TUBULAR BELLS

	Tubular Bells
	Sound by Tom Newman, Simon Heyworth and Mike Oldfield
	Released on May 1973
	UK CHART POSITION #1 . . . US CHART POSITION #3 . . . UK RE-CHART POSITION #28 (1983)
	Find it at GEMM
VR 13-105 cover

M ore experiments, sighed the troll, and I hardly gets a mention, the wanker...

We walked between that interstitial span, naiad and man, that splits the cobalt blue from tan. I said, “I wonder where the years have gone.” Head bent, she nodded in assent, one ear on Oceana’s song. There was a pixie that we knew who strung his small guitars with strands of dew; he loved the horn pipe and the ocean’s call, but mischief most of all. And so it was he did deflower a virgin with a contraption of his own contrivance: bells twisted in a most peculiar fashion forged in a hillock of the highlands. When struck the steel suggested ocean waves, warm fires under toadstools, gentle winds. The instrument became the sounds it played, the sounds took on the shapes of streams and glens. The troll, who knew The Exorcist by heart, was sold on this from the start, but lost interest after the first minute when he didn’t find any more deviltry in it. But his part’s been told and, declining our ocean stroll, won’t reappear. I hold the naiad near and muse at how the woods and waters can be one, how creatures raised on currents and currants can come together even for one dance and then be done. And that’s the magic of these bells, how natural their humors intertwine: sea chanty, pixie poesy, madrigals, spilled as a splendid wine. Our time has come, the naiad knows, and veers, the ocean spray flecked on her face like tears, except no trace of sadness marks our parting, for we are only starting. And bells will be replayed. Rejoice. Remember me: proud, pixilated.

VR 13-105 back cover

TRACK LISTING

TUBULAR BELLS 25:00
TUBULAR BELLS 23:50

Composed by Mike Oldfield (except "Sailors Hornpipe" traditional)

CREDITS

MIKE OLDFIELD -- grand piano, glokenspiel, Farsifa organ, bass guitar, electric guitars, speed guitar, taped motor drive amplifier organ chord, mandolin-like guitar, fuzz guitars, assorted percussion, acoustic guitar, flageolet, honky tonk, Lowre organ, tubular bells, speed electric guitars, piano, concert tympani, guitars sounding like bagpipes, piltdown man, Hammond organ, Spanish guitar, moribund chorus
Steve Broughton -- drums
Lindsay Cooper -- string basses
Mundy Ellis -- girlie chorus
Jon Field -- flutes
Manor choir (conducted by Mike Oldfield) -- bootleg chorus
Nasal Choir -- nasal chorus
Sally Oldfield -- girlie chorus
Viv Stanshall -- master of ceremonies
Trevor Key -- sleeve design and photography

REGION	RELEASE DATE	LABEL	MEDIA	ID NUMBER	FEATURES
UK	May 1973	Virgin	LP/CS	V/TCV 2001
US	1973	Virgin	LP	VR 13-105
NET		Virgin	LP	87541XOT
BRA	1977	Virgin	LP	1408290
UK	December 1978	Virgin	LPPIC	VP 2001	picture elpee
UK	June 1983	Virgin	CD	CDV 2001
US	July 11, 1992	Virgin	CD	86007
US	February 20, 2000	Caroline	CD	50733	super audio disc
UK	May 29, 2000	Virgin	CD	849388	digital remaster

SUGGESTED VIEWING

Since the two are inextricably linked, you might be interested in picking up The Exorcist. Great movie. It's worth reiterating that the tiny sample taken from Tubular Bells for The Exorcist is dispensed with after the first minute and is only one of many facets on this multi-faceted wonderwork.

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