Renaissance (band)

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Renaissance
Origin London, England
Genre(s) Progressive folk
Years active 1969-1987, 2000-2002
Label(s) Island Records
Associated acts The Yardbirds
Illusion

Renaissance were an English progressive rock band popular in the 1970s.

Contents

[edit] History

Former Yardbirds members Paul Samwell-Smith, Keith Relf, and Jim McCarty organised a new group devoted to experimentation between rock, folk, and classical forms. This quintet (Relf on guitar & vocals, McCarty on drums, plus bassist Louis Cennamo, pianist John Hawken, and Relf's sister Jane Relf as an additional vocalist) released a pair of albums on Elektra (US) and Island (UK-ILPS 9112), the first one being produced by Samwell-Smith, As touring began to grind on them, and losing interest, the band dissolved, one by one, leaving McCarty and Jane Relf to hold things together. As the rest drifted off, new or guest members were added, and a just barely finished, raw second album, Illusion, was released in 1971, and then only in Germany. [it was finally released in the UK 1976 (Island, HELP 27)]

One of the new additions was Michael Dunford -who would later lead the 2nd incarnation of the band-and an interim Renaissance was kept on the back burner, with Dunford and McCarty, but he and Jane soon left. In limbo-but inheriting, then owning the name 'Renaissance', Dunford started auditions for a new lineup. Vocalist Binky Cullom came and went. Then, being an educated, trained musician-Dunford started slowly rebuilding a group-picking the best of the best for each instrument, the final slot filled by Annie Haslam-from a poor, working class family in Bolton (the others being middle/upper middle class with some education) It was Annie's voice that, by a series of chances and good luck, found her way to local singing gigs-and then vocal training. One day she saw an ad auditioning singers in the UK music sheet 'Melody Maker' she went in for a try-and she got the job.

The reconstituted lineup eventually settled on was the best-known and longest running, consisting of Annie Haslam (vocals), John Tout (piano), Jon Camp (bass pedals/vocals) Terence Sullivan (drums) and Rob Hendry (Electric backing guitar)-who left the group after the album's completion, later replaced by Michael Dunford, as the group became largely acoustic. This new Renaissance -- with Dunford in the composer-only role for the time being, released Prologue (1972) on EMI-Sovereign Records, (SVNA 7253) (UK). Music was mostly composed by Dunford (with a song or two on each album contributed by McCarty) and the lyrics by Cornish poet Betty Thatcher(-Newsinger). The next album, Ashes are Burning EMI-Sovereign, (SVNA 7261) released in 1973, had Dunford, still writing with Thatcher and/or McCarty, rejoin the group (although this was not finalised until after the album credits were printed), adding acoustic and 12 string guitar to the album. Andy Powell, of the group Wishbone Ash was brought in for a blistering guitar solo on the final track, "Ashes are Burning" which became the bands anthem piece.

The band left major label EMI, and was recruited by Stewart Copeland's new prog rock boutique label, through RCA, BTM Records-British Talent Managers. Launching the labels first release was Turn of the Cards (BTM 1000) 1975/76*, with a larger budget, the album went from folk flavored, to a more dark, lush orchestral rock sound. One of the albums two standout pieces, "Things I Don't Understand" clocking in at 9:30, was Jim McCarty's last writing credit with the group. The other, a similarly lengthy opus, "Mother Russia", closed out the album, being a tribute to the Soviet dissident, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whose fame grew from a series of books, notably "The Gulag Archipelago"(1973) describing the grey life inside the Soviet prison camps-in which he spent considerable time.

Becoming evident that the group was increasingly more popular along the US Eastern Seaboard and a few other hotspots, than in the UK, the LP was first issued in America on Sire Records in August 1974. It was released in the UK in March, 1976, followed only a few months later by their epic tone-poem Scheherezade and Other Stories (BTM 1006) released on both sides of the Atlantic in September 1976.

In the 1970s, Renaissance had a successful career, their sound similar in many ways to folk rock with classical overtones. Renaissance included in their songs quotations and allusions from such composers as Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev and others. Renaissance's records, especially Ashes Are Burning, were frequently played on American progressive rock radio stations, such as WNEW-FM, WHFS-FM, WMMR-FM, KSHE 95 and WVBR. Although commercial success was limited during this period, the band did obtain a sizable cult audience in the northeast United States during the mid 1970s, concentrated heavily in the Philadelphia to Boston corridor.

Renaissance scored a hit single in England 1978 with Northern Lights, which reached #10 there during the summer of 1978. The single was taken from the album A Song for All Seasons, but the band floundered following 1979's Azure D'or, as fans were unhappy with the band's turn towards synthesizers, a path followed by most progressive rock bands at one time or another. Camp had assumed more of the band's songwriting, and Tout and Sullivan left. Haslam, Dunford and Camp released a pair of albums in the 1980s and then broke up. Their albums were not available on CD for some time, though a pair of compilations were issued in 1990. During the 1990s and the current decade, though, most of their "original" catalog has been re-released by reissue record labels such as Repertoire Records (Germany) In 2006, Repertoire did much higher quality remasters of Ashes are Burning, Turn of the Cards, and Scheherezade-the sound difference is markedly improved. [REP 5069, 5070, 5071]

In the late 1990s, both Haslam and Dunford formed their own bands using the name Renaissance, and have released albums with different line-ups.

The band reformed in 2000 to record the Tuscany album and played one concert at the Astoria in London before embarking on a short Japanese tour. Haslam subsequently announced that the reunion would not be continuing, and Terry Sullivan later recorded an album in the Renaissance style with lyrics by Betty Thatcher Newsinger and keyboard contributions by John Tout.

In 2005, Annie Haslam announced that Renaissance had broken up for good. This was indicated in an interview with Ms. Haslam on http://www.progrockradio.com/.

[edit] Personnel

The original 1969 line-up comprised Keith Relf (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Jim McCarty (drums, vocals), John Hawken (keyboards), Louis Cennamo (bass) and Jane Relf (vocals). This lineup released Renaissance (1969) and appeared on most of Illusion (1971), released only in Germany at the time, finally in the UK in 1976. (Note: The following list includes temporary replacements & sidemen.)

  • 1970 - Added Terry Crowe (vocals), Terry Slade (drums) Neil Korner (bass) replaced Cennamo, Michael Dunford (guitar) replaced Keith Relf. This lineup recorded one track for Illusion (1971).
  • 1970 - Binky Cullom (vocals) replaced Jane Relf
  • 1970 - John Tout (keyboards) replaced Hawken
  • 1971 - Annie Haslam (vocals) replaced Cullom
  • 1971 - Danny McCullough (bass) replaced Korner
  • 1971 - Frank Farrell (bass) replaced McCullough
  • 1971 - John Wetton (bass) replaced Farrell
  • 1972 - Crowe left, Terence Sullivan (drums) replaced Slade, Jon Camp (bass, guitar, vocals) replaced Wetton, Mick Parsons (guitar) and Dunford reduced his role to composing for the band.
  • 1972 - Rob Hendry (guitar) replaced Parsons (who had died in a car accident). This lineup released Prologue (1972).
  • 1973 - Peter Finer (guitar) replaced Hendry
  • 1973 - Michael Dunford (guitar) replaced Finer. This lineup released Ashes are Burning (1973) through Azure D'or (1979).
  • 1981 - Peter Barron (drums) replaced Sullivan, Peter Gosling (keyboards) replaced Tout. This lineup released Camera Camera (1981).
  • 1983 - Gavin Harrison (drums) replaced Barron, Mike Taylor (keyboards) replaced Gosling
  • 1984 - Greg Carter (drums) replaced Harrison, Raphael Rudd (keyboards, harp) replaced Taylor
  • 1985 - Charles Descarfino (drums) replaced Harrison, Mark Lampariello (aka Mark Lambert) (bass, guitar) replaced Camp
  • 1998 - Terence Sullivan (drums) replaced Descarfino, Roy Wood (bass, keyboards, percussion) replaced Lampariello, John Tout (keyboards) replaced Rudd
  • 1998 - Alex Caird (bass) replaced Wood, Mickey Simmonds (keyboards) replaced Tout
  • 2001 - David Keyes (bass) replaced Caird, added Rave Tesar (keyboards)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Compilations & archival releases

  • Tales of 1001 Nights Volume I (1990 compilation)
  • Tales of 1001 Nights Volume II (1990 compilation)
  • Da Capo (Repertoire Germany-1995 compilation) [2 CDs] [Ltd. Edition in tall digipak with a much more conscise, detailed booklet]
  • Live at the Royal Albert Hall : King Biscuit Flower Hour Vol. 1 (1997) (Part 1 of live album recorded 1977)
  • Live at the Royal Albert Hall :King Biscuit Flower Hour Vol. 2 (1997) (Part 2 of live album recorded 1977)
  • Songs from Renaissance Days (1997) (compilation of outtakes, including one B-side and two Haslam solo tracks, 1979-88)
  • The BBC Sessions 1975-1978 (1999) [2 CDs]
  • Day Of The Dreamer (2000) (Live album recorded 1978)
  • Unplugged Live at the Academy of Music (2000) (Live album recorded 1985)
  • Live + Direct (2002) (Edited 1970 live recording plus demos/misc from 1968-76)

[edit] Michael Dunford's Renaissance

These albums were essentially collaborations between Dunford and singer Stephanie Adlington.

  • The Other Woman (1994)
  • Ocean Gypsy (1997) This consisted mostly of new versions of past Renaissance songs
  • Trip To The Fair (1998) This was a compilation of tracks from the previous two releases

[edit] Annie Haslam's Renaissance

This album was essentially an Annie Haslam solo release (one of several).

  • Blessing in Disguise (1994)

[edit] Renaissant

This album was essentially a Terry Sullivan solo release, with lyrics by Betty Thatcher-Newsinger and keyboards by John Tout. Terry's wife Christine did most of the vocals, with Terry himself taking lead on two songs.

  • South of Winter (2005)

[edit] Major television appearances

  • Don Kirshner's Rock Concert

Multi-artist television program with Renaissance performing "Can You Understand" and "Black Flame." Syndicated (USA), 1974. 11 minutes, original running time unknown.

  • The Midnight Special

Multi-artist television program with Renaissance performing "Carpet of the Sun" and "Midas Man." NBC (USA), 1976. 5 minutes, original running time unknown.

  • Sight and Sound in Concert

First in a series of programs consisting of artists performing live, with the performance broadcast simultaneously on TV and FM radio, hosted by DJ Alan Black. Songs performed were: "Carpet of the Sun", "Mother Russia", "Can You Hear Me", "Ocean Gypsy", "Running Hard", "Touching Once" and "Prologue". Originally broadcast on 8 January 1977. BBC (UK), 1977. Approximately 50-55 minutes.

  • The Mike Douglas Show

Television talk show features Renaissance performing "Northern Lights" on 4 May 1978.

  • MTV Interview

Interview by J.J. Jackson with Annie Haslam and Jon Camp. MTV (USA), April, 1983. 10 minutes.

[edit] Illusion

Shortly prior to his death, Keith Relf wanted to try to reform the original Renaissance. Since the name Renaissance was now firmly in the hands of the Haslam lineup, he chose the tentative band name "Now". Jim McCarty was not involved at this point.[1] After Relf's death, all of the surviving four formed a new band (along with two new musicians) and named it Illusion after Renaissance's second album. Illusion released two albums for Island Records before splitting, while a third made up of unreleased demos appeared years later. The original four reformed again for the production of Through the Fire which was released under the bandname of Renaissance Illusion. (There are two second albums entitled "Illusion": the 2nd album of the original Renaissance (1971); and the eponymous 2nd album of their reunion band, Illusion (1978).)

  • Out Of The Mist (1977)
  • Illusion (1978)
  • Enchanted Caress: Previously Unreleased Material (1990)
  • Illusion -The Island Years (2003)

[edit] Renaissance Illusion

  • Through The Fire (2001)

[edit] Miscellany

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Liner notes from Live + Direct.

[edit] External links