Elastic Rock is Nucleus' first album. Recorded in January 1970, it was a pioneering work in the emerging genre of jazz-fusion. Bandleader Ian Carr (later a jazz journalist and published expert on Miles Davis) was probably inspired by Davis' "going electric" in 1969, but the seminal Bitches Brew had not yet been released at the time Elastic Rock was recorded, and according to Carr, they hadn't even heard Davis' less rock-influenced 1969 electric release, In a Silent Way.[4]

Elastic Rock
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 1970
Recorded12–21 January 1970
StudioTrident Studios, London
GenreArt rock, jazz fusion
Length40:46
LabelVertigo Records
Universal Records (2007 Remaster)
ProducerPeter King
Nucleus chronology
Elastic Rock
(1970)
We'll Talk About It Later
(1971)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings [3]

In July 1970 the group presented compositions from the LP at the Montreux Jazz Festival, winning the first prize. They subsequently performed both at Newport Jazz Festival and at the Village Gate jazz club.[4]

Track listing

edit

All tracks composed by Karl Jenkins; except where indicated

  1. "1916" – 1:11
  2. "Elastic Rock" – 4:05
  3. "Striation" – 2:15 (Jeff Clyne, Chris Spedding)
  4. "Taranaki" – 1:39 (Brian Smith)
  5. "Twisted Track" – 5:17 (Chris Spedding)
  6. "Crude Blues, Part I" – 0:54 (Karl Jenkins, Ian Carr)
  7. "Crude Blues, Part II" – 2:36 (Ian Carr)
  8. "1916: The Battle of Boogaloo" – 3:07
  9. "Torrid Zone" – 8:41
  10. "Stonescape" – 2:39
  11. "Earth Mother" – 5:15 (Karl Jenkins, Ian Carr, John Marshall, Jeff Clyne, Chris Spedding)
  12. "Speaking for Myself, Personally, in My Own Opinion, I Think..." – 0:54 (John Marshall)
  13. "Persephones Jive" – 2:15 (Ian Carr)

Personnel

edit
Nucleus

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  3. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  4. ^ a b Kelman, John (19 October 2004). "Ian Carr and Nucleus: '70s British Jazz Rock Progenitors". All About Jazz.
edit