| Greasy Truckers Party | ||||
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| Live album by Various artists | ||||
| Released | 28 April 1972 | |||
| Recorded | 13 February 1972 | |||
| Venue | Roundhouse, London | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 1:27:30 | |||
| Label | United Artists – UDX 203/4 | |||
| Greasy Truckers chronology | ||||
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| Man chronology | ||||
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Greasy Truckers Party is a 1972 live album by various artists recorded at a February 1972 Greasy Truckers concert at the Roundhouse in London. The concert featured three bands, Man, Brinsley Schwarz, and Hawkwind, and musician Magic Michael. Originally a double vinyl album, in a limited edition of 20,000 and sold at just £1.50, it rapidly sold out, and became a collector's item.[1]
In the world of British underground rock, the Greasy Truckers Party ... ... looms about as large as the Monterey International Pop Festival does in American rock lore; it wasn't the biggest gig ever played by the bands involved, but for reasons of exposure, and resulting word-of-mouth, and the excerpted live album that followed, it came to define what they were capable of.
— Bruce Eder, Allmusic [2]
Greasy Truckers (their name being a parody of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company) were "a loose organisation of individuals whose ideals were based on those of the Diggers in San Francisco, recycling money into worthwhile causes."[3] This album was the first of two albums recorded at concerts in London organised by Greasy Truckers, the second being Greasy Truckers Live at Dingwalls Dance Hall (1974). All proceeds from the concert and LP sales went to Greasy Truckers' project to build a hostel in Notting Hill Gate.[4]
The concert was due to run from 3 p.m. until midnight and include performances by Byzantium and others, but wage disputes between the unions and the government had led to frequent power cuts, one of which occurred in the early evening, giving an unusual album track "Power cut".
The fire brigade asked the audience to leave, but when power was resumed, and the audience re-admitted, hundreds more people came in. In defiance of the Fire Brigade, many people stayed inside, temporary lighting was set up, and the audience was entertained by eccentric folk band Skinner's Rats who did not require amplification. They started with the opening of Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" before breaking into a medley of reels and being joined on stage by a troop of Morris dancers - the Blackheath Foot and Death Men.
The power cut had affected Hawkwind's synthesisers, which were very temperamental, leading to their apologies, and having to restart their act after a breakdown.[1]
