''Curved Air – Live'' was the first official live album by the British
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
band
Curved Air
Curved Air are an English progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classical, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band is a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fus ...
. It was recorded on the band's reunion tour in December 1974 and released in 1975.
Though it failed to enter the charts, it made enough profit to pay off the tax bill which had compelled Curved Air to reunite, allowing
Francis Monkman
Francis Monkman (born 9 June 1949, in Hampstead, North London, England) is an English rock, classical and film score composer, and a founding member of both the progressive rock band Curved Air and the classical/rock fusion band Sky. He is th ...
and
Florian Pilkington-Miksa
Florian may refer to:
People
* Florian (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
* Florian, Roman emperor in 276 AD
* Saint Florian (250 – c. 304 AD), patron saint of Poland and Upper Austria, al ...
to again leave the group.
[Sutcliffe, Phil & Fielder, Hugh (1981). ''L'Historia Bandido''. London and New York: Proteus Books. . p. 16.]
Background
Sonja Kristina's vocals on the album are atypical of her 1970s performances, both live and in the studio. By her own account, she was in a distraught emotional state following the breakup of her first marriage, and this provoked more wild and raw on-stage singing.
Reception
Allmusic wrote that "Kristina herself is possibly in her best voice ever, while the instrumentation rides roughshod over the... belief that Curved Air were at their best in the studio", offering high praise to nearly all of the individual cuts while criticizing none of them.
Track listing
Personnel
;Curved Air
*
Sonja Kristina
Sonja Kristina (born Sonia Christina Shaw; 14 April 1949) is an English singer, best known for starring in the seminal 1960s musical ''Hair'', and for being the lead vocalist of the 1970s progressive rock band Curved Air.''Rocking the Classics ...
– lead vocals
*
Darryl Way
Richard Darryl Way (born 17 December 1948 in Taunton, Somerset, England) is an English rock and classical musician who was a founding member of Curved Air and co-writer of their Progressive Rock seminal albums from 1970 to 1976. He is best kno ...
– violin, keyboards, backing vocals
*
Francis Monkman
Francis Monkman (born 9 June 1949, in Hampstead, North London, England) is an English rock, classical and film score composer, and a founding member of both the progressive rock band Curved Air and the classical/rock fusion band Sky. He is th ...
– lead guitar, organ, VCS3 synthesizer
*
Florian Pilkington-Miksa
Florian may refer to:
People
* Florian (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
* Florian, Roman emperor in 276 AD
* Saint Florian (250 – c. 304 AD), patron saint of Poland and Upper Austria, al ...
– drums
* Philip Kohn – bass guitar
Recording details
* Recorded live at Cardiff University and Bristol Polytechnic
[
] in December 1974 with the Manor Mobile
* Re-mixed at Air London Studios
* Produced by David Hitchcock
for BTM Productions
* Recording Engineer and Re-mix engineer
Django Johnny Punter
* Assistant Engineers – Phil Becque, Paul Nunn, Sean Milligan, Andy Morris and Alan Perkins
* Design and Artwork Liz Gilmore
* Photography Michael Allard for BTM design
* Special thanks to Ben Mullet and Yamaha for stage equipment
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curved Air - Live
Curved Air albums
1975 live albums
Albums produced by Dave Hitchcock