Oft-forgotten now, AMAZING BLONDEL were spoken of along the same lines as GRYPHON in the days of yore – acclaimed for bringing Renaissance folk into progressive rock narrative and riveting enough to warranty the involvement in their platters of such Island Records stablemates as Jim Capaldi and Paul Rodgers. Running operation from 1969 and 1977 and returning from limbo in 1997 to deliver two more albums, the latest appearing in 2010, this collective had their fair share of adventures on and off the road, so a good paper volume on the ensemble should be quite welcome.
Titled “Celestial Light: A History of Amazing Blondel” and penned by acclaimed musicologist Michael Billington who included a lot of photos in his tome, it includes interviews with the band members – John Gladwin, Terry Wincott and Eddie Baird – as well as with those who worked with them: manager John Glover and producer Steve Rowlands, engineer Phill Brown and roadie John Donaghy, plus a few other people who played a part in the group’s long history, even the makers of the guitars featured on the “England” album cover.
Essential for aficionados, the book might be of interest to many lovers of great sound.
