In 1967 Vangelis started Aphrodite’s Child, with Demis Roussos. In 1972 the commercial chapter of his life ended along with the band, and Vangelis relocated to London. In a studio session he created material for two albums for a small French free jazz record label called BYG.
These BYG sessions were never published by BYG. The company was sold to Charly records, who saw the early successes of Vangelis (Chariots of fire) and discovered the material in their collection. They published it on two records, one of which is this.
Vangelis did not approved and sued Charly records. It is not clear if he won the case, but the result was that the remaining stock was sold for lower prices and the run was not printed again. I wrote about this earlier, for a reprint on a collector’s label.
When I saw this the first time in the library (when I was still recording LPs from there on tape) the cover image struck me: the big dragon looked totally different from whatever else I’d seen from Vangelis. It depicts horror writer Lovecraft’s Cthulhu rising from the depths.
Because of its unofficial status not many pressings on CD ever made it to market. Only in Hungary a company called West Line managed it, but on streaming this would not be possible at all. Maybe YouTube, but I didn’t check.