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Thread: National Health - Missing Pieces

  1. #1

    National Health - Missing Pieces

    I have no idea how I missed this. Campbell, Bruford and Hillage??? What kind of impact do these guys have on this collection and is it worth getting? I can't believe Hillage
    guested on these recordings. I'm usually up to date with everything hes played on.

  2. #2
    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    Its a very good album if you like NH.
    Bruford and Hillage are not influencing the music a lot, but I would get the album alone for the tracks Starlight On Seaweed and Clocks And Clouds

  3. #3
    I'm here for the moosic NogbadTheBad's Avatar
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    Clocks and Clouds is stunning, worth the price alone
    Ian

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  4. #4
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    Get it ASAP! I love this CD as much as their first two proper studio albums. Playtime (live '79) and D.S. Al Coda (posthumous studio session) are each interesting, but non-essential IMO. Missing Pieces is amazing (mostly). Enjoy!

  5. #5
    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    If you are unfamiliar with National Health the place to start is "The Complete National Health," not "Missing Pieces." Yes, the band is essential listening.

    As is Hatfield and the North.

    NH is HatN's more serious brother, the one who wears glasses and quotes Dostoevsky.

  6. #6
    Steve Hillage was only helping out for one BBC session, as a last minute replacement for Phil Lee who had departed before the tour. He is mostly playing scored single-note parts along with Phil Miller. His style and sound is recognisable at times, but don't expect any of his signature soloing.

    Bill Bruford, on the other hand, is present (almost) throughout, but he too is "hired hand", not influencing the music much, although his inimitable, "never the same way once" style is clearly there.
    Calyx (Canterbury Scene) - http://www.calyx-canterbury.fr
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  7. #7
    Member Guitarplyrjvb's Avatar
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    This is a great collection and absolutely essential if you're into these guys!

  8. #8
    National Health is Curb Your Enthusiasm to Hatfield And The North's Seinfeld.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by calyx View Post

    Bill Bruford, ... his inimitable, "never the same way once" style is clearly there.
    Never the same way once ?
    Care to explain

  10. #10
    Member Lieto's Avatar
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    Great stuff on here. The mind your Back Tango rules. Not to mention hilarious and insightful liner notes by Dave Stewart himself.
    "Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible"
    -Frank Zappa

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by rcarlberg View Post
    If you are unfamiliar with National Health the place to start is "The Complete National Health,
    Too bad it's out of print.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Udi Koomran View Post
    Never the same way once ?
    Care to explain
    I was joking. "Never the same way once" is an Earthworks composition, typical of the kind of plays on words he used when titling his pieces.
    I really meant "never the same way twice".
    Calyx (Canterbury Scene) - http://www.calyx-canterbury.fr
    Legends In Their Own Lunchtime (blog) - https://canterburyscene.wordpress.com/
    My latest books : "Yes" (2017) - https://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/yes/ + "L'Ecole de Canterbury" (2016) - http://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/lecoledecanterbury/ + "King Crimson" (2012/updated 2018) - http://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/kingcrimson/
    Canterbury & prog interviews - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdf...IUPxUMA/videos

  13. #13
    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    Too bad it's out of print.
    Missing Pieces is also out of print, afaik.
    Steve F.

    www.waysidemusic.com
    www.cuneiformrecords.com

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    “Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin

    Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]

    "Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"

    please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.

  14. #14
    Steve, Just put the one you have for sale on amazon in my cart...

  15. #15
    Just the THOUGHT of what Pip Pyle might have gotten out of this - as opposed to Bruford. Of course, it was the first time the latter encountered actual charts and scores in his rock carreer.

    Still, the compositions themselves are incredible.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  16. #16
    For me, the star of Missing Pieces is the master composer Mont Campbell. Just the haunting, crepuscular "Agrippa" is worth whatever you pay for this CD. You also get the full "Paracelsus" and "Zabaglione" along with other hot stuff mentioned above.

    The proper studio albums are great, but much of the Missing Pieces material has a more contemporary classical slant as opposed to the progressive jazz fusion thing that dominates NH and OQaC. It's more ambitious, ironic and opaque. If you like Henry Cow and Thinking Plague, Missing Pieces maybe more essential than National Health Complete.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    Just the THOUGHT of what Pip Pyle might have gotten out of this.
    Problem was, Pip and Mont Campbell couldn't stand each other. Otherwise he was going to be the band's drummer from the start. As it turned out, he only lasted a demo session. So he never got to play the rest of Campbell's music, or any other MC composition than "Croquette" for that matter. Once he rejoined in '77, Campbell was gone and, as was common practice among Canterbury bands, so was his music from the band's set.

    The demo with Pip also included "The Lethargy Shuffle", but the version remains unreleased (and no, I've never even heard it).
    Calyx (Canterbury Scene) - http://www.calyx-canterbury.fr
    Legends In Their Own Lunchtime (blog) - https://canterburyscene.wordpress.com/
    My latest books : "Yes" (2017) - https://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/yes/ + "L'Ecole de Canterbury" (2016) - http://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/lecoledecanterbury/ + "King Crimson" (2012/updated 2018) - http://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/kingcrimson/
    Canterbury & prog interviews - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdf...IUPxUMA/videos

  18. #18
    I got this one from Steve. The best 8 dollars I've ever spent on a 2 CD set!
    Generic cover and out of sequence track order, but the music is fantastic.

    Missing Pieces will cost a bit more for a used copy.


  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by calyx View Post
    Problem was, Pip and Mont Campbell couldn't stand each other.
    Wow, was it the drinks/girls/wild/larger-than-life spirit of the one opposed to the other?
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  20. #20
    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    Wow, was it the drinks/girls/wild/larger-than-life spirit of the one opposed to the other?
    You'll have to wait for the book!
    Steve F.

    www.waysidemusic.com
    www.cuneiformrecords.com

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    “Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin

    Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]

    "Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"

    please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.

  21. #21
    No need to wait ! Here it is :

    Mont Campbell : Personally I couldn't stand the fellow.

    Pip Pyle : Yes, it is true we couldn't get on then. We had absolutely no common interests it seemed, even musical. He was very solemn, distant and had what I could only describe as a "superiority" complex. He probably thought I was a yobbo. Perhaps we could get on better nowadays. But at the time, I don't think either of us wanted to be in the same group and he was Dave's mate so while he was in National Health, I wasn't.
    Calyx (Canterbury Scene) - http://www.calyx-canterbury.fr
    Legends In Their Own Lunchtime (blog) - https://canterburyscene.wordpress.com/
    My latest books : "Yes" (2017) - https://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/yes/ + "L'Ecole de Canterbury" (2016) - http://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/lecoledecanterbury/ + "King Crimson" (2012/updated 2018) - http://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/kingcrimson/
    Canterbury & prog interviews - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdf...IUPxUMA/videos

  22. #22
    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by undergroundrailroad View Post
    It's more ambitious, ironic and opaque.
    Ive never heard a more perfect summation of National Health. That should be their epitaph.

    Kinda reminds me of Top Gear: "Ambitious But Rubbish."

  23. #23
    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by calyx View Post

    Pip Pyle : He probably thought I was a yobbo.
    Pip! You were a yobbo!

    and a funny, funny guy. rest in peace.
    Steve F.

    www.waysidemusic.com
    www.cuneiformrecords.com

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    “Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin

    Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]

    "Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"

    please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by rcarlberg View Post
    NH is HatN's more serious brother, the one who wears glasses and quotes Eddison.
    There, I fixed your quote.

    I absolutely love Missing Pieces. The production may be a bit “spartan,” but it doesn’t detract from the high quality of the music. Frankly, I’m a bit shocked it’s as good as it is, and I’m delighted that music of this high quality got a proper release in any form. Not quite on the same level as the first two proper NH albums, but better than you would expect for a “rarities and unreleased” type of album, and a better album than D.S. al Coda (which I also love).
    Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...

  25. #25
    Member bill g's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NogbadTheBad View Post
    Clocks and Clouds is stunning, worth the price alone
    Agreed. One of the finest pieces of music I've ever heard.

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