''Hergest Ridge'' is the second studio album by English musician and songwriter

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

, released on 28 August 1974 by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

. The unexpected commercial and critical success of his debut album ''

Tubular Bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...

'' (1973) affected Oldfield, who decided against touring and avoided the press with his newfound fame. Instead, he retreated to

Hergest Ridge Hergest Ridge is a large elongated hill which traverses the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom, between the town of Kington in Herefordshire and the village of Gladestry in Powys. Its highest point, which is in England, ...

on the

England–Wales border The England–Wales border ( cy, Y ffin rhwng Cymru a Lloegr; shortened: Ffin Cymru a Lloegr), sometimes referred to as the Wales–England border or the Anglo-Welsh border, runs for from the Dee estuary, in the north, to the Severn estuary i ...

and wrote the follow-up, which he recorded in 1974 at The Manor in Oxfordshire, with Tom Newman returning as co-producer. Similar to Oldfield's first, the album is a single composition split into two parts covering different moods and musical styles. The album was No. 1 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

for three consecutive weeks before it was displaced by ''Tubular Bells'', marking one of the few times an artist has overtaken themselves on the chart in this manner. In 2010, the album was reissued with new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes, bonus material, and new artwork.

Background and recording

After the release of his debut album ''

'', Oldfield sought a countryside location to write a follow-up album. In early 1974 he drove around the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glo ...

before turning north into

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

. He arrived at Kington, a small town on the

located in the shadow of

, an elongated hill with a peak height of which attracted Oldfield to stay in the area. He spotted a house named The Beacon on the edge of Bradnor Hill that was for sale and received permission from

co-owner Richard Branson to buy it. Oldfield settled into his new home but felt unsure of his next career move. His contract with Virgin allowed him a £25 wage and continual offers added to the pressure of appearing in public, causing Oldfield to suffer from panic attacks. He lacked any solid ideas for new music and chose to perform simple undemanding Medieval tunes with folk musician Les Penning at Penrhos Court, a local restaurant, in return for free wine. With encouragement from Branson, Oldfield started to write a follow-up to ''Tubular Bells'' following the delivery of a

Farfisa Farfisa (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professio ...

organ, 4-track TEAC tape machine, and a

mixing desk A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic instr ...

to his house. Oldfield felt that half of the good sections on the album were so detailed and buried in the mix, it called for listeners to play the album on a high quality record player. He stated, "I have to listen really hard to pick out something that I know that I'm proud that I did". The climax to the album is something that he was particularly happy with. Comparisons of the album to ''Tubular Bells'' irritated him because he considered it a more arranged and fully conceived work. In 1975, Oldfield reflected on ''Hergest Ridge'' and thought it contained "some excellent ideas" but its recording was rushed, which affected the performance. After initial recording sessions at Basing Street Studios, London and Chipping Norton Studios, Oxfordshire were abandoned, Oldfield recorded ''Hergest Ridge'' in the spring of 1974 at The Manor near Shipton-on-Cherwell, Oxfordshire, with Tom Newman resuming his role as co-producer with Oldfield. The album was mixed at

AIR Studios Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producer Sir George Martin and his business partner John Burgess, after their departure from Parlophone. The studio complex was founded ...

on London's

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and ...

Music

Similarly to ''Tubular Bells'', the album is divided into two movements. Oldfield frequently superimposes layers of electric guitar recorded by first amplifying heavily (to achieve a sustained organ-like quality) and then reducing the volume greatly via use of the Glorfindel Box (a custom guitar effects unit housed in plywood, which was extremely unreliable in its operation; the unit was obtained from

David Bedford David Vickerman Bedford (4 August 1937 – 1 October 2011) was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music. He was the brother of the conductor Steuart Bedford, the grandson of the composer, painter ...

, who had been given the box at a party by its creator.) The volume was reduced further using the compression channel from the Manor's mixing console, as had been done on ''Tubular Bells'' Part 2. Textures are extended further using various organ timbres and the use of voice as an instrument (the voice is never treated prominently and is deliberately reduced as much as possible and thus permitted largely for textural effect).

Versions

''Hergest Ridge'' was remixed in SQ system 4-channel quadraphonic sound by Oldfield in 1976 for the 4-LP set, '' Boxed''. Following the creation of the remix, Oldfield stated that he wished for all future releases of the album to be derived from this new version. All CD releases have a stereo mix derived from the ''Boxed'' mix, as do most of the later pressings of LP and cassette. The original 1974 vinyl mix is now available on the 2010 reissue of the album, along with a 2010 remix. An orchestral version of ''Hergest Ridge'' was arranged and conducted by

, who had previously undertaken the same tasks on ''

The Orchestral Tubular Bells ''The Orchestral Tubular Bells'' is an orchestral version of Mike Oldfield's album ''Tubular Bells'', arranged by David Bedford and recorded in 1974 by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring Oldfield himself playing the guitar. Excerpts fr ...

''. It was performed live a number of times, and recorded for radio broadcast from concert performances twice, once in 1974 by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Steve Hillage on guitar, and once in 1976 by the

Scottish National Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Throughout its history, the Or ...

, again with Hillage on guitar.

Andy Summers Andrew James Summers (born 31 December 1942), is an English guitarist who was a member of the rock band The Police. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a band member in 2003. Summers has recorded solo albums, collaborated wi ...

played on other performances that year. Parts of its performances were used in the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

and Tony Palmer documentary '' The Space Movie''. it has not been officially released.

Reception

Paul Stump commented on ''Hergest Ridge'' in his 1997 ''History of Progressive Rock'': "So how to follow ''Tubular Bells''? Simple. Merely repeat its developmental techniques through new (but less inspired) sequences of tunes."

Hergest Ridge, the place

on the

is a popular holiday destination for Oldfield's fans, and the house where he lived at the time, The Beacon, is now a guest house. The cover photograph features scenery from Hergest Ridge, and was taken by Trevor Key; the Irish Wolfhound on the cover (and on the LP label) was named Bootleg. Mike Oldfield himself can be heard pronouncing it in the song "On Horseback", which concludes "Part Two" of ''Ommadawn''. Although the album was written at The Beacon, it was, like ''Tubular Bells'', recorded at Richard Branson's The Manor.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the 1974 liner notes. Musicians *

– electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, glockenspiel, sleigh bells, mandolin, nutcracker, timpani, gong, Spanish guitar,

Farfisa organ Farfisa (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professiona ...

Lowrey organ The Lowrey organ is an electronic organ named for its developer, Frederick C. Lowrey (1871–1955), a Chicago-based industrialist and entrepreneur. Lowrey's first commercially successful full-sized electronic organ, the Model S Spinet or '' ...

, GEM Gemini organ *June Whiting – oboe *

Lindsay Cooper Lindsay Cooper (3 March 1951 – 18 September 2013) was an English bassoon and oboe player and composer. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and t ...

– oboe *Ted Hobart – trumpet *Terry Oldfield – flute *Chilli Charles – snare drum *

Clodagh Simonds Clodagh Simonds ( ; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish musician, songwriter and singer. She was born in Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland and raised and educated in Killiney, County Dublin. Biography At the age of eleven, she formed her f ...

– vocals *

Sally Oldfield Sally Patricia Oldfield (born 3 August 1947) is an Irish singer-songwriter. She is the sister of composers Mike and Terry Oldfield. Early life Born in Dublin, Ireland, Oldfield was raised in the Roman Catholic faith of her mother, Maureen. Sp ...

– vocals *

– choir and strings conductor Production *Mike Oldfield – production, engineering * Tom Newman – production and engineering assistant * Trevor Key – album cover *Bootleg – Irish wolfhound on the album cover

HDCD remastered reissue

In 2000 Virgin re-released all of Oldfield's back catalogue, remastered in

High Definition Compatible Digital High Definition Compatible Digital (HDCD) is a proprietary audio encode-decode process that claims to provide increased dynamic range over that of standard Compact Disc Digital Audio, while retaining backward compatibility with existing compact d ...

, by Simon Heyworth at Chop 'em Out studios between March and April 2000, from the 1976 ''Boxed'' Quad mix. The album was re-released on 29 May 2000. HDCD is a patented process for delivering on CD the full richness and detail of the original microphone feed. Although a HDCD player is required to fully appreciate a HDCD recording, some improvement is still noticeable on normal CD players. The "lyrics" in Part 2, are more easily heard in the remix, although attempts to deciphering them have failed. It seems that they are an example of

' skill in inventing nonsense lyrics, which she did again on ''

Ommadawn ''Ommadawn'' is the third studio album by English musician, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released on 25 October 1975 on Virgin Records. ''Ommadawn'' peaked at No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart, No. 74 in Canada, and No. 146 on ...

'', although for that album she also included some Irish Gaelic words.

Mercury Records reissue

On 7 June 2010 the album was re-released by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

. This came as part of a deal in which Oldfield's Virgin albums were transferred to Universal's label. Bonus features for the release include a 2010 remix of the album and the original vinyl mix of the album. There is a single disc edition as well as a Deluxe Edition. Bonus tracks include " In Dulci Jubilo (For Maureen)" and "Spanish Tune". A 180 gram vinyl version was released as part of the Back to Black range. The reissue features radically different artwork, which features a model glider and

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing airc ...

based on Google Earth and Bluesky. According to the new liner notes, Oldfield was never entirely happy with the original album artwork and took this opportunity to commission a new cover. There is also a limited edition box set of the album, comprising a deluxe edition, an LP and a framed, signed print of the album artwork. Only 250 copies were produced, which were sold through Mike Oldfield's official website. There are no un-signed variants. The Japanese release uses the SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) manufacturing process.

Single disc edition

# "Hergest Ridge " (2010 stereo mix) – 19:21 # "Hergest Ridge " (2010 stereo mix) – 18:46 # " In Dulci Jubilo (For Maureen)" – 2:46 # "Spanish Tune" – 3:11

Back to Black vinyl edition

# "Hergest Ridge " (1974 stereo mix) # "Hergest Ridge " (1974 stereo mix)

Limited edition

Limited edition available through mikeoldfieldofficial.com, which contains the deluxe edition the vinyl edition and a numbered framed print of the cover artwork, signed by Mike Oldfield. Also includes ''Walking the Hergest Ridge'' booklet. Only 250 copies were available on pre-order prior to the release on 14 June 2010.

Digital edition

# "Hergest Ridge " (2010 stereo mix) # "Hergest Ridge " (2010 stereo mix) # "Hergest Ridge " (1974 stereo mix) # "Hergest Ridge " (1974 stereo mix) # "Hergest Ridge " (1974 demo recordings) # "Hergest Ridge (Part Two)" (1974 demo recordings)

Deluxe edition

CD 1 # "Hergest Ridge " (2010 stereo mix) – 19:21 # "Hergest Ridge " (2010 stereo mix) – 18:46 # "In Dulci Jubilo (For Maureen)" – 2:46 # "Spanish Tune" – 3:11 CD 2 # "Hergest Ridge " (1974 stereo mix) – 21:32 # "Hergest Ridge " (1974 stereo mix) – 18:40 # "Hergest Ridge " (1974 demo recordings) – 20:21 # "Hergest Ridge " (1974 demo recordings) – 18:13 DVD # "Hergest Ridge " (2010 5.1 surround mix) # "Hergest Ridge " (2010 5.1 surround mix)

Charts

''Hergest Ridge'' was the UK's number one album in the week ending 14 September 1974 and remained so for three weeks until being knocked out of the spot by its predecessor ''Tubular Bells''. Oldfield is thus one of only a few artists (among whom are

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

) to have swapped number one albums in this manner. In 1975, ''Rolling Stone'' reported that 2 million copies of the album had been sold.

Certifications and sales

References

External links

Mike Oldfield Discography – ''Hergest Ridge''
at Tubular.net
MikeOldfieldOfficial.com
*
''Hergest Ridge'' and ''Ommadawn'' at Universal's Mike Oldfield store
{{Authority control Mike Oldfield albums 1974 albums Instrumental albums Progressive rock albums by British artists Virgin Records albums Albums produced by Tom Newman (musician)