1971-1973 The road to Tubular Bells

During this period he began to put together the musical ideas that were to result in "Tubular Bells". Using a tape recorder borrowed from Kevin Ayers he discovered that by masking the "erase" head with a small piece of cardboard he could record more than one instrument. By using this device he was able to commit to tape the motifs and instrumental ideas required to realise an ambition. That ambition was to create a symphonic work, similar to the large-scale compositions for full orchestra in several movements found in classical music. With the tape equipment set up in his bedroom at the house which he shared with other members of the Kevin Ayers band, the ideas for the new work slowly began to take shape.

Having set to work to create this music, Mike decided to play all of the instruments himself. With his natural gift for playing, he had discovered that he could get a tune of almost any instrument from a glockenspiel to a grand piano, a classical guitar to a Farfisa organ. While still working with Kevin Ayers, he had contributed to recordings made at the famous Abbey Road studios in London. He soon found that the studio had a storeroom that was full of all kinds of instruments. By arriving early for the sessons he was able to experiment with these instruments and to incorporate new sounds and textures into his musical ideas.

Working on his own meant that all of the deep emotions he was experiencing at this time went into the music. In any case, it is doubtful whether Mike's state of mind would have allowed him to endure the pressure of working with others for long. This is especially true of a work that increasingly became a vehicle for expressing emotions which he was finding it harder and harder to live with.

Having created a rough tape of his ideas he set off around the music industry to try to convince someone to take the project on. His efforts were met with universa rejection. He was told the project was "not marketable", meaning that if it were made at all nobody would want to buy it.

Obviously this was to put his faith in the work to the test. Having composed the hypnotic opening, the original motif (the theme that is repeated and developed in an artistic work), a vision of the ultimate success of the work never left him. If only he could get it recorded, released and promoted!

A chance meeting opened the way to that future Mike had left the Kevin Ayers band and, to earn a living, he took occasional jobs as a guitarist. One of these was working in the house band of the London production of Hair, the "tribal love rock musical" for £5 a night. He also briefly played bass with a band led by soul singer Arthur Lewis. The group went to record at a recently opened studio located in a manor house at Shipton on-Cherwell, 20 miles from Oxford.

The Manor recording studios were being built for Richard Branson by Tom Newman, assisted among others by Simon Heyworth. The team were all friends. There were also various girlfriends in attendance as well as a cook and cleaners and gardeners.

As Mike was later to recall, "the whole thing felt like some sort of great big family".

The atmosphere at the studio and the attitude of Newman and Heyworth allowed Mike the opportunity to play a rough tape of his musical ideas The immediate reaction from both men was that they loved itl Heyworth and Newman then undertook a campaign to convince Branson to release the work and to provide studio time at The Manor to get it recorded. An initial approach convinced them that the time was not right. The project had to await the arrival of Simon Draper who joined Branson to set up the Virgin label. Draper had wide musical knowledge and, on hearing Mike's ideas, he was immediately enthusiastic.

Mike had continued to rehearse and to refine his ideas which now had been given a name: Tubular Bells (earlier titles had included Breakfast In Bed and Opus One). But he had almost given up hope of being able to realise his dream when Draper offered a week of studio time at The Manor. A large section of instruments was  assembled in the studio and work commenced. During that week Mike succeeded in recording most of the first part, with the rest of the work recorded at random sessions over the following months.

From the start Mike was pushing the then "state-of-the-art" recording facilities to the limit. Very soon all 16 tracks were in use. As more and more instruments were recorded, the sessions became a test of Heyworth and Newman's inventive skills as sound engineers as well as a test of their memories.

The track sheet stretched most of the way across the studio floor. The studio equipment was not automated and all the work was done by hand with Mike, Simon Heyworth and Tom Newman using all available fingers on the mixing board. This was no producer/artist relationship but one where all three men learned together as they went along.

During the sessions Mike played more than 20 instruments and over 2000 tape overdubs were made. The music was all his own work with the exception of Viv Stanshall (vocals), Jon Field (flute), Steve Broughton (drums) and Mundy Ellis (vocals). Tom Newman and Simon Heyworth were credited as co-producers.

When the sessions were completed, Branson took the tapes of Tubular Bells to the music industry trade fair, MIDEM, in Cannes in January 1973. One executive of an American company told him, "slap some vocals on it and i'll give you $20,000". When nobody showed interest, Branson and Draper decided to release the album on their new Virgin Records label.

Tubular Bells was issued on May 25, 1973. The work emerged from the recording and mixing process as truly original art. Critics did their best to define it. The public simply took it to their hearts.

The reviews in the UK press were ecstatic. The influential radio disc jockey John Peel wrote that it was "a record that quite genuinely covers new and unchaJed territory", with music that "combines logic with surprise, sunshine with rain". "A vast work, almost classical in its structure and in the way a theme is stated and deftly worked upon," said the Melody Maker. Some reviewers also thought they knew what Mike's influences were "The texture of Tubular Bells owes much to Sibelius, Vaughan Williams, Michel Legrand and the Last Night Of The Proms," wrote the television producer Tony Palmer.

Tubular Bells will always stand on its own as a moment in the history of "rock music" that captured the heart and imagination of so many people, It is also a starting point from which to appreciate the many changes and discoveries made by its creator as he grew from a 19-year-old into maturity. The album went into the UK charts in July and soon rose to No. 1. Tubular Bells began to sell all over Europe.

In June 1973, a live performance of Tubular Bells was given at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Joining Mike on stage were guitarists Mick Taylor (of The Rolling Stones), Steve Hillage (Gong), Fred Frith (Henry Cow) and Ted Speight. There were also David Bedford, Kevin Ayers and Pierre Moerlen, the percussion player from avant-garde rock band Gong who would be one of Mike's regular musicians for many years to come. Although billed to appear, Stevie Winwood was unable to perform because he had not been able to attend enough rehearsals. The response of the audience was described by the reviewer from the New Musical Express, "The entire audience rose to its feet and hollered for more. It was one of those rare spontaneous outbursts of appreciation."

Tubular Bells was also issued in the US but it was slower to achieve success there. The boost needed for the album to sell in large numbers came when film director William Friedkin decided to use a four-minute extract in the controversial horror movie The Exorcist. Mike had not been consulted about the association of his work with the film and told interviewers that he was less than happy about it. In the UK, a Tubular Bells single was also released along with a remixed version of the album in the new "quadraphonic" format, a sound system that needed four speakers for its full impact. To show of the wonders of the system, the "quad" Tubular Bells included an extra sequence of an aeroplane flying around which was inserted after the Sailor's Hornpipe.