''Fully Interlocking'' is the fourth album by the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

symphonic rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the ...

group

Solution Solution may refer to: * Solution (chemistry), a mixture where one substance is dissolved in another * Solution (equation), in mathematics ** Numerical solution, in numerical analysis, approximate solutions within specified error bounds * Solu ...

. It was released in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

The Rocket Record Company The Rocket Record Company is a record label founded by Elton John, along with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon, Steve Brown and others, in 1973. The company was named after John's hit song " Rocket Man". The label was originally distributed in the UK ...

. The line "Fully interlocking" appears on

jigsaw puzzle A jigsaw puzzle (with context, sometimes just jigsaw or just puzzle) is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaicked pieces. Typically each piece has a portion of a picture, which is comple ...

boxes, as referenced on the album cover.

History

Like the preceding album '' Cordon Bleu'', ''Fully Interlocking'' was produced by

Gus Dudgeon Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, " Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US N ...

and released on the label he set up with

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

. Another name reappearing from ''Cordon Bleu'' was engineer Phil Dunne, while

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...

again did the artwork. This time the recording location was switched from

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

to The Sol in

Cookham Cookham is a historic River Thames, Thames-side village and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north-eastern edge of Berkshire, England, north-north-east of Maidenhead and opposite the village of Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, Bourne ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. ''Fully Interlocking'' comprised four

jazzy Jazzy is an adjective that describes a subject with resemblance to jazz, in a literal (in terms of music) or symbolic sense. Jazzy, Jazze or Jazzie may also refer to: * Jazzie B, English DJ * Jazzie Collins, activist * Jazzie Redd, radio perso ...

instrumental pieces sandwiched by two vocal songs, the lyrics of which were written by singer Guus Willemse. This album shares the highest quantity of instrumental tracks with their first album ''

'' (1971); the other four albums they released included more songs with lyrics. "Give Some More" was released as a single in Europe, backed by an edit of "Chappaqua" from ''Cordon Bleu''. "Empty Faces" was also a 45, with "French Melodie" as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

. ''Fully Interlocking'' charted in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

on 5 November 1977, reaching #30 and spending 7 weeks on the chart. The album was re-released by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

in 1980 (again on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

) and 1988 (on CD).

Track listing

#"Give Some More" (5:24) #*Music by Tom, Willem and Guus #*Lyrics by Guus #"Carousel" (7:18) #*Music by Tom, Willem, Guus and Hans #"Sonic Sea" (7:19) #*Music by Tom and Willem #"Free Inside" (6:20) #*Music by Tom, Willem, Guus and Hans #"French Melodie" (4:35) #*Music by Tom #"Empty Faces" (6:32) #*Music and lyrics by Guus

Personnel

Tom Barlage:

alto sax The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E, smaller th ...

soprano sax The soprano saxophone is a small, high-pitched member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented in the 1840s by Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax. Built in B♭ an octave above the tenor saxophone (or rarely, slightly smaller ...

, flutes,

string ensemble A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first a ...

, organ, percussion, electric piano
Willem Ennes:

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

, acoustic piano, organ, synthesizer, string-ensemble
Guus Willemse: bass guitar, lead vocals
Hans Waterman: drums *All backing vocals by Tom, Willem and Guus. *

Ray Cooper Raymond Cooper (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician who has worked as a session and road-tour percussionist. During his career, Cooper has worked and toured with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Elton John (as ...

- congas and percussion on "Give Some More" and "Free Inside" *

Stuart Epps Stuart Epps is a British record producer and audio engineer. Since 1967, he has worked with Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Oasis, Twisted Sister, Nine Lies, Bill Wyman, Kiki Dee, George Harrison, Robbie Williams, Mark Owen, Paul Weller, Cliff Richar ...

- additional backing vocal on "Empty Faces" Producer: Gus Dudgeon.
Engineer: Phil Dunne.
Assistant engineer:

.
Mastering: Ian Cooper at Utopia Recording Studios.
Recorded by Moonlight.

External links

Official website run by Guus Willemse
{{Authority control 1977 albums Solution (band) albums Albums produced by Gus Dudgeon Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis