Mercury Promo (USA)

There are 4 versions of the USA Mercury release.
The different versions have matrix numbers as follows
(seen near the run out groove):
1) Squid One stock copy (orange label) SR 61238 BM2
2) Squid One promo copy (white label) SR 61238 BM2
3) Necromancer stock copy (orange label) SR 61238 BM5
4) Necromancer promo copy (white label) SR 61238 BM5

Aquarian - "This song has a chequered history of assorted titles and intentions: originally to be a celebration of the incoming Aquarian Age, it went through a phase of being a hymn to an assorted band of troubadours bound together under the aegis of a certain record company. After the sufferance of no little trial and tribulation at the hands of this concern, I had no regrets as I withdrew my lyrical support from it and re-engaged the song on its old rails. Pitfalls abound in any eulogising songs, and since this time I have been more concerned with my doubts in songs rather than with certainties which are fickle as the seasons.
The first performance of this song was on platform 6 of Derby Midland Station (a fine institution), to a surprisingly rapt audience of porters, fellow-travellers and Chris Judge Smith."

Octopus - "These lyrics, dealing with a similar case of disorientation and inability to over-view, were written in the snow-besieged Students' Union of Southampton University. The original Octopus took the form of a mural in the flat of the lady concerned and it is, in a way, validatory that the relationship was neither consummated nor clarified."
- Peter Hammill from Killers, Angels, Refugees (1974)

See also The Early Days page.

John Anthony (of Tynemouth) had a bit more to say on this version:
"On Monday I was asked to produce an L.P. for the Van der Graaf Generator, by Thursday we were in the Studio. Up until that time I had vaguely seen the band play the Speakeasy (the playground of the stars) and at the Marquee (the playground) and had heard them perform Octopus on the radio, one Sunday afternoon. I had no idea what numbers we were going to do, or any conceptions of a 'production'. What resulted is what happens when a group 'blows' in a studio. I hope some of it comes through, as we all had a good time. I hardly knew any of the group, but during and after two sessions, became a friend. Peter Hammill was doing all the singing and playing his guitar, and being cool (in the nice way). Hugh Banton ate bananas and drank milk, played piano and organ well and pottered about murmering. Keith Ellis smiles, played his bass and was a nice person. Guy Evans hammered away, intelligently on his drums, and laughed a lot. Jeff played flute on a track or so, and was very quiet.
An assorted crowd of loons were the atmosphere, were the vocal group, were happy and were quiet, during the playback Rob engineered professionally, everyone worked hard."

Jeff Peach pictured on the cover of "Every Which Way" from 1970.

   
Afterwards / Necromancer Promo (USA only)

Herman Permentier's Afterwards acetate promo, created to promote the UK release of the Aerosol Grey Machine that didn't happen

"Having waited some 28 years from its original release to see a CD re-issue, we now get two versions within a few weeks of each other! Originally released in America only (on Mercury), this was later issued in Europe on Fontana, but has not been available in any version since the 70's. To make it even more of a collectors item, some early copies were issued with a largely instrumental track titled Giant Squid in place of the song Necromancer, which appeared on all later editions.
The Repertoire version came out first, and features all the tracks from the version that featured Necromancer, with the bonus of both sides of their first single People You Were Going To a one-off for which the tapes were presumed lost. This is the only recorded example of VdGG with Chris Judge Smith singing, on the B side Firebrand. The sleeve notes are by Chris Welch, and the lack of any audible remixing or remastering, or notes from the band, leads me to think that this is not an approved release.
Soon after that came the official release from Hammill's own Fie! label, in which he has gone back to the original tapes, restored the additional tracks Squid 1 and Ferret And Featherbird, which later appeared in a rather different form on In Camera. There are some slight adjustments to fades and equalisation, and it sounds very fine, quite exceptional considering the whole thing was recorded in 12 hours and mixed in 8. Hammill contributes 12 sides of interesting background notes, which give a good flavour of the times and circumstances which led to the making of this record.
Musically this differs from later VdGG, notably by the presence of Keith Ellis's wah-wah bass, which makes a strange squelching noise throughout, and the absence of any saxophone parts (as Dave Jackson hadn't joined yet). It is also, as the notes explain better, more a Hammill solo with friends than the album VdGG would have made if they were extant at the time. They had already broken up when Hammill started recording, but Mercury agreed to release Hammill from an unfavourable contract if he put the band name on the cover. From such uncompromising circumstances an excellent album was nonetheless wrought, outstanding for its period, due largely to Hammill's exceptional song writing abilities and the lack of musical reference to any other bands around at the time.
A treat for Hammill fans who never heard the album, and an essential collection filler for the CD shelf of those that have. The Repertoire version is best avoided, unless you're really desperate to have that first single."
- Alan Terrill in Audion #39, December 1997.

Interviewer: Some of your songs are still hard to get, like the first Van der Graaf Generator single which was only released on the German CD version of 'Aerosol Grey Machine'.
Peter Hammill: It was on the German version, but not on the Fie! one because for me, it's not part of the 'Aerosol Grey Machine' recordings.