The Let The Electric Children Play: The Underground Story Of Transatlantic Records

Regular: £20.99

Sale
Regular: £20.99

Unavailable

Unit Price: per

Cat No: ECLEC32600

Release Date: 07 January 2022

Label: Esoteric Recordings / Cherry Red

Packaging Type: Clamshell

No of Units: 3

Barcode: 5013929470040

Genres: Rock Progressive Rock

Description

RE-PRESS: CD ORIGINALLY RELEASED IN 2017
- REMASTERED 3CD CLAMSHELL BOX SET ANTHOLOGY DOCUMENTING THE UNDERGROUND ERA OF TRANSATLANTIC RECORDS 1968-1976
- NEARLY FOUR HOURS OF MUSIC FROM ARTISTS INCLUDING ALAN HULL, STRAY, THE DEVIANTS, PENTANGLE, MICK FARREN, JODY GRIND, THE HUMBLEBUMS, MARSUPILAMI, GERRY RAFFERTY, SKIN ALLEY, UNICORN AND MANY MORE
- FEATURING A LAVISHLY ILLUSTRATED BOOK AND EXTENSIVE ESSAY ON THE TRANSATLANTIC LABEL AND ARTISTS FEATURED IN THE BOX
A deluxe 3CD set that tells the story of the so-called “underground” era of one of Britain’s great independent record labels of the 1960s and 1970s, Transatlantic Records. In the heady atmosphere of the late 1960s, the sea change in British popular music spearheaded by The Beatles experimentation on the ‘Sergeant Pepper’ album and swiftly followed by the likes of Cream, Pink Floyd, Traffic, Family, Procol Harum, Jethro Tull and a host of groups and musicians who followed in their footsteps led to the album being seen as the medium in which “serious” musicians would explore and develop their craft. The apparently disparate genres of blues, jazz, rock, folk and even world music were fused together by many diverse acts all of whom were eager to be regarded as “progressive” in their musical approach. The so-called “underground” audience eagerly consumed this music, which sat alongside the social changes that were also taking place.

In the UK the major labels established imprints such as Harvest, Vertigo and Deram to market music to this audience, inspired by the vision of independent labels such as Island Records. Another, smaller British independent label also swiftly tapped into this new musical movement; Transatlantic Records. This proudly independent imprint, founded in 1961 by Nat Joseph, looked beyond its initial folk, jazz and blues output to sign a distinctly quirky and diverse roster of “underground” acts. Between 1968 and 1976 Transatlantic explored all aspects of the “progressive” and “underground” scenes; from the “heavy” groups such as The Deviants, Jody Grind, Little Free Rock and Stray, to the acts on the fringes of folk and rock such as Pentangle, Mr Fox, Alan Hull, The Humblebums, Gryphon and Carolanne Pegg, to jazz rockers such as Circus and Marsupilami.

Featuring over three and a half hours of remastered music over three CDs, ‘Let The Electric Children Play’ documents the fascinating story of a unique period in the history of one of Britain’s most eccentric labels.
Tracklisting