T.Rex (March 23 1973) - Tanx Album: UK
Updated: Oct 5
Format: LP • Vinyl • Album • Cassette • 8‑Track Cartridge • Reel‑to‑Reel • Promo Editions • International Variants
Label: T. Rex — BLN 5002
Country: UK
Release Date: 23 March 1973
Genre: Glam Rock • Psychedelic Soul Style: Post‑Slider glam with soul, funk, gospel and mellotron‑driven arrangements
Overview
“Tanx is a 1973 album by English rock band T. Rex… released on 16 March by record label EMI.” “Tanx was a musical departure from previous works… Bolan showed his interest for soul music, funk and gospel.”
Recorded between August and December 1972, Tanx marks the moment where Marc Bolan begins to pivot away from the glitter‑rock immediacy of Electric Warrior and The Slider toward a denser, more soulful palette. Despite T. Rex’s enormous popularity, the album arrived during a period of press speculation about Bolan’s “slipping crown,” and its lack of a hit single (notably excluding “20th Century Boy”) gave it a more introspective, album‑centric identity.
The result is one of Bolan’s most musically varied works: lush mellotron, gospel‑inflected choruses, funk‑leaning rhythms, and confessional ballads sit alongside classic T. Rex stompers.
Overview
“Tanx is a 1973 album by English rock band T. Rex… released on 16 March by record label EMI.” “Tanx was a musical departure from previous works… Bolan showed his interest for soul music, funk and gospel.”
Recorded between August and December 1972, Tanx marks the moment where Marc Bolan begins to pivot away from the glitter‑rock immediacy of Electric Warrior and The Slider toward a denser, more soulful palette. Despite T. Rex’s enormous popularity, the album arrived during a period of press speculation about Bolan’s “slipping crown,” and its lack of a hit single (notably excluding “20th Century Boy”) gave it a more introspective, album‑centric identity.
What the Sleeve Shows
Designed by John Kosh, the sleeve uses a tank motif inspired by the album’s title. The front cover photograph by Peter Howe shows Bolan straddling a toy tank, feather boa draped over his shoulders, the barrel pointed directly outward — a playful yet confrontational image.
The UK LP included a free fold‑out black‑and‑white poster featuring a variant pose. The back cover mixes Mike Putland live/backstage photographs with neon red and blue tank illustrations. The inner sleeve features turquoise ground with repeated tank graphics — notably, Tanx was the first Bolan album without a lyric sheet.
The result is one of Bolan’s most musically varied works: lush mellotron, gospel‑inflected choruses, funk‑leaning rhythms, and confessional ballads sit alongside classic T. Rex stompers.
Track Listing — Side A
Tenement Lady — 2:55
Rapids — 2:48
Mister Mister — 3:29
Broken Hearted Blues — 2:02
Shock Rock — 1:43
Country Honey — 1:47
Electric Slim and the Factory Hen — 3:03
Track Listing — Side B
Mad Donna — 2:16
Born to Boogie — 2:04
Life Is Strange — 2:30
The Street and Babe Shadow — 2:18
Highway Knees — 2:34
Left Hand Luke and the Beggar Boys — 5:18
(All tracks written by Marc Bolan.)
Personnel
T. Rex Marc Bolan — vocals, guitar
Mickey Finn — conga, hand percussion, vocals
Steve Currie — bass
Bill Legend — drums
Additional Personnel
Flo & Eddie — backing vocals
Tony Visconti — mellotron, string arrangements, backing vocals, recorder, producer
Howard Casey — saxophone
The album features:
Mellotron (Visconti)
Saxophone (Howard Casey)
Prominent piano (Bernard Arcadio)
Uncredited female gospel backing vocals on “Left Hand Luke”
Slide guitar by Bolan on several tracks
Recording Notes
Recorded 1 August – 3 December 1972 at Château d'Hérouville (Strawberry Studios), with overdubs at AIR Studios. Early sessions produced “Life Is Strange,” “Highway Knees,” “Born to Boogie,” and non‑album singles “Children of the Revolution,” “Jitterbug Love,” “Free Angel,” and “Solid Gold Easy Action.”
October sessions yielded the core Tanx material: “Tenement Lady,” “Rapids,” “Mister Mister,” “Broken Hearted Blues,” “Country Honey,” “Mad Donna,” “The Street and Babe Shadow,” “Left Hand Luke.”
On 3 December 1972, during a Far East tour, the band recorded “20th Century Boy,” “Electric Slim and the Factory Hen,” and “Shock Rock” at Toshiba Studios, Tokyo. A 31 December master originally included “20th Century Boy,” but it was removed on 8 January — leaving Tanx without a single.
Chart Performance
UK Albums: #4 (12 weeks in Top 75; first chart date 31/03/1973) Germany: #3 (Year‑end #21) Norway: #5 Australia: #21 US Billboard 200: #102
Albums Chronology
The Slider — 1972
Tanx — 1973
Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow — 1974
Singles Featured on This Album
No singles were issued from Tanx.
Key contemporary non‑album singles from the sessions include:
Children of the Revolution (1972)
Solid Gold Easy Action (1972)
20th Century Boy (1973)
Jitterbug Love, Sunken Rags, Free Angel — B‑sides / session tracks
UK Variants
LP, Album, Stereo
T. Rex — BLN 5002 / 0C 062 • 94187 — UK, 1973
8‑Track Cartridge, Album
EMI — 8X‑BLN 5002 / 0C 346 • 94187 — UK, 1973
Cassette, Album
EMI — TC‑BLN 5002 — UK, 1973
EMI — TC‑BLN 5002 / 0C 244 • 94187 — UK, 1973 (multiple cassette credit variants)
International Variants
Australia
LP, Album — T. Rex — BLN 5002 — 1973
Cassette, Album, Stereo — EMI — TC‑BLN‑5002 — 1973
Austria / Germany / Spain
LP, Album — Ariola — 86 645 IT / 86 645 I / 86.645‑I — 1973
Cassette, Album — Ariola — 54 416 DT / D 54.416 — 1973
Canada
LP, Album, Unipak — Reprise — MS 2132 — 1973
8‑Track Cartridge — Reprise — 8RM‑2132 — 1973
Cassette, Album, Stereo — Reprise — CRX‑2132 — 1973
Japan
LP, Album, Stereo / Promo — Odeon — EOP‑80777 — 1973
Cassette, Album — Odeon — EOZA‑3304 — 1973
US
LP, Album (standard, Pitman, Santa Maria, Terre Haute pressings) — Reprise — MS 2132 — 1973
8‑Track Cartridge — Reprise — M8 2132 — 1973
Cassette, Album — Reprise — M5 2132 — 1973
Reel‑to‑Reel, 7½ ips, 4‑Track Stereo — Reprise — RST 2132‑C — 1973
Other territories (examples)
Italy — LP, Album — T. Rex — 3C 064‑94187; cassette and 8‑track on Columbia
New Zealand — LP & Cassette — T. Rex — BLN 5002 / TC‑BLN 5002
South Africa — LP, Album — T. Rex — BLN 5002
Yugoslavia — LP, Album — Jugoton — LSEMI‑70540 / T. Rex — bln 5002
Sources
Discogs 45cat Wikipedia Original UK LP Tanx (BLN 5002) — sleeve, poster, inner sleeve, label documentation International discography (Australia, Europe, Japan, US, etc.) Official UK chart archives Session notes and reissue documentation (Left Hand Luke, The Tanx Recordings) Contemporary reviews: NME, Record Mirror, Sounds, Creem, Rolling Stone
© Copyright Notice
All album artwork, photographs, and original text excerpts remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This Chronicle entry is a transformative, non‑commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference. No ownership of the original material is claimed or implied.
Comments