Formed in 1971 in Surry, Camel didn’t have the smoothest of rides as they made their bid for stardom. With a line-up of Andy Latimer (guitar/vocals), Peter Bardens (keyboards/ vocals), Doug Ferguson (bass/vocals), and Andy Ward (drums) the band had already been dropped by MCA when in 1973 their self titled debut failed to set the world alight. Picked up by Decca’s Deram imprint, Camel entered the studio to work on the follow-up, Mirage. Despite being more successful mainly due to the extensive touring the band undertook, more “fun” was around the corner when Camel, the cigarette manufacturer objected to the albums artwork. A rapid redesign in the US was arranged but around the rest of the world “the management” came to a rather uncomfortable deal to keep the LP on the shelves. Hopefully for Camel it would be third time lucky with album number three? Following the somewhat enforced relationship with the cigarette brand during the process of the Mirage album, the band were keen to break those ties on their next release, and as they had already decided to attempt a conceptual piece following on from ‘The White Rider’ suite on that previous album they needed to come up with a concept fast. To celebrate its 50th anniversary and continuing on from similar treatments of Mirage, Moonmadness, Nude and Pressure Points – Live, Esoteric in conjunction with Cherry Red Records now bring us the ultimate version of that third album, Camel’s 1975 masterwork Music Inspired By The Snow Goose.
Gentle birdsong and ethereal vocals introduce what, to some is the greatest progressive rock concept album of all times. Others may question this claim but one thing is for sure, it is certainly the #1 concept piece documenting the life’s journey of, a man, a woman, and a big white duck (I know a goose isn’t a duck!). Based around the Paul Gallico novella “The Snow Goose”, it centres around the books three protagonists, Rhayader (the man), Fritha (the woman), and the snow goose (the duck), each depicted within their own musical theme. Ostensibly an instrumental piece with occasional vocalised enhancements but no actual lyrics, it also makes subtle use of orchestration supplied by The London Symphony Orchestra, arranged by David Bedford, who had also worked with Kevin Ayers, Roy Harper, and Mike Oldfield, to expand the musical pallet. As with any piece of programmatic music it is important to judge it as one cohesive symphonic work as well as looking at it’s component pieces. It has to be said that what makes Music Inspired By The Snow Goose so great is that it does work on both levels. Latimer and Bardens originally wanted extracts from the book to accompany the release, a move rejected by the author’s publishers, but although a brief knowledge of the narrative helps to link the musical puzzle pieces, this is far from essential. As well as that overall cohesion, tracks like ‘Rhayader Goes to Town’, ‘The Snow Goose’, ‘Flight of the Snow Goose’ and even the dark ‘Dunkirk’, more than hold up in their own right. ‘The Great Marsh’ not only sets the scene with its naturally ethereal mood, but it also closes the final chapter of the odyssey with its relaxed reprise. The role call begins with the optimistic flute flurry driven entrance of lead player and hero, ‘Rhayader’ with Andy Latimer supplying its Focus style flute, and the pace raising ‘Rhayader Goes to Town’ with Barden rolling and tumbling over his keys while chased by Latimer’s exquisite guitar in hot pursuit. One minute pumping Wakeman style prog, the next funky jazz, it is no surprise that ‘Rhayader Goes to Town’ has become a highlight of Camel’s stage show over the decades since. Later in the composition, ‘Rhayader Alone”s piano refrain will return us to a mellower side of our champions theme. A similar laid back approach introduces both ‘Fritha’ (acoustic guitar and spacey keyboard) and ‘The Snow Goose’ (rolling bass and drum under a lead guitar that Jan Akkerman would dream about), with Fritha being the calming influence throughout as displayed within ‘Fritha Alone”s piano interlude, while the other accompanying selections lay out the prime mover’s journey. The reassurance of ‘Sanctuary’, the joyous ‘Friendship’, the fast paced, almost train like ‘Migration’ and ‘Flight of the Snow Goose’. ‘Preparation’, Dunkirk’ and, the tolling bells and pianissimo twists of ‘Epitaph’ ring in the changes, as gloomier qualities turn the attention to bleaker times and driving, marching beats of the second world war that herald the end of Rhayader’s existence. ‘La Princesse Perdue’ signals new life and hope as each member of the band takes their final bow over five minutes of the most heavenly orchestral progressive rock imaginable leading into ‘The Great Marsh’ reprise. Bonuses come in the shape of the unused ‘Riverman’ recorded during the initial attempt at building a concept around Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha novel which actually points towards the more song based MOR direction Camel would pursue on later albums, as well as the single edits of both ‘Flight of the Snow Goose’ and ‘Rhayader’ (why a 2 minute 40 second song needs editing, who knows?). Within the set you will find not only the original mix remastered by Ben Wiseman who has also worked on the Nektar and Spirit back catalogues (disc 1 & Blu-ray) but, Stephen W Taylor’s new stereo mix (disc 2 & Blu-ray), and his high resolution 5.1 surround sound mix (Blu-ray). Each adds its own slant on the dynamics of the piece but with raw material this good, it is questionable how much polish really needs to be applied.
Music Inspired By The Snow Goose charted at #22 in the UK, beginning a chart run which continued into the early 80’s (Nude hit #34 in 1981) and saw the band broaden their horizons across mainland Europe, despite original member beginning to jump ship following Moonmadness in 1976. Ferguson left prior to 1977’s Raindance, followed by Bardens in 1978 ahead of the release of I Can See Your House From Here, and once Ward departed after Nude this saw Latimer as the last man standing. This was far from the end of the band’s story however and Camel’s heyday during the 70’s left a fine musical legacy and saw them, and particularly Andy Latimer become a key influence on future artists such as Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth), Steve Rothery (Marillion), Khaled Lowe (Messenger) and Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree). With ill health plaguing Latimer in recent years, whether the story has one final chapter only time will tell, but in the mean time take inspiration from a big white duck.
- Reviewed by Peter Brockwell.
- Released via Esoteric Recordings/Cherry Red records on 25th April 2025.
Track List:
Disc One: Music Inspired by The Snow Goose (Remastered)
1. The Great Marsh
2. Rhayader
3. Rhayader Goes to Town
4. Sanctuary
5. Fritha
6. The Snow Goose
7. Friendship
8. Migration
9. Rhayder Alone
10. Flight of the Snow Goose
11. Preparation
12. Dunkirk
13. Epitaph
14. Fritha Alone
15. La Princesse Perdue
16. The Great Marsh
Bonus Tracks:
17. Riverman (1974 mix)
18. Flight of the Snow Goose (single version)
19. Rhayader (single version)
Disc Two: Music Inspired by The Snow Goose (Stephen W Tayler Stereo Mix)
1. The Great Marsh
2. Rhayader
3. Rhayader Goes to Town
4. Sanctuary
5. Fritha
6. The Snow Goose
7. Friendship
8. Migration
9. Rhayder Alone
10. Flight of the Snow Goose
11. Preparation
12. Dunkirk
13. Epitaph
14. Fritha Alone
15. La Princesse Perdue
16. The Great Marsh
Bonus Track:
17. Riverman (2022 remix)
Disc Three (Blu-ray) Music Inspired by The Snow Goose (High Resolution 5.1 & Stereo Mixes + Original Stereo Mix)
1. The Great Marsh
2. Rhayader
3. Rhayader Goes to Town
4. Sanctuary
5. Fritha
6. The Snow Goose
7. Friendship
8. Migration
9. Rhayder Alone
10. Flight of the Snow Goose
11. Preparation
12. Dunkirk
13. Epitaph
14. Fritha Alone
15. La Princesse Perdue
16. The Great Marsh
Bonus Track:
17. Riverman (5.1 mix)
