Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night

Occupation

• Peter Hammill - vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, Mellotron, harmonium
• David Jackson - saxophone and flute on German overalls, Rock and Rôle, What's it Worth, Easy to slip away and Black Room
• Hugh Banton - piano, Hammond organ, electric bass on Black Room
• Nic Potter - bass guitar on Rock and Rôle and Easy to slip away
• Guy Evans - drums on Rock and Rôle and Black Room

Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night ( May 1973) is Peter Hammills second solo album. He took it in February and March 1973 largely at home in his newly built studio ( called Sofasound because the mixer was in the living room for lack of space and was operated from the sofa ) on. He played most of the instruments himself ( including for the first time electric guitar ), fetched for some songs but also the ex-colleagues of his former band Van der Graaf Generator, which had disbanded in August of last year, to the studio.

The songs are much more complex than on the previous album Fool's Mate; some of them had Hammill originally written for VdGG, including ( In the) Black Room, which was then also in 1975, when the newly formed band, taken in their live repertoire. Easy to slip away is a kind of sequel to refugees ( from the album The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other ), while German overalls the experiences of the tour of Germany in May 1971 describes - the title is a ( well- intended) mistranslation of " Germany over everything. "

Hammill experimented for the first time even with effects like echo and feedback, which should play a few years later on albums like pH7 and A Black Box a major role.

Title list

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The 2006 released CD remaster also includes three bonus tracks: the 1973 recorded, but not then published Rain ( 3am ) as well as live versions of In the End and Easy to slip away from 1978.