Third Ear Band - Druid One (Live, Essen, 1970) (2024)

Great live recording from the Essen Pop & Blues Festival on April 28, 1970 - lovingly remastered by Johannes Scheibenreif.

THIRD EAR BAND hail from Canterbury and started out as a psychedelic band called THE GIANT SUN TROLLEY, playing long, impromptu sets in South London clubs. After one gig, almost all of the band's equipment was stolen. So, by sheer coincidence and obvious necessity, they became an acoustic band and adopted the name THIRD EAR BAND.
From 1969 to 1972, the band released three albums on the progressive Harvest label, of which "Music From Macbeth" (1972) was the best known and most commercially successful.

On April 24, 1970, the Third Ear Band performed at the 2nd Essen Pop & Blues Festival. For some reason, they did not appear on the official poster for the event or in the festival program. The line-up was packed with acts like The Flock, Ekseption, Rhinocerous, The Groundhogs, It's A Beautiful Day and the still unknown Black Sabbath, who had just released their first album.

The Essen concert in the quartet line-up with Sweeney on drums, Minns on oboe, Coff on violin and Smith on cello took place just a few weeks before the release of the second album, which fans know as "Elements", although it is simply called "Third Ear Band" and was released in June 1970. Of the four elements, the band played "Earth" and "Water" that night, but in a shorter version compared to the album versions.

The professional sound recordings of the Third Ear Band's festival performance have only recently resurfaced and have now been restored, edited and mastered.