The History and The Mystery of Planet Gong
	Produced by Daevid Allen, Harry Williamson
	Released on 1989
	no chart information
	Find it at GEMM
PILTO 67 cover [high resolution scan]

W hat are we doing this far out in the nether regions of Gong? Well, you see, they were selling this for eight bucks in Strawberries, and so... Little bits of paper, hard candy shavings and a few small coins from the pockets of Daevid Allen. The History lesson is best left to you studious Gong sorts, since the sonic fidelity is often terrible. Submarine (sub-boot) terrible. And the recordings appear in historical order, so you�ll need to stay the rocky pocket course until the middle before hitting paydirt (a live version of �Pot Head Pixies� that doesn�t sound like it was recorded on the fringe of the festival in a portable toilet). From there, the recording quality improves dramatically, inviting us to wipe our feet before stepping off the dusty archival trail. The troubling thing is, if you stumbled upon this in the dark (or in Strawberries for eight dollars), the history of Gong would read like this: pretentious, psychedelic band stumbles through the sixties and early �70s, then releases music derivative of Pink Floyd (�Where Have All The Flowers Gone?�) and Hawkwind (�Opium For The People�) mixed with Firesign Theatre performances (�Future�). The real story, of course, starts with Soft Machine, curdled into Camembert and mushroomed with the radio gnome invisible trilogy. So, if you can abide any mystery in your life, best to leave this back on planet gong. Which is where the story would normally end, except that NMC re-released this in 2000 with Daevid Allen/Mothergong�s The Owl And The Tree as a bonus disc. (It was originally released in 1990, and I�ll get around to grouping this gonglia some day.) The release is split into two halves: the first by Gilli�s Mothergong offshoot (the tree half), the second by Daevid Allen (the owl half). The Mothergong half is poetry/jazz, soothing and surprisingly good (�I Am A Tree,� �La Dea Madri�), the kind of thing critics usually call frothy (I�m not nearly comfortable enough in my manhood to use the word �frothy,� for fear of the free beret that comes with it). Daevid�s side starts with the lovely lullaby �The Owl Song� (the best thing about the whole history and mystery adventure so far), eclipses it with the long-winded �I Am My Own Lover� and the arboreal ending, �Tudor Love Poem.� I expected both Allen and Smyth to be acid casualties by 1990, and The Owl and The Tree to be a vanity release. I was wrong on both counts; this is music that stimulates the imagination. So, in conclusion: History + Mystery = old news, Owl + Tree = wise perches.

PILTO 67 gatefold sleeve	PILTO 67 back sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. CONCERT INTRO
2. CAPTAIN SHAW AND MR. GILBERT
3. LOVE MAKES SWEET MUSIC
4. DLT INTERVIEW
5. RIOT 1969
6. DREAMING IT
7. I FEEL SO LAZY
8. AND I TRIED SO HARD
9. RADIO GNOME PRE-MIX
10. POT HEAD PIXIES
11. MAGICK BROTHER
12. LINE UP
13. CLARENCE IN WONDERLAND
14. BREAKTHROUGH INTERVIEW
15. WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE?
16. GONG POEM
17. DEYA GODDESS
18. OPIUM FOR THE PEOPLE
19. RED ALERT
20. 13-8
21. GLISS-U-WELL
22. FUTURE
23. THE DREAM
24. CHERNOBYL RAIN
25. LET ME BE ONE
    
    The History & The Mystery of Gong (2000 reissue w. bonus disc)
    
1. INTRO (from Christmas Party 1973)
2. CAPTAIN SHAW AND MR. GILBERT (Recorded by Daevid in 1964)
3. LOVE MAKES SWEET MUSIC (Daevid Allen & Soft Machine Radio Broadcast 1968)
4. RIOT 1969 (with Soft Machine in France plus DLT Interview)
5. DREAMING IT (Earliest Live Recording of Gong 1969)
6. I FEEL SO LAZY (Live in Los Angeles 1972)
7. AND I TRIED SO HARD (Live in Los Angeles 1972)
8. RADIO GNOME PRE-MIX (Studio Out Take 1973)
9. POT HEAD PIXIES (Live 1973)
10. CLARENCE IN WONDERLAND (Radio Session with Kevin Ayers)
11. WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE? (Recorded in Deya Spain 1976)
12. GONG POEM (Recorded with Clive Williamson 1976)
13. DEYA GODDESS (Recorded in Deya Spain 1976)
14. OPIUM FOR THE PEOPLE (Studio Version Sung in French)
15. RED ALERT (Recorded in Wales 1980 with Mother Gong)
16. 13-8 (Studio Session 1981 Featuring Guy Evans & Dave Sawyer)
17. GLISS-U-WELL (Studio Version 1981 with Dider from the Tape "Words Fail Me")
18. FUTURE (Taken from Australian Tape Only Release "Living on the Brink")
19. THE DREAM (with Gilli Smyth & Tom the Poet Australia 1985)
20. CHERNOBYL RAIN (Kansas Mix Invisible Opera Co.)
21. LET ME BE ONE (Recorded Live in Glastonbury 1988)
    
    The Owl and The Tree bonus disc
    
1. I AM A TREE
2. LAMENT FOR THE FUTURE OF THE FOREST
3. HANDS
4. UNSEEN ALLY
5. LA DEA MADRI
6. THE OWL SONG
7. I AM MY OWN LOVER
8. TUDOR LOVE POEM

CREDITS

Compiled by: Robin (Healing) Ayling with thanks to Danielle Barnett
Ed Ozric -- engineer
Dave Anderson -- engineer
Christian Thompson -- external & centrespread & illustration
Babs Kirk -- liner notes

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