T. Rex (album)

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T. Rex / Ride a White Swan
T. Rex studio album

Publication
(s)

1970/1971

Label (s) Ariola (D), Fly / Cube (UK)

Format (s)

LP

Genre (s)

skirt

Title (number)

15th

occupation

production

Tony Visconti

chronology
A Beard of Stars
(1970) 		T. Rex / Ride a White Swan Electric Warrior
(1971)

T. Rex is the first music album by the British rock band T. Rex of the same name . It appeared in December 1970 after shortening its previously used name Tyrannosaurus Rex .

To the album

The long-playing record entered the British album charts on January 16, 1971 and rose to number 7 in its 25-week chart presence. While the British LP on Fly Records (catalog number: HIFLY2 ) had the band name as its title, the German edition was titled Ride a White Swan published on Ariola in early 1971 . It contained the then current single hit of the same name, in exchange for The Time of Love Is Now on the British edition. Ride a White Swan had climbed to number 2 in the British charts since October 24, 1970 and stayed in the charts for 20 weeks; it reached 34th place in Germany and 76th place in the USA.

One Inch Rock was a re-recording of the song, which had been released as a single by Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1968 and climbed to number 28 in the British charts. Bolan had also recorded The Wizard beforehand; it was his first single release as Marc Bolan on Decca Records in November 1965 .

Musically, the album follows on from the LPs previously released by the group under the name Tyrannosaurus Rex. Acoustic instruments predominate, electronic instruments, which should later dominate the sound of T.Rex, are used rather sparingly. Overall, however, the music seems more accessible than the often complexly arranged pieces on previous albums. The songs are short and catchy.

The US-American music journalist Richie Unterberger sees Marc Bolan with this album “taking a decisive step away from his hitherto cult hippie following towards a younger pop-rock audience. At the same time he moved away from psychedelic-acoustic folk rock to a harder sound with electric guitars. And what's remarkable is that it made the music better. "

The T. Rex LP was re-released in the UK in March 1978 and October 1981 on Cube Records and in May 1985 on Sierra . It was first released on CD in 1986 on Cube Records .

In 2004 the Expanded Edition was released , which in addition to the songs from the British original edition contained nine bonus tracks, including Ride a White Swan . Some of these tracks are alternative versions of the original recordings.

The cover

The original fold-over cover shows Marc Bolan holding his electric guitar and Mickey Finn . On the German, black Ariola cover, the initials “T” and “R” stand above or below a green / red, naive drawing of a face.

Track lists

"T. Rex "(UK)

  1. The Children of Rarn - 0:51
  2. Jewel - 2:46
  3. The Visit - 1:55
  4. Childe - 1:40
  5. The Time of Love Is Now - 2:41
  6. Diamond Meadows - 1:58
  7. Root of Star - 2:35
  8. Beltane Walk - 2:28
  9. Is It Love? - 2:36
  10. One Inch Rock - 2:27
  11. Summer Deep - 1:43
  12. Seagull Woman - 2:19
  13. Suneye - 2:05
  14. The Wizard - 8:46
  15. The Children of Rarn (recapitulation) - 0:36

"Ride a White Swan" (D)

  1. The Children of Rarn - 0:51
  2. Jewel - 2:46
  3. The Visit - 1:55
  4. Childe - 1:40
  5. Diamond Meadows - 1:58
  6. Root of Star - 2:35
  7. Beltane Walk - 2:28
  8. Ride a White Swan - 2:12
  9. Is It Love? - 2:36
  10. One Inch Rock - 2:27
  11. Summer Deep - 1:43
  12. Seagull Woman - 2:19
  13. Suneye - 2:05
  14. The Wizard - 8:46
  15. The Children of Rarn (recapitulation) - 0:36

"T. Rex - Expanded Edition "(D)

  1. The Children of Rarn
  2. Jewel
  3. The Visit
  4. Childe
  5. The Time of Love Is Now
  6. Diamond Meadows
  7. Root of Star
  8. Beltane Walk
  9. Is It Love?
  10. One inch skirt
  11. Summer Deep
  12. Seagull Woman
  13. Suneye
  14. The Wizard
  15. The Children of Rarn (reprise)
  16. Ride a White Swan (Single A-Side)
  17. Summertime Blues (B-side single)
  18. poem
  19. The Visit (Take 4)
  20. Diamond Meadows (Take 6)
  21. One inch skirt
  22. Seagull Woman
  23. The Wizard
  24. The Children of Rarn

all titles written by Marc Bolan, except Summertime Blues by E. Cochran / J. Capehart

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c David Roberts (ed.): Guinness World Records - British Hit Singles and Albums , 2006 19 , ISBN 1-904994-10-5 , p. 546
  2. ↑ everyhit.com, search mask (enter "T Rex" without a dot; Category: Album)
  3. ^ MC Strong, The Great Rock Discography , Edinburgh / Frankfurt am Main 1996 3 , ISBN 0-86241-604-3 , p. 78
  4. ↑ "Bolan made a determined move away from the cult hippie audience and toward a younger pop / rock one, simultaneously steering away from psychedelic acoustic folk-rock and toward a harder sound with electric guitars. And, remarkably, this was not a sellout: in fact, the music became better ... " , Richie Unterberger, Review by T. Rex (Expanded Edition)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the All Music Guide , viewed October 6, 2007@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / wc09.allmusic.com  
  5. ↑ T. Rex - T. Rex. Retrieved February 7, 2020 .

Web links