''The Earth Ritual Preview'' is a 1984 (see

1984 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984. Specific locations *1984 in British music *1984 in Japanese music *1984 in Norwegian music Specific genres *1984 in country music *1984 in heavy metal music *1984 in ...

) EP by the English

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

group

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

. It spent two weeks on the UK singles chart peaking at #86. The EP is included on the remastered version of '' The Chronicle of the Black Sword'' album. The EP was a taster for a proposed full blown ''Earth Ritual'' album and tour, that would have involved

Robert Calvert Robert Newton Calvert (9 March 1945 – 14 August 1988) was a South African-United Kingdom, British writer, poet, and musician. He is principally known for his role as lyricist, performance poet and lead vocalist of the space rock band Hawkwind ...

and

Barney Bubbles Barney Bubbles (born Colin Fulcher; 30 July 1942 – 14 November 1983) was an English graphic artist whose work encompassed graphic design and music video direction. Bubbles, who also sketched and painted privately, is best known for his distin ...

, as a follow-up to 1972's '' Space Ritual''. However, the project was delayed in favour of ''The Chronicle of the Black Sword'' collaboration with

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, particularly of science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has wo ...

, then abandoned following Calvert's death in August 1988. The EP is dedicated to Bubbles, who committed suicide just prior to its release. The group's line-up was in flux at the time, with guitarists

Dave Brock David Anthony Brock (born 20 August 1941) is an English musician and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the founder, the sole constant member and the musical focus of the space rock group Hawkwind.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

– Dave Brock biography Brock w ...

and

Huw Lloyd-Langton Richard Hugh "Huw" Lloyd-Langton (6 February 1951 – 6 December 2012) was an English musician, best known as the guitarist for the rock band HawkwindStrong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Rock Discography'', Canongate, , p. 466 at various times. ...

and bassist Harvey Bainbridge being the constant. Saxophonist

Nik Turner Nicholas Robert Turner (26 August 1940 – 10 November 2022) was an English musician best known as a member of space rock pioneers Hawkwind. Turner played saxophone and flute, as well as being a vocalist and composer. While with Hawkwind, Tur ...

and keyboardist Dead Fred had joined the group, although neither appeared on any of these recordings, they were part of the touring group. Former bassist Lemmy makes a guest appearance on "Night of the Hawks". The group had tried a succession of drummers: Andy Anderson had been suitable but left to join

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

; Lloyd-Langton Group drummer John Clark plays on "Dragons and Fables", but Brock felt he was unsuitable for the group; drum technician Robert Heaton plays on "Green Finned Demon", but he was committed to his own group

New Model Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 t ...

; and the track "Night of the Hawk" uses a drum loop. For the tour, Rick Martinez drummed but he was replaced part way through by Clive Deamer. The group undertook a 35 date UK tour in February and March 1984 to promote the album, with support from Bronz. Various former members, including Lemmy, Moorcock and Dave Anderson, made guest appearances at various shows. The Ipswich Gaumont show on 9 March was filmed and released as '' Night of the Hawks''.

Track listing

* The 7" single version features a shortened version of "Night of the Hawks" and "Green Finned Demon" as the sole B-side track

Personnel

– Dave Brock biography Brock w ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, keyboards,

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Harvey Bainbridge -

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, keyboards,

;guests * Lemmy -

on "Night of the Hawks" * Rob Heaton -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

on "Green Finned Demon" *John Clark -

on "Dragons & Fables"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Earth Ritual Preview, The Hawkwind albums 1984 EPs Space rock EPs