Khan: Space Shanty (1972)

Caravan, Soft Machine, Hatfield & the North, National Health, and Matching Mole are a few examples of the Canterbury rock scene. Many of these groups tended to be jazzy with bizarre experimentations thrown in. Another example is Khan, who only released this one and only album, Space Shanty in 1972 on Deram Records (same label that gave us the Moody Blues, Camel, East of Eden, Keef Hartley Band, early Cat Stevens and many more). Well, unlike Soft Machine or Hatfield & the North, Khan’s music tends to sound more like a standard early ’70s prog rock band with heavy organ work and hard rock-influenced vocals. But still, if you like Gong or Hatfield & the North, you still need this album, as the band features Steve Hillage and Dave Stewart (not of the Eurythmics, of course). The band also featured bassist Nick Greenwood and drummer Eric Peachy. Greenwood had played with the Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Both Hillage and Stewart were in a band called Uriel (when both were still teenagers) in which the band quickly became Arzachel, and released a self-entitled album in 1969 (but due to contractual difficulties, all the members were not performing under their real names). The band quickly changed its name to Egg, and Hillage left, and that band released two albums, Egg (1970) and The Polite Force (1971), before breaking up (although Egg did reunite in 1974 and released an album called The Civil Surface). Then came Khan, which was to be circled around Hillage, and in fact the band didn’t initally feature Dave Stewart, but someone by the name of Dick Henningham. But then he left, and Hillage found Dave Stewart, and this was the lineup that recorded Space Shanty. A lot of times this album reminds me a lot if Hatfield & the North was a heavy prog rock band, a lot of Dave Stewart’s trademark fuzz organ can already be found here, although he also uses a more typical Hammond organ sound too. He doesn’t use much electric piano, aside from “Stranded”. Steve Hillage is still in search of his trademark lead guitar style, although you can hear it on parts of the opening cut, “Space Shanty”. More often than not, Hillage’s guitar style is pretty indistiguisible from countless other prog and jazz rock bands of the time (but of course, he’ll be able to perfect his style after joining Gong). Of course the music is hardly bad at all, in fact I think this album is a classic. Often the music doesn’t stick to one thing, as each song goes through several changes, never boring the listener. I really can’t find a high point on this album as it’s all of the same quality. A new version of Khan was to surface after Space Shanty was released, with a new bass player, but never recorded, as Hillage still didn’t feel confident enough leading a band yet (that had to wait until he released Fish Rising in 1975, his first solo offering). So Hillage first joined Keven Ayers band for a short period, before joining Gong at the end of 1972. Khan, along with Caravan, is the closest to traditional prog rock in the world of Canterbury rock, although Khan’s music is heavier and not so pop-oriented as Caravan’s. So if you’re a Gong or Hatfield & the North fan, or even if you’re not, but you like that early ’70s organ-dominated prog rock sound, then Space Shanty should be in your collection.
– Steve Hillage: guitars, vocals
– Nick Greenwood: bass, vocals
– Eric Peachy: drums
– Dave Stewart: organ, piano, Wurlitzer electric piano