''Scented Gardens for the Blind'' is the second album by New Zealand group

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

released in February 1975 on

Vertigo Records Vertigo Records is a British record company. It was a subsidiary of the Philips/Phonogram record label, launched in 1969 to specialise in progressive rock and other non-mainstream musical styles. Today, it is operated by Universal Music Group#B ...

before they relocated to Australia in May. ''Scented Gardens for the Blind'', along with their first album '' Universal Radio'', is in the

progressive 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 ...

genre—all subsequent albums are

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

. "Vermillion Cellars" was released as a single in March and was followed by non-album singles, "Education" in May and "Star Kissed" in August but neither albums nor singles had any local chart success. The title of New Zealand author

Janet Frame Janet Paterson Frame (28 August 1924 – 29 January 2004) was a New Zealand author. She is internationally renowned for her work, which includes novels, short stories, poetry, juvenile fiction, and an autobiography, and received numerous award ...

's fourth novel was ''Scented Gardens for the Blind'' (1963). In 1994 the album was re-released as a CD. It was re-packaged as a double CD (with first album ''Universal Radio'') in 2004.

Background

Dragon formed in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, in January 1972 with a line-up that featured

Todd Hunter Todd Stuart Hunter NOTE: Requires user to input song title, e.g. POLITICS (born 22 June 1951) is a New Zealand musician and composer known for his involvement in the band Dragon. Their best known songs are "April Sun in Cuba", " Are You Old En ...

on bass guitar, guitarist Ray Goodwin, drummer Neil Reynolds and singer/pianist Graeme Collins. All had been in various short-lived bands in Auckland, Collins is credited with using

I Ching The ''I Ching'' or ''Yijing'' ( ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. The ''I Ching'' was originally a divination manual in ...

to provide the name Dragon. Their first major gig was an appearance at The Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival in early January 1973. By 1974 several personnel changes had occurred including Collins leaving, with Todd Hunter's younger brother

Marc Hunter Marc Alexander Hunter (7 September 195317 July 1998) was a New Zealand rock and pop singer, songwriter and record producer. He was the lead vocalist of Dragon (1973–11/1979, 8/1982–1989, 1995–11/1997), a band formed by his older brother, ...

joining on vocals and Neil Storey on drums. The band recorded two

albums in their native New Zealand, '' Universal Radio'' in June 1974 and ''Scented Gardens for the Blind'' in March 1975 both on

. "Vermillion Cellars" was released as a single in March and was followed by a non-album single, "Education" in May. Despite being New Zealand's top live attraction by late 1974, neither albums nor singles had any local chart success, and they recruited Robert Taylor (ex-

Mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

) on guitar as they searched for a raunchier pop sound. By early 1975,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Graeme Nesbitt (ex-Mammal), who had obtained regular gigs and organized their first New Zealand tours, felt they should tackle the larger Australian market. Nesbitt was unable to travel with them to Australia—he had been arrested for selling drugs—before they relocated in May. In Australia, they released another non-album single, "Star Kissed" in August. The title of New Zealand author

's fourth novel was ''Scented Gardens for the Blind'' (1963). In 1994 the album was re-released as a CD. It was re-packaged by the Spanish record company Esterlla Rockera as a double CD (with first album ''Universal Radio'') in 2005 (Catalogue Number: ER 42117). In June 2023 the album was rereleased on vinyl by Replica/MUSEA.

Track listing

; Side A #"Vermillion Cellars" (

, Ray Goodwin) – 3:23 #"La Gash Lagoon" aka "L'Gash Lagoon" (M. Hunter, T. Hunter, Goodwin) – 8:18 #"Sunburst" (Goodwin, T. Hunter, M. Hunter) – 8:33 ; Side B #

"Greylynn Candy" aka "Grey Lynn Candy" (Goodwin, T. Hunter) – 4:57 #"Darkness" (M. Hunter, T. Hunter, Goodwin) – 4:44 #"Scented Gardens for the Blind" (M. Hunter, T. Hunter, Goodwin) – 7:40

Grey Lynn Grey Lynn is an inner suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, located to the west of the city centre. Originally a separate borough, Grey Lynn amalgamated with Auckland City in 1914. Grey Lynn is centred on Grey Lynn Park, which was not part of t ...

is a suburb of

Personnel

;Dragon *

– saxophone, percussion, vocals; lead vocals (tracks 2–4, 6) *Ray Goodwin – guitars, vocals; lead vocals (tracks 1, 5) *Ivan Thompson – keyboards *

– bass, backing vocals *Neil Storey – drums ;Additional personnel *"Josie" –

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

*Recorded at Stebbings Studio Auckland Dec '74 *Engineer – Tony Moan *Produced by Rick Shadwell for Marmalade Productions *Cover design and artwork Super Graphics Ltd

References

{{Authority control 1975 albums Dragon (band) albums Progressive rock albums by Australian artists Vertigo Records albums