ARCHIVE
HAWKWIND
Space Ritual (50th Anniversary Edition) CHERRY RED
Legendary live double receives extensive boxset treatment.
By Ana Gavrilovska
9/10
IT’S December 1972 and the dawn of space rock has broken all over England. In the third year of Hawkwind’s existence, the release of their live double album The Space Ritual Alive In Liverpool And London, aka Space Ritual, would cement their status as fathers of the genre. Songwriter and guitarist Dave Brock formed the band in 1969 and is today the only remaining original member, but the early lineup captured on Space Ritual is the one that most endures in the popular imagination. In addition to Brock, there’s Nik Turner on saxophone and flute, bassist Lemmy Kilmister, drummer Simon King, Michael Davies (Dik Mik) and Del Dettmar both contributing electronics, and spoken-word vocals by the poet Robert Calvert. Space Ritual was born out of the tour they undertook to promote ’72’s Doremi Fasol Latido, with an audio-visual cosmic spectacle that included dancing by de facto Hawkwind member Stasia and others, a stage set by artist Barney Bubbles and an elaborate light show by Liquid Len.