Pierre Moerlen's Gong
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Pierre Moerlen's Gong | |
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| Also known as | Gong (1976), Gong-Expresso (1976-1978) |
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| Years active | 1976–1988; 2002–2005 2010–present |
Pierre Moerlen's Gong was an instrumental
History
Amid a flurry of line-up changes in the mid-1970s, including the departure of founding members Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth, Gong drummer Pierre Moerlen was in charge of the band with two albums remaining on a contract with Virgin.
Moerlen formed a new line-up with his brother Benoit on mallet percussion, US-born bassist Hansford Rowe, and a rotating cast of session guitarists, notably Allan Holdsworth, Mick Taylor, Mike Oldfield, and Bon Lozaga.
They released two albums under the Gong moniker,
Lozaga, Rowe, and Benoit Moerlen went on to form Gongzilla in the early 1990s, releasing four albums to date which are very much an extension of the percussive fusion that the original group brought to the fold, and they perform a mix of new and old live material going back to the Gazeuse/Expresso II period. Moerlen joined them for their 2002 European tour.
Moerlen revived the Pierre Moerlen's Gong name in 2002 and recorded the album
The last Pierre Moerlen's Gong album was started in 2005 with another new line-up, this time of young French musicians, when Moerlen died unexpectedly on 3 May 2005, age 53, of natural causes. Although the project was at an early stage, the band nevertheless decided to record Pierre's last compositions, along with some of their own, and release it posthumously as Tribute in 2010.
Personnel
| Gazeuse! (1976) | Expresso II (1978) | Downwind (1979) | Time is the Key (1979) |
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| Pierre Moerlen's Gong Live (1980) | Leave It Open (1981) | Breakthrough (1986) | Second Wind (1988) |
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| Full Circle Live '88 (1998) | Pentanine (2004) | Tribute (2010) | |
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Discography
- 1976: Gazeuse! (Expresso in North America) (issued as a "Gong" album)
- 1978: Expresso II (issued as a "Gong" album)
- 1979: Downwind
- 1979: Time Is the Key
- 1980: Pierre Moerlen's Gong Live
- 1981: Leave It Open
- 1986: Breakthrough
- 1988: Second Wind
- 1998: Full Circle Live '88
- 2004: Pentanine
- 2010: Tribute (post-Pierre Moerlen)
Filmography
- 2015: Romantic Warriors III: Canterbury Tales (DVD)
References
- ^ "Pierre Moerlin's Gong — Pentanine (Musea FGBG 4606.AR, 2004, CD)". expose.org. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- Macan, E. L., Macan, E. (1997). Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture. Germany: Oxford University Press. p. 243
External links
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