''Music in a Doll's House'' is the debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

group

Family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

, released on 19 July 1968. The album, co-produced by Dave Mason of

Traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

,Vernon Joynson, ''The Tapestry of Delights Revised, The Comprehensive Guide To British Music Of The Beat, R&B, Psychedelic and Progressive Eras 1963 - 1976'', 2006 Edition (Borderline Productions, Reprinted 2008), pp. 276 features a number of complex musical arrangements contributing to its ambitious psychedelic sound.

Background

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

had originally intended to use the title ''A Doll's House'' for the double album they were recording during 1968. The release of Family's similarly titled debut prompted them to adopt the minimalist title ''

'' for what is now commonly referred to as the "White Album" due to its plain white sleeve. "Old Songs, New Songs" features a cameo from the Tubby Hayes group, arranged by 18-year-old Mike Batt. Hayes played the tenor sax solo at the end of the track (uncredited). Batt also arranged and conducted other strings and brass for the album, notably "The Chase" and "Mellowing Grey" but was not credited. The album was the first by an English rock group to be released on the US Reprise label (which had originally been set up by Frank Sinatra but was now owned by Warner Bros). It was licensed to the label by Dukeslodge Enterprises, a company run by the band's manager, John Gilbert, who was credited as 'executive producer' of the album. The album was released on vinyl in mono (RLP6312), stereo (RSLP6312) and on Stereo 8 Track Cartridge. In an interview for ''

ZigZag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

'' magazine, Whitney reported that due to only having four track recording equipment final overdubs were done live during the mix so mono vinyl copies had a different mix than the stereo version; due to a pressing error, the record would jump the grooves during playback so the mono release was withdrawn. This album was initially issued in the US using the UK import and sold in the US as a domestic album with an extra piece of cardboard to stiffen the sleeve (as they essentially had the same catalog number in both countries). Around the time the second album was issued in the US, US pressings of this album started to appear. (The album also initially had a 12" black and white photo of the group included as an insert.)

Reception

In the '' Q'' & '' Mojo'' Classic Special Edition ''Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock'', the album ranked number 30 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".''Q Classic: Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock'', 2005. It was voted number 606 in the third edition of

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...

'' (2000).

Track listing

All tracks written by John Whitney and Roger Chapman, except as noted.

Personnel

Family

* Roger Chapman –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

John "Charlie" Whitney Richard John Whitney (born 24 June 1944), also known as John "Charlie" Whitney, John Whitney and Charlie Whitney, is an English Rock music, rock musician and a founder member of the bands Family (band), Family, Streetwalkers and Axis Point. C ...

–

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

s * Jim King – tenor and

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

saxophones, vocals, harmonica * Ric Grech –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, vocals,

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

* Rob Townsend –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

Technical

* Dave Mason – producer,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

* Jimmy Miller – co-producer on "The Breeze" and "Peace of Mind" * John Gilbert –

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

Eddie Kramer Edwin H. Kramer (born 19 April 1942) is a South African-born recording producer and engineer. He has collaborated with several artists now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, L ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

* George Chkiantz – second engineer * Peter Duval – album design * Julian Cottrell – front cover photography * Jac Remise – back cover photography

Charts

References

*Sleevenotes from CD re-release of album on See For Miles Records ;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Music In A Doll's House Family (band) albums 1968 debut albums Albums produced by Dave Mason Albums produced by Jimmy Miller Reprise Records albums