Audience – The House On The Hill(1971)

Biography
A cult London-based art rock band who were popular on the club and college circuit. After an album for Polydor, which is now rare and sought-after because it was withdrawn soon after its release, they were signed to Charisma after they were spotted by the label’s boss Tony Stratton-Smith supporting Led Zeppelin at the Lyceum in London.

Album & Cover
The House on the Hill is the third album by the British art rock band Audience, released in 1971. At about the same time, a single, “Indian Summer”, reached number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100;. The North American version of the album on Elektra Records added “Indian Summer” as the opening track, along with “It Brings A Tear” which had already appeared on the UK album Friend’s Friend’s Friend. The Elektra LP dropped the song “Eye To Eye”.
Both the UK and North American LPs were originally issued as gatefold. The UK gatefold contains black-and-white photos of each band member. The Elektra Records gatefold contains the album lyrics with a photo of the “house on the hill” in the background. The Elektra LP was later reissued in the early 1980s, non-gatefold. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_on_the_Hill_(album)

The idea for this gatefold cover came from the title of the album, which conjures up ideas of Hollywood B-Movies with sinister things going on. The ice-cool women was Syd Barrett’s long time girlfriend, Lindsey Corner, and the man is ‘Jock’ who lived with Syd Barrett in Richmond before the onset of his decline. The big country house was given to Hipgnosis by the Bruce sisters for the duration of the shoot, a couple of hours, and even their butler ‘Turk’ was used to carry the dead man, Harry out of the room. Two prints montage together and everyone used their own clothes and make-up for the shoot. Simpler times then….

Cover Location: A Country House, Sussex, UK
Who Did What: Photography – A. Powell. Hand Tinting – M. Tate. Cover Design – Hipgnosis/Howard Werth
Label: Elektra EKS-74100(US), Charisma CAS1032(UK)
Source: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art, The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue: Aubrey Powell

Tracklist

Credits
Bass Guitar – Trevor Williams
Classical Guitar [Electric], Vocals – Howard Werth
Engineer – Robin Cable
Percussion, Vibraphone [Vibes] – Tony Connor
Producer, Directed By, Maracas, Cowbell – Gus Dudgeon
Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute – Keith Gemmell

Notes
( First UK pressing )
Charisma ‘pink scroll’ label.
Matt gatefold sleeve with a printed red/white inner sleeve with lyrics.