Hurry On Sundown

"Hurry On Sundown" is a 1970 song by the UK rock group Hawkwind. It was originally released as a single in the UK on 26 June 1970, being an edit of the version that appeared on the album Hawkwind. The song is inspired by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell's version of "Hurry Down Sunshine (See What Tomorrow Brings)",[nb 1] written by Mary Fix and Will Shade,[nb 2] originally recorded in 1934 and issued on the album Blues Before Sunrise (Columbia, BPG 62206, 1962).

"Hurry On Sundown"
Single by Hawkwind
from the album Hawkwind
B-side"Mirror of Illusion"
Released26 June 1970
RecordedMarch 1970 at Trident Studios
Length4:50
LabelLiberty
Songwriter(s)Dave Brock
Producer(s)Dick Taylor
Hawkwind singles chronology
"Hurry On Sundown"
(1970)		 "Silver Machine"
(1972)
Hawkwind Zoo EP
EP by
Hawkwind
Released1 May 1981
RecordedAbbey Road Studios, 1969; Olympic Studios, January 1975
LabelFlicknife
ProducerDon Paul
Hawkwind EPs chronology
Hawkwind Zoo EP
(1981)		 Sonic Assassins EP
(1981)

The song is a defining and distinctive piece from the group's canon, appearing on the first collection album Roadhawks in 1976, and included on most official compilations covering the era. After the first album, the band ceased performing the number live until very rare appearances from 2000 onwards. It has been covered by a handful of artists including Kula Shaker, Vetiver, Moon Duo and Psychic TV.

Hawkwind Zoo EP

Towards the end of 1969, still using the name Hawkwind Zoo and with Mick Slattery as the lead guitarist, the band were given studio time by Don Paul to record some demos. Paul had known Brock from working with him earlier in the year on The Buskers album (Columbia, SX6356), British tour and Royal Albert Hall concert.[4][5] "Hurry On Sundown" was one of the tracks recorded, this version being more electric and psychedelic than the acoustic folky feel of the later debut album version.

The recording was eventually released in 1981 as the first of a host of archive material issued through Flicknife Records. Another previously unheard track recorded at the same session, "Sweet Mistress of Pain" (also known as "Kiss of the Velvet Whip"), was included on the B-side, as was an alternate version of the 1975 single "Kings of Speed".

The two Hawkwind Zoo demos were eventually included on the remasters version of the Hawkwind debut album,[nb 3] with a third, a cover of Pink Floyd's "Cymbaline".

BBC Radio 1 Session

The band recorded a version at Maida Vale Studios on 18 August 1970 for broadcast on John Peel's BBC Radio programme Top Gear on 19 September 1970, along with "Some of That Stuff" and "Seeing It As You Really Are".[6] Poor quality off-air recordings of this session were first released, without the BBC's permission, on The Text of Festival in 1983, then on various subsequent compilations. No official clean version of these tracks have ever been released.

Live Versions

As the band pursued a more experimental electronic and rock direction, the acoustic folk of the song did not sit well in the set and was soon dropped, rarely to be performed. It has, in the band's latter years, been returned to the set for odd occasions, and live versions can be heard on the albums Yule Ritual (2001) and Hawkwind 50 Live (2020).

Personnel

Cover versions
  • Magic Mushroom Band – RU Spaced Out 2 (1993)
  • The Petals – Assassins of Silence / Hundred-Watt Violence (1995)
  • Kula Shaker – "Sound of Drums" single (Hari Om Sundown) (1998)
  • Sam Roberts Band – live Spokane, WA
  • Marshan - Daze Öf The Undergröund (A Tribute Tö Hawkwind) (Godreah Record, FAFF03CD, 2003)
  • Vetiver – Thing of the Past (2008)
  • Moon Duo – In Search Of Hawkwind (Critical Mass Records, cM005, 2010)
  • Psychic TV – Silver Sundown Machine Vs. Alien Lightning Meat Machine (Vanity Case Records, VC-14, 2012) 18 minute mash-up of "Silver Machine" and "Hurry On Sundown"

References

Footnotes

  1. SCRAPPER BLACKWELL, LEROY CARR, JELLY ROLL MORTON – I like a lot of the old blues things – I used to have a huge collection of New Orleans stuff especially. Morton in particular was incredible... some of his chords were incredible. He was quite a revolutionary for his time. I had to sell my whole blues collection at a time when I was hard up. I’d like to get some of those records back.[1]
  2. Fix, credited as Sister Morgan, not to be confused with Sister Gertrude Morgan, recorded the song for Victor Records with Shade on 25 February 1927 at rooms 405 and 411, McCall Building, Memphis, Tennessee, supervised by Ralph Peer.[2] The recording was eventually issued in 1995 on Too Late Too Late Volume 5 1927 – 1964 (Document Records, DOCD-5411).[3] It appears to be her only known extant recording.
  3. "Hurry on Sundown" is edited down from seven minutes to five, removing 90 seconds from the mid-section (the guitar and drums interplay) and 30 seconds from the end section

Citations

  1. "Whatever Turned Me On – Dave Brock's Influences". New Musical Express. 5 August 1972. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. "Victor matrix BVE-37947. Hurry down sunshine, see what tomorrow brings / Sister Morgan". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  3. "Too Late Too Late Vol 5 1927 – 1964". Document Records. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  4. Abrahams, Ian (2004). Hawkwind: Sonic Assassins. SAF Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-306-80897-8.
  5. Clerk, Carol (2004). The Saga of Hawkwind. Omnibus Press. p. 40. ISBN 1-84449-101-3.
  6. Garner, Ken (1993). In Session Tonight: The Complete Radio 1 Recordings. BBC Books. ISBN 0563364521.
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