Experimental re-mixes from 1970s Hawkwind (and covers)

I've been experimenting with improving (AI-splitting and re-mixing) some sound-board and assorted demo-level concert and other rare, non-album, non-commercial tracks, and present them here for fan interest only. I've written up my workflow, in case others want to have a go!

1973, Doremi Faso Latido singles

I wouldn't dream to try and remix the official album (widely criticised for having badly recorded bass and for being generally 'muddy') - that's for Steven Wilson or Steven W Taylor if they can ever unearth the original UA master tapes. But I thought I'd have a go at one of the singles - yes, there was (at least) one. It's a cut down Lord of Light, here remixed as best I can, given that I could do nothing about all the flanging on the drums. I had fun doing it though - see what you think!

• Lord of Light (single)
  

1974, Chicago

• D-Rider
  
• You Know You're Only Dreaming
• The Watcher
• Psychedelic Warlords
• Paradox
  

1974, Hall of the Mountain Grill

Lemmy was mainly responsible for Lost Johnny, a demo-ish track on which Simon King, as far as I can tell, was drafted in to add drums after the fact. So I couldn't resist remixing this to address the very murky balance to this track.

• Lost Johnny
  

1975, Farmhouse Sessions

The raw jam track 'Dawn' is on the extended Warrior releases, so it's from that era, recorded in mid/late 1975 with Paul Rudolph on bass and guitar and swapping the same with Dave Brock in each 'half'.
The original mix (if you can call it that) is terribly muddled and unbalanced, so I worked my magic and... well, see what you think. Very trippy! (It's also the only item on this page with two drummers, as Simon had Alan Powell with him. Simon House and Nik Turner complete the line-up.)

I suspect the track name came from the building feel... it certainly sounds like it should have come from Hawkwind playing as the sun rose at a festival...!

• Dawn
  

1977 Rockfield

The Quark, Strangeness and Charm line-up (Calvert, Brock, Shaw, House, King) demoing Fahrenheit 451, which exists only as a poor quality demo, but here with general noise removed, boosted bass guitar, bass drum, widened stereo, and far-panned de-emphasis of the vocal from Bob (which was good but horribly distorted). Well, I think I've made it work better anyway!

Also here is what I think should have been added to close/bookend the album - a remaster of a long-unreleased take on part of Spirit of the Age with a fabulous feel.

• Fahrenheit 451
• Fahrenheit 451 (instrumental!)
  
• Spirit of the Age (Reprise)
  

1977, Leicester

Hawkwind's 'The Iron Dream' (the only track of theirs wholly credited to Simon) was a tacked on track on Quark, Strangeness and Charm and, live, tacked onto Uncle Sam's on Mars. And rarely that memorable. But they nailed it in Leicester, 1977, here it's remixed slightly:

• The Iron Dream

Summer 1979, Rockfield

Dave Brock, Harvey Bainbridge, Steve Swindells, and Simon King in rehearsal to try out some of Steve's material (Dave wanted Swindells to be the new front-man, post-Calvert). Demo quality, but I've again remixed as best I can to bring out the elements:

• Shot Down in the Night
• Turn it on, turn it off
  

1979, Huw Lloyd Langton, Simon King, and Nic Potter (Jawa)

See my Jawa page for downloads of remixes of the Jawa demos, originally digitised by me on behalf of Huw (RIP) and Marion.

1979, Hawkwind live

The Live 79 tour, the official album cuts off Silver Machine after a minute with a big explosion. The reason for this is that on the tour, they medley this with an as-yet-unreleased 'hero' track, Levitation, and they didn't want to spoil that for the upcoming titular album. So the live Silver Machine would have to be faded out or, as happened, blown up! Here I'm using the Complete 79 full recording, remixed as best I can for clearer vocals, drums, and guitar. It rocks along very nicely! (Note that there's not much Tim Blake on the audio during these concerts - Harvey did comment at the time when they remixed for Live Seventy Nine that all they found on his channel was some bleeps and whooshes and effects, rather than actual keyboards!)
Also, I've had a stab at PXR5, very rare on Hawkwind bootlegs, and spoilt by massive EQ changes on Complete 79.

• PXR5
  
• Silver Machine / Levitation
  

1980, Hawkwind live

I've no idea where I got the source audio fragment from, but this is Brock, Bainbridge, Blake (I think, or Keith Hale?), Lloyd-Langton, and King, in one of the first outings of the Levitation track 'Dust of time'. The quality wasn't great to start with, but I managed to boost the guitar a bit, add some clarity, and also reduce the over-mixed vocal 'ahs'(!)

• Dust of time (extract)
  

1980, Steve Swindells (plus Huw Lloyd Langton, Simon King, and Nic Potter)

Steve's album Fresh Blood (long since deleted (but remastered and released on CD in limited numbers, plus digital versions, see also my full review) was missing the full version of 'Shot Down in the Night', so here it is, freshened up a bit from the vinyl from 34 years ago. Also, a B-side to the single edit of 'Shot down' that I'd never heard before and is very rare. Also remixed and freshened up.

• Shot Down in the Night (original, full)
  
• It's Only One Night of your Life
• Shot Down in the Night (Single edit, instrumental version)

2020, EBB

The Erin Bennett Band covering 1975 Hawkwind in style, filmed in rehearsal with a single camera. The sound is already very good, but I wanted to give it the full stereo treatment, including hearing what the drummer, Anna Fraser, was doing, so here goes. Do check EBB out, they're fantastic, by the way:

• The Demented Man