Comus

Comus
Contemporary promotional image
Background information
Genres	Acid folk, progressive rock
Years active	1971–1973, 2008-Present
Labels	Dawn Records
Associated acts	Henry Cow
Members
Andy Hellaby Glenn Goring Roger Wootton Bobbie Watson Colin Pearson Rob Young

Comus is a British progressive rock / folk band which had a brief career in the early 1970s; their first album, First Utterance, gave them a cult following which persists. They have revived in the late 2000s and played several festivals.

History

The band was named after Comus, a masque by John Milton and is also from the name of the Greek god Comus. David Bowie appreciated them and used them as support band for a 1969 concert at London's Purcell Rooms.^[1]

Their first album, First Utterance, appeared in 1971. The music is largely acoustic art rock that blends elements of Eastern percussion, early folk and animal-like vocals. The music evokes many feelings, but the most dominant are fear, confusion, despair, with occasional passages of tranquil beauty such as can be found in "The Herald". The lyrics are dramatic, involving violence, murder, and mental disorder. Apart from three tracks on First Utterance ("The Herald", "Diana" and "Bitten"), most of the songs were written by Roger Wootton and arranged by Glenn Goring. The group disbanded after this album, but they reunited with new members for their second album, which was to be their swansong, To Keep from Crying, in 1974.

In 2005, a complete box set was released which featured both studio albums, their only single, "Diana", and a previously unreleased track called "All the Colours of Darkness". The liner notes feature an exclusive interview with some members of the band. They reformed for the Mellotronen Festival in Sweden in March 2008^[2]. According to their website, they have reformed and are working on new material.^[3]

On March 21st, 2009 the Equinox Festival announced that Comus will perform for the first time in the UK in 37 years during its three day festival June 12-14, 2009.

Wootton also appears on some recordings by Slapp Happy.

Influence

In 1998, Opeth singer and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt used a part of a sentence from "Drip Drip" for the title of the album My Arms, Your Hearse. The full line was "As I carry you to your grave, my arms your hearse".

Another nod to Comus was given on the 2005 Opeth album, Ghost Reveries. The second track "The Baying of the Hounds" was derived from a line in the song "Diana" which reads "And she knows by the sound of the baying, by the baying of the hounds".

English experimental band Current 93 covered the song "Diana" from First Utterance on their studio album Horsey. Musically this version is considerably different from the original, with David Tibet singing the lyrics in an agonizing fashion and constructing most of the song from a loop based around a vertiginous violin arrangement from the original.

Also by Current 93, the early album Earth covers Earth was conceived as a less bizarre (although still unique by Current 93’s standard) sequel to First Utterance, sometimes referred as “Second Utterance”.

Personnel

Members who performed on First Utterance

• Roger Wootton – acoustic guitar, lead vocals
• Glenn Goring – 6-12 acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide, hand drums, vocals
• Andy Hellaby – fender bass, slide bass, vocals
• Colin Pearson – violin, viola
• Rob Young – flute, oboe, hand drums
• Bobbie Watson – vocals, percussion

Members who performed on To Keep from Crying

• Roger Wootton – acoustic guitar, lead vocals
• Andy Hellaby – fender bass, slide bass, vocals
• Bobbie Watson – vocals, percussion
• Lindsay Cooper – bassoon, oboe
• Philip Barry – percussion
• Gordon Coxon – drums
• Didier Malherbe – saxophone
• Keith Hale – keyboards
• Tim Kraemer – cello

Discography

Studio albums

• First Utterance (1971)
• To Keep from Crying (1974)

Box sets

• Song to Comus: The Complete Collection (2005)

Singles

• Diana / In the Lost Queen's Eyes / Winter is a Coloured Bird (1971)

Roger Wootton solo single

• "Fiesta Fandango"/"New Tide"

References

External links

• Official Website
• Comus at Allmusic