I first heard this song in 1970 or so, on the wonderful, and madly eclectic, WHFS-FM. That led me to buy the album, and that led me into one of the enduring loves, or at least likes, of my life: the English Electric Folky groups of the 60s and 70s.
Light Flight is not electric though, and it's not even all that folky, except for Jacqui McShee's soprano, and John Renbourn's guitar. It's more jazzy than anything else; but there's also Swingle-Singers-style scatting, and dreamy, hippy-dippy lyrics, and a mix of time signatures including 5/8, 7/8 and 6/4. (Or so says Wikipedia; I tried to figure out the time signatures myself, and couldn't.)
Wiki also says, oddly enough, that Light Flight was used as theme music for a 1969-71 BBC drama series, Take Three Girls, about three young ladies sharing a flat in Swinging London.
2 comments:
This is becoming musical education week for me here on Lem's - first that Billy Joel song, now Pentangle. I had heard of that group but I am not sure I had ever heard any of their music.
I do, however, recall listening to Whiffs back in the day. They were cool, hip, hipper than thou, tragically hip. But they played good music.
I tried counting the beat - I am almost getting a 5/4 in the early part, but the Wiki says 5/8 - I guess one is as good as the other, seeing as how I can't actually see the score.
Good thing I already know the score, amirite?
Nice! You expanded my knowledge of that genre beyond Sandy Denny.
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