Showing posts with label Moondog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moondog. Show all posts

May 26, 2021

20,000 vinyl LPs 293: Moondog

  ~      



Today is the birthday of Louis Thomas Hardin, aka Moondog, born on May 26, 1916, he was an American musician, composer, theoretician, poet and, as was Harry Partch, the inventor of several musical instruments from odd parts. He was blind from the age of 16.        

Although his music is symphonic, it ain't Johann Strauss! No frothy bon-bons here, however, there are touches of beauty and quiet to be found in his works. His music has been performed by major orchestras all over the world and he has influenced many artists.    


Moondog ~ Moondog
vinyl LP front cover 
cover photo by Don Hunstein
photo of album cover by Styrous®
         

Hardin lived in New York City from the late 1940s until 1972, and during this time he could often be found on 6th Avenue, between 52nd and 55th Streets, wearing a cloak and a horned helmet sometimes busking or selling music, but often just standing silently on the sidewalk. He was widely recognized as "the Viking of 6th Avenue" by thousands of passersby and residents who were not aware of his musical career.        
 
 
 
Moondog ~ Moondog
vinyl LP back cover 
cover photo by Don Hunstein
photo of album cover by Styrous®
 
 
Born to an Episcopalian family in Marysville, Kansas, United States, Hardin started playing a set of drums that he made from a cardboard box at the age of five. His family relocated to Wyoming and his father opened a trading post at Fort Bridger. He attended school in a couple of small towns. At one point, his father took him to an Arapaho Sun Dance where he sat on the lap of Chief Yellow Calf and played a tom-tom made from buffalo skin.      
 
Moondog is a gatefold album so that when it opens up, the front and back cover create a very large image . . . 
 
 
Moondog ~ Moondog
cover photo by Don Hunstein
photo of album cover by Styrous®
 
 
. . . and the interior of the album has the luxury of the traditional informational format with additional photos by Fred Lombardi whose images were also used on album covers for The Electric Flag, I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! by Janis Joplin, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. by Bruce Springsteen, The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions by Miles Davis, the Raspberries and many many others.  


Moondog ~ Moondog
vinyl LP gatefold interior
photos by Fred Lombardi
photo of gatefold interior by Styrous®
 
 
 
The music of Moondog
 
Some of the segments are preceded by short lines from his poetry. The opening, Theme, is a bouncy delightful venture with staccato strings, flute and what sounds like bongo drums (they aren't) followed by brass which all build to a grand finale. This is followed by the ponderous Stomping Grounds with tympani doing most of the stomping.   
 


Moondog ~ Moondog
vinyl LP gatefold interior details
photos by Fred Lombardi
detail photos of gatefold interior by Styrous®


                   
Symphonique #3 (Ode To Venus) is one of those beauty spots I mentioned earlier. The violin duet opening is right out of a Haydn music book. A delightful foray for strings, it is very lovely.   
 
Symphonique #6 (Good For Goodie) is a syncopated, jazzy and bouncy festival for reeds with trombone and tuba backup followed by brass. It could very well have been written in the heydays of Harlem.   
                      


Moondog ~ Moondog
vinyl LP gatefold interior details
detail photos of gatefold interior by Styrous®



Mini-Sym #1 is almost a continuation of Goodie at the beginning but after a minute or so, it settles into a fugue, slows down then starts up again into a fast and syncopated rhythm. A little later in the work, Bird's Lament revisits it.      




Although it is less than two minutes, Bird's Lament is a tour de force with its fast pace that is a sweet reed heaven with a syncopated and jazzy beat and a snare back up.                     
 




 
 
Witch Of Endor is delightful! The first movement is almost danceable; the second is mysterious with vibrato stings; the third is a plodding tune with oboe and clarinet swirling around each other while the strings create the drama then the whole orchestra joins in. The Finale is very slow and dramtic at first then it goes into the original dance with oboe and violin that are joined by bassoon then orchestra which all softly fade out. I would have liked it to have a definite end but then, I'm not the composer!        
 
 


 
 
 
 

 
Moondog ~ Moondog
vinyl LP, side 1
photos by Styrous®



 


Moondog ~ Moondog
vinyl LP, side 2
photos by Styrous®







 



   
Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Theme - 2:35
A2 - Stamping Ground - 2:36
A3 - Symphonique #3 (Ode To Venus) - 5:51
A4 - Symphonique #6 (Good For Goodie - 2:45
        Mini-Sym #1 - (5:45)

Side 2:

B1a - I - Allegro   
B1b - II - Andante Adagio   
B1c - II - Vivace   
B2 - Lament I, "Bird's Lament" - 1:42
        Witch Of Endor (6:29)
B3a        I - Dance   
B3b        II - Trio   
B3b1        A. Adagio (The Prophesy)   
B3b2        B. Andante (The Battle)   
B3b3        C. Agitato (Soul's Death)   
B3c        III - Dance (Reprise)   
B4 - Symphonique #1 (Portrait Of A Monarch) - 2:36

Companies, etc.

    Manufactured By – Columbia Records
    Produced For – Poseidon Productions (3)
    Pressed By – Columbia Records Pressing Plant, Pitman
    Printed By – Shorewood Packaging
    Published By – Archimedes Music
    Published By – Skiff Music Corp.
    Mastered At – Customatrix

Credits:

    Baritone Saxophone – Wally Kane
    Bass – Alfred Brown, George Duvivier, Louis Hardin, Ron Carter
    Bass Clarinet – Ernie Bright*
    Bass Trombone – Paul Faulise
    Bassoon – Don Macourt*, George Berg, Jack Knitzer, Joyce Kelly, Ryohei Nakagawa, Wally Kane
    Cello – Charles McCracken, George Ricci
    Clarinet – George Silfies, Jimmy Abato, Phil Bodner
    Composed By [All Selections], Liner Notes – Louis Hardin
    Contrabass – Joe Tekula
    Design [Album Design] – Ron Coro
    Engineer [Engineering] – Arthur Kendy, Fred Plaut
    English Horn – Henry Shuman*, Irving Horowitz
    Flugelhorn [Flügelhorn] – Joe Wilder
    Flute – Andrew Lolya, Harold Bennett
    French Horn – Brooks Tillotson, James Buffington*, Ray Alonge, Richard Berg (3)
    Percussion – Bob Rosengarden*, Dave Carey*, Elayne Jones, Jack Jennings
    Photography By [Cover] – Don Hunstein
    Photography By [Inside] – Fred Lombardi
    Piccolo Flute – Harold Jones (2), Hubert Laws
    Producer – James William Guercio
    Producer [Associate Producer For Poseidon Productions] – Alfred Brown
    Tenor Vocals [Tenore] – Eugene Becker, Raoul Poliakin
    Trombone [Tenor] – Buddy Morrow, Charles Small*, Tony Studd
    Trumpet – Alan Dean, Joe Wilder, Mel Broiles*, Teddy Weiss
    Trumpet [Bass] – Danny Repole
    Tuba – Bill Stanley, Don Butterfield
    Tuba [Tenor] – Bill Elton, Bill Stanley, John Swallow, Phil Giardina
    Viola – David Schwartz, Emanuel Vardi, Eugene Becker, Raoul Poliakin
    Violin – Aaron Rosand, Paul Gershman

Notes:

 Original pressing on the grey 2-eye label. In Unipak gatefold cover.

There was no specific promo pressing of this LP, but promotional copies of this pressing were sent out with radio timing stickers on front or a small sticker at bottom-left stating "For Demonstration Use Only Not For Sale".

All copyrights are administered by Archimedes Music (ASCAP), a Division of James William Guerico Enterprises, Inc., except Theme (Archimedes Music/Skiff Music Corp. [ASCAP]).
Cover photo/inside photos: Columbia Records Photo Studio
Printed in U.S.A.
 
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Rights Society: ASCAP
    Other (Library of Congress catalog card number): R72-750723
    Matrix / Runout (Side A, stamped, variant 1): XSM150716-1A
    Matrix / Runout (Side B, stamped, variant 1): XSM150717-1A
    Matrix / Runout (Side A, stamped, variant 2): XSM150716-1B
    Matrix / Runout (Side B, stamped, variant 2): XSM150717-1B
    Matrix / Runout (Side A, stamped, variant 3): XSM150716-1A p o
    Matrix / Runout (Side B, stamped, variant 3): XSM150717-1D p C3 o    
 
Moondog (2) – Moondog
Label: Columbia Masterworks – MS 7335
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold - UNIPAK
Country: US
Released: 1969
Genre: Jazz, Classical
Style: Big Band, Contemporary
 

         
Viewfinder links:        
         
Ron Carter         
Miles Davis        
Janis Joplin           
Moondog        
Harry Partch        
Raspberries                 
Bruce Springsteen        
        
Net links:        
        
ACBA ~ The Story of Moondog by Andy Warhol        
The Viking of 6th Avenue         
         
        
YouTube links:        
        
Moondog ~             
     Theme (Instrumental)    
     Lament I, "Bird's Lament"     
     Witch Of Endor         
        
        
         
        
        



"The human race is going to die in 4/4 time."
                     ~ Louis Thomas Hardin
        
         
        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Sunday, July 19, 2020       
       
















 

Raspberries articles/mentions

  ~        
      
     
 Moondog    
     
      
     
      
     
     
     
      
Raspberries     
photo: Michael Ochs Archives      
     
      
     
      
     
      
     
      
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Harry Partch articles/mentions

  ~ 
     
           
mentions:      
Gray Loft Gallery ~ Other Music & Crime  
Pamela Z ~ A Secret Code        
      
     
          
     
      
Harry Partch - 1944    
photographer unknown     
     
      
     
      
     
      
     
      
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



Ron Carter articles/mentions

 ~      
     
    
    
Arif Mardin ~ Glass Onion       



       
       
     
    
      
     
    
       
        
      
Ron Carter
date & photographer unknown
   
  
         
   
  
 













May 24, 2021

Moondog articles/mentions

   ~         
      
     
     
      
     
mentions:      
Pamela Z ~ A Secret Code        
      
     
     
      
     
     
     
      
Moondog     
date & photographer unknown     
     
      
     
      
     
      
     
      
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

November 25, 2020

Pamela Z ~ A Secret Code: A Concert of Music for Voice and Electronics

 ~      
Pamela Z  ~ A Secret Code
screenshot by Styrous®
 
 
What would be the result if you rolled up Meredith Monk, Joan La Barbara, Leontyne Price, Moondog, Yma Sumac, Nina Hagen, John Cage, Pauline Oliveros and Nico then threw in a touch of the humor of Whoopie Goldberg? I would imagine a performance artist by the name of Pamela Z!        
 
To watch her in action is to hear and see a sonic/visual wonder. I've seen her a few times, the first was about twenty years ago (YIKES!) at Project Artaud, and I had that pleasure again a few days ago in the privacy of my very own studio when she performed on line with her production of A Secret Code. I could have watched in my PJs but opted instead for a t-shirt, sweat pants and slippers; how much more comfortable can you get? I took some photos of my computer screen during her performance.    

 
Pamela Z  ~ A Secret Code
photo by Styrous®
 
 
She has an exquisite voice of operatic quality and uses it to the best advantage along with electronic augmentation and manipulations as demonstrated in her work Badagada (YouTube link below). The electronics she uses are quite fascinating as well, right out of 50's Sci-Fi.     

She is not just a sound artist, however, she has a keen sense of the visual aspects of what she is doing. This was demonstrated quite nicely in the piece she calls, Blink. When she started Blink I thought she was holding a mirror which was reflecting someone in the studio there with her then realized she was holding an iPad or tablet which was set in selfie mode and I was actually seeing parts of her face; a terrific mind bending shift of perception.     


 
Pamela Z  ~ Blink above & below
photos by Styrous®
 


After the performance Pamela talked about her processes and the electronic devices she uses and answered question from members of the "audience". The devices operated in a manner similar to the theremin in that movement is involved without actually touching them, however, the similarity ends there. They are far more sophisticated in that it is not only movement but the shape of her hands and other elements that determine the sound, pitch, key and tone emitted. She has an amazing array of sound generating gadgets. Two of them were on plastic bands that fit around the palms of her hands.    
 
 
Pamela Z  ~ A Secret Code
photo by Styrous®

 
She processes/samples multiple versions of her voice on the spot and loops/modifies each version then sings, vocalizes or reads in harmony with them using a computer modular program, MAX MSP, the same program Tom White used in his Butohdrawing performances on Cyprus in 2000, with Betty Jo Costanzo.    
 
She uses blocks of prefabricated sound blocks she creates but then ad libs as the occasion requires; sometimes one work may sound the same at times, sometimes not. This happened during the show when one of the apparatus did not work. She explained that the programming is sensitive to the lighting; there was some kind of light in the studio that blocked it. She had to substitute with another work.   
 
She doesn't just sing/vocalize she also does her magic while reading. She spoke words, processed them then, when she had what she wanted, she began reading while they played. I found this totally amazing as I cannot read anything if there is someone talking or something going on. To be able to focus like that was fascinating.      


Pamela Z  ~ A Secret Code
photo by Styrous®

 
She did a piece with one of her electronics where she was dictating while typing a letter to a pen pal with total ancient typewriter sounds and movements. It as well as some of the works she did for this performance are parts of the solo voice & electronics piece on YouTube (link below).  


 
Pamela Z  ~ Typewriter above & below
photos by Styrous®
 

 
At one point she walked off camera and returned with her hair messed up! I figured something must be up so I just decided to wait before passing judgment. I was focusing on the sounds she was making but after a few seconds it dawned on me she had put sensors in her hair and they were lighting up. That was a great surprise!
 
 
Pamela Z  ~ Hairlight
photo by Styrous®
 
 
She ended the program with a sparse yet intricate work entitled Other Rooms that sent shivers down my spine and made the hair on my arms stand up!   


Pamela Z  ~ Other Rooms
photo by Styrous®

 
All in all it was a pretty wonderful experience that I will remember for many years to come. Well done, Pamela!!!!!        
 
 
She was kind enough to sent the Set List for the evening to me: 
 
Flare Stains
Typewriter
Declaratives
Broom
Syrinx
Blink
Quatre Couches
Badagada
Pop Titles ‘You’
Breathing  (from Carbon Song Cycle)
Unknown Person (from Baggage Allowance)
Hairlight
Other Rooms

 
The event was Sponsored by Douglass Residential College, a part of Rutgers University, and the Music Department of Mason Gross.      
      
             
Viewfinder links:     
       
Robert Ashley         
Nina Hagen       
Joan La Barbara          
Alvin Lucier        
Meredith Monk       
Leontyne Price       
Morton Subotnick        
Tom White      
Pamela Z     
     
Net links:     
      
Douglass Residential College             
Mason Gross         
SF Classical Voice ~ The Omnivorous Mind of Pamela Z        
     
YouTube links:     
      
Badagada     
Breathing     
The ROOM Series     
solo voice & electronics (9 mins., 36 secs.)    
Typewriter 1      
      
       
      
Brava, Pamela!
      
      
 
      
      
      
      
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, November 25, 2020     
     
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     

May 8, 2019

20,000 vinyl LPs 182: The Beatles ~ Let it Be á la Laibach

~
On May 8, 1970, the Beatles album Let it Be was released. Eighteen years later, on October 24, 1988, the Slovenian avant-garde music group, Laibach did an album of covers of Beatles songs, entitled, Let It Be.   


vinyl LP album front cover 
painting by IRWIN
photo by Styrous®


The music was in the Laibach style with military rhythms and choirs, however, a few tracks deviate from this formula, most notably Across the Universe. Maggie Mae is replaced by the German folk song Auf der Lüneburger Heide in combination with Was gleicht wohl auf Erden. One After 909 includes a small piece of Smoke on the Water, originally written and recorded by Deep Purple.    

Ironically, the song Let It Be is actually not covered on the album; why this is is a mystery to me. I have researched for the reason but have found nothing about this.   

              
vinyl LP album front cover detail
painting by IRWIN
detail photo by Styrous®


Across the Universe is dreamy and quiet, totally unlike anything Laibach usually does. It is a beautiful interpretation with the Germania, Opus Dei Choir singing the lyrics with what sounds like a harmonium and harpsichord accompaniment. It is exquisite! Of course, Milan Fras has the "final word," so to speak, with the last note.   

John first thought about the phrase in the song, "Words are flowing out like endless raining through a paper cup", while listening to his first wife Cynthia blabbering away "endlessly". However, he later on expanded on this phrase and added Hindu spirituality within the lyrics and completed the song.  
              

vinyl LP album front cover detail
painting by IRWIN
detail photo by Styrous®


Maggie May (or Maggie Mae) (Roud 1757) is a traditional Liverpool folk song about a prostitute who robbed a "homeward bounder": a sailor coming home from a round trip. At 39 seconds long, it is the second-shortest song released on an official Beatles album, but the cover by Laibach is almost four minutes long. It is a fast strident march with a heavy military flavor typical of the group.         


vinyl LP album back cover
photo by Styrous®


I Me Mine is an agonizingly slow and sinister waltz but it fits the original concept by its writer, George Harrison. it was the last new track recorded by the Beatles before their split in April 1970. The song originated from the Get Back/Let It Be sessions in January 1969, and its lyrics serve as a comment from Harrison on the fractious situation within the group at that time. The song's musical mood alternates between waltz-time verses, during which Harrison laments the ego problems afflicting the group, and choruses played in the hard rock style.      


vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®


For You Blue is a moderately fast aggressive instrumental sounding like a Hollywood version of a Roman march, trumpets and orchestra with an organ overlay. Based on Crescent Moon March by Moondog until four minutes into the work with a quiet but still fast tempo glockenspiel accompanied by tinkly bells.         


vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®


The front cover has a painting by IRWIN, a collective of Slovenian artists, primarily painters, and an original founding member of Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK).      


Laibach ~ Let It Be
painting by IRWIN 
vinyl LP album front cover detail

In 1983, the artists Dušan Mandič, Miran Mohar, Andrej Savski, Roman Uranjek, and Borut Vogelnik, coming from the punk and graffiti scene in Ljubljana, formed an artistic group and called it Rrose Irwin Sélavy. This name had a reference to Marcel Duchamp, who used “Rrose Sélavy” (like eros c’est la vie) as one of his feminine pseudonyms. The group shortened the name to R Irwin S. In 1984, the group co-founded a larger collective known as Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK). Acting as the fine arts wing of the group, they joined the musical group Laibach, and the Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre group. Soon after the formation of the larger collective, R Irwin S changed its name to simply Irwin.           

In 1987, IRWIN, Novi Kolektivizem and Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre were involved in one of the greatest art scandals in the history of Yugoslavia when they proposed a poster, based on a Nazi kunst poster, for the celebration of the Youth Day, The anniversary of the birth of Tito. In the history of art, this scandal is known as the Poster Scandal. In 2012, D'Art Documentaries Production is to release a 1-hour documentary about the scandal, entitled The Fine Art of Mirroring.        


vinyl LP album back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®



vinyl LP record, side 1
detail photo by Styrous®


vinyl LP record label, side 1
detail photo by Styrous®



 
vinyl LP record, side 2
detail photo by Styrous®


vinyl LP record label, side 2
detail photo by Styrous®


Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Get Back   
A2 - Two Of Us   
A3 - Dig A Pony   
A4 - I Me Mine, written by George Harrison
A5 - Across The Universe, Featuring – Germania, Opus Dei Choir

Side 2:
   
A6 - Dig It   
B1 - I’ve Got A Feeling   
B2 - The Long And Winding Road   
B3 - One After 909   
B4 - For You Blue, written by George Harrison
B5 - Maggie Mae (Auf Der Luneburger Heide & Was Gleicht Wohl Auf Erden), Arranged By – Laibach – Traditional

   
Companies, etc.

    Phonographic Copyright (p) – Mute Records Ltd.
    Copyright (c) – Mute Records Ltd.
    Recorded At – Studio Tivoli, Ljubljana
    Mixed At – Studio Tivoli, Ljubljana
    Published By – Northern Songs
    Published By – Harrisongs
    Mastered At – P.R. Records Limited
    Lacquer Cut At – The Exchange

Credits:

    Arranged By – Laibach
    Design – New Collectivism Studio
    Layout – Slim Smith (2)
    Painting – Irwin (2)
    Plated By – P (29)
    Recorded By, Mixed By – Iztok Turk, Janez Križaj
    Written-By – Lennon/McCartney* (tracks: A1 to A3, A5 to B3)

Notes:

All songs by Lennon/McCartney Northern Songs
except A4 + B4 George Harrisson pub. Harrisongs
and B5 Trad. arr. Laidback
(Auf Der Luneburger Heide & Was Gleicht Wohl Auf Erden)
Made in Great Brritain

℗ 1988 Mute Records Limited
© 1988 Mute Records Limited

The release was plated at P.R. Records Limited.
Some copies contain limited edition print.
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Barcode: 5016025310586
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A): STUMM 58 AI The Exchange PR-P
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side B): STUMM 58 BI PR-P

Laibach ‎– Let It Be
Label: Mute ‎– STUMM 58
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Released: 1988
Genre: Electronic
Style: Industrial

            

Viewfinder links: 

Laibach  
The Rolling Stones                 
      
Net links: 

Laibach website
The Quietus ~ The Strange World Of Laibach        
The Vinyl District ~ Laibach, Let It Be          
The Fine Art of Mirroring      
      
YouTube links: 

Laibach - 
         Get Back           
         Two Of Us       
         I Me Mine       
         Across The Universe Official Video     
         Maggie Mae        


         
"The Future is not what it used to be." 
                      ~ Laibach
           
     
     
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, May 8, 2019