Gong came into being almost by accident in the late sixties when Daevid Allen was refused entry back into Britain following European dates with Soft Machine. Deciding to stay in Paris Allen began working alongside Gilli Smyth and various musicians on what would eventually be recognised as Gong.

The first recognised recordings from the band were Magick Brother, Mystic Sister in 1970 followed by albums such as Camembert Electrique, Flying Teapot, Angels Egg and You. These last three albums followed the fortunes of Zero the Hero and told the tale of the pothead pixies and was told over the course of the next three albums and became the Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy. This mythological story was extremely popular and the resultant albums sold exceptionally well however following the departure of core members Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Steve Hillage citing the age old musical differences reason for leaving the band Gong moved in a more jazz oriented direction with the addition of Allan Holdsworth alongside Pierre Moerlen and Didier Malherbe. Allen, Smyth and Hillage have all recorded as solo artists and Smyth subsequently formed the offshoot Mother Gong. Occasionally the three have re united as was seen by the release of the live Gong album recorded in 1977.

Various permutations of Gong have worked together over the years under various names including Mother Gong, Expresso Gong, Gongmaison, Planet Gong and so on and so forth and also included an amazing array of musical talent moving through the ranks. Some versions of the band have Daevid Allen on board and others do not however over recent years Daevid has once again become the leading light and inspiration behind the very fluid Gong concept that began over thirty years ago.

Sixty Minutes With Gong is a compilation of tracks drawn from the staggeringly diverse Gong catalogue of releases and features performances from many different line ups and eras all of which however feature the astounding talent of Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth alongside such exceptional musicians as Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle Tim Blake and Mike Howlett to name just a few.

We delve back to the early days of Gong from the album Histories and Mysteries of Planet Gong and from that album we have featured the track Opium For The People. From there it is right back up to the present from the last Gong album Acid Motherhood and the track Supercotton and Brainwash Me which also feature members of the Japanese band Acid Mothers Temple. We feature three well known tracks including the hypnotic Iaom Riff from the bands live album recorded to celebrate their twenty fifth anniversary. Finally we have a track from the 2006 album I Am Your Egg which is essentially a Mother Gong album led by the enigmatic Gilli Smyth. From that album we feature the track Melting Love.

Whichever era of Gong you are a fan of there will always be perhaps something you missed and perhaps this compilation will inspire you to track down some of the albums featured on this album from the ever evolving musical concept that is GONG!