''Scheherazade and Other Stories'' is the sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the English

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

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

, released in 1975. Some critics consider it their best album, although others prefer earlier albums.Liner notes from the ''Tales of 1001 Nights'' compilations This is the first album in which Renaissance (

Annie Haslam Annie Haslam (born 8 June 1947) is an English vocalist, songwriter and painter. She is best known as the lead singer of progressive rock band Renaissance since 1971, and for her long and diverse solo singing career. She has a five-octave vocal r ...

's version) did not use quotes from actual classical pieces and the first not to feature any songwriting credits from the original members. Contrary to popular belief, "Song of Scheherazade" is not based on

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

's ''

Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major female character and the storyteller in the frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade'' deri ...

'', but does have a brief recurring motif that alludes to that work.

History

There is confusion over where the sections of "Song of Scheherazade" begin and end. This was caused by the fact that "Fanfare" and "The Betrayal" together sound like a single section, while "Festival Preparations" has two distinct parts of its own (4:00 and 1:11 in length). This confusion was reflected in the packaging and labels of original LP copies of this album, and in the mis-titling of "Festival Preparations" (part 1) as "The Young Prince and Princess" on the 1990 ''Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume I'' compilation. Also, as has been admitted by the administrators of the official Renaissance site, Northern Lights, assigning exact composing credits to the individual sections is difficult, since the composers borrowed themes from each other. For example, based on the official credits, which differ slightly between the actual album package and the official Renaissance site, a particular melodic phrase ends up being attributed to both Dunford ("The Sultan") and Tout ("Fugue for the Sultan"); lyricist

Betty Thatcher Betty Thatcher (16 February 1944 – 15 August 2011) was an English lyricist who wrote many of the lyrics for the progressive rock band Renaissance. Early life Betty Mary Newsinger was born in Great Titchfield Street, central London. She was ta ...

is not credited for her lyrics on "Finale" (which are repeated from "The Sultan"). "Trip to the Fair" was about Annie Haslam's first date with

Roy Wood Roy Wood (born 8 November 1946) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a n ...

.Liner notes from the ''Da Capo'' compilation "Ocean Gypsy" has since been covered by

Blackmore's Night Blackmore's Night is a British-American neo-medieval folk rock band formed in 1997, consisting mainly of Ritchie Blackmore (acoustic guitar, hurdy gurdy, mandola, mandolin, nyckelharpe, and electric guitar) and Candice Night (lead vocals, lyri ...

Track listing

;Side one # "Trip to the Fair" (Michael Dunford,

, John Tout) - 10:50 # "The Vultures Fly High" (Dunford, Thatcher) - 3:07 # "Ocean Gypsy" (Dunford, Thatcher) - 7:06 ;Side two #

"Song of Scheherazade" - 24:38 #: a. "Fanfare" (Tout) - 0:38 #: b. "The Betrayal" (Jon Camp, Dunford, Tout) - 2:05 #: c. "The Sultan" (Dunford, Thatcher) - 4:45 #: d. "Love Theme" (Camp) - 2:42 #: e. "The Young Prince and Princess as told by Scheherazade" (Dunford, Thatcher) - 2:29 #: f. "Festival Preparations" (Camp, Dunford, Tout) - 5:10 #: g. "Fugue for the Sultan" (Tout) - 2:10 #: h. "The Festival" (Dunford, Thatcher) - 2:10 #: i. "Finale" (Camp, Dunford, Tout) - 2:29

Personnel

Renaissance

– lead and backing vocals *

Michael Dunford Michael John Dunford is a football administrator, who is currently Chief Executive at Plymouth Argyle Football Club. Career His first role in football came as General Manager of Derby County, a role he was at from July 1992 until 5 November 19 ...

– acoustic guitars, backing vocals *John Tout – piano, organ, backing vocals *Jon Camp – bass, bass pedals, lead vocals on track 4c, backing vocals *Terence Sullivan – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians

* Tony Cox : orchestral arrangements * London Symphony Orchestra : orchestrations

Production

* David Hitchcock - producer *John Kurlander - engineer *Patrick Stapley - assistant engineer *

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black Sabbath, UFO, 10cc, Ba ...

- cover design *W.T. (Terry) Penman - keyboards/stage manager

Notes

References

{{Authority control 1975 albums Renaissance (band) albums Albums produced by Dave Hitchcock Sire Records albums RCA Records albums Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Music based on One Thousand and One Nights Albums recorded at Abbey Road Studios