Renaissance

Renaissance started out in 1969 as a Yardbirds afterlife: singer Keith Relf and drummer Jim McCarty wanted something with classical blood in its veins, and brought in John Hawken, Louis Cennamo and Relf's sister Jane to build it. Relf, whose favourite piece of music was Pachelbel's Canon, pushed hardest in that direction. The self-titled debut came out that year, but the band came apart while making Illusion (1971), fresh players were drafted in to finish it, and the personnel kept churning until not one founder was left, though McCarty went on supplying songs for years.

By 1973 the classic lineup had settled: Annie Haslam singing, with Michael Dunford, John Tout, Jon Camp and Terry Sullivan, and the Cornish poet Betty Thatcher writing many of the words. Here's the sound: Haslam's voice soaring across a huge range, piano rippling up front, orchestras and harmonies swelling behind, and classical, folk, rock and jazz poured into one elegant stream. Ashes Are Burning, with "Carpet of the Sun" and its title track, and Turn of the Cards, home of the grand, brooding "Mother Russia", are where it all comes together.

America loved them more than home did. They built a cult following there, released seven studio albums between 1972 and 1979, and sold out Carnegie Hall three nights running with the New York Philharmonic, while "Northern Lights" finally gave them a UK top 10 hit in 1978. The '80s were rougher, and the band folded in 1987; a reunion produced Tuscany in 2001 before a second split, and Haslam and Dunford revived the name in 2009. Dunford died in 2012, and the band played its farewell tour in 2024.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.