Master Of The Universe

Album: In Search of Space (1971)
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Songfacts®:

  • This track from the 1971 In Search Of Space album sounds substantially different and blistering when played live, but Hawkwind were always a live band first and foremost. It is also the subject of some controversy.

    The first track on side 2 of the album, it runs 6:17 and is credited to Dave Brock and Nik Turner, but according to the 2004 Carol Clark biography The Saga Of Hawkwind, bass player Dave Anderson claims to have co-written it:

    "That's the most popular song I've ever written... After 30 years of being told I didn't write it, it's funny that they've never come up with anything like it."

    Though controversial, this is hardly new, indeed big names from Chuck Berry to George Harrison have been accused of ripping off, plagiarizing, stealing and failing to credit others for their contributions for all manner of reasons. At one time, people would even sell songs, not just the rights but the credits as well. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England

Comments: 2

  • Cress Lucid from PortugalNik Turner, who i knew in his latter years, was the man, the energy and soul of the hawk saga which is now a space ritualised space falcon. r.i.p the thing about nik and the other founders that left the hawk band of Brock , they saw it as a spiritual community project , the whole space ritual was a ritual and Brock saw dollars instead, that is what split that line up, but Nik and Mik Slatterly and Terry Ollis and others carried on as space ritual and the project was ongoing, right up to Niks death last week (Nov 2022), 82 and still gigging and giving, he was and still is the master of the universe and brought healing and love in all he did, musically and socially a true hero and lovely legend
  • George from Vancouver, CanadaSounds like Black Sabbath sampled some of this song's guitar for their Sabbath Bloody Sabbath album.
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