National Health
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2008-07-14T21:54:58Z
85.59.64.108
[[es:National Health]]
{{otheruses|National Health Service}}
[[Image:National Health cover.jpg|frame|right|1977 album cover]]
'''National Health''' was a [[progressive rock]] band associated with the [[Canterbury scene]]. Founded in 1975 by keyboardists [[Dave Stewart (musician)|Dave Stewart]] (from [[Hatfield and the North]]) and [[Alan Gowen]] (from [[Gilgamesh (band)|Gilgamesh]]), the band also included guitarists [[Phil Miller]] and Phil Lee and bassist [[Mont Campbell]] as original members. The band was named after Stewart's [[National Health Service|National Health]] [[glasses]]. [[Bill Bruford]] (late of [[Yes (band)|Yes]]) was the initial drummer but was soon replaced by [[Pip Pyle]]. Campbell was replaced by [[Neil Murray (British musician)|Neil Murray]] and then [[John Greaves (musician)|John Greaves]].
A frequently changing lineup, toured extensively and released their first album, [[National Health (album)|National Health]] in [[1977]]. Although it was created during the rise of [[Punk rock|Punk]], the album is characterized by lengthy, mostly instrumental compositions. Their second record ''[[Of Queues and Cures]]'', which included [[Peter Blegvad]] (recitation on "Squarer For Maud") and [[Georgina Born|Georgie Born]] (cello), is currently held as the fourth best record ever (of 53,000 candidate records) on the Gnosis web site. After the May 1981 death of Gowen, remaining members reconvened to record the album ''D.S. Al Coda'', a set of compositions by Gowen, most previously unrecorded. The original albums and additional archival material have subsequently been released on CD.
== Discography ==
* ''[[National Health (album)|National Health]]'' (1977)
* ''[[Of Queues and Cures]]'' (1978)
* ''D.S. Al Coda'' (1982)
* ''Complete'' (1990; previous three studio albums plus two bonus tracks)
* ''Missing Pieces'' (1996; archival material largely from before ''National Health'')
* ''Playtime'' (2001; live recordings from 1979)
== External links ==
*[http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=257 National Health] at [http://www.progarchives.com/ Progarchives]
*[http://calyx.club.fr/nathealth/index.html Biography] at [http://calyx.club.fr/ Calyx Club]
*[http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andymurkin/Resources/MusicRes/Canterbury/NatHealth/NatHistory.html Discography]
*[http://www.gnosis2000.net/ Gnosis website]
[[Category:Canterbury sound]]
[[Category:Progressive rock groups]]
[[Category:Jazz fusion ensembles]]
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