There were two groups under the banner of RENAISSANCE. The first group included Keith and Jane RELF (vocals) and came from the YARDBIRDS ashes.
The second and better known incarnation produced some of the best music that I have ever heard. Annie HASLAM's five octave range fit perfectly with the classical/orchestral rock (lot of piano playing & full symphony orchestra backup) created by the other members.
Renaissance are an English progressive rock band, most notable for their 1978 UK top 10 hit "Northern Lights" and progressive rock classics like "Carpet of the Sun", "Mother Russia" and "Ashes Are Burning".
The history of Renaissance is essentially the history of two separate groups, rather similar to the two phases of the Moody Blues or the Drifters. The original group was founded in 1969 by ex-Yardbirds members Keith Relf and Jim McCarty as a sort of progressive folk-rock band, who recorded two albums (of which only the first, self-titled LP came out in America, on Elektra Records) but never quite made it, despite some success on England's campus circuit.
The group's ambitions, by now, were growing faster than its audience, which was concentrated on America's East Coast, especially in New York and Philadelphia , Scheherazade (1975) was built around a 20-minute extended suite for rock group and orchestra that dazzled the fans but made no new converts.A live album recorded at a New York concert date reprised their earlier material, including the "Scheherazade" suite, but covered little new ground and showed the group in a somewhat lethargic manner.
The band went through several membership changes, with Relf and his sister Jane (who later fronted the very Renaissance-like Illusion) exiting and McCarty all but gone after 1971. The new lineup formed around the core of bassist Jon Camp, keyboard player John Tout, and Terry Sullivan on drums, with Annie Haslam, an aspiring singer with operatic training and a three-octave range.
Released 1976
Recorded June 20-22, 1975
Carnegie Hall, New York
Genre Progressive rock
Label Sire Records (US)
BTM Records - ITALY
Format : Double Vinyl LP
Made in : Italy
Producer Renaissance
Side A1. Prologue (Dunford) - (incorrectly credited to Dunford-Thatcher)
2. Ocean Gypsy
3. Can You Understand?
Side B
1. Carpet of the Sun
2. Running Hard
3. Mother Russia
Side C
1. Song of Scheherazade (Camp-Dunford-Thatcher-Tout)
Side D
1. Ashes Are Burning
Personnel
Annie Haslam - vocals
Jon Camp - bass, backing vocals, lead vocal on "The Sultan" section of Scheherazade
Michael Dunford - acoustic guitars, backing vocals
John Tout - keyboards, backing vocals
Terence Sullivan - drums, percussion, backing vocals
FLAC From The Double CD
CD1 CD2
Renaissance : Novella Link HERE
