In Praise of Learning

In Praise of Learning is a studio album by British avant-rock group Henry Cow, recorded at Virgin Records' Manor studios in February and March 1975, and released in May 1975. On this album, Henry Cow had expanded to include members of Slapp Happy, who had merged with the group after the two had collaborated on Desperate Straights in 1974. The merger ended after recording In Praise of Learning when Peter Blegvad and Anthony Moore from Slapp Happy left the group. Content In Praise of Learning was Henry Cow's most overtly political album. Printed on the back of the album cover is filmmaker John Grierson's quote "Art is not a mirror – it is a hammer", and the Tim Hodgkinson 16-minute composition "Living in the Heart of the Beast" made explicit the band's left-wing political leanings, with Dagmar Krause's powerful voice adding a new dimension to their music. The Moore/Blegvad song "War" was first recorded as "War (Is Energy Enslaved)" by Slapp Happy with session musicians in May 1974, but was not released. It was re-recorded during the making of the first Slapp Happy/Henry Cow collaborative album, Desperate Straights, but was held back for release on In Praise of Learning. Moore later rearranged the song for his 1979 solo album, Flying Doesn't Help. "War" was also covered by The Fall on their 1994 album, Middle Class Revolt. "Living in the Heart of the Beast" began as an unfinished instrumental that Hodgkinson presented to the group, which was cut up and performed live in 1974 with improvisational sections added. One such performance, Halsteren, was recorded in Halsteren in September 1974, and appears in Volume 2: 1974–5 of The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set (2009). After the merger with Slapp Happy, Hodgkinson commissioned Blegvad to write lyrics for the piece for Krause to sing. But after several attempts, Blegvad admitted that he was "out of [his] depth", and Hodgkinson wrote the lyrics himself. Chris Cutler's lyrics on "Beautiful as the Moon – Terrible as an Army with Banners" were the first song texts he had written, and the song was the first writing collaboration between Cutler and Fred Frith that later grew into Art Bears. The song also became the longest lasting "building block" the band used in subsequent live performances.