Ommadawn

Untitled

Ommadawn is a record album written and mostly performed by Mike Oldfield. It is his third album, released in 1975 (see 1975 in music). The cover photograph was by David Bailey. It peaked at #4 on the UK Albums Chart.

Album history

As with Hergest Ridge and Tubular Bells, Ommadawn is another two-movement work. Oldfield sought out the ancient Celtic influence on English music and composed for traditional instruments such as uilleann pipes on the original LP version. A set of northumbrian pipes were also recorded, and credited to Herbie, but this recording was not used on the album.

The album was recorded at Oldfield's home at Hergest Ridge, The Beacon, and was the only album to be recorded there (though Oldfield's previous album shares its name with the location).

A Quadrophonic remix version of Ommadawn was released on Boxed a year later. Oldfield's 1990 album Amarok was conceived as a sequel to Ommadawn, but turned into something quite different; Virgin had been pushing Oldfield for a sequel to Tubular Bells. Excerpts from Ommadawn were featured in the 1979 NASA film, The Space Movie.

The topic of Ommadawn is covered in the Tony Palmer documentary series All You Need is Love; episode 17 "Imagine (New Directions)".

Album title and lyrics

The word ommadawn appears to be related to the Irish word amadán meaning either "idiot" or "fool". This interpretation is consistent with Clodagh Simmons pre-translation English lyrics of the gaelic chant at the end of the first movement:

Daddy's in bed, The cats drinking milk, I'm an idiot, And I'm laughing.

Oldfield is reported to have denied this meaning of ommadawn, calling it a nonsense word, apparently as a ruse to enhance the mystery of his music . However in his autobiography, Changeling, he acknowledges its meaning, as the above.

"On Horseback" and "In Dulci Jubilo"

Though the actual work Ommadawn is a two part piece, there is a third track on the album, a short vocal song by Mike Oldfield and William Murray called "On Horseback". "On Horseback" relates to Oldfield, Murray and Leslie Penning's time riding ponies around the area of Hergest Ridge.

In December 1975 Mike released the single "In Dulci Jubilo", with "On Horseback" as the B-side. It reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1976. In France, "In Dulci Jubilo" was coupled to a remix of the end of part 1 of Ommadawn. Some copies of the album also include "In Dulci Jubilo" at the end.

Instrumentation

Oldfield involved musicians noted for their work in folk music including Clodagh Simonds and Paddy Moloney. He combined this with heavy African influences, mainly by the use of the drummers of Jabula. This makes Ommadawn one of the first successful world music albums in Europe.

Two electric guitars which feature on the album are a red Gibson SG Junior and a blonde Fender Telecaster. Oldfield appears to have been using two electric bass guitars at the time; a Fender Precision and a Gibson EB-3. An acoustic bass built by Tony Zemaitis and a Ramirez classical guitar feature on the album. The piano on the album is likely to be a Bösendorfer. A Fender lap steel guitar is also thought to feature on "On Horseback", although uncredited. Many of Oldfield's instruments from this period are shown in a photograph which was included in the Boxed 4-LP box set.

Track listing

1. "Ommadawn, Part one" – 19:23
2. "Ommadawn, Part two" – 13:54
3. "On Horseback" (not actually titled on album) – 3:23

• "On Horseback" is not listed on the record label, but added to the length of "Ommadawn part two", giving it a new length of 17:17. It is, however, referred to on the inner sleeve as "The Horse Song".

Personnel

• Mike Oldfield – acoustic bass, acoustic guitar, banjo, bouzouki, bodhrán, classical guitar, electric bass, electric guitars, electronic organs, glockenspiel, harp, mandolin, percussion, piano, spinet, steel guitar, synthesizers, twelve-string guitar and vocals.

• Don Blakeson - trumpet
• The Hereford City Band - brass
• Jabula - African drums
• Pierre Moerlen - timpani
• Paddy Moloney - uilleann pipes
• William Murray - percussion
• Sally Oldfield - vocals
• Terry Oldfield - Panpipes
• Leslie Penning - recorders
• "The Penrhos Kids" (Abigail, Briony, Ivan and Jason Griffiths) - vocals on "On Horseback"
• Clodagh Simonds - vocals
• Bridget St John - vocals
• David Strange - cello

External links

• Mike Oldfield Discography - Ommadawn at Tubular.net
• Possible translations of lyrics at Tubular.net
• Towards Ommadawn: A critical study of Mike Oldfield's third studio album at Tubular.net