Buying the LPs sampled on Nice Enough to Eat.
Page 11 of the booklet inside the gatefold sleeve of course has the same central triangular hole as page 10; and at the top left has the odd folded corner. This creates a long right angled triangle slightly more than twice the size of that on page 10, this being white and filled with tiny black dots. The rest of page 11 is a black, slightly starred background, filled with white, shaded, and dotted circular and oval shapes, with some receding perspective horizontal lines at the bottom, which continue onto page 12, creating the impression of a massive theatre stage.
Page 12 has a large photo of an emaciated chap holding his arms more or less straight up; I guess he is Shiva, the amazingly laconic vocalist who is also credited with keyboards.
Page 13 has an unidentifiable black and white photo of something that looks a bit like an octopus, and the lyrics for “Giants”, the track which opens the album.
The final page of this remarkable 14 page booklet has at its centre a square containing a positively hallucogenic angular pattern.
Above this are the main credits:
“All music dedicated to the One. Side One: Giants. Manco Capac. Body. Gange Mai. Side Two: Pearl and Bird. Notting Hill Gate. Midnight Mode. Quintessence are Shiva – Vocals and Keyboards. Raja Ram – Flutes, bells, percussion and raspers. Alan – lead guitar. Maha Dev – rhythm guitar. Shambu – bass guitar. Jake – drums. Mike on sitar. Surja on tamboura. Thank you. Spiritual adviser – Swami Ji. Musical direction and record production – John Barnham. Photographs by Eric Hayes, Pete Saunders, David Redom and Pat Mescal. Front and back cover art – Gopala [well played, Sir!]. Design by Barney Bubbles and J. Moonman. Printed by Ernest Day Ltd. Island Records Ltd, Basing Street.W.11. All songs published by Blue Mountain Music. Om tat sat.”
At the very bottom of this page is the single line from which the LP derives its title:
“O, mother when shall I be blessed by joining your Blissful company”.
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