Artist: T. REX
Album: T. REX VINYL (2LP)

Year: 1970/ 2014
Media type: LP

T. Rex is an album by British rock band T. Rex, released in 1970. It was their fifth studio album, and their first under their abbreviated band name, following four albums as 'Tyrannosaurus Rex'.

Although the album is credited to T. Rex, all the recordings (as well as the cover shot) were done when they still were Tyrannosaurus Rex, with the two-man line-up of singer/songwriter/guitarist Marc Bolan and percussionist Mickey Finn, although producer Tony Visconti plays bass and recorder on a couple of tracks. "Ride A White Swan" was recorded during the same sessions but did not appear on the album. They officially changed the band name to T. Rex to release that single in October 1970. The album followed in December and is very much in the vein of the duo's previous album, 'A Beard of Stars', with an even further emphasis on an electric rock sound and the addition of strings on several tracks. Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, aka "Flo And Eddie", sang backup vocals for the first time on a T.Rex song, "Seagull Woman". They would go on to sing on most of the group's following string of hits.

The album contains electric reworkings of two old Tyrannosaurus Rex songs, one of which ("The Wizard") was originally recorded prior even to Bolan's pre-T.Rex band John's Children. The second is a new, electric version of the second Tyrannosaurus Rex single, "One Inch Rock", with an intro of scat-singing by Marc & Mickey. The remaining short songs, however, were new material. It was the album that broke T.Rex in the UK, following on the surprise success of the recent single "Ride A White Swan" (#2) and its smash No. 1 follow-up "Hot Love", eventually reaching a chart peak of No. 7 and staying on the charts for 25 weeks. This set them in the direction of consistent success over the next three years.

The album is bookended by a track called "The Children of Rarn", which was part of a longer piece known as "The Children of Rarn Suite". A Tolkienesque children's story in several movements, this was recorded only in demo form at the time, although instrumentation was added posthumously by producer Tony Visconti for its release on the compilation "The Words And Music of Marc Bolan" (A & M records, 1998).

Side: 1

1. The Children of Rarn ( 0:53 )
2. Jewel ( 2:46 )
3. The Visit ( 1:55 )
4. Childe ( 1:36 )
5. The Time of Love Is Now ( 2:42 )
6. Diamond Meadows ( 1:58 )
7. Root Of Star ( 2:31 )
8. Beltane Walk ( 2:26 )

Side: 2

1. Is It Love ? ( 2:34 )
2. One Inch Rock ( 2:26 )
3. Summer Deep ( 1:43 )
4. Seagull Woman ( 2:18 )
5. Suneye ( 2:06)
6. The Wizard ( 8:50 )
7. The Children of Rarn ( 0:36 )

Side: 3

1. The Children of Rarn - Take 6 ( 1:01)
2. Jewel - Alternate Take ( 3:35 )
3. The Visit - Alternate Take ( 1:44 )
4. The Time Of Love Is Now - Alternate Take ( 2:45 )
5. Diamond Meadows - Alternate Take ( 2:09 )
6. Beltane Walk - Alternate Take ( 2:23 )
7. Summertime Blues - B - side ( 2:42 )

Side: 4

1. One Inch Rock - Alternate Take ( 2:33 )
2. Summer Deep - Alternate Take ( 1:47 )
3. Seagull Woman - Alternate Take ( 2:23 )
4. Suneye -BBC Top Gear performance 26/10/1970 ( 2:00 )
5. Deep Summer - Alternate Take ( 4:42 )
6. Dark Lipped Woman ( 1:29 )
7. Is It Love ? - Alternate Take ( 2:39 )