Leg End

Leg End (aka Legend)
Studio album by Henry Cow
Released	1973
Recorded	The Manor, Oxfordshire, England, May–June 1973
Genre	Avant-progressive rock
Length	43:33
Label	Virgin (UK)
Producer	Henry Cow
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Piero Scaruffi (7/10) link Robert Christgau (B) link
Henry Cow chronology
Leg End (1973) Unrest (1974)

Leg End (also known as Legend) is an album by British avant-garde rock group Henry Cow, recorded at Virgin Records' Manor studios over three weeks in May and June 1973. It was their debut album and was released later that year. With the exception of the last track, and background voices on "Teenbeat", this is an instrumental album. The jazzy Canterbury sound on some of the pieces shows Henry Cow's beginnings, although they quickly moved on to establish their own unique sound. "Nine Funerals of the Citizen King", sung by the whole group, was Henry Cow's first overt political statement. The album cover art work was by artist Ray Smith and was the first of three "paint socks" to adorn Henry Cow's albums.

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Personnel 2.1 Guests 2.2 Sound and art work 3 CD reissues 4 See also 5 External links

Track listing

Side One

1. "Nirvana for Mice" (Frith) – 4:53
2. "Amygdala" (Hodgkinson) – 6:47
3. "Teenbeat (Introduction)" (Henry Cow) – 4:32
4. "Teenbeat" (Frith, Greaves) – 6:57

Side Two

1. "Nirvana (Reprise)" (Frith) – 1:11
2. "Extract from 'With the Yellow Half-Moon and Blue Star' " (Frith) – 2:26
3. "Teenbeat (Reprise)" (Frith) – 5:07
4. "The Tenth Chaffinch" (Henry Cow) – 6:06
5. "Nine Funerals of the Citizen King" (Hodgkinson) – 5:34

Personnel

• Geoff Leigh – Saxophones, flute, clarinet, recorder, voice
• Tim Hodgkinson – Organ, piano, alto saxophone, clarinet, little bells, voice
• Fred Frith – Guitars, violin, viola, piano, voice
• John Greaves – Bass guitar, piano, whistle, voice
• Chris Cutler – Drums, toys, piano, whistle, voice

Guests

• Jeremy Baines – pixiphone on "Yellow Half-Moon"
• Sarah Greaves, Maggie Thomas and Cathy Williams – chorus on "Teenbeat"

Sound and art work

• Tom Newman – Recording engineer
• Mike Oldfield – Recording engineer (first part of "Nirvana for Mice")
• Henry Cow – Producer
• Ray Smith – Cover art

CD reissues

• In 1991 East Side Digital issued a remixed version of Leg End on CD, with Lindsay Cooper playing bassoon on "Amygdala", plus a bonus track, "Bellycan".
• In 1998 both East Side Digital and Recommended Records reissued Leg End on CD with the original mixing restored and the bonus track omitted.

See also

• Henry Cow Box (2006)

External links

• Fred Frith discography
• "Nine Funerals of the Citizen King" lyrics. The Canterbury Website.

This box:  •  • edit Henry Cow
Lindsay Cooper  •  Chris Cutler  •  Fred Frith  •  Tim Hodgkinson  •  Dagmar Krause Georgie Born  •  John Greaves  •  Geoff Leigh Dave Attwood  •  Rob Brooks  •  Martin Ditcham  •  Joss Graham  •  Andy Powell  •  Sean Jenkins
Discography
Leg End (1973)  •  Unrest (1974)  •  Henry Cow Concerts (1976)  •  Western Culture (1979)
with Slapp Happy:  Desperate Straights (1975)  •  In Praise of Learning (1975)
Box sets:  Henry Cow Box (2006)
Related bands and movements
Art Bears  •  Rock in Opposition  •  Slapp Happy