Prologue (Renaissance album)
Prologue is the third studio album by the English progressive rock band Renaissance, released in 1972. Overview. In 1972, Renaissance's then-new management disbanded the then current line-up (one of several short-lived transitional line-ups), retaining only ex-The Gentle People singer Annie Haslam and former Rupert's People keyboard player John Tout to build a new band around. The new members added at this point were bassist Jon Camp, drummer Terence Sullivan and guitarist Mick Parsons. Shortly thereafter, Parsons died in a car accident. Electric guitarist Rob Hendry was brought in at the  last minute to replace him for the recording sessions of June and July 1972, and left the band soon after the album was completed. Because "Prologue" was a new start for the band, with a line-up that now included none of the original members, it would frequently be referred to as their "first" album (for example, on the "Live at Carnegie Hall" album, both in a song intro and on the inside cover). Though all the songs are Renaissance originals, they were not written by any current members of the band but by former members Jim McCarty (from the  first line-up) and Michael Dunford (ex-Nashville Teens, from the transitional line-ups), along with lyricist Betty Thatcher. Dunford would become part of the band again after Hendry's departure, but was not officially a band member during the recording of next album "Ashes Are Burning" in 1973. Section::::"In The Beginning" reissue. In 1978 "Prologue" was reissued, together with the following album "Ashes Are Burning", as a double album called "In the Beginning" (Capitol Records, USA). The original double LP with gatefold sleeve included the complete "Prologue", but one song from "Ashes" was edited. The 1988 CD version of  In the Beginning (on one disc) had edited versions of "Rajah Khan" and of two songs from "Ashes Are Burning". "Prologue" was re-issued on CD in its original form by Repertoire Records in 1995. Expanded 2018 edition. In 2018 Esoteric Recordings announced a re-mastered and expanded edition of the first Haslam era album which was released on the 28 September 2018. Personnel. Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.