Roxy Music (album)

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Roxy Music is the debut album by art rock band Roxy Music, released in June 1972. It was generally well-received by contemporary critics and made #10 in the UK charts.

Style and themes

The opening track, "Re-Make/Re-Model", has been labelled a post-modernist pastiche, featuring solos by each member of the band echoing various touchstones of Western music, including The Beatles' "Day Tripper", Duane Eddy's version of "Peter Gunn" and Wagner’s "Ride of the Valkyries"; the esoteric chorus "CPL 593H" was supposedly the license number of a car, spotted by Bryan Ferry, driven by a beautiful woman. Eno produced some self-styled 'lunacy' when Ferry asked him for a sound "like the moon" for the track "Ladytron". "If There Is Something" was covered by David Bowie's Tin Machine, and was later featured, quite extensively, almost as a central figure, in the British film Flashbacks of a Fool.

A number of songs were thematically linked to movies. "2HB", with its punning title, was Ferry’s tribute to Humphrey Bogart and quoted the line "Here’s looking at you, kid" made famous by the film Casablanca (1942); "Chance Meeting" was inspired by David Lean's Brief Encounter (1945). "The Bob" took its title from Battle of Britain (1968) and included a passage simulating the sound of gunfire.

Discussing the music, Andy Mackay later said "we certainly didn’t invent eclecticism but we did say and prove that rock 'n' roll could accommodate - well, anything really".

Production

The band had been rehearsing and re-working the songs for a couple of months before they finally found a recording place, after which the entire album was recorded in the space of a single week. This was necessary because there was no record deal as yet, and their managers at EG were financing the sessions themselves. The album was produced by King Crimson's lyricist, Peter Sinfield, who had recently left that band. In May 1972, a few weeks after the recording sessions, a contract was signed with Island Records and in June the album was released.

The band's penchant for glamour was showcased both in the lyrics and in the 1950-style album cover, with photography, hair dressing and art work credits detailed on the sleeve. The photographer, Karl Stoecker, shot the cover featuring model Kari-Ann Muller, who later married Chris Jagger, brother of Mick Jagger. The album was dedicated to Susie, a drummer who auditioned for Roxy Music in the early days.

Packaging

Roxy Music, particularly the album's LP incarnation, has been released in different packages over the years. The album's original cover, as issued in 1972 by Island Records (catalog no. ILPS 9200), featured a gatefold sleeve picturing the band (including original bassist Graham Simpson) in stage attire designed by Antony Price,[2] and as discussed below these issues did not include "Virginia Plain." The album's original U.S. release, in late 1972 on Warner Bros. Records' Reprise subsidiary (catalog no. MS 2114), included "Virginia Plain," which had since been issued as a single in the UK. The original U.S. release also featured a gatefold sleeve, but replaced Simpson's photo with that of Rik Kenton, who played bass on "Virginia Plain" following Simpson's departure from the group.

U.S. distribution of Roxy Music was transferred from Reprise to their affiliated company Atco Records in 1976, and back to Reprise in the mid-1980s. LP editions of the album pressed in these timeframes were without the gatefold sleeve and band photographs, instead providing liner notes on the rear album cover.

Single

The original LP release did not contain any singles. In July 1972, a few weeks after the contract was signed, Roxy Music recorded two more songs, "Virginia Plain" and "The Numberer", that were released as a single. It peaked at #4 in the UK charts and helped push sales of the album, which itself went to #10. In most later repressings of the album, including CD versions, the song "Virginia Plain" has been included.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
Rolling Stone[4]
Robert Christgau(B+)[5]
Piero Scaruffi[6]

In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came #31 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums". [7]

Ferry was quoted around the time of their 3rd album, "Stranded" that he did not like the odd production of the first LP, and was re-recording many of the tracks (all listed below as + were featured as B sides of Ferry's solo singles).

Track listing

All songs written by Bryan Ferry. (+ indicates tracks Ferry re-recorded as b-side for his solo singles)

Side One

  1. "Re-Make/Re-Model" – 5:14+
  2. "Ladytron" – 4:26
  3. "If There Is Something" – 6:34
  4. "Virginia Plain" – 2:58 (not included on the original British release)
  5. "2HB" – 4:30+

Side Two

  1. "The Bob (Medley)" – 5:48
  2. "Chance Meeting" – 3:08+
  3. "Would You Believe?" – 3:53
  4. "Sea Breezes" – 7:03+
  5. "Bitters End" – 2:03

Personnel

Production[8]

  • Arranged By Roxy Music
  • Produced By Peter Sinfield
  • Engineered & Mixed By Andy Hendriksen
  • All Songs Published By Buggane Music Ltd. (1972)

References

  • David Buckley (2004). The Thrill of it All: The Story of Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music

Notes

  1. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Edinburgh: Canongate. p. 930. ISBN 1841958603.
  2. ^ Stump, Paul (1998). Unknown Pleasures: A Cultural Biography of Roxy Music, Quartet (UK)/Thunder's Mouth (U.S.), ISBN 1-56025-212-X, p. 48.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "allmusic ((( Roxy Music > Review )))". Allmusic. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
  4. ^ Brackett, Nathan. "Roxy Music". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. November 2004. pg. 705, cited March 17, 2010
  5. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Roxy Music". robertchristgau.com, Retrieved on March 17, 2010.
  6. ^ Scaruffi, Piero. "Roxy Music". pieroscaruffi.com (Italian). Retrieved on March 17, 2010.
  7. ^ Q Classic: Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, 2005.
  8. ^ Production and publishing as found at discogs

External links


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