Nuggets II: The Madman Running Through The Fields by Dantalian’s Chariot

The Madman Running Through The Fields—Dantalian's Chariot

• Track 83, disc 4
• Year: 1967
• From: London, United Kingdom.

8/10

More about Nuggets II

Credits

4/3. THE MADMAN RUNNING THROUGH THE FIELDS – Dantalian’s Chariot (U.K.)
(George Money/Andy Somers)

PERSONNEL/GEORGE “ZOOT” MONEY: vocals, keyboards * ANDY SOMERS: guitar * PAT DONALDSON: bass * COLIN ALLEN: drums
Produced by RIK GUNNELL
Recorded in London, England
Columbia single #DB-8260 (1967)

Dantalian’s Chariot

Every time there’s a UK band on Nuggets II, it’s always fun to locate them in the vast interlocking web of UK bands. And it’s easier with Dantalian’s Chariot than most. Their most famous member is guitarist Andy Somers, who later changed his last name to Summers and played with The Police and Soft Machine.

Zoot Money formed the Big Roll Band in 1961. But, as musical fashions changed, he broke up the band and formed the psychedelic Dantalian’s Chariot. The band took their name from Duke Dantalion, a devil in the mediaeval book The Lesser Key of Solomon.

Dantalian’s Chariot all wore white robes and kaftans in concert, with their equipment also painted white, to heighten the effect of their psychedelic light shows.

The Madman Running Through The Fields

EMI signed the band, and ‘The Madman Running Through the Fields’ was their first single.

Madman was a description of our personal experiences, and the subsequent self-revelations brought about by hallucinogenics… The verse is the voice of the taker, the one who’s dropped the acid, and the chorus is him being observed by a second party – “Isn’t that the madman running through the fields?” A puzzled onlooker – much like the audiences at the time.”

Zoot Money, Record Collector

The record flopped, and bemused by their psychedelic direction, EMI dropped them. Their album was scrapped, although it belatedly appeared in 1996.

With its swirling, whirring backward tape effects, too-much-to-dream bass pulse, surprise tempo changes, and half-step vocal harmony shifts, “The Madman Running Through The Fields” is one of U.K. psychedelia’s defining creations–on a magnificent par with Pink Floyd’s “See Emily Play” and Tomorrow’s “My White Bicycle.”

Mike Stax, Nuggets II liner notes

I’m not quite as excited about it as Mike Stax – although the pretty melody is a highlight, as is the gentle psychedelic arrangement.

The Aftermath

As noted above, Andy Summers went on to a notable career with The Police. However, the other three members also remained in the music business. Bassist Pat Donaldson later played with Sandy Denny’s Fotheringay and with Richard Thompson. Frontman Zoot Money went on to play with Eric Burdon & the Animals. Drummer Colin Allen later joined Focus.

Read More

• Nuggets II Song by Song
• 1960s Album Reviews

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