Colosseum’s fourth, long-lost album with performances from Supershow plus 2 tracks from a short film released in cinemas in 1970
- Includes performances by Colosseum at Supershow, filmed in March 1969, two days before their debut album was due out, and two tracks from the Colosseum And Juicy Lucy film, released in cinemas in 1970
- Upon Tomorrow, the long-lost fourth album, retrieved from the Jon Hiseman archive
- Featuring three demos recorded at Landsdowne Studios 1 August 1971
- In-depth liner notes by Jon Hiseman biographer, Martyn Hanson
- Fully remastered by EROC and Ru Lemer at Temple Music Studio
COLOSSEUM was a pioneering British progressive jazz-rock band mixing progressive rock and jazz-based improvising.
Formed in 1968 by drummer
JON HISEMAN, tenor sax player
DICK HECKSTALL-SMITH and bass player
TONY REEVES, who had recently worked together in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Keyboard player
DAVE GREENSLADE was quickly added, then the line-up was completed by Jim Roche and
JAMES LITHERLAND on guitars, with Litherland handling the vocals. Roche departed after a few gigs, leaving James Litherland covering lead guitar and vocals. They made their live debut in Scarborough and were soon booked to record their first radio show, the influential BBC Radio One's 'Top Gear', which gained them valuable exposure and critical acclaim.
Just two days before Colosseum’s debut album
Those Who Are About To Die Salute You was due out (19th March 1969) they took part in the famous Supershow sessions. This was a memorable gathering of a host of star names at Shepperton Studios, Staines, near London. The event brought together some of the biggest names of jazz, blues and rock. Their 2nd album,
Valentyne Suite, was released that same year.
In October 1969,
CLEM CLEMPSON replaced James Litherland.
The Grass is Greener album was released in the USA in January 1970 and was a mixture of old and new tracks, the latter with Clem on guitar and vocals. Back home, Tony Reeves left and was eventually replaced by
MARK CLARKE later in 1970. That same year Hiseman recruited
CHRIS FARLOWE to take over as lead vocalist, enabling Clem to concentrate on lead guitar. This last line-up of the 70's is considered by many as the definitive line-up. From this came forth
Daughter of Time and the classic Colosseum Live.
On 14th May, 1970, the band travelled to Questors Theatre in Ealing, London, to make the first of a series of films featuring rock bands. The idea was that these films would get a cinema release as a supporting feature to a star movie of the day. The film was being made by Lion TV and produced by Oakenhurst Enterprises; Juicy Lucy was also being filmed that day. Two tracks from the
Colosseum And Juicy Lucy film, follow the two
Supershow tracks completing Disc One of this 2CD set.
Disc Two is the fruit of a careful trawl through Jon Hiseman’s voluminous archive in search of Colosseum’s fourth, long-lost album. Going on interviews of the day there was confidence the material was there. And this belief was bolstered by Jon, who would surely have kept the tapes.
The resulting material gives a fascinating insight into what the next phase of Colosseum might have been like for this almost mythical album. However, it must be reiterated that the make-up of the
Upon Tomorrow section is conjecture. These are songs Colosseum were known to be batting around in the last phase of their existence from various sources. In some ways it has been like putting together a jigsaw puzzle without having the picture box as a guide. The package includes in-depth liner notes by Jon Hiseman biographer, Martyn Hanson.
Those who are about to listen...
