Bill Nelson’s 1986 ‘Getting The Holy Ghost Across’ album is one that deserves a fuller write-up given its complex trans-Atlantic history and many variations. I will get there someday, but as a taster for that, today’s focus is on the UK cassette edition, another cassette pet that offered its own unique content for those willing to seek it out at the time.
A brief synopsis of the album…
This was a long time in the making and the main outcome of Bill Nelson signing a major label deal with Portrait Records, which was effectively a subsidiary of the US arm of the then CBS Records company. Depending on when you start counting, the album was between two to three years or so the making and had many a twist and turn along it’s path. The first album sessions in early 1984 led to three tracks recorded as potentials singles, none of which emerged at all then though. The fuller version of this article will investigate that history, including drawing on Bill’s communiques via newsletter posted out to ‘Acquitted by Mirrors’ fan club members back in the day. But suffice to say for now that the UK got a 10 track vinyl album titled ‘Getting The Holy Ghost Across’ while the US got a version titled ‘On A Blue Wing’ – also 10 tracks (which went for the cassette version of this too) but with a different selection from the overall pool of tracks Bill had recorded during the album sessions. If you wanted to experience that full pool of tracks – and get the most bang for your buck – then you needed this 17 track cassette!
Being of a mid-‘80s vintage – where the cassette format was being touted hard as the go-to format of choice and would regularly feature extra tracks, improved tape quality, as well as lyrics, to compete a bit more evenly with the LP and CD releases – this cassette is well served in this respect. As the well as the musical extras this cassette contains a separate fold-out lyric insert over and above the more than standard inlay card. As for the musical side of things, as noted before, there are extras – no less than seven bonus tracks compared to the UK vinyl album. Additionally, on this cassette version, the track ‘Because of You’ is a uniquely extended mix, lasting around 30 seconds longer than on the vinyl editions of the album. (Of note, this extended mix has not surfaced on any of the CD re-issues as yet.
So, all of the tracks from the UK and US variants of the album can be found on this one cassette. This table summarises what was released where on those vinyl issues.
| UK | US | |
| Suvasini | GTHGA LP | OABW LP |
| Contemplation | GTHGA LP | OABW LP |
| Theology | GTHGA LP | |
| Wildest Dreams | GTHGA LP | OABW LP |
| Lost In Your Mystery | GTHGA LP | OABW LP |
| Rise Like A Fountain | GTHGA LP | OABW LP |
| Age Of Reason | GTHGA LP | |
| Living For The Spangled Moment | LFTSM MLP | OABW LP |
| The Hidden Flame | GTHGA LP | OABW LP |
| Word For Word | LFTSM MLP | |
| Illusions Of You | LFTSM MLP | |
| Heart And Soul | LFTSM MLP | OABW LP |
| Finks And Stooges Of The Spirit | LFTSM MLP | |
| Because Of You (7′ 23″) | GTHGA LP (6’36”) | OABW LP |
| Pansophia | GTHGA LP | OABW LP |
KEY:
- OABW LP = US ‘On A Blue Wing’ LP (Portrait R 40146)
- GTHGA LP = UK ‘Getting The Holy Ghost Across’ LP (Portrait PRT 26602)
- LFTSM MLP = UK ‘Living For The Spangled Moment’ Mini-LP (Portrait BN 1 / 450115 1)
- Note: The ‘Living For The Spangled Moment’ Mini-LP included another two additional tracks not present anywhere else, ‘Feast of Lanterns’ and ‘Nightbirds’.
It’s not the whole story though, as will be documented in more detail at some date down the line. As Bill was signed to the US arm of the label there were several promo 12” single releases with many custom remixes never released elsewhere. (Not to Bill’s liking, it should be noted). There were also the B side tracks from the one and only UK single release, ‘Wildest Dreams’. And at the start of this post I speculated on when you start counting on the album’s history. ‘Contemplation’, one of the key tracks shared across both variants, actually started life back in early 1983, recorded as part of a BBC Radio 1 David “Kid” Jensen Session, 13th January 1983 – and then released on an ‘Acquitted by Mirrors’ fan club 7″ EP later in 1983 (Cocteau COQ 12).
While there have been two CD re-issues to date – one a single disc (Sonoluxe CD 006 from 2006, with a whole new cover design), and a later two-disc edition with many extra tracks (Cocteau Discs / Esoteric Recordings COCD 21009, from 2013, restoring the original 1986 UK cover design), neither come close to documenting all the various mixes and versions as yet. More to come on all that next time…