01	Space Shanty			Including: "The Cobalt Sequence" and "March of the Sine Squadrons"			09:01
	02	Stranded			Including: "Effervescent Psycho Novelty No. 5"			06:35
	03	Mixed Up Man Of The Mountains						07:15
	04	Driving To Amsterdam						09:23
	05	Stargazers						05:33
	06	Hollow Stone			Including: "Escape Of The Space Pirates"			08:19

KHAN - Space Shanty, 1972 (Deram) [CD: Mantra/Deram]

Steve Hillage (g/voc) - Nick Greenwood (b/v) - Eric Peachey (d)
guest : Dave Stewart (o/p/celeste/marimba)

Rec: Spr 1972 - Loc: London (Command/Olympic/Tollington Park) - Pr: Neil Slaven
Tracks: Space Shanty (incl. The Cobalt Sequence and March of the Sine Squadrons) - Stranded Effervescent Psychonovelty No.5 - Mixed-Up Man Of The Mountains - Driving To Amsterdam - Stargazers - Hollow Stone (Escape Of The Fire Pirates)
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Formed : April 1971
Split : October 1972
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CHRONOLOGY
KHAN
Steve Hillage was originally the guitar player in the pre-Egg band Uriel (a/k/a Arzachel), but left them when he decided to go off to college... in Canterbury, needless to say ! By April 1971, he decided he'd had enough, went back to London and formed his own band, Khan. He recruited Nick Greenwood on bass (formerly in the Crazy World Of Arthur Brown) and Eric Peachey (ex-Dr.K's Blues Band), and an organ player named Dick Henningham. Actually, Khan's original drummer was none other than Pip Pyle, but he soon left to join Gong.

Signed to Deram in early 1972, the band were preparing to enter the studio to record their first album when Henningham left. Hillage summoned his old mate Dave Stewart and asked him to play on the album, which Stewart of course did on the spot. It's amazing how good our favourite keyboard player plays on this album, given the low amount of prior rehearsal. As a matter of fact, the music on "Space Shanty" is quite complex, and the four performers absolutely shine. It can be described as progressive rock rather than typical Canterbury music, but in any case this album is a definite classic of, let's say, 'cosmic-jazzy-progressive' rock.

It is not known over what period of time Hillage wrote these songs, but many bands would be happy to have so many good ideas in their whole career. Quite simply, the music changes all the time, yet it flows effortlessly. There is definitely an exceptional band interaction here, and it can be argued that Hillage never found such a fruitful context to express himself, and this probably is his most consistent and groundbreaking work ever. The tracks are all in the 6-10 minute range, each would deserve an individual review, so all I can recommend is to LISTEN to it ! You'll never regret buying this (unfortunately, I hear the CD version is now out of print but as it's been reissued on both Deram and Mantra, it may still be possible to track down copies).

Following a tour promoting the album in June 1972 (with one Valentine Stevens taking over keyboard duties), Greenwood left, eventually releasing a solo album which has become one of the most expensive item on the used vinyl market. He was replaced by one Nigel Smith. Following the split of Egg the previous month, Dave Stewart also joined as full-time member, but this line-up would prove shortlived. After a few gigs in the Autumn, Hillage decided to join Kevin Ayers' band.

Would this be the end of Khan ? Well, not completely. In a way, some of the music of Steve Hillage's first solo album, Fish Rising, may be considered as the lost second Khan album (Dave Stewart guests on organ, by the way). It's really too bad the band didn't last longer... By the way, whatever became of Eric Peachey, a truly outstanding drummer ?...

Khan

Had it been given more time, Khan would certainly be considered a major component of the Canterbury pantheon. Unfortunately, it only lasted long enough to record one superb album, Space Shanty, before the band's leader, guitarist-vocalist Steve Hillage, went on to join Kevin Ayers' backing band, then Gong. Hillage had been the guitar player in the pre-Egg band Uriel, but left them when he decided to go off to college... in Canterbury, needless to say ! By April 1971, he decided he'd had enough, went back to London and formed his own band, Khan. He recruited Nick Greenwood on bass (formerly in the Crazy World Of Arthur Brown) and Eric Peachey (ex-Dr.K's Blues Band) on drums, and an organ player named Dick Henningham. Actually, Khan's original drummer was none other than Pip Pyle, but he soon left to join Gong.
Signed to Deram in early 1972, the band were preparing to enter the studio to record their first album when Henningham left. Hillage summoned his old mate Dave Stewart and asked him to play on the album, which Stewart of course did on the spot. It's amazing how well our favourite keyboard player plays on this album, given the low amount of prior rehearsals. As a matter of fact, the music on Space Shanty is quite complex, and the four performers absolutely shine. It can be described as progressive rock rather than typical Canterbury music, but in any case this album is a definite classic of, let's say, 'cosmic-jazzy-progressive' rock.
It is not known over what period of time Hillage wrote these songs, but many bands would be happy to have so many good ideas in their whole career. Quite simply, the music changes all the time, yet it flows effortlessly. There is definitely an exceptional band interaction here, and it can be argued that Hillage never found such a fruitful context to express himself, and this probably is his most consistent and daring work ever. The tracks are all in the 6-10 minute range, each would deserve an individual review, so all I can recommend is to *listen* to it ! You'll never regret buying this (unfortunately, the CD version is now apparently out of print but as it's been reissued on both Deram and Mantra, it may still be possible to track down copies).
In June 1972, Greenwood left, later releasing a solo album which has become one of the most expensive item on the used vinyl market. He was replaced by one Nigel Smith. Following the split of Egg the previous month, Dave Stewart also joined as full-time member, but this line-up would prove shortlived. After a few gigs in the Autumn, Hillage decided to join Kevin Ayers' band. Would this be the end of Khan ? Well, not completely. In a way, some of the music of Steve Hillage's first solo album, Fish Rising, may be considered as the lost second Khan album (Dave Stewart guests on organ, by the way). It's really too bad the band didn't last longer... By the way, whatever became of Eric Peachey, a really extraordinary drummer ?...


Released in 1972. This is the only album by this tremendous band featuring Steve Hillage on guitar, Dave Stewart on keys, Nick Greenwood on bass and Eric Peachey on drums.


Khan: Space Shanty
Deram (844 088-2)
UK 1972

Steve Hillage, guitars, vocals;
Nick Greenwood, bass guitar, vocals;
Eric Peachy, drums;
Dave Stewart, organ, piano, skyceleste, marimbas

Bob Eichler:
This album seems to have an amazing reputation - I rarely see anyone write about it in less than glowing terms. So when I found a rare copy on CD I snatched it up...and was quite disappointed. Considering the musicians involved and the high praise this album usually gets, I was expecting something mind-blowing. But what I got was a few fair-to-good, largely mellow jams interspersed with some dull hard rock riffs, a hippie/fairy tale vibe and some awful lyrics ("I need you and you need me, also I need to be free!"). I just can't figure out what's supposed to be so great about this album, and have to wonder if its artistic value isn't exaggerated due to its relative rarity.
There are parts of the album I like, for example the upbeat jazzy beginning to "Driving to Amsterdam" is nice. And the jamming middle bits of the title track aren't bad, but you have to sit through a couple minutes of the aforementioned dull riffage and bad lyrics to get to it.
All in all, I find the dull outweighs the interesting on this disc. But I seem to be a definite minority in that opinion. The album is rumored to be due for a reissue - we'll see if its legendary status goes up or down once more people get a chance to hear it.

Gary Niederhoff:
An awesome precursor to Steve Hillage's solo career, Khan's history (as detailed in the CD liners) was filled with a few line-up changes before Dave Stewart, then still with Egg, was asked to 'fill in' on keyboards shortly before the recording of this album. The work itself is almost entirely composed by Hillage, and demonstrates some similarity to Fish Rising, his first solo album. Aside from that, I was initially thrown off a little by the vocals, blues oriented themes, and repeated choruses. Bands that first came to mind for comparison were The Flock, Wild Turkey and Grand Funk, all of whom were functioning at the same time as this release. I had to listen to it about 10 more times before I could hear pure Hillage and Co., without said comparisons.
That is to say that somewhat of a pop group was in the making here, but was actually received as too 'out there' to garner any chart action. The 'out there' qualities are what swing this release unquestionably into the realm of prog. Stewart's keys are somewhat subdued, considering his usual style, but given his last minute addition to the project, they're amazing. Greenwood and Peachy's rhythm section, coupled with Stewart, carry Hillage's guitar through various planes of being, and Greenwood's vocals have a more or less stabilizing effect, keeping us from going any further 'out there' than the Space Shanty itself. A few sparse moments on here go in one ear and out the other, but overall it's a fine record of Canterbury gone blues-pop, which in itself is atypical enough to reward a Hats Off to Hillage for breaking the rules and doing it well.

Илья Прутов: Один из ранних проектов Стива Хиледжа и Дэйва Стюарта, созданный до того, как Хилледж успел прославиться в Gong, а Стюарт - в Hatfield And The North и других кентерберийских группах. Увы, записала группа всего один, зато великолепный альбом, основанный на... научной фантастике - не очень-то характерно это для кентерберийцев! Хотя, с другой стороны, вся эта научно-фантастическая концепция альбома могла быть не чем иным, как просто шуткой. Великолепные гитарные партии (не соло, именно - партии, так как, при всем влиянии джаза, альбом вполне симфонический, с упором на композицию), клавишные - выше всяких похвал, вообще Дэйв Стюарт - гениальный органист, пожалуй, превосходящий по изобретательности даже таких мэтров, как Кейт Эмерсон и Рик Уэйкман. И, в отличие от них, его манера игры более сдержанная и неброская. В общем, - раз услышишь, как он играет, - запомнишь навсегда! Иногда в музыке появляются хард-роковые интонации, иногда это больше напоминает мягкий, симфонизированный джаз-рок, вокальные партии очень хороши, иногда даже с цыганской интонацией, как у легендарных Vanilla Fudge, но, опять же, более сдержанные и уравновешенные. Мощный баритон - голос Ника Гринвуда, а несколько выше и нежнее поет сам Стив Хиледж. Гитара Хиледжа, как всегда, легко узнаваема, хотя на этом альбоме он играет более традиционно, иногда даже с блюзовыми интонациями. "Shanty" - название песен, которые пели матросы, в данном случае - матросы, очевидно, были космические. Замечательный, единственный в своем роде альбом - рекомендую не только любителям кентерберийского арт-рока, но и всем тем, кому просто нравится хорошая музыка, - вне зависимости от стилевой принадлежности.

Оценка: 10 из 10!


Khan - Space Shanty (1972)

An excellent bluesy/hard rock album with some jazzy Canterbury influence that is unfortunately seems to be quite rare. The album is centered around the mind-blowing guitar work of Steve Hillage, who would later go on to define jazzy space-rock with Gong. Also present is Canterbury keyboard God Dave Stewart, who at the time was playing in the seminal Egg, but would later be featured in both Hatfield & The North and National Health. Both players are in fine form, making for a great mixture of space-rock and Canterbury influence. There is also a good amount of straight-up hard rock on the album, helped out especially by the very cool vocals of Nick Greenwood, whose timbre reminds me of Rob Halford's lower registers. Most of the songs have a huge vocal presence, and much of the album is based on a repetitive verse/chorus/verse cycle, however in every song the band breaks out into some extended soloing highlighted by some masterful interplay between Stewart and Hillage.

The title track has some volcanic riffs from Hillage which make it a personal highlight. "Mixed Up Man of the Mountains" is a mid-tempo rock song with some very cool and catchy vocal parts. "Hollow Stone" closes out the album in grand fashion, blending together some powerful guitar riffs with some great Hammond thrown in. Overall, this is a very solid album that is a must get for fans of Steve Hillage as well as for fans of Dave Stewart. Very guitar-oriented with a significant hard rock presence throughout though. Very enjoyable. - Greg Northrup [2000]


Khan - Space Shanty

Released: 1972 / 1993 / 2001
Label: Deram / Polygram / Polygram International
Cat. No.: 844 088 / 844088-2 / 9037
Total Time: 46:19


Reviewed by: Tom Karr, March 2004
Space Shanty is a fairly obscure, yet quite entertaining release. This band put out this one album, and promptly disintegrated. How odd. No, really it's the same old story isn't it?

Well, I'll tell you the story anyway, because for some time, this has been a hard one to find. It is available now from Syn-Phonic, but I have seen this CD fetch upwards of $45.

It is a bit hard for me to understand why this isn't a huge selling, well known release. This is a classic of early U.K. Cantebury prog. The band is a veritable who's who of English progressive rock, with Steve Hillage (Gong, Kevin Ayers) on guitar, Dave Stewart (Egg, National Health, Hatfield And The North) on keyboards, Nick Greenwood (The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown) on bass, and drummer Eric Peachey. There are numerous examples of Hillage's famous guitar style and Stewart's very proficient organ work. The vocals, by Hillage and Greenwood, are strong and take you right back to the days of flower power, and free love. Yeah, dig it brother. You wouldn't laugh if I confessed that I still talk like that, would you? Would you?

Khan had a classic, early 70s sound. Some gentle hippie type vocals, but also great instrumental fire power, which they were not averse to showing off. How could Steve Hillage AND Dave Stewart together not be absolutely stunning? If ever there was a perfect mixture of Cantebury jazzy sound and the San Francisco psychedelic sound, it is Space Shanty. This release has works of sensitive beauty and yet it also displays the power of instrumental virtuosity, blending both to great effect, with Hillage and Greenwood harmonizing over it all. This entire album is awesome, with well played and produced numbers that weave and turn, transcending the music and the musicians. It gives us a more pure sound from Hillage, who used few effects in these sessions, and Dave Stewart, playing what sounds like,to me anyway, like one of the cheaper M series Hammond's, which, FYI, were what Tony Kaye used, and what Emerson could afford in the earliest days of The Nice. There are no growling, distorted keyboards, Stewart has a relaxed, smooth sound that is very appealing.

This release is made up of six tracks that range from five to a bit over nine minutes in length, and most feature lengthy solos that may at first sound like jamming, but really, this is just too good not to have been carefully planned. Hillage and Stewart go through long lines of tightly harmonized guitar and organ, and that also does not happen by accident.

Starting with the eponymous "Space Shanty," we get about a minute and a half of vocals, before getting right down to soloing from Stewart and Hillage, which is fine by me! By three minutes into the track we have a change of time signature and tempo, and, big surprise, more soloing, more changes of meter, yet more soloing, now with a bit of the more classic Hillage space echo style, more keyboards from Stewart, and at eight minutes, finally the second verse with some beautiful Howe like guitar accompaniment, and the final flourishes and conclusion at about nine minutes. If you don't already like this a great deal, you may as well bail out now, 'cause you wont like the rest of this album.

The next track is one of my all time favorite tunes, the strangely titled, "Stranded - Effervescent Psychonovelty No.5." This song gently caresses the listeners ears, and it carries the San Francisco sound to new heights, with ethereal vocals and gently strummed chords on acoustic guitar, and peaceful rolling lines from Stewart on electric piano, but watch out, for at three minutes this becomes a Brian Auger like keyboard jam, then a showcase of Hillage's guitar, with great solos on electric and acoustic guitar. Quickly we return to the initial SF sound, reminding me almost, at times, of the Jefferson Airplane. I can't express how good I think this cut is. This is the kind of hallucinatory magic that only 1970s progressive rock can produce, and I am in love with the perfect, relaxing nature of this song.

Next is another exercise in virtuosity and extended soloing, "Mixed Up Man Of The Mountains." Some more fleet fingered work from Stewart is the highlight of this piece, with speedy, bubbling keyboards and more impressive playing from Hillage. I should point out that the drums and bass work on all the cuts here are wonderfully done, but when you back up two of the premier musicians, no, musician's musicians, you might be overlooked. No offense intended for Greenwood and Peachey, their work is first rate on every track.

The fourth track is another favorite of mine, the knock out punch of this release, "Driving To Amsterdam." Right off the bat, this is yet another stunning bit of work from the band, and for just a moment, you may think you're listening to The Allman Brothers. You might wonder, with so much instrumental interplay, how they can keep coming up with one striking solo after another, but have no doubt, they do. Lovely vocals, stunning instrumental work, and countless changes of time and tempo make this, and every cut on this release, a joy for the ears. This cut also boasts some of the coolest jazzy guitar work this side of Barney Kessel or Herb Ellis. As is the case in each one of this fine release's six cuts, this solo ends too soon, because this band always has some urgent new statement to make.

Following this is "Stargazers," beginning with an almost ELP-ish dissonant exercise that also features Stewart on what may be vibes or perhaps marimba. Jarring moments are countered by more of the bands smooth vocals, and this number has some impressive and difficult instrumental work to boast of. No fans of Yes or ELP will find this work to difficult to digest, yet it may be the most difficult cut on this album for some listeners. It just goes in to many directions for some.

This wonderful release ends with "Hollow Stone - Escape Of The Space Pilots." There is the by now familiar, harmonizing vocals, and more of Hillage's spacey guitar work, presaging the style he would sharpen further with Gong, and his solo works. This one actually sounds a bit like early Yes, and Peter Banks guitar playing might come to mind, here and there. Stewart's organ is the main focus on this piece, but there is much to appreciate on this track, and on this work as a whole. This cut has the fewest change ups of anything on the album, but it presents a band that should have been huge, in my opinion.

I have read quite a few lukewarm write ups of this work, with particular criticism of the vocals and the lengthy soloing. Some writers call this work too homogenous, but I see that as a bit crazy, frankly. Too homogenous? That's bad? Consistency, and a defined focus or sound is a hallmark of a band's individual style, or sonic signature.

If you've seen these poor reviews, I would urge you to give this work a shot. You might be in for a real treat. I have never been a fan of the "Canterbury" sound, but after hearing this impressive release, I had the courage to move on to Gong, Caravan, National Health and more. I am quite glad that I took that first step, which was to listen to Khan.

Rating: 5/5

More about Space Shanty:

Track Listing: Space Shanty (9:01) / Stranded- Effervescent Psychonovelty No.5 (6:35) / Mixed Up Man Of The Mountains (7:15) / Driving To Amsterdam (9:23) / Stargazers (5:23) / Hollow Stone- Escape Of The Space Pilots (8:18)

Musicians:
Steve Hillage - Guitar, Vocals
Dave Stewart - Organ, Piano, Celeste, Keyboards, Marimba
Nick Greenwood - Bass, Vocals
Eric Peachey - Drums

Discography

Space Shanty (1972)




Khan - Space Shanty

Released: 1972 / 1993 / 2001 / 2004
Label: Deram / Polygram / Polygram International
/ Eclectic Discs
Cat. No.: 844 088 / 844088-2 / 9037 / ECLCD 1016
Total Time: 46:44 / 54:03 (2004 reissue)


Reviewed by: John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg, February 2005
Listening to this album and looking at its sleeve brings back a lot of childhood memories for me. When I was a kid, the shops in my hometown would have huge sales during September. One shop in particular was of interest to me: Maison Bleu, a record store in the heart of Oostende. At a time when albums cost no less than 335 Belgian francs, mainly unknown recordings were offered for as little as 49 Belgian francs! What I didn't know at the time was that all these silly priced albums were all on the Decca label or its subsidaries. In the end, I heard that Decca Records Belgium had double book-keeping. They would press up albums for the Decca Company who would then sell them on to Maison Bleu as kind of unsold stock. Sadly for me, this fraud was found out, resulting in all Maison Bleu shops to close down. However, it was during one of those sales that I came across an album by a band called Khan. I had never heard of the band let alone the album Space Shanty but its foldout cover intrigued me. The lady behind the counter (whom I had a slight crush on), let me listen to the music through a set of headphones and mainly the incredible keyboard parts by Dave Stewart (not the Eurythmics guy, but the Egg, Hatfield and the North and National Health talent) sold it for me.

Only years later did I discover Steve Hillage, both where his solo work is concerned together with his many productions. Again I was in awe when I saw the name of Hillage appear on the Khan album as being the composer of all the tracks. So with a set of different ears I went on to re-discover Space Shanty. Meanwhile, I sold my vinyl copy to a Japanese collector (probably for way too little money) and am ever so grateful to re-discover this awesome music by means of this cleaned up digital version. Originally released on Deram in 1972, one of the highlights on this album has to be the duels between Hillage and Stewart, between guitar and organ, resulting in probably one of Britain's finest moments in the world of prog. Just take a song like "Driving To Amsterdam" where guitar and organ blend as one before giving each of the musicians free reign to let his respective instrument fully shine. Meanwhile drums and bass are delivering the best jazz rock accompaniment one could ever wish for. "Stargazers" is another example of the genius of the band changing styles constantly and filling the song with breathtaking playing. Khan really delivers a gigantic amount of different atmospheres with the mellow ballad "Hollow Stone" maybe being the best example. Here the soft voice leaves your speakers weightless whilst once again Dave Stewart's contribution such as the mysterious skyceleste adds another dimension to the psychedelic approach. In fact, more than thirty years on, the Khan music remains as interesting and intriguing as when it was first issued.

As if the clean sound on this CD is not enough, fans are given two bonus tracks as an extra incentive. Before the recordings of the actual album began, two compositions were recorded and pressed as an acetate. One of those songs, "Break The Chains," was omitted from the actual album as they simply forgot about it. During the planning for this re-issue, an acetate emerged, so after de-noising and de-clicking these recordings they feature on this CD for the very first time, turning this version into a definate must-have! Although at times Khan gets very close to the feel of Soft Machine, sadly Space Shanty is the band's only offering. We know that Steve Hillage wrote more material for a possible second album but manager Terry King wasn't too keen. I wonder whether these new songs were ever recorded and if tapes or acetates exist. Wouldn't it be a dream come true if Eclectic released them? After all, Happy the Man saw some of their unreleased material released decades after they recorded it, resulting even in the rebirth of the band. Now wouldn't it be fantastic to make it happen all over again?

[See also Tom's review of the 2001 edition -ed.]

More about Space Shanty:

Track Listing: Space Shanty (9:01) / Stranded - Effervescent Psychonovelty No.5 (6:35) / Mixed Up Man Of The Mountains (7:15) / Driving To Amsterdam (9:23) / Stargazers (5:32) / Hollow Stone- Escape Of The Space Pilots (8:18)

Bonus tracks (2004 re-issue): Break The Chains (3:31) / Mixed Up Man Of The Mountains (first version) (4:28)

Musicians:
Steve Hillage - Guitar, Vocals
Dave Stewart - Organ, Piano, Celeste, Keyboards, Marimba
Nick Greenwood - Bass, Vocals
Eric Peachey - Drums

Discography

Space Shanty (1972)