/ Bennett original "Second Production" and an instrumental that "As Close As We Can Get It", due to Paramor's insistence that the track should last two and a half minutes (the instrumental ran to 2 minutes 28 seconds - hence the title). However, Decca decided that the recordings were insufficiently commercial, and declined to sign the band. Without record company support, the Span took matters into their own hands, privately funding a single that appeared on 16 February 1968 on the Jewel label – a new Melodisc subsidiary run by Emil Shallit. The two tracks "Children of Tomorrow" and "Concerto of Thoughts" were recorded at R.G. Jones studio in Morden. The single was pressed in a quantity of 500 copies and now acknowledged by psychedelic collectors. However, publicity both at home and abroad brought a cameo appearance in the film, Better A Widow, successful tours of Germany and Belgium, a support appearance with Cream in the UK, jamming with Jimi Hendrix at the Speakeasy (Bennett was so nervous at the prospect of performing with his idol that he dropped his plectrum), and the performance of a 20-minute science fiction fantasy entitled "Cycle" at London’s 100 Club. Following a session for the John Peel's Top Gear programme in May 1968, the Span was chosen as the featured group in a BBC Television series produced by documentary film-maker Paul Watson, called A Year In The Life. The episode charted the band's progress over twelve months. Along the way they dismissed their manager and, thanks to a series of demonstration recordings reaching Clive Selwood, head of the UK branch of Elektra Records, the Span was duly signed to the label early in 1969. In the United States, label boss Jac Holzman immediately commissioned an album, but insisted on a change of name for the group. Leviathan Rechristened Leviathan, Elektra launched their recording career in April 1969, with the simultaneous issue of two singles. Three of the chosen tracks - "Remember The Times", "Second Production" and "Time" had been initially been conceived as Span recordings, and the newly composed "The War Machine" completed the quartet. Elektra's media campaign was titled 'The Four Faces of Leviathan'. Despite the commercial failure of both singles, work continued on the band's album at Trident Studios. As a taster for the LP, a further single coupling "Flames" and "Just Forget Tomorrow" was recorded in the summer. By the time