L (Steve Hillage album)

L is the second studio album by British progressive rock musician Steve Hillage.

L
Studio album by
Steve Hillage
Released1976
RecordedMay–June 1976
StudioThe Secret Sound, Woodstock, New York
GenreProgressive rock, space rock[1]
Length42:48
LabelVirgin
ProducerTodd Rundgren
Steve Hillage chronology
Fish Rising
(1975)		 L
(1976)		 Motivation Radio
(1977)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Mojo[3]

It was recorded primarily in New York, at the Secret Sound, Woodstock, N.Y., and was produced and engineered by Todd Rundgren, using musicians from Todd Rundgren's band Utopia and others.

According to liner notes supplied with the US pressing, Rundgren had only just become aware of Hillage, and following a letter from Hillage to Rundgren, and a reply from Rundgren, Hillage travelled to New York to meet, and the agreement to work together flowed from that.

The cover features a clean-shaven Hillage (most of the publicity shots of Hillage during the 1970s show him with a full beard) holding his guitar, brightly backlit.

Unusually for Hillage, half the songs on this album are covers. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" was written by Donovan, "Om Nama Shivaya" is based on a traditional Hindu mantra, and "It's All Too Much" was written by George Harrison, and originally appeared on the 1969 Beatles album, Yellow Submarine.

The original Virgin catalogue number for this album on vinyl was V2066. An American pressing was issued on Atlantic Records, catalogue number SD 18205.

In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came 28th in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".[4]

Charts

The album entered the UK charts on 16 October 1976, where it stayed for 12 weeks, hitting a peak of number 10.[5] This was the most successful of Steve Hillage's solo albums, the next most successful being Motivation Radio and Green, which reached numbers 28 and 30, respectively.

Track listing
Side one
  1. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" (Donovan) – 6:32
  2. "Hurdy Gurdy Glissando" (Miquette Giraudy, Steve Hillage) – 8:54
  3. "Electrick Gypsies" (Hillage) – 6:24
Side two
  1. "Om Nama Shivaya" (lyrics: Uma Nanda; music: Kesar Singh Narula) – 3:33
  2. "Lunar Musick Suite" (Giraudy, Hillage) – 11:59
  3. "It's All Too Much" (George Harrison) – 6:26

Personnel

References
  1. Prasad, Anil. "Steve Hillage - Organic continuum". innerviews.org. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  2. "allmusic ((( L > Overview )))". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  3. "Steve Hillage – L CD Album". CD Universe/Muze. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  4. Q Classic: Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, 2005.
  5. The Guinness book of British Hit Albums, 1983, page 80.
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