Renaissance arrived to the progressive rock party later than some (1972) and left without ever releasing a gold record or hit single. What they did leave behind is some of the better progressive rock from the mid '70s, a distinctive blend of English pastoral/classical progressive music that suggested what mid-career Yes or Genesis would have sounded like with a female vocalist. Renaissance's anonymity among music audiences may be a matter of timing more than talent. By the time the band had reached their peak (the mid to late '70s), progressive rock had passed its prime. As with many progressive rock acts from the period, Renaissance eventually tried to reach out to audiences with new wave, but ended up losing both sides of the battle. However, Renaissance continues to release albums in one incarnation or another, postcards for the faithful.
More information is available at the Renaissance official website:
http://www.nlightsweb.com/
You can listen to one of their most popular songs "Running Hard" below:
Discography:
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Date ALBUMS / Singles
1969 RENAISSANCE
1971 ILLUSION
1972 PROLOGUE
1972 Spare Some Love
1973 ASHES ARE BURNING
1973 Carpet of the Sun
1974 TURN OF THE CARDS
1975 SCHEHERAZADE AND OTHER STORIES
1976 LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL
1977 NOVELLA
1977 Midas Man
1977 Back Home Once Again
1978 A SONG FOR ALL SEASONS
1978 Northern Lights
1978 IN THE BEGINNING
1979 AZURE D'OR
1979 The Winter Tree
1979 Jekyll And Hyde
1981 CAMERA CAMERA
1981 Faeries (Living At The Bottom of My Garden)
1981 Bonjour Swansong
1983 TIME LINE
1983 Richard IX
1990 TALES OF 1000 NIGHTS VOLUME I
1990 TALES OF 1000 NIGHTS VOLUME II
1995 DA CAPO - THE COMPLETE ANTHOLOGY 1969-1982
1995 THE OTHER WOMAN
1997 KING BISCUIT FLOWER HOUR PRESENTS GREATEST HITS LIVE-1
1997 KING BISCUIT FLOWER HOUR PRESENTS RENAISSANCE-2
1997 OCEAN GYPSY
1998 INNOCENCE
1998 TRIP TO THE FAIR
1999 BBC SESSIONS
2000 UNPLUGGED: LIVE AT THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC, PHILADELPHIA 1985
2001 TUSCANY
2001 CAN YOU HEAR ME - LIVE
2002 MOTHER RUSSIA
2002 LIVE + DIRECT
2002 IN THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN: LIVE IN JAPAN 2001
2003 HERITAGE
2003 MIDAS MAN
SEE ALSO...ANNIE HASLAM discography
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Renaissance - from Wikipedia
History
Former Yardbirds members Keith Relf, and Jim McCarty organised a new group devoted to experimentation between rock, Folk, and classical forms. This quintet — Relf on guitar & vocals, McCarty on drums, plus bassist Louis Cennamo, pianist John Hawken, and Relf's sister Jane Relf as an additional vocalist — released a pair of albums on Elektra (US) and Island (UK-ILPS 9112), the first one, titled simply "Renaissance", being produced by fellow ex-Yardbird Paul Samwell-Smith[1].
As touring began to grind on them, the band gradually dissolved one by one. As each member left, new or guest members were added. A barely finished second album, Illusion, was released in Germany in 1971, although not released in the UK until 1976. (Island, HELP 27)] This album marked the beginning of Renaissance's long-standing collaboration with Cornish poet Betty Thatcher-Newsinger as lyricist when she co-wrote two songs with Relf and McCarty; it also featured the first composition by Michael Dunford, who would soon become the band's principal composer.
Dunford joined the band on guitar, before leaving to work as full-time composer. McCarty, although no longer performing, continued to compose for the band while Dunford, inheriting the helm of the band, started auditions for a new lineup. Vocalist Binky Cullom came and went. Reflecting his academic training, Dunford started rebuilding the group with more classically trained personnel. With some vocal training and local gigs under her belt, Annie Haslam saw an advertisement in the music weekly "Melody Maker" for a singer in Dunford's new group. She was hired, and the second incarnation of Renaissance was begun. New material was created by Dunford sending Thatcher demo tapes, which she would write poetry to fit.
A line-up consisting of Haslam (vocals), John Tout (piano), Jon Camp (bass pedals/vocals),Terence Sullivan (drums) and Mick Parsons (electric guitar) was set to record a new album when Parsons died suddenly, and Rob Hendry (electric guitar) was drafted in to replace him. This line-up released Prologue in 1972 on EMI-Sovereign Records (UK), with four tracks composed by Dunford and two by McCarty; two were instrumentals and four featured lyrics by Thatcher. Francis Monkman, of the group Curved Air, guested on synthesiser on the final track "Rajah Khan".
Hendry left the group after the album was recorded and Michael Dunford returned as lead (acoustic) guitarist, completing what most fans regard as the classic five-piece line-up, which would remain together through six studio albums. The next album, Ashes are Burning, was released in 1973. Dunford, McCarty and Thatcher continued as composers and lyricist, and Dunford debuted with acoustic guitar contributions. Andy Powell, of the group Wishbone Ash, was brought in for a blistering electric guitar solo on the final track "Ashes are Burning," which became the band's anthem piece. (John Tout returned the favour by playing organ on Wishbone's classic album "Argus"). The album became the band's first to chart in the US where it reached #171 on the Billboard 200.
The band left major label EMI, and was recruited by Miles Copeland's new prog rock boutique label BTM Records (British Talent Management). The label's first release was Turn of the Cards in 1974. With a larger budget, the album went from folk-flavoured to a more dark, lush, orchestral rock sound. One of the album's songs, "Things I Don't Understand" which clocked in at 9:30, was Jim McCarty's last co-writing credit with the group. A lengthy tribute to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, called "Mother Russia", closed out the album, with lyrics inspired by his autobiographical novel, "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich". The LP was first issued in the United States on Sire Records in August 1974, where it reached #94, some months before an official UK release. Although the band's fan base was relatively small, its following was heavily concentrated in the large cities of the northeast US. The album was eventually released in the UK in March 1975.
It was soon followed by their Scheherezade and Other Stories album, released on both sides of the Atlantic in September 1975. The album, whose second side was taken up with the epic tone-poem "Song of Scheherazade" based on stories from "One Thousand and One Nights", peaked at #48 in the United States.
A double live album, Live at Carnegie Hall, followed in 1976. Despite criticisms that much of the album was little more than a note for note reproduction of highlights from their previous four studio albums [2] the album reached #55 in the US.
Its follow-up, Novella, also saw a modest chart success in the US, peaking at #46 in 1977, although its UK release was delayed by yet another label change.
In the 1970s, Renaissance defined their work with folk rock and classical fusions. Their songs include quotations from and allusions to such composers as Alain, Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Giazotto, Jarre, Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev. Renaissance records, especially Ashes Are Burning, were frequently played on American progressive rock radio stations such as WNEW-FM, WHFS-FM, WMMR-FM, KSHE 95 and WVBR.
Although commercial success was limited during this period, Renaissance scored a hit single in Britain with Northern Lights, which reached #10 there during the summer of 1978. The single was taken from the album A Song for All Seasons (a #58 album in the US).
With the unionization of professional orchestral musicians that followed, it was no longer financially feasible for the band to continue with its traditional orchestral sound. Renaissance floundered following 1979's Azure d'Or, as many fans couldn't relate to a largely synthesizer-oriented sound. As a result the band's fan base began to lose interest and the album only reached #125. Michael Dunford and Jon Camp assumed most of the band's songwriting, and after Azure d'Or, John Tout and Terry Sullivan left the group. Subsequent albums Camera Camera (1981) and Time Line (1983) brought Renaissance more into the contemporary synth pop genre, but neither garnered enough commercial interest to make a viable future for the band, which then ended its second incarnation. Camera Camera was the band's final album to chart in the US where it reached #196 in late 1981.
Renaissance albums were not available individually on CD for some time. A pair of compilations were issued in 1988. In the 1990s most of their catalog appeared on CD from reissue record labels such as Repertoire Records (Germany). In 2006 Repertoire did much higher quality remasters of Ashes are Burning, Turn of the Cards and Scheherezade with markedly improved sound.
In the mid 1990s both Haslam and Dunford formed their own bands using the name Renaissance and released albums with different line-ups.
Renaissance partially reformed in 1998, with Haslam, Dunford, Sullivan, Tout and several new musicians, most notably Mickey Simmonds, to record the CD Tuscany. They played one concert at the Astoria in London before embarking on a short Japanese tour in 2001 which resulted in the CD, In the Land of the Rising Sun: Live in Concert. (Tout, although in the audience at the Astoria, did not perform on this tour). Annie Haslam, who had become the band's spokesperson, said that several factors made further touring and recording impractical. The band's short third incarnation was soon over.[3]
Terry Sullivan has since recorded an album called South of Winter with a studio group he named Renaissant. It is evocative of Renaissance's music, with lyrics by Betty Thatcher-Newsinger and keyboard contributions by John Tout.
On 20 September 2008, John Tout made his first public appearance in the US in over 25 years, with Annie Haslam and the Jann Klose band, at the Sellersville Theatre 1984 in Sellersville, Pennsylvania.
Personnel
The original 1969 line-up comprised Keith Relf (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Jim McCarty (drums, vocals), John Hawken (keyboards), Louis Cennamo (bass) and Jane Relf (vocals). This lineup released Renaissance (1969) and appeared on most of Illusion (1971). (Note: The following list includes temporary replacements & sidemen.)
Year Female Lead vocals Male Lead vocals Guitar Keyboards Bass Drums
Percussion
1969–1970 Jane Relf Keith Relf Keith Relf John Hawken Louis Cennamo Jim McCarty
Summer 1970 Terry Crowe Michael Dunford Neil Korner Terry Slade
Autumn 1970 Binky Cullom John Tout
January 1971 Annie Haslam
1971 Danny McCullough
1971 Frank Farrell
June 1971 John Wetton
1972 Jon Camp Mick Parsons Jon Camp Terence Sullivan
1972 Rob Hendry
1973 Peter Finer
1973 Michael Dunford
1981 Peter Gosling Peter Baron
1983 Mick Taylor Gavin Harrison
1984 Raphael Rudd Greg Carter
1985 — Mark Lampariello Charles Descarfino
1998 John Tout Roy Wood Terence Sullivan
1998 Mickey Simmonds Alex Caird
2001 Rave Tesar David Keyes
