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 potential 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’ when it was eventually released in April 1986, 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, as well as wholly different artwork.
So, 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 upgraded and promoted hard as the go-to format of choice by regularly featuring extra tracks, improved tape quality, as well as more expansive artwork and lyrics (which were often completely missing in earlier times), to compete a bit more evenly with the LP and CD releases – this cassette is well served in this respect. As well as the musical extras this cassette contains a separate fold-out lyric insert over and above the 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. In the UK, a separate mini-album was released much later in the year with the extra tracks from the cassette on it (as well as two further short instrumentals). ‘Living For The Spangled Moment’. 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 including B sides (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…
Another fine analysis on the differences between varying releases, the 80s were indeed a prime time for this activity especially with cassettes hiding quite a few nuggets. One thing that your article and in particular the images has re-highlighted is a puzzle that i first wondered about 40 years ago, the typography used on the UK releases and especially for the album title. The fonts used are reflective of those employed within religious bodies, a modern classic sans-serif but spaced out to show breathing and lightness, and also a more traditional/medieval monogram font the type that may have been used to illuminate manuscripts in a majestic and authoritative style. this traditional font is used for the leading letters of both the artist and the title of the album… except for the first two words of the album title. i never did find out why that was and it never seemed to be brought up in reviews or conversations, maybe it was just me being picky and not accepting it for what it is, maybe it was Bill just playing about with his iconography or did it it actually mean something. the artwork has many religious symbols across it which many people could write a paper on, from the use of the Carlo Crivelli painting, The Annunciation Of St Emidius, to even the titles of the songs on the album, a great deal of thought and planning certainly went into it. so why is the G and T of Getting The not in the same font style as the rest of the title, there must be a reason, something to contemplate…
All good points! It’s a mystery to me if there is any purposeful meaning behind those first letters in a different font. What must have been galling for Bill though must have been the decision of the record label to completely ditch that intended artwork altogether for ‘On A Blue Wing’, which is the polar opposite of the well worked GTHGA artwork.