Flying Teapot (album)
Flying Teapot is the third studio album by the progressive rock band Gong, originally released by Virgin Records in May 1973. It was the second entry in the Virgin catalogue (V2002) and was released on the same day as the first, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells (V2001). It was re-issued in 1977, with different cover art, by BYG Actuel in France and Japan. Recorded at Virgin's Manor Studios, in Oxfordshire, England, it was produced by Giorgio Gomelsky and engineered by "Simon Sandwitch 2 aided by Tom Zen" (Simon Heyworth and Tom Newman). Subtitled "Radio Gnome  Invisible, Part 1", it is the first of the "Radio Gnome Invisible" trilogy of albums, followed by "Angel's Egg" in December and "You" the following October. This trilogy forms a central part of the Gong mythology. The Flying Teapot idea itself was influenced by Russell's teapot. It was the first Gong album to feature English guitarist Steve Hillage, although he contributed relatively little as he arrived late in the recording process. According to Daevid Allen, "Steve Hillage arrived eventually, but there wasn't a lot of space left. He played some rhythmick wa wa [sic], some jazzy chords  and a spacey solo on 'Flying Teapot'." In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition "Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock", the album came #35 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums". Personnel. The original personnel listing is as follows: These pseudonyms, in turn, represented: All CD versions have shortened versions of the track "Flying Teapot" which was shortened from 12:30 to 11:52 and a shortened version of "The Octave Doctors And The Crystal Machine" which was shortened from 2:00 to 1:51 and also "Zero The Hero And The Witches Spell" shortened from 9:45 to 9:38. This editing is  a source of much controversy and disappointment to fans of the original album.