Khan - Break The Chains (1972)

When Steve Hillage left Uriel, he joined forces with Nick Greenwood on bass, Dick Heninghem on organ and Pip Pyle on percussion to form a new progressive rock group that he named Khan. Pyle quickly moved on to Gong and by the time the band played its first gig in June 1971 he'd been replaced by Eric Peachey. In October 1971 Dave Stewart took over from  Dick Heninghem, and stayed for the duration of the recording sessions that produced their sole album 'Space Shanty', which was released in June 1972. The band promoted the album with a UK tour supporting Caravan, during which time Canadian organist Val Stevens joined the line-up. In the summer of 1972 Hillage put together a new version of the band, retaining Peachey but permanently adding Dave Stewart on keyboards and Nigel Griggs on bass. New material was written and rehearsed, and a few live performances took place in September and October 1972, but Decca's refusal to commit to the release of a second album led Hillage to break up the band and team up with Kevin Ayers, before moving on to join Gong. Some recordings from the second album sessions have recently surfaced, and with the addition of some live and rehearsal recordings from the Autumn of 1972, and an early version of 'Mixed Up Man Of The Mountains' there's enough material to give us an idea of what the second album might have sounded like. Incidentally, if 'Stargazers' start to grate a bit, then be thankful that I cut down the original six-minute take.  

Track listing

01 Break The Chains (studio recording 1972)
02 Mixed Up Man Of The Mountains (early take)
03 Stargazers (demo 1971)
04 Wring Out The Ground Loosely Now (live 1972)
05 Escape Of The Space Pirates (demo 1971)
06 Canterbury Sunrise (rehearsal recording 1972)
07 Hollow Stone (demo 1971)
08 Madman's Rap (rehearsal recording 1972)
09 Five Piece (live 1972)