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Renaissance were an English progressive rock band popular in the 1970s.

History

Former Yardbirds members Paul Samwell-Smith, Keith Relf, and Jim McCarty organised a new group devoted to experimentation between rock, folk, and classical forms. This quintet (bassist Louis Cennamo, pianist John Hawken, and Relf's sister Jane Relf as an additional vocalist) released a pair of albums on Elektra (US) and Island (UK), but dissolved quickly, leaving McCarty to reform the band into a very different lineup, though McCarty also soon departed.

The lineup that was eventually settled on was the best-known of the band's history, and consisted of Annie Haslam (vocals), Michael Dunford (acoustic guitar), John Tout (piano), Jon Camp (bass/vocals) and Terry Sullivan (drums). This new Renaissance -- with Dunford in a composer-only role for the time being, and Rob Hendry (electric guitar) filling the guitarist's chair -- released Prologue in 1972. The music was written by Dunford and McCarty with lyrics by poet Betty Thatcher. Hendry departed (to be ultimately replaced by Dunford) as the group turned away from the electric guitar in their music.

In the 1970s, Renaissance had a commercially successful career, their sound similar in many ways to folk rock with classical overtones. Renaissance included in their songs quotations and allusions from such composers as Bach, Chopin, Albinoni, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev and others. Renaissance's records, especially Ashes Are Burning, were frequently played on American progressive rock radio stations, such as WNEW-FM and WVBR. However, Renaissance's performances were normally faithful reproductions of the studio recordings, and this was not taken well by fans.

Renaissance scored a hit single in 1978 with Northern Lights, taken from the album A Song for All Seasons, but the band floundered following 1979's Azure D'or, as fans were unhappy with the band's turn towards synthesizers, a path followed by most progressive rock bands at one time or another. Camp had assumed more of the band's songwriting, and Tout and Sullivan left. Haslam, Dunford and Camp released a pair of albums in the 1980s and then broke up. Their albums were not available on CD for some time, though a pair of compilations were issued in 1990. During the 1990s, though, much of their catalog was reissued.

In the late 1990s, both Haslam and Dunford formed their own bands using the name Renaissance, and have released albums with different line-ups.

The band reformed in 2002 to record the "Tuscany" album and played one concert at the Astoria in London before embarking on a short Japanese tour. Annie Haslam subsequently announced that the reunion would not be continuing, and Terry Sullivan later recorded an album in the Renaissance style with lyrics by Betty Thatcher Newsinger and keyboard contributions by John Tout.

Personnel

The original 1969 line-up comprised Keith Relf (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Jim McCarty (drums, vocals), John Hawken (keyboards), Louis Cennamo (bass) and Jane Relf (vocals). This lineup released Renaissance (1969) and appeared on most of Illusion (1971).

*1970 - Added Terry Crowe (vocals), Terry Slade (drums) replaced McCarty, Neil Korner (bass) replaced Cennamo, Mick Dunford (guitar) replaced Keith Relf. This lineup recorded one track for Illusion (1971).
*1970 - Binky Cullom (vocals) replaced Jane Relf
*1970 - John Tout (keyboards) replaced Hawken
*1971 - Annie Haslam (vocals) replaced Cullom
*1971 - Danny McCullough (bass) replaced Korner
*1971 - Frank Farrell (bass) replaced McCullough
*1971 - John Wetton (bass) replaced Farrell
*1972 - Crowe left, Terence Sullivan (drums) replaced Slade, Jon Camp (bass, guitar, vocals) replaced Wetton, Mick Parsons (guitar) replaced Dunford
*1972 - Rob Hendry (guitar) replaced Parsons (who had died in a car accident). This lineup released Prologue (1972).
*1973 - Peter Finer (guitar) replaced Hendry
*1973 - Mick Dunford (guitar) replaced Finer. This lineup released Ashes are Burning (1973) through Azure D'or (1979).
*1981 - Peter Barron (drums) replaced Sullivan, Peter Gosling (keyboards) replaced Tout. This lineup released Camera Camera (1981).
*1983 - Added Ian Mosley (drums), added Eddie Hardin and Nick Magnus (keyboards)
*1983 - Gavin Harrison (drums) replaced Barron and Mosley, Mike Taylor (keyboards) replaced Gosling, Hardin and Magnus
*1984 - Greg Carter (drums) replaced Harrison, Raphael Rudd (keyboards, harp) replaced Taylor
*1985 - Charles Descarfino (drums) replaced Harrison, Mark Lampariello (aka Mark Lambert) (bass, guitar) replaced Camp
*1998 - Terence Sullivan (drums) replaced Descarfino, Roy Wood (bass, keyboards, percussion) replaced Lampariello, John Tout (keyboards) replaced Rudd
*1998 - Alex Caird (bass) replaced Wood, Mickey Simmonds (keyboards) replaced Tout
*2001 - David Keyes (bass) replaced Caird, added Rave Tesar (keyboards)

Discography

Chronological releases

* Renaissance (1969)
* Illusion (1971)
* Prologue (1972)
* Ashes are Burning (1973)
* Turn of the Cards (1974)
* Scheherazade and Other Stories (1975)
* Live at Carnegie Hall (1976 live)
* Novella (1977)
* A Song For All Seasons (1978)
* Azure D'or (1979)
* Camera Camera (1981)
* Time-Line (1983)
* Tales of 1001 Nights Volume I (1990 compilation)
* Tales of 1001 Nights Volume II (1990 compilation)
* The Other Woman (1994) (Michael Dunford's group)
* Blessing in Disguise (1994) (Annie Haslam's group)
* Da Capo (1995 collection box set)
* Live at the Royal Albert Hall : King Biscuit Flower Hour Vol. 1 (1997 Live)
* Live at the Royal Albert Hall :King Biscuit Flower Hour Vol. 2 (1997 Live)
* Songs from Renaissance Days (1997) (compilation of B-sides, outtakes and demos)
* Ocean Gypsy ((1997) (Michael Dunford's group)
*The BBC Sessions 1975-1978 (1999 Live) set
* Day Of The Dreamer (2000) (Compilation of live performances circa 1977)
* Unplugged Live at the Academy of Music (2000)
* Tuscany (2000) (Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford & Terry Sullivan, with contributions by John Tout, Roy Wood and Mickey Simmonds)
* In the Land of the Rising Sun : Live in Japan 2002 (2002 live)

Illusion & Renaissance Illusion

Illusion was the name of a band formed by the four surviving members of the original Renaissance after the death of Keith Relf. They released two albums before splitting again, while a third made up of unreleased material appeared years later. They reformed again for the production of Through the Fire which was released under the name of "Renaissance Illusion".

Renaissant

Terry Sullivan's Renaissance-style band, with lyrics by Betty Thatcher Newsinger and keyboards by John Tout.
*South of Winter (2005)

External links

* Northern Lights, a fan site
* Annie Haslam's official site
* Terry Sullivan's official site
* www.progarchives.com (Mp3)

Category:English musical groups
Category:Progressive rock groups