English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield began writing Tubular Bells at the tender age of 17, over 50 years ago. It was the first record on Richard Branson’s newly founded Virgin label.
Oldfield’s album was unique at the time, using an eclectic combination of sounds, instruments, and recording speeds. Oldfield played most of the instruments himself, laboriously overdubbing and creating layer after layer. No synthesizers were used, only bells, guitars, keys and various other acoustic instruments. Some say Oldfield’s experimental style paved the way for new age music while also being influential in the progressive rock scene.
Most of Tubular Bells was composed on an old piano. Oldfield explained, “When I lived in Harold Wood, Redden Court Road, my grandma came to live with us. She was a pub pianist in the days when pubs were nice places, and people would go along for singalongs and could smoke. She brought her old piano to ours. It had a lovely vibe to it. Most of Tubular Bells was written on that piano.”
Oldfield reflected on the recording process, saying that: “The sound quality is actually great, and the most amazing thing about it was that it was all first take. Nobody, myself included, would dream of doing that now.”
He also described the whole experience as healing. “It was the only time I felt sane and vaguely happy,” he said. “I suppose it describes in a nutshell the anguish of teenagerhood, which most people can relate to. It personifies all that.”
“The Top of the Morning” is a popular track from Oldfield’s Tubular Bells III album which was released a couple decades later, in 1998. This third album of the series incorporated electronic music and did use synthesizers in some of the recordings.
Although the album was the least popular of the three, “The Top of the Morning” remains a favorite amongst Oldfield fans. Its driving rhythm, beautifully nostalgic melody and bell-like tones make this piece mesmerizing.