Forever Blowing Bubbles
Encyclopedia
Forever Blowing Bubbles is a progressive rock
album by Clearlight
, released in 1975 on Virgin Records
in the UK
. It is their first album to use this artist name, but is regarded as their third album.
Following the success of Clearlight Symphony
, Delired Cameleon Family changed their name to Clearlight and returned to the Manor
studio in England to record a second album for Virgin. It covers many contrasting genres including psychedelic
, new age
, folk
, rock
and jazz fusion
jamming
, and the closing track of abstract electronic music
experimentation. Only two songs have vocals, and are sung in French.
Following the release of the album, Clearlight embarked on a UK tour supporting Gong
, with an altered line-up comprising Verdeaux, Dugrenot, Jeanneau, D'Agostini, and new members Coco Roussel (drums, ex Heldon
, and later in Happy The Man
), Jorge Pinchevsky (violin, later in Gong) and Francis Mandin (synthesizers).
lying in the grass, blowing bubbles. The grass appears to be a redrawing of the marijuana
leaves from the back cover of Delired Cameleon Family
, but are now just ordinary lawn grass.
produced
by Cyrille Verdeaux and Mick Glossop
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
album by Clearlight
Clearlight (French band)
Clearlight are a French progressive rock band from the 1970s, although their best known work was produced in England, and released by a major British record company...
, released in 1975 on Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It is their first album to use this artist name, but is regarded as their third album.
Following the success of Clearlight Symphony
Clearlight Symphony
Clearlight Symphony is a progressive rock album released in 1975 on Virgin Records in the UK. It does not officially have an artist name, but is now regarded as the first album by Clearlight who adopted the name later that year, after briefly using the name Delired Cameleon Family...
, Delired Cameleon Family changed their name to Clearlight and returned to the Manor
The Manor Studio
The Manor Studio was a recording studio in the manor house at the village of Shipton-on-Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England, north of the city of Oxford. It was the first residential recording studio in the UK...
studio in England to record a second album for Virgin. It covers many contrasting genres including psychedelic
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
, new age
New Age music
New Age music is music of various styles intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments, and is often...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
jamming
Jam band
-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...
, and the closing track of abstract electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
experimentation. Only two songs have vocals, and are sung in French.
Following the release of the album, Clearlight embarked on a UK tour supporting Gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
, with an altered line-up comprising Verdeaux, Dugrenot, Jeanneau, D'Agostini, and new members Coco Roussel (drums, ex Heldon
Heldon
Heldon is a French electronic rock band created in 1974. The name of the band was taken from the 1972 novel The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad....
, and later in Happy The Man
Happy The Man
Happy the Man is an American progressive rock band from the 1970s specializing in virtuoso instrumental tracks within complex time signatures.-Early days:...
), Jorge Pinchevsky (violin, later in Gong) and Francis Mandin (synthesizers).
Cover art
The cover depicts connections with previous albums, which became a trend in Clearlight album covers from this point onward. On the cover of Clearlight Symphony, cables connect an electrical box to a head, with one cable leading off in the distance, over the horizon. On the cover of Forever Blowing Bubbles, the same cable comes over the horizon, and ends in a disconnected DIN plugDIN connector
A DIN connector is a connector that was originally standardized by the , the German national standards organization. There are DIN standards for a large number of different connectors, therefore the term "DIN connector" alone does not unambiguously identify any particular type of connector unless...
lying in the grass, blowing bubbles. The grass appears to be a redrawing of the marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
leaves from the back cover of Delired Cameleon Family
Delired Cameleon Family
Delired Cameleon Family is a progressive rock album by the group of the same name, released in 1975 on EMI Records in France. It is now regarded as the second album by Clearlight who adopted the name later that year, in response to the success of Clearlight Symphony , which is now regarded as...
, but are now just ordinary lawn grass.
Side one
- "Chanson" (Joël Dugrenot) – 4:50
- "Without Words" (Cyrille Verdeaux) – 7:30
- "Way" (Dugrenot) – 8:00
Side two
- "Ergotrip" (Verdeaux) – 6:35
- "Et Pendant ce Temps La" (Verdeaux) – 4:10
- "Narcisse et Goldmund" (Verdeaux / Beatrice d'Eaubonne) – 2:30
- "Jungle Bubbles" (Verdeaux) – 2:40
Personnel
- François Jeanneau – bubbles
- Bob Boisadan – electric pianoElectric pianoAn electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, synthesizerAnalog synthesizerAn analog or analogue synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog computer techniques to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s such as the Trautonium were built with a variety of vacuum-tube and electro-mechanical technologies... - Cyrille Verdeaux – grand pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, harpsichordHarpsichordA harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
, synthesizerAnalog synthesizerAn analog or analogue synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog computer techniques to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s such as the Trautonium were built with a variety of vacuum-tube and electro-mechanical technologies...
, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, glockenspielGlockenspielA glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
, MellotronMellotronThe Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
, gongGongA gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
s, congaCongaThe conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
s - Jean-Claude d'Agostini – electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, 12-string guitarTwelve string guitarThe twelve-string guitar is an acoustic or electric guitar with 12 strings in 6 courses, which produces a richer, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar...
, fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
in CKey (music)In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the... - Christos Stapinopoulos – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, congaCongaThe conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
s - Joël Dugrenot – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, lead vocals - David CrossDavid Cross (musician)David Cross is an electric violinist born in Turnchapel near Plymouth, England, best known for playing with progressive rock band King Crimson during the 1970s...
– violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, electric violinElectric violinAn electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument purposely made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body... - Christian Boulé – cosmic guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
- Gilbert Artman – percussion, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, maracas, vibraphoneVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family.... - Amanda (Parsons) and Ann (Rosenthal, of the Northettes who are mentioned in the thank-yous; see Hatfield and the NorthHatfield and the NorthHatfield and the North were an experimental Canterbury scene rock band that lasted from October 1972 to June 1975, with some reunions thereafter.-Career:...
) – celestial choir - Bruno Verdeaux – synthesizerAnalog synthesizerAn analog or analogue synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog computer techniques to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s such as the Trautonium were built with a variety of vacuum-tube and electro-mechanical technologies...
, aquatic congaCongaThe conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
s - Brigitte Roy – sings "Narcisse et Goldmund"
produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Cyrille Verdeaux and Mick Glossop