ROBYN HITCHCOCK AND THE EGYPTIANS GOTTA LET THIS HEN OUT! "I've always been a pretty timid person physically, and my big fear on stage, apart from that some goon in the audience will start lobbing flaming ingots of iron at us, is that I'll get the microphone smashing into my teeth, because stages are always unstable. I just would not give my teeth for rock'n'roll." - Robyn Hitchcock Suddenly, and rather unexpectedly, Robyn Hitchcock round himself with an audience. In fairly short order (and after all but disappearing for two years) he'd released the brilliant _I Often Dream Of Trains_ and, reunited with the original rhythm section from the Soft Boys, _Fegmania!_ Meanwhile, the Soft Boys, who had barely dented the English music scene when they trod the boards, had so gestated in memory as to become modest legends. And so were born The Egyptians: Robyn Hitchcock (vocals/guitar), Roger Jackson (keyboards), Andy Metcalfe (bass), and Morris Windsor (drums). Robyn's longtime friend James Fletcher, who had played sax on _Fegmania!_ (partly a matter of friendship, partly the final hangover from Robyn's second solo effort, _Groovy Decay_), had left before it came time to record _Gotta Let This Hen Out!_ "_Hen Out!_ was probably the most painless record to make of all," Robyn remembers. "Our manager at the time suggested that we record at a gig, and he was pals with whoever ran the Marquee [in London], so they suggested that we do a gig there, and we could record it fairly cheaply. We also filmed it. I never liked the film very much. I had a peculiarly _naff_ hairstyle, even by my standards, and I'd just shaved, so I had this sort of sweaty dead varnished chicken look. It was terribly hot, they had all these lights on us, and I wore my suit and shirt, so I was really uncomfortable for the whole gig. "And also, the Marquee was really full. I think we'd just been on television in Britain, and we were getting vaguely popular. We certainly sold out the Marquee, which I suppose was about 600 people, and they were all going wild. Especially these German kids up front. In fact our crowd generally is quite passive; they're a thinking crowd, rather than an acting crowd. They tend to take things in, rather than throw things out. Our crowd going wild usually is just like the gentle rustling of plants in the breeze. But we had a couple of German guys up front who were just spinning around like air conditioners. And I thought they were going to slice up our nice, well-meaning British fans. Not deliberately, but just by spinning around they'd lacerate them in some way." Accustomed to more intimate settings for his music, Robyn is still uncomfortable today with large audiences. "I still feel sick when I'm standing around the outside of a club and I see all these people going in, and I think, 'Jesus, I am what they're there for. I'm entertaining them.' It's just a frightening thought. You at least caused them to be there, and you've got to do what you can to them." That night at the Marquee, Robyn says, "I didn't even think once that we were recording. I was fizzing enough because there was a whole crowd of people in the room; it was unnerving. I don't know what part this has played in my career, but I've never liked really big audiences." Still, _Gotta Let This Hen Out!_ proved a simple, joyous release. "It was just a typical set," Robyn says. "The Egyptians had been going for not more than six months at that stage. We'd shed Fletcher, because the sax didn't really fit in, and Roger was solid enough that I could take my hands off the guitar and gesticulate a lot. We had a lot of the best of the Soft Boys-era songs, and the most action-friendly of the post-Soft Boys songs. So we were doing two songs from each album or something." It was the same set list Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians would bring to America later that year. Quite predictably, Robyn dug out a song or two that hadn't quite found an audience the first time around - notably, "Listening To The Higsons," which had been a particularly well-hidden B-side. "The Higsons were long gone by then," he adds laconically, and then explains: "The Higsons came from Norwich. They were a white-boy jazz-funk group in 1981-2 who were very popular on the indie circuit, and they were much beloved by John Peel and people like that. I heard them playing this song one night, and I thought it was 'Gotta Let This Hen Out,' when in fact it was 'Gotta Let This Heat Out.' It was like Spandau Ballet with a sense of humor played by students, rather than meatheads. In fact, one of the Higsons, Terry, is now a friend of ours, and he's even played with us live a few times. I was in a flat in Norway when I realized what the correct title had been." For the rest, well, let's just spell it out. "Sometimes I Wish I Was A Pretty Girl" comes from _I Often Dream Of Trains_. "Acid Bird" and "Brenda's Iron Sledge" come from _Black Snake Diamond Role_. Despite his antipathy toward the record, both "The Cars She Used To Drive" and "America" originated on _Groovy Decay_. "My Wife And My Dead Wife," "The Fly," "Egyptian Cream" and "Heaven" had just been released on _Fegmania!_ "Kingdom of Love" was a track from the Soft Boys' last masterpiece, _Underwater Moonlight_, while "Only The Stones Remain" was one of the final recordings from those sessions. "Leppo & The Jooves" originated on the Soft Boys' _Can Of Bees_ ("It's a trimmed-down version; I think we lost a verse.") The final track, "The Face Of Death," was first recorded during sessions for the debut Soft Boys album, _Give It To The Soft Boys_. In fairness, _Hen Out!_ isn't strictly a live recording. "The drums and the guitar and nearly all the vocals are live," Robyn says. "Andy repaired a bit of bass, and Roger repaired bits of keyboard. I didn't repair any of the guitar solos or any of the rhythm guitar. Andy and Roger didn't really make any mistakes, to speak of, I think they were just a bit more particular about their parts than I was. And Morris couldn't change anything because drums get all over the place. "We were firing on eight cylinders out of six. We had to dry-clean our shoes afterward - the closest I ever got to rock'n'roll." - Grant Alden 1. SOMETIMES I WISH I WAS A PRETTY GIRL (2:08) 2. KINGDOM OF LOVE (4:16) 3. ACID BIRD (3:39) 4. THE CARS SHE USED TO DRIVE (3:01) 5. MY WIFE AND MY DEAD WIFE (3:56) 6. BRENDA'S IRON SLEDGE (3:08) 7. THE FLY (3:49) 8. ONLY THE STONES REMAIN (2:39) 9. EGYPTIAN CREAM (3:32) 10. LEPPO AND THE JOOVES (4:55) 11. AMERICA (4:18) 12. HEAVEN (3:52) 13. LISTENING TO THE HIGSONS (2:58) 14. THE FACE OF DEATH (3:35) (_Gotta Let This Hen Out!_ was originally comprised of tks 1-6, 10-14, and issued as Midnight Music [UK] #CHIME 00.15, 1985; Tk 8 was originally issued on the 12" EP _Brenda's Iron Sledge_, Midnight Music [UK] #DONG 17, 2/86; Tks 7-9 were later included as bonus tracks on the CD release of _Gotta Let This Hen Out!_ [same #], 10/86) All Songs Written By Robyn Hitchcock. All Songs Published by EMI Virgin Songs, Inc. (BMI)/Two Crabs Music (PRS), except "Only the Stones Remain" Published by Watteau Music (PRS). Personnel: ROBYN HITCHCOCK: vocals, guitar; bass (tk 13) ANDY METCALFE: bass, backing vocals; drums (tk 13) MORRIS WINDSOR: drums, ice cream; guitar (tk 13) ROGER JACKSON: keyboards Recorded Live at the Marquee, April 27, 1985 Mixed by PAT COLLIER, ROGER JACKSON & ANDY METCALFE Repaired at ALASKA Thank You: FRANK RILEY/RANDI BLATTBERG - U. S.; PAUL BOLTON/JOHN GAMMON - U.K.; ANDY GRIGGS; DAVE ROS; THE GREAT ONE & RICHARD BISHOP Special Thanks to CHRIS COX Cover Painting by ROBYN HITCHCOCK Reissue Produced for Release by JIM NEILL A & R Assistance: RICK GERSHON Research: PATRICK MILLIGAN & GARY PETERSON Legal Assistance: JONATHAN EARP Remastering: BILL INGLOT & KEN PERRY Reissue Art Direction: COCO SHINOMIYA Design: ART SLAVE Special Thanks: PAUL BRADSHAW/MOD LANG Original Artwork c 1985 Robyn Hitchcock. Egyptians' Top Ten Albums: ROBYN ANDY MORRIS HITCHCOCK: METCALFE: WINDSOR: REVOLVER REVOLVER SURF'S UP The Beatles The Beatles The Beach Boys HIGHWAY 61 PARKER JAM DECOY REVISITED SESSIONS Miles Davis Bob Dylan Charlie Parker EAST SIDE STORY MR. TAMBOURINE STRIKING IT RICH Squeeze MAN Dan Hicks The Byrds I JUST CAN'T SAILING SHOES STOP IT CLEAR SPOT Little Feat Captain Beefheart The (English) Beat SERGEANT PEPPER PLEASE TO SEE The Beatles PRETZEL LOGIC THE KING Steely Dan Steeleye Span SURF'S UP The Beach Boys STRANDED BARRETT Roxy Music Syd Barrett PRETZEL LOGIC Steely Dan THERE'S A RIOT HEROES GOIN' ON David Bowie HEJIRA Sly and the Joni Mitchell Family Stone AVALON Roxy Music STEVE MCQUEEN FUTURE DAYS Prefab Sprout Can THE VELVET UNDERGROUND BORDERLINE THE BAND Ry Cooder SHEARWATER GREATEST HITS Martin Carthy Isley Brothers ROBYN HITCHCOCK TITLES AVAILABLE FROM RHINO: Black Snake Diamond Role (R2 71820) - Gravy Deco (The Complete Groovy Decay/Decoy Sessions) (R2 71821) - I Often Dream Of Trains (R2 71822) - Fegmania! (R2 71837) - Gotta Let This Hen Out! (R2 71838) - Element Of Light (R2 71839) SCHEDULED FOR RELEASE SPRING 1995: Invisible Hitchcock (R2 71840) - Eye (R2 71841) - You & Oblivion (Rarities) (R2 71842) ______________________________________________________________________ GET ON THE RHINO MAILING LIST Receive our special MAIL ORDER catalog featuring over a thousand critically acclaimed Rhino compact discs and cassettes. Send one dollar (check or money order, payable to Rhino Records Inc.) along with your name and address to: Rhino Catalog, 10635 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025-4900 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Papa's Got A Brand New (Canvas) Bag Recycling plastic is a great idea. But, did you know that the plastics industry spends millions to perpetuate the myth that its products are recyclable so consumers won't learn the truth? Much of the waste plastic collected for "recycling" is actually shipped abroad for dumping in Third World countries. 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