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

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

symphonic rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initi ...

group Solution. It was released in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 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 (now the Democrati ...

The Rocket Record Company The Rocket Record Company was a record label founded by Elton John, along with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon, Steve Brown and others, in 1973 in music, 1973. The company was named after the hit song "Rocket Man (song), Rocket Man". The label was ...

. The line "Fully interlocking" appears on

jigsaw puzzle A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaiced pieces, each of which typically has a portion of a picture. When assembled, the puzzle pieces produce a complete picture. In t ...

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, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

. 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, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black Sabbath, UFO, 10cc, ...

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

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

to The Sol in

Cookham Cookham is a historic Thames-side village and civil parish on the north-eastern edge of Berkshire, England, north-north-east of Maidenhead and opposite the village of Bourne End. Cookham forms the southernmost and most rural part of High Wyco ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. ''Fully Interlocking'' comprised four jazzy 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 '' Solution'' (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 records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

. ''Fully Interlocking'' charted in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

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

) and 1988 (on CD).

Track listing

#"Give Some More" (5:24) #*Music by Tom, Willem and Guus #*Words 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 words 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 E, smaller than the B t ...

soprano sax The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

, flutes, string-ensemble, organ, percussion, electric piano
Willem Ennes:

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

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