Tubular Bells

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work

Tubular Bells · Mike Oldfield was nineteen when recording began. As a teenager he played bass in Kevin Ayers's band and taught himself the instruments that were lying around in the studios. With a borrowed tape recorder he built up layers of music at home in London. This produced a long instrumental piece that he eventually recorded at The Manor Studio in Oxfordshire, paid for by Richard Branson, for the very first album on Virgin Records.

Oldfield played almost all the instruments himself, with thousands of corrections on the tape. The album consists of two long parts and combines progressive rock, folk and minimalism. At the end of the first part, Vivian Stanshall introduces the instruments one by one. Sales were slow to start, until the opening melody was heard in the film The Exorcist in December 1973. After that the album became known worldwide and brought Virgin great success. In 1975 it won a Grammy.

Listening

Track list

1. 1Tubular Bells, Pt. I26:01Apple Music ↗
2. 2Tubular Bells, Pt. II23:17Apple Music ↗
3. 3Mike Oldfield's Single (Theme From "Tubular Bells")3:56Apple Music ↗
4. 4Sailor's Hornpipe (Viv Stanshall Version)2:53Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗