Country Airs
Country Airs | ||||
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Studio album by Rick Wakeman | ||||
Released | 1 April 1986[1] | |||
Studio | Herne Place, Sunningdale | |||
Genre | Instrumental | |||
Length | 38:13 | |||
Label | Coda President (1992 edition) | |||
Producer | Rick Wakeman | |||
Rick Wakeman chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
![]() Front of the 1992 re-recorded edition | ||||
Country Airs is a studio album by English keyboardist Rick Wakeman. It was released in 1986 by Coda Records,[2] and features piano instrumentals inspired by the countryside. The album marked a stylistic shift in Wakeman's output, having established himself primarily with progressive rock, concept albums, and commercial-oriented music at the start of the 1980s.
The album reached number one on the UK New Age chart. It was followed by two sequels, Sea Airs and Night Airs, released in 1989 and 1990, respectively for President Records. A re-recording with four new compositions was released in 1992, also published by President. Wakeman later revealed that he regretted this version, doing it only because Coda had gone bankrupt, and refused to sell him the rights to the original.[3] The 1992 edition features Wakeman playing a digital piano, rather than an acoustic one.
In 2017, the album was re-issued on CD as "Country Airs - The Original Version" with the original recordings, plus two bonus tracks.
Track listing
Original LP
Side one
- "Dandelion Dreams" – 4:13
- "Stepping Stones" – 3:49
- "Ducks and Drakes" – 3:57
- "Morning Haze" – 3:05
- "Waterfalls" – 3:59
Side two
- "Quiet Valleys" – 4:24
- "Nature Trails" – 3:23
- "Heather Carpets" – 4:01
- "Lakeland Walks" – 3:58
- "Wild Moors" – 3:24
1992 CD
- "Lakeland Walks" – 3:50
- "Wild Moors" – 3:59
- "Harvest Festival" – 3:12
- "The Glade" – 2:53
- "Dandelion Dreams" – 5:35
- "Ducks and Drakes" – 3:58
- "Green to Gold" – 3:19
- "Stepping Stones" – 5:10
- "Morning Haze" – 4:03
- "Waterfalls" – 5:33
- "The Spring" – 3:47
- "Quiet Valleys" – 6:00
- "Nature Trails" – 4:07
- "Heather Carpets" – 3:44
2017 CD reissue ("The Original Version")
- "Dandelion Dreams" – 4:12
- "Stepping Stones" – 3:46
- "Ducks and Drakes" – 3:55
- "Morning Haze" – 3:06
- "Waterfalls" – 3:55
- "Quiet Valleys" – 4:22
- "Nature Trails" – 3:20
- "Heather Carpets" – 3:58
- "Lakeland Walks" – 3:54
- "Wild Moors" – 3:24
- "Sunrise To Sunset" - 3:10
- "Sunset To Sunrise" - 5:26
Personnel
- Rick Wakeman – grand piano, production
External links
- Country Airs - The Original Version (2017 reissue).
References
- v
- t
- e
- Piano Vibrations
- The Six Wives of Henry VIII
- The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
- No Earthly Connection
- Rick Wakeman's Criminal Record
- Rhapsodies
- 1984
- Rock 'n' Roll Prophet
- Cost of Living
- Silent Nights
- Country Airs
- The Family Album
- Time Machine
- Sea Airs
- Night Airs
- Classic Tracks
- Rick Wakeman's Greatest Hits
- Light Up The Sky
- The Seven Wonders of the World
- Return to the Centre of the Earth
- Christmas Variations
- Out There
- Piano Portraits
- Piano Odyssey
- Christmas Portraits
- The Red Planet
- Lisztomania
- White Rock
- Phantom Power
- Journey to the Centre of the Earth
- Live at Hammersmith
- The Six Wives of Henry VIII: Live at Hampton Court Palace