Gong

**Gong** is a multinational band formed by Australian musician Daevid Allen in 1967 in Paris. Quite possibly the most progressive of any prog bands, and the most psychedelic, Gong are unique among prog bands in that rather than the dungeons and dragons of early King Crimson or Rush, for instance, they wrote songs about Angels Egg's and Pot Head Pixies and Flying Teapots from a lovely green invisible planet called Gong.

The band came together in 1967 when Daevid Allen, then a member of Soft Machine, was refused re-entry to the UK because his passport had expired, so he went back to Paris, met a woman named Gilli Smyth, and formed the first incarnation of Gong which lasted until 1968.

Another thing that seperates them from other prog bands is that they have a quite spiritual side to their music that the band members took very seriously, essentially Daevid's take on eastern spirituality, it involved things such as the body being merely a vessel and not who we really are.

Gong's first three records featured a pure psychedelic rock sound, but their prog influences (as well as the band's lineup itself) became solidified on a trilogy of albums known as the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy, which ran from 1973-74, and consisted of Flying Teapot, Angel's Egg, and You, and told the story of Zero the Hero and his adventures with the Pot Head Pixies on the planet Gong and his quest for enlightenment.

## History

### Proto-Gong (1960-1968)

In 1960, Christopher David Allen (born 1938, died 2015), left Melbourne for Paris inspired by the Beat writers he had discovered while working in a bookshop. He stayed at the Beat Hotel and moved into a room that had been recently vacated by Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky. By 1961 he had travelled to England, rented a room in Lydden, and began looking for work as a musician.

He first considered a job as a guitar player in the Rolling Stones (not the REAL Stones but a bunch of nobodies from Dover) but did not take the job. After meeting up with William S. Burroughs, and being inspired by Sun Ra, he formed the free jazz group the Daevid Allen Trio (by this point he had begun using the name Daevid) where he first met Robert Wyatt (of Soft Machine) who was 16 years old at the time. In 1964, Daevid and Robert both appeared in a 1964 Spanish film as background extras, which can be seen if you type in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wswhUGb1k6c.

In 1966, Daevid and Robert, with Kevin Ayers and Mike Ratledge, formed the Soft Machine, (named after Burroughs' novel of the same name). In 1967, following a tour of France, Daevid was denied re-entry to the UK because his Visa had expired, so he went back to Paris and formed a new group, entitled Gong, with his partner Gilli Smyth (born 1933, died 2016), with the intent of creating what he described as "total space out music". Early footage of the 60s Gong does exist, and most of it consists of ambient improv with Daevid using a bunch of effects and slides to create spacey guitar soundscapes while Gilli Smyth whispered into the mic.

### Magick Brother, Camembert Electrique (1969-1973)

In 1969, Daevid and Gilli were approached by their good bud, Jerome Laperrousaz, about recording a soundtrack to a motorcycle racing documentary he was making (which later became Continental Circus). This came to nothing at the time, but they were yet AGAIN approached by Jean Karakos, owner of the BYG Actuel label, to record an LP, which became Magick Brother, recorded in 1969 and released in 1970.

It was the first of nearly Gong's entire discography to feature French saxophonist Didier Malherbe (whomst'd'v'e Daevid and Gilli litcherally met living in a cave on Robert Graves' property), and the only album to feature Rachid Houari on drums. After this came Camembert Electrique, the first Gong LP recorded as a true band, featuring Christian Tristch on bass, and Pip Pyle (born 1950, died 2006) on drums. Gong played their first gig as an actual band on 27 October 1969, and were introduced to the stage by Frank MFin Zappa.

Camembert set the foundation for the eventual Gong mythology, with it's lyrics that speak of the Pot Head Pixies. By 1972, Gong recorded the soundtrack to Laperrousaz's film, which was now titled Continental Circus, and they performed at the 1972 Glastonbury Festival, where they appeared, as complete unknowns, on a bill with David Bowie, Pete Townshend, Marc Bolan, and Hawkwind.

### Massive Line-up restructuring, Radio Gnome Trilogy (1973-1974)

By 1973, Gong's lineup had undergone a TOTAL restructuring, Pip Pyle had been replaced first by Laurie Allan, then by several other drummers before settling on Pierre Moerlen (born 1952, died 2005) who eventually took over the band much later, Christian Tristch became the second guitarist (along with Daevid) and was succeeded by Francis Moze (formerly of Magma), then by Mike Howlett, and was fleshed out by synth player Tim Blake.

In October of '72, Gong became one of the first acts to be signed to Virgin Records, and in December they traveled to Oxfordshire to record Flying Teapot, the first of what became the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy of albums. They were played a rough mix of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, then already in production. Nearing the end of Flying Teapot's sessions, they were joined by unfairly unknown guitar god Steve Hillage, who had previously replaced Kevin Ayers in Mike Oldfield's band. He arrived to late to contribute anything to the album (other than what Daevid described as "rhythmick wa-wa") but he soon became one of Gong's key components.

Flying Teapot was released 23 May 1973, the same day as Tubular Bells, and both releases became Virgin's first two releases ever. Flying Teapot was the first installment in the aforementioned Radio Gnome trilogy that espoused the (until then only hinted at) Gong mythology. Angel's Egg followed in December of '73, and wrapped up by You in '74.