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

The success of Rhino’s 1998 Nuggets boxset justified a follow-up. The sequel covers the rest of the world since the first volume only chronicled the USA.

Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969 emerged in 2001. It features music from countries such as Iceland, Uruguay, and Japan. I’m profiling and rating each of the 109 tracks, working backwards.

Track 84 – The Madman Running Through The Fields by Dantalian’s Chariot

From: London, United Kingdom

8

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

10 Comments

  1. “The Madman Running Through the Fields” certainly is not a bad ’60s psychedelic song, and I think the comparison with early Pink Floyd is fair. That said, it’s not particularly memorable, which probably helps explain why it flopped.

  2. When I saw their picture in that light…I knew I was going to like it and I do. This is an incredible period of popular music. The experimentation going on…some hits and some misses but they were trying for something different. The only rule was there wasn’t any. I like this…I mean as you…not as much as Mike Stax…but I like it.

  3. I really love the Dantalion’s Chariot album, and this single. Higher quality performances and songs than many other period works where “psychedelic” just meant plinking a sitar or putting in backward seagull noises on otherwise drab/dull pop songs!!

Leave a Reply

Read about the discographies of musical acts from the 1960s to the present day. Browse this site's review archives or enjoy these random selections:

More review pages

2020s Miscellany Part 2

The consequence of reviewing new releases each week is that...

Mark Kozelek Album Reviews

San Francisco quartet the Red House Painters (named after the...
sun-kil-moon-april

Scott Walker Album Reviews

Scott Walker was born Noel Scott Engel, in Hamilton, Ohio...

Big Star Album Reviews

Formed around former Box Tops lead singer Alex Chilton and...
Big Star Radio City

The Beatles Album Reviews

From very early in their career and probably until the...
The Beatles Beatles for Sale

Vampire Weekend Album Reviews

Ezra Koenig and drummer Chris Tomson started playing together in...

I add new blog posts to this website every week. Browse the archives or enjoy these random selections:

More blog posts

Jimmy Webb: Five Best Albums

Jimmy Webb enjoyed a sterling career as a songwriter in...
Jimmy Webb Ten Easy Pieces

Great B-Sides: Rain by The Beatles

For this b-side series, I’m only counting material that wasn’t...
The Beatles Past Masters Volume Two
Van Morrison Veedon Fleece

Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam: Great B-Sides

During sessions for their debut album Ten, bassist Jeff Ament...

The Definitive Charli XCX Album Ranking

British pop maverick has enjoyed her most successful album release...

Subscribe

Subscribe to receive new posts from Aphoristic Album Reviews.