put the band in touch with Bill Bruford, who agreed to join for the remaining dates. Of course Bruford was something of a star, but Virgin were evidently willing to pay him what he required - allegedly a salary five times higher than what the regular members were getting paid (which probably explains why the arrangement was shortlived). Anyway, Bruford caught up with Gong in Germany, rehearsed with them for a couple of days in Orléans and the 'all-star' Gong toured France, more Germany, Holland, more France, through to Norway, coming back home just in time for Christmas !

The Oslo gig had originally been scheduled to take place earlier in the tour but had to be postponed after the band missed the overnight ferry from Kiel to Oslo after their concert at Amsterdam's Melkweg. Consequently, it was rearranged for the end of the tour, and turned out to be Bill Bruford's last concert with Gong.

The recording of the Oslo gig is an excellent soundboard, but is sadly incomplete. Coincidentally, another show from the same tour, in Rotterdam, also a soundboard but of inferior quality, contains almost exactly what's missing from the Oslo show, so I thought I'd offer a double-set of both to approximate the feel of a complete Gong concert with Bill Bruford on drums.

CD1 (Oslo)
1. Master Builder (13:34)
2. Perfect Mystery (2:38)
3. Tropical Fish / Selene (7:13)
4. I Never Glid Before (7:38)
5. transition (1:10)
6. Solar Musick Suite (9:01)
7. Didier improv (10:21)
8. Oily Way (2:32)
9. Inner Temple (3:33)
10. Outer Temple (1:37)
11. Gliss Improv (3:41)
12. A Sprinkling Of Clouds (2:21)

CD2 (Rotterdam)
1. A Sprinkling Of Clouds (7:24)
2. You Can't Kill Me (8:58)
3. Isle Of Everywhere (10:21)
4. You Never Blow Yr Trip Forever (12:37)
5. applause (5:57)
6. Flying Teapot (8:04)

Daevid Allen - vocals & guitar
Didier Malherbe - saxes, flute & vocals
Steve Hillage - guitar & vocals
Miquette Giraudy - vocals & percussion
Tim Blake - synthesizers & vocals
Mike Howlett - bass
Bill Bruford - drums

This is absolutely fantastic stuff, "You" era Gong with Bill just slamming.  He even uses the discarded "dirty crash" cymbal from One More Red Nightmare in this concert.  The Oslo portion is A+, just a pristine soundboard, while the Rotterdam part has some distortion (mostly in the vocals...it's still highly listenable).  Any BB fan should have this one, it's one of my all-time favorite boots.

Oh yeah, I voted for BB with KC but he is the greatest anywhere he lays his drumstool.  My favorites after KC are National Health, Genesis, Yes and the above Gong tape.