Illusion -

Illusion was an English folk-rock band behind the 1977/78 Island albums Out of the Mist and Illusion. They comprised four-fifths of the original Renaissance, which underwent two overhauls before the unrelated Seventies version.

Members: John Hawken (Fender Rhodes, MiniMoog, Mellotron, organ), Louis Cennamo (bass), Jane Relf (vocals), Jim McCarty (vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion), John Knightsbridge (guitar), Eddie McNeil (percussion, drums)

Background

In early 1976, former members of the original Renaissance — keyboardist John Hawken, bassist Louis Cennamo, singer Jane Relf, and guitarist Jim McCarty — held reunion talks. They first teamed for the 1969 Renaissance album but fractured amid work on the followup. Just as reunion plans got underway, their original frontman, Keith Relf, died from electrocution on May 12 at age 33. The ex-Yardbirds singer cut a recent album with Cennamo in the hard-rock supergroup Armageddon.

Between her time in Renaissance and Illusion, Jane cut a 1971 Decca solo single, “Without a Song From You” (b/w “Make My Time Pass By”), and appeared with an all-star cast of vocalists — including Alan Hull, Jon Anderson, Linda Hoyle, Peter Gabriel, Peter Hammill, and Phil Collins — behind singer/songwriter Colin Scot on his debut album. Meanwhile, McCarty fronted Shoot, a 1973 EMI one-off. Hawken did stints with Third World War and Strawbs and made record cameos behind Claire Hamill and the Sutherland Brothers.

Since the reformed lineup no longer held rights to the Renaissance name — now established in the marketplace by the “mainstream” lineup of Michael Dunford, Jon Camp, Annie Haslam, John Tout, and Terrence Sullivan — the Hawken/McCarty lineup used the name of their last album as Renaissance, the 1971 Island release Illusion. They welcomed two additional members: Strange Days drummer Eddie McNeil and Hug guitarist John Knightsbridge, a Hawken colleague on Third World War 2.

Out of the Mist

Illusion released their first album, Out of the Mist, on February 25, 1977, on Island. The album contains four Jim McCarty originals and three John Hawken co-writes: “Roads to Freedom,” “Beautiful Country,” and “Solo Flight.”

Musically, Out of the Mist fuses the folk/classical hybrids of early Renaissance with the lavish production of the Parsons school. The ballad “Face of Yesterday” first appeared on their 1971 release Illusion. “Candles Are Burning” is an indirect reference to “Ashes Are Burning,” an epic of like-minded proportions on the 1973 second album by the ‘mainstream’ Renaissance.

Out of the Mist features Hawken on organ, mellotron, Minimoog, ivory grand, and the Fender Rhodes electric piano.

A1. “Isadora” (6:58) is a Jim-sung ballad with Jane harmonies and chorus lines. The lyrics possibly concern American-born European dancer Isadora Duncan (1877–1927), a fun-loving yet wayward socialite noted for her long-distance love affairs (portrayed by Vanessa Redgrave in a 1968 biographical drama). The song opens with a three-note ivory motif (in D♭m) over cymbal-laden acoustic strum.
A2. “Roads to Freedom” (3:55)
A3. “Beautiful Country” (4:15)
A4. “Solo Flight” (4:20)

B1. “Everywhere You Go” (3:18)
B2. “Face of Yesterday” (5:45)
B3. “Candles Are Burning” (7:10)

Sessions occurred at Island Studios in St. Peter’s Square, Hammersmith, with Turn of the Cards engineer Doug Bogie, a recent Andy Fraser and Soft Machine soundman.

Out of the Mist appeared in a black sleeve with magenta/teal text by Bloomfield/Travis, the design team behind 1976/77 Island covers for Burning Spear, Eddie & The Hot Rod, John Cale, Stomu Yamash’ta (Go), and Ultravox (Ultravox!, Ha! Ha! Ha!). Jane stands alone, upright and stoic, for the front-cover photo by Keith Morris, a veteran rock photographer of earlier post-psych acts (The Deviants, Jan Dukes de Grey, Mighty Baby, Nick Drake) and newer artists (Dog Soldier, Dr. Feelgood, Maxine Nightingale, and Nasty Pop).

Island lifted “Isadora” as a North American single (b/w “Beautiful Country”). “Isadora” later appeared on Rock Love Songs, a 1982 Greek EMI comp with cuts by Babe Ruth (“The Runaways”), Cockney Rebel (“Sebastian”), Deep Purple (“When a Blind Man Cries”), Traffic (“Feelin’ Alright?”), and Joe Cocker‘s cover of the Jimmy Cliff classic “Many Rivers to Cross.”

Illusion

Illusion released their self-titled second album on May 26, 1978, on Island.

The album contains four originals by Jim McCartney, who collaborated with John Hawken on two further songs, “The Revolutionary” and “Man of Miracles,” the latter third-written by Jane Relf, who also helped Louis Cennamo on his self-referential “Louis’ Theme.”

Musically, Illusion tightens their symphonic-folk approach and embraces modernism with the electro-currents of “Cruising Nowhere” and the ambient glimmer of “Man of Miracles.”

Hawken adds multiple synths (ARP, Polymoog) to his arsenal of mellotron, harpsichord, Fender Rhodes, and Steinway Grand. Eddie McNeil plays vibraphone and tubular bells in addition to drums and timpani. Illusion features strings conducted by Robert Kirby, a recent Strawbs and Spriguns arranger.

A1. “Madonna Blue” (6:43)
A2. “Never Be the Same” (3:17)
A3. “Louis’ Theme” (7:41)

B1. “Wing Across the Sea” (4:48)
B2. “Cruising Nowhere” (4:58)
B3. “Man of Miracles” (3:26)
B4. “The Revolutionary” (6:10)

Sessions occurred Morgan Studios in Northwest London with Paul Samwell-Smith, the former Yardbirds bassist and early Renaissance producer who worked most recently with Murray Head on the singer/actor’s 1975 album Say It Ain’t So. Morgan staffer Mike Bobak engineered Illusion in sequence with Natural Force, the breakthrough second album by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler.

Illusion displays an aerial ocean view of a seagull amid parting clouds, painted by Larry Learmonth, an English neo-Romantic artist behind earlier covers for Fantasy (Paint a Picture) and the 1974 Polydor release In the Public Interest, a joint effort by Mike Gibbs and jazz vibist Gary Burton.

Island lifted “Madonna Blue” as a UK/European single (b/w “Everywhere You Go”).

Illusion demoed songs for a third album that never came to fruition. In 1989, archivists Brisk Productions released the demos on Enchanted Caress, a ten-song disc that also includes a late-period Keith Relf demo (“All the Falling Angels”) and the Mick Ronson cover “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue.”

Discography: