D I S C O G R A P H Y
'The Collection II' cover'
CD - Curio Records, ITEM CD3 (1995)
CD - Communique, 14153-2 (1996)


























* Previously unreleased tracks

Gryphon:
The Collection II

  1. Tea Wrecks [1:03]
    (Anon. arr. Gryphon)
  2. Sir Gavin Grimbold [2:47]
    (Anonymous, arr. Gryphon)
  3. Crossing the Stiles [2:22]
    (trad arr. Taylor)
  4. Three Jolly Butchers [3:54]
    (Taylor)
  5. The Devil and the Farmer's Wife [1:55]
    (trad. arr. Gulland)
  6. The Last Flash of Gaberdine Tailor [3:53]
    (Taylor)
  7. Gulland Rock [5:14]
    (Gulland)
  8. Double Dutch [5:30]
    (Taylor)
  9. Opening Move [6:22]
    (excerpt - Harvey / Taylor / Gulland / Oberlé)
  10. Second Spasm [5:16]
    (excerpt - Taylor / Gulland)
  11. Checkmate [3:19]
    (excerpt - Harvey / Taylor / Gulland / Oberlé)
  12. Down the Dog [2:47]
    (Harvey)
  13. Fontinental Version [5:41]
    (Taylor)
  14. Le Cambrioleur est dans le Mouchoir [2:13]
    (Taylor / Bennett)
  15. Wallbanger [3:31]
    (Harvey)
  16. Spies* [2:31]
    (Taylor)
  17. Failing to Demonstrate the Necessarily Incommunicable Nature of a Personal Realisation* [0:27]
    (Bennett)
  18. Something to do with T.A.R.D.I.S.* [4:09]
    (Gulland)
  19. Ashes* [3:12]
    (Gulland)
Musicians: Brian Gulland - bassoon, crumhorns, recorders,
    keyboards, vocals
Richard Harvey - recorders, crumhorns,
    keyboards, mandolin, guitar, vocals
David Oberlé - drums, percussion, vocals
Graeme Taylor - guitars, keyboards, recorder,
    vocals
Philip Nester - bass guitar, vocals
Malcolm Bennett - bass guitar, flute
Other credits: Cover Design by Tommy D.
© 1995 Curio Records

Booklet Notes

W HEN the idea of a Gryphon compilation was suggested to me, my immediate reaction was one of doubt. Would the original fans who had followed the band be interested, would anyone really remember us and would there be a new yourger fan base to appreciate our music? The answer to all three of these questions was a resounding YES! after the release of 'Gryphon - The Collection' I was stunned by the press and radio coverage as well literally hundreds of letters of encouragement from fans all over the world.
            When we recorded the Gryphon albums the CD format didn't exist and we, like everyone else, had to listen to our music on vinyl. I remember getting a pre-release copy of 'Midnight Mushrumps' home, putting on the turntable and being totally horrified at the sound which came popping and scratching out of the speakers. We never really felt that the vinyl versions of any of our albums sounded as we wanted them to. With the advent of CD finally came the technology to reproduce the sound exactly.l So ... you can now hear Gryphon's music as we first heard it when mixing the albums in the studio.
            Whilst searching through some boxes of tapes recently, Brian Gulland found four Gryphon tracks which had never seen the light of day. They have been included on this compilation as they represent part of Gryphon history and as such at least deserve an airing! I hope you enjoy listening to this CD and that it will take you back to a gender time when the sound of the krumhorn was not blasted out of existence by electronc gadgetry (except by us that is!).

David Oberlé


I saw Gryphon play live only once, in 1973, but the memory still lingers. They were third on a bill headlined by 'Refugee'('The Nice' without Keith Emerson) and 'Jack the Lad'('Lindisfarne' without Alan Hull). Gryphon hadn't always been careless enough to lose anyone well known (always a disadvantage in those days) but during an hour's set proceeded to blow away both the audience and the succeeding bands with their pathfinding blend of what is now called 'World Music'. I dashed out and bought 'Midnight Mushrumps', the band's second album, and was hooked.
            Of course in those days we didn't know what 'World Music' was, so they were dubbed the 'Medieval Slade' - about as accurate an epithet as the formative folk/rock scene could warrant. It is a mark of their innovation and ability that Gryphon's music still sounds fresh and unusual to this day and continues to defy categorisation. This compilation has been produced to meet the demand from today's audiences for a band that ceased to exist in 1976 after five successful albums and many exciting performances - a demand that was rediscovered following the release of 'The Collection' in 1991 to much interest and acclaim.
            It consists of more material from their first four albums with the addition of four previosly unreleased tracks. I hope that you get the kind of buzz from this music as I got when I first heard it almost twenty years ago. I am sure that in another twenty years it will still be exciting new audiences as much as it still excites me today.

Martin Fielding


'Collection' CD     'About as Curious as It Can Be' CD