John Sangster Vinyl Records
6 Nov, 2022
2022-11-6 12:12:08 PM UTC
2022-11-6 12:12:08 PM UTC
I recently added another Vinyl LP to my collection. It was by John Sangster and I thought I would do an article on collecting Tolkien items relating to him, mainly Vinyl records.
John Sangster was an Australian Jazz composer and performer. He released various Vinyl LP records which were inspired and based on Tolkiens works. These were all released in the 1970s.
He put together various groups of Jazz musicians, mainly Australians, to perform the music. Unlike some Tolkien related records and songs, these are albums are entirely Tolkien based i.e the whole of the albums, not just some songs, and the songs are totally Tolkien based, not just names, titles or references. The records are all pure music based, there are no lyrics, which means that the Tolkien interpretation is very ‘vibe’ orientated. They are also hard core Jazz, so you probably need to be a real Jazz fan to appreciate them.
All the records were only released in Australia and therefore there are only Australian versions available.
Please note that the track examples listed against the records below are the tracks with more interesting titles, a lot of the tracks have more mainstream Tolkien titles.
The first Vinyl LP he released was The Hobbit Suite, released in 1973 on Swaggie records. This included tracks such as “Stompin' Under The Hill”, “Gandalf The Whiz” and “The Knockabout Trolls”.
The Hobbit Suite was re-released as part of the Jazz Makers series on Swaggie records also in 1973.
Next, over a 3 year period, Sangster released three Lord of the Rings LPs, each of which was a double LP. Although there were 3 records, the records were not based on each different Lord of the Rings book, each record had tracks based of aspects of all of the books. The covers of these records were generic woodland scenes and not very Lord of the Rings specific.
Lord of the Rings (Volume 1), double LP released 1975 on EMI records. Including tracks such as “Sam The Man”, “Elvish Tea-Party With Dance”, “Blues For Boromir”, “Uncle Gandalf Needs You!“ and “Three Cheers For Smeagol”.
Lord of the Rings Volume 2, double LP released 1976 on EMI records. Including tracks such as “The O'Goblin Tattoo”, “Blues For Denethor”, “Encore Gandalf!” and “Phantasmagoria For Moria”.
Lord of the Rings Volume 3, double LP released 1977 on EMI records. Including tracks such as “Lullaby In Lorien”, “Proper Fourteen-Twenty”, “Hairy Foolish Soft-Shoeless Feet” and “Hoblyti-Hoblyta”.
Sangster then released another Hobbit themed LP, Double Vibes: Hobbit, in partnership with Alan Lee, a single LP also released in 1977 but returning to Swaggie records. Note that this is not the famous Tolkien artist Alan Lee. This LP included tracks such as “Upstairs Downstairs Hobbit”, “Hobbits Happy Holiday Habits”, “A Sarabande For Smaug” and “Hippity Hoppity Hobbit”.
He then released another Tolkien LP, Landscapes of Middle-Earth, released in 1978 on EMI records. This was a double LP and was indeed more ‘Landscape’ based, including tracks such as “Green Hill Country”, “Laurelindorenan” and “Panorama From Tower Hills”.
There was then a Compilation LP Lord of the Rings (Musical Interpretations), it was released on EMI records although I am unsure of the year. This album features 8 selected tracks from the previous albums.
Cassettes and CDs
As an additional, the following were released on cassette and CD.
Lord of the Rings (Musical Interpretations) cassette, released on EMI records.
Lord of the Rings volume 1, 2 and 3 cassettes on EMI records - no pictures (they were advertised on the back cover of the Musical Interpretations LP).
Landscapes of Middle Earth cassette on EMI records - no picture (it was advertised on the back cover of the Musical Interpretations LP).
Hobbit Suite CD, which also includes a selection of tracks from the Double Vibes album. This was released as part of the Jazz Makers series, on Swaggie records.
Lord of the Rings (Volume 1) CD, was released in 2 versions (1st date unknown on EMI records, 2nd 2002 on Move records). Interestingly the 2nd version was actually given the “Volume 1” title extension.
Lord of the Rings Volume 2 CD, released 2004 on Move records.
Lord of the Rings Volume 3 CD, released 2005 on Move records.
Landscapes of Middle-Earth CD, released 2006 on Move records.
John Sangster was an Australian Jazz composer and performer. He released various Vinyl LP records which were inspired and based on Tolkiens works. These were all released in the 1970s.
He put together various groups of Jazz musicians, mainly Australians, to perform the music. Unlike some Tolkien related records and songs, these are albums are entirely Tolkien based i.e the whole of the albums, not just some songs, and the songs are totally Tolkien based, not just names, titles or references. The records are all pure music based, there are no lyrics, which means that the Tolkien interpretation is very ‘vibe’ orientated. They are also hard core Jazz, so you probably need to be a real Jazz fan to appreciate them.
All the records were only released in Australia and therefore there are only Australian versions available.
Please note that the track examples listed against the records below are the tracks with more interesting titles, a lot of the tracks have more mainstream Tolkien titles.
The first Vinyl LP he released was The Hobbit Suite, released in 1973 on Swaggie records. This included tracks such as “Stompin' Under The Hill”, “Gandalf The Whiz” and “The Knockabout Trolls”.
The Hobbit Suite was re-released as part of the Jazz Makers series on Swaggie records also in 1973.
Next, over a 3 year period, Sangster released three Lord of the Rings LPs, each of which was a double LP. Although there were 3 records, the records were not based on each different Lord of the Rings book, each record had tracks based of aspects of all of the books. The covers of these records were generic woodland scenes and not very Lord of the Rings specific.
Lord of the Rings (Volume 1), double LP released 1975 on EMI records. Including tracks such as “Sam The Man”, “Elvish Tea-Party With Dance”, “Blues For Boromir”, “Uncle Gandalf Needs You!“ and “Three Cheers For Smeagol”.
Lord of the Rings Volume 2, double LP released 1976 on EMI records. Including tracks such as “The O'Goblin Tattoo”, “Blues For Denethor”, “Encore Gandalf!” and “Phantasmagoria For Moria”.
Lord of the Rings Volume 3, double LP released 1977 on EMI records. Including tracks such as “Lullaby In Lorien”, “Proper Fourteen-Twenty”, “Hairy Foolish Soft-Shoeless Feet” and “Hoblyti-Hoblyta”.
Sangster then released another Hobbit themed LP, Double Vibes: Hobbit, in partnership with Alan Lee, a single LP also released in 1977 but returning to Swaggie records. Note that this is not the famous Tolkien artist Alan Lee. This LP included tracks such as “Upstairs Downstairs Hobbit”, “Hobbits Happy Holiday Habits”, “A Sarabande For Smaug” and “Hippity Hoppity Hobbit”.
He then released another Tolkien LP, Landscapes of Middle-Earth, released in 1978 on EMI records. This was a double LP and was indeed more ‘Landscape’ based, including tracks such as “Green Hill Country”, “Laurelindorenan” and “Panorama From Tower Hills”.
There was then a Compilation LP Lord of the Rings (Musical Interpretations), it was released on EMI records although I am unsure of the year. This album features 8 selected tracks from the previous albums.
Cassettes and CDs
As an additional, the following were released on cassette and CD.
Lord of the Rings (Musical Interpretations) cassette, released on EMI records.
Lord of the Rings volume 1, 2 and 3 cassettes on EMI records - no pictures (they were advertised on the back cover of the Musical Interpretations LP).
Landscapes of Middle Earth cassette on EMI records - no picture (it was advertised on the back cover of the Musical Interpretations LP).
Hobbit Suite CD, which also includes a selection of tracks from the Double Vibes album. This was released as part of the Jazz Makers series, on Swaggie records.
Lord of the Rings (Volume 1) CD, was released in 2 versions (1st date unknown on EMI records, 2nd 2002 on Move records). Interestingly the 2nd version was actually given the “Volume 1” title extension.
Lord of the Rings Volume 2 CD, released 2004 on Move records.
Lord of the Rings Volume 3 CD, released 2005 on Move records.
Landscapes of Middle-Earth CD, released 2006 on Move records.
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