Henry Cow Albums: songs, discography, biography, and listening guide - Rate Your Music
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Henry Cow

In Praise of Learning
Formed
1968, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Disbanded
August 1978
Members
Fred Frith (guitar, violin, bass, piano, xylophone), Tim Hodgkinson (keyboards, woodwinds), David Attwooll (drums, 1968), Rob Brooks (rhythm guitar, 1968), Joss Grahame (bass, 1968), Andy Spooner (harmonica, 1968), Andrew Powell (bass, drums, 1968-69), John Greaves (bass, piano, vocals, 1969-76), Sean Jenkins (drums, 1969-71), Martin Ditcham (drums, 1971), Chris Cutler (drums, percussion, 1971-78), Geoff Leigh (saxophone, flute, 1972-73), Lindsay Cooper (oboe, bassoon, recorder, piano, 1974, 1975-78), Dagmar Krause (vocals, 1975-77), Georgie Born (bass, cello, 1976-78), Annemarie Roelofs (trombone, violin, 1978)
Related Artists
Art Bears, The Artaud Beats, The Black Sheep, Chris Cutler & Fred Frith, Duck and Cover, Feminist Improvising Group, Jump for Joy!, News From Babel, The Science Group, Slapp Happy
Genres
Rock in Opposition, Avant-Prog, Free Improvisation, Canterbury Scene
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Discography

114
Credits 9 Filmography 1

Album

Showing all (5)
Issues
AverageAvg.
Ratings
Reviews
Ratings/Rev.
Title
/
Release Date
+16
3.72
3,522
57
3,522
57
Cover art: The Henry Cow Legend
The Henry Cow Legend
1973
+12
3.70
3,256
51
3,256
51
Cover art: Unrest
Unrest
1974
+8
3.60
1,440
24
1,440
24
Cover art: Desperate Straights
Desperate Straights
1975 • Slapp Happy / Henry Cow
Slapp Happy
Henry Cow
+12
3.66
4,001
48
4,001
48
Cover art: In Praise of Learning
In Praise of Learning
1975
+14
3.71
1,894
21
1,894
21
Cover art: Western Culture
Western Culture
1979
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Live Album

Showing 11 of 12 show all
Issues
AverageAvg.
Ratings
Reviews
Ratings/Rev.
Title
/
Release Date
+10
3.89
800
16
800
16
Cover art: Concerts
Concerts
1976
+2
3.89
114
1
114
1
Cover art: Stockholm & Göteborg
Stockholm & Göteborg [archival]
2008
 
4.06
95
4
95
4
Cover art: The Road: Volumes 1-5
The Road: Volumes 1-5 [archival]
2009
 
4.09
84
2
84
2
Cover art: The Road: Volumes 6-10
The Road: Volumes 6-10 [archival]
2009
 
3.77
56
56
-
Cover art: 1974-5
1974-5 [archival]
2017
+1
3.92
53
53
-
Cover art: Bremen
Bremen [archival]
2017
+1
4.00
57
1
57
1
Cover art: Hamburg
Hamburg [archival]
2017
+1
3.73
41
41
-
Cover art: Late
Late [archival]
2017
+1
3.83
41
41
-
Cover art: Later and Post-Virgin
Later and Post-Virgin [archival]
2017
+1
3.85
77
1
77
1
Cover art: Trondheim
Trondheim [archival]
2017
+3
3.78
19
19
-
Cover art: Glastonbury and Elsewhere
Glastonbury and Elsewhere [archival]
2022
Show all 12 Live Albums

EP

Showing all (1)
Issues
AverageAvg.
Ratings
Reviews
Ratings/Rev.
Title
/
Release Date
 
3.39
12
12
-
Cover art: In concerto
In concerto [live]
1977

Single

Showing all (1)
Issues
AverageAvg.
Ratings
Reviews
Ratings/Rev.
Title
/
Release Date
 
4.09
13
1
13
1
Cover art: Unreleased Orckestra Extract
Unreleased Orckestra Extract [archival]
2006

Appears On

Showing all (8)
Issues
AverageAvg.
Ratings
Reviews
Ratings/Rev.
Title
/
Release Date
+2
3.75
145
1
145
1
Cover art: Recommended Records Sampler
Recommended Records Sampler
1982 • Album • Various Artists
 
3.59
77
3
77
3
Cover art: The Last Nightingale
The Last Nightingale
1984 • Album • Various Artists
 
2.00
1
1
-
Cover art: Dummy Mix 89
Dummy Mix 89
2011 • DJ Mix • Cologne Tape
 
3.50
1
1
-
Cover art: Blowing Up the Workshop 53
Blowing Up the Workshop 53
2015 • DJ Mix • K. Leimer
 
4.00
1
1
-
Cover art: Snow Day
Snow Day
2019 • DJ Mix • Laikasez
 
1
1
-
Cover art: It Makes Sense to Me
It Makes Sense to Me
2022 • Compilation • Chris Cutler

Compilation

Showing all (4)
Issues
AverageAvg.
Ratings
Reviews
Ratings/Rev.
Title
/
Release Date
 
4.50
8
8
-
Cover art: The Virgin Years
The Virgin Years
1991
 
4.41
27
1
27
1
Cover art: Henry Cow Box
Henry Cow Box
2006
 
4.46
14
14
-
Cover art: The Studio: Volumes 1-5
The Studio: Volumes 1-5
2009
+2
4.75
38
1
38
1
Cover art: Cow Box Redux
Cow Box Redux
2019

V/A Compilation

Showing 10 of 13 show all
Issues
AverageAvg.
Ratings
Reviews
Ratings/Rev.
Title
/
Release Date

Bootleg / Unauthorized

Showing 11 of 43 show all
Issues
AverageAvg.
Ratings
Reviews
Ratings/Rev.
Title
/
Release Date
 
3.46
22
2
22
2
Cover art: Industry
Industry [live]
1995
 
4.19
7
7
-
Cover art: Ruins
Ruins
1995
+1
3.53
13
1
13
1
Cover art: In the Name of a Freedom
In the Name of a Freedom [live]
2000 • Henry Cow featuring Robert Wyatt
Henry Cow
Robert Wyatt
 
3.83
4
4
-
Cover art: New London Theatre, London, on May 21, 1975
New London Theatre, London, on May 21, 1975 [live]
2010 • Henry Cow with Robert Wyatt
Henry Cow
Robert Wyatt
 
4.23
6
6
-
Cover art: At the BBC 1974-1977
At the BBC 1974-1977
 
4.10
7
7
-
Cover art: BBC Sessions 1971-73
BBC Sessions 1971-73
 
4.10
6
1
6
1
No cover art available
BBC Sessions 1972-1974
 
4.12
7
1
7
1
No cover art available
Live in Sweden [live]
Show all 43 Bootlegs / Unauthorized releases

Video

Showing all (1)
Issues
AverageAvg.
Ratings
Reviews
Ratings/Rev.
Title
/
Release Date
 
3.93
11
11
-
Cover art: Vevey 1976
Vevey 1976 [live, archival]
2017

Additional release

Showing all (3)
Issues
AverageAvg.
Ratings
Reviews
Ratings/Rev.
Title
/
Release Date
+1
3.29
65
2
65
2
Cover art: A Cow Cabinet of Curiosities
A Cow Cabinet of Curiosities [archival, outtakes]
2009
 
3.31
97
1
97
1
Cover art: John Peel Session: 24th April 1973
John Peel Session: 24th April 1973 [archival, live sessions]
2010
+1
3.67
70
70
-
Cover art: Beginnings
Beginnings [archival, outtakes]
2017
In Praise of Learning

Biography

While it is debatable whether Henry Cow can be considered among the groups that make up the Canterbury Scene, one thing is certain: they spawned another music scene called 'Rock in Opposition' in late 70s with other European avant-rock bands who shared the same musical and ideological vision.

Henry Cow was formed in 1968 by guitarist-violinist Fred Frith and saxophonist Tim Hodgkinson. The band's main musical influences were Soft Machine, Frank Zappa, Kurt Weill and Béla Bartók. After a series of line up changes, Henry Cow got signed to the nascent Virgin Records and the line-up consisting of Frith, Hodgkinson (who had also learnt to play keyboards), bassist John Greaves, drummer Chris Cutler and woodwind player Geoff Leigh recorded The Henry Cow Legend (1973), which immediately showcased the band's knack for free improvisations, complex angular melodies and tight instrumental interplay. Leigh left the band in December 1973, and was replaced with oboe/bassoon virtuoso Lindsay Cooper by the time of Cow's second album Unrest (1974), which was a more improvised effort than its predecessor.

In 1974 Henry Cow hooked up with Slapp Happy, and this union yielded two albums: Slapp Happy's Desperate Straights with Henry Cow as a backing band and Cow's In Praise of Learning with contributions from the members of Happy. Dagmar Krause became a full time vocalist in 1975, and left in 1977 due to health problems.

By 1978 the group had started to unravel. Musical disagreements between Hodgkinson and Cooper, who favoured an instrumental approach to music, and Frith and Cutler, who wanted to retain vocals, were becoming serious. Henry Cow thus recorded Western Culture with compositions from Hodgkinson and Cooper, while Frith, Cutler and Krause formed Art Bears and recorded their first output at the Western Culture sessions. The band broke up after the recording of this album.

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