Harry Williamson (musician)

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Harry Williamson is a British musician, producer and inventor.

History

Williamson was born in

He started a Physics degree at Imperial College, University of London, but abandoned Physics for rock theatre, working at Glastonbury Festival and the Rainbow Theatre and crewing for The Rolling Stones in the 1970s. He helped establish the Green Party of England and Wales and is still actively involved in designing innovative energy efficient systems.

In 1970 he met Anthony Phillips of Genesis with whom he composed music for the film of his father's best-seller Tarka the Otter. The music, recorded by the National Philharmonic Orchestra was not used in the film due to budgetary considerations but some years later was finished with funds from Amy International and released by PRT, where it became No. 1 in the New Music Charts for three months. It is still regarded as a classic by Genesis fans and excerpts are used for documentaries and other nature oriented films worldwide. Another series of recordings with Anthony, started in 1975, became Gypsy Suite, released in 1995.

In 1977 Williamson was playing with Nik Turner of Hawkwind and he wrote "Nuclear Waste"^[3] which was released as 'The Radio Actors',^[4] or 'Fast Breeder & Nuclear Reactors', with Sting on vocals, Mike Howlett on Bass and Steve Hillage on lead guitar. It was released by Virgin Records and later by Charly Records^[5] and is still considered an anti-nuclear anthem in Eastern Europe.^{[citation needed]}

In 1978 Williamson met

Tarka was commissioned to launch the book Our Watermark published by the Victorian Women's Trust and received its first live performances in Melbourne in 2010.

Migration was launched in 2012 after a ten-year gestation. It explores the musical forms that originated in Northern India and travelled with the Celts on their epic migrations, influencing music where they settled.

In 2009 he was asked to bring the

• 1975 – Gypsy Suite (with Anthony Phillips) 1998 Voiceprint
• 1976 – Tarka (with Anthony Phillips) 1988 PRT 1996 Voiceprint
• 1978 - Xitintoday (with Nik Turner's Sphynx) 1978 Charisma
• 1978 – Nuclear Waste (with Sting and the Radio-Actors) (Virgin, Charly, DB, Voiceprint)
• 1978 – Fairy Tales (with Gilli Smyth, Didier Malherbe et al.) (Charly)
• 1981 – Robot Woman 1 (with Mother Gong) (Butt)
• 1983 – Robot Woman 2 (with Mother Gong) (Shanghai)
• 1984 – Living on the Brink (with Gilli and tom the poet) (Ottersongs)
• 1986 – Robot Woman 3 (with Mother Gong) (Shanghai)
• 1986 – Stroking the Tail of the Bird (with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth) (Voiceprint)
• 1987 – The Owl and the Tree (with Mother Gong and Daevid Allen) (Demi-Monde) 2004 (Voiceprint)
• 1989 – Buddha's Birthday (with Mother Gong) (Ottersongs)
• 1989 – Wild Child (with Mother Gong) (Demi-Monde)
• 1989 – Gongmaison (with Gongmaison) (Demi-Monde)
• 1990 – Fish in Sky (with Mother Gong) (Ottersongs)
• 1991 – Mothergong Live in the USA 1991 (Ottersongs), 2008 (Voiceprint)
• 1993 – She Made the World (Voiceprint)
• 1998 – Far from the Madding Crowd (Faraway) (with Liz Van Dort) (Voiceprint 1998) (Prikosnovenie 2001)
• 1999 – Life in the Unseen World (with many friends) (Voiceprint)
• 1999 – 22 meanings (with Daevid Allen) (Gliss, via Pinnacle)
• 2000 – Seadrone (meditation with wind spirits) (Sleeping Tiger)
• 2003 – Battle of the Birds (Celtic tale) (Voiceprint)
• 2005 – Fish in Tree (compilation re-issue of Fish and Owl above) (Voiceprint)
• 2005 – Dreaming in English (with Jeltje) (Private Release)
• 2005 – Soleluna (with Soleluna quintet) (Elysian)
• 2008 – The Glissando Orchestra DVD with Daevid Allen, Steve Hillage and others (Daikini)
• 2012 – Migration (with Khalil Gudaz and a cast of thousands)

References