Thursday, 23 February 2023

Ewell Castle School Music Group (aka The Pilgrim Band) - Omnibus (Rare 1979 privately released UK School project LP)

 

 

UK Private School Project LP by the boys of Ewell Castle School ... usually listed as being by the Pilgrim Band, when it actually has the Pilgrim Band backing three school performances, "Gawain and the Green Knight", "Celestial Omnibus" and "The Gold Road", with "The Gold Road" being an opera bases on the Norfolk legend of the Pedlar of Swaffham ... so the music styling do vary a fair amount ... The Pilgrim Band, consisting of Mike Howarth on rhythm guitar, Peter Irwin on bass guitar, Gregory Wheeler on drums, Reg Beaumont on clarinet, Paul Miles, David Newman and John Trembley on brass and Peter Back on piano do provide a good backing.


Listen to : A.1-3. Gawain's Year + A.2-2. Imagine

or  The whole LP


Located in Epsom, Surrey, Ewell Castle School is a school for boys ages 3-18 and girls ages 3-11.
Founded in 1926, it continues operation today.
In the 1970s, LPs were made of 2 different musical/theatrical presentations, one in 1974 and one in 1979.
These are what are commonly known as School Project LPs.
The first LP Pilgrim was based on John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.
The 2nd LP, called Omnibus, consisted of parts of 3 different presentations: "Gawain and the Green Knight", "Celestial Omnibus", and "The Gold Road".
These performances featured student actors with musical accompaniment.
The first album was recorded at R.G. Jones Studios in Wimbledon and Omnibus was recorded at Pye Recording Studios, London.
On both LPs, the music was written by Peter Back and the lyrics by John Andrews.

 

Record: EXC
Cover : EXC (see pictures)
Price : 60,00 Euros (+ postage costs by registered parcel calculated by the Belgian Post office)
Payment : PAYPAL only
Contact : etienne.reyser@gmail.com 

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