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PROGRAM EPISODE: ROCK THE CLASSICS

PROGRAM NOTES

In today’s VINYL VIBRATIONS podcast, I tour LP records from the 1960s and 1970s where the rock or pop artist is performing classical music, or giving a new dimension to classical music. These performances are found on Vinyl LP and today’s show is called ROCK THE CLASSICS ! We will hear from Frank Zappa, Blood Sweat & Tears, Jethro Tull, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Deodato, Steely Dan, today … on ROCK THE CLASSICS.

INTRO to ROCK THE CLASSICS (narrate only the names of the groups)

Today we hear ROCK THE CLASSICS …  we will hear…

• Zappa entertain us with time riddles from Stravinsky
• Wendy Carlos reinvents a Cantata from JS Bach, 
• Blood Sweat & Tears soothes us….with music from Erik Satie
• Jethro Tull and a jazz rendition of a dance from JS Bach
• Emerson Lake & Palmer rocks us with Bela Bartok
• Deodato provides fanfare from Richard Strauss … and
• Steely Dan celebrates a ragtime classic from jazz great, Duke Ellington

Tracks Today:

M1 Petrushka (I. Stravinsky), Frank Zappa, ‘Tis The Season To Be Jelly

M2 Cantata 147, 10th mvt) (J.S. Bach), Wendy Carlos

M3 Trois Gymnopedies On A Theme (Erik Satie), Blood Sweat & Tears

M4 Bouree (J.S. Bach), Jethro Tull

M5 The Barbarian (Bela Bartok) Emerson Lake & Palmer

M6 Also Sprach Zarathustra 2001, (Richard Strauss) Deodato

M7 East St. Louis Toodle-Oo, (Duke Ellington) Steely Dan

In today’s podcast we will hear seven examples of a rock or pop artist, in one case a classical music rocker, performing classical music, and with striking interpretations, new instruments or technology, or change to the musical meter as influenced by pop or rock rhythm… produced between 1965 and 1977.

M1 Song  Petrushka, Album ‘Tis The Season To Be Jelly, Album Artist Frank Zappa, Composer I. Stravinsky (1911), Year 1967, Released By – Bootleg album

Petrushka is a ballet with music by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, composed in 1911. It was premièred in Paris and although the production was a success, music was reviewed as brittle, caustic and even grotesque. Two years later, in 1913, the Vienna Philharmonic initially refused to play the score, considering the score as “dirty music”.

As for Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, the album ‘Tis the Season to Be Jelly was recorded at Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden on September 30, 1967. Pretty cool really, because The Stockholm Concert Hall (Konserthuset) is the main hall for orchestral music in Stockholm, Sweden, it is the home to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Bringing us back to the design of this hall for classical music. Was Zappa compelled or inspired by this great house to include SOMETHING classical? This song, Petrushka, was originally recorded by Zappa and distributed on a bootleg album. So now, going back to the 1913 sentiment about Petrushka being “dirty music”, interesting that the bootleg album cover features a caricature of Zappa’s foot and a smelly sock. Perhaps this truly is… “dirty music”?

At the time of this recording, Zappa was 26 years old, so this is very early in his recording career. Only one year earlier, in 1966, Zappa released his debut album FREAK OUT with The Mothers of Invention. And only a week before this concert performance, Frank Zappa wed Gail Sloatman, with whom he was married and produced four children, right until his untimely death in 1993.

Today we hear a short rendition of Petrushka, as arranged for rock band, by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, and as performed in the Konserthuset in Stockholm, in 1967.

M2 Song Cantata 147, (Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life), 10th mvt, Album Switched On Bach, Album Artist Wendy Carlos, Composer Johann S. Bach (1716), Year 1968, Released By Columbia Masterworks Records

Cantata 147, is written by Johann Sebastian Bach. A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often with a choir. Cantatas were in great demand for the services of the Lutheran church. This cantata, numbered 147 by Bach, was written for the beginning of the 1716 church year, the Season of Advent. It was one segment of a 20-minute Church hymn, as is typical of cantatas of the Baroque period. The 10^th movement is named … “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”.

Wendy Carlos—is an American composer and a highly proficient musician and studio engineer, born Walter Carlos, in Pawtucket Rhode Island, in 1939. Wendy Carlos, in the mid 1960s — worked closely with music synthesizer designer Robert Moog throughout the development during commercialization of the MOOG Synthesizer. You may be familiar with some of Wendy Carlos work if you saw the 1971 Stanley Kubrick film, “A Clockwork Orange”. That musical score is a powerful example of the use of an electronic synthesizer to render classical music.

Three years before “A Clockwork Orange” soundtrack, Wendy Carlos released her revolutionary album, “Switched-On Bach”. This album played a key role in popularizing classical music performed on an electronic synthesizer. It one the first albums to clearly demonstrate the use of the synthesizer as a genuine musical instrument. As an early user of Robert Moog’s first commercially available synthesizer modules, Wendy Carlos helped pioneer the technology, which was not user-friendly at that time.  In producing Switched On Bach, the technique of multitrack recording played a critical role – – because each part, and each note of a chorded part, needed to be recorded individually. Switched-On Bach went gold in 1969, and Platinum in 1986. The success of Switched On Bach fostered an increased interest in electronically rendered music, and the MOOG synthesizer as a new type of musical instrument. In the 1970 Grammy Awards, Switched On Bach took three prizes: Best Classical Album, Best Classical Performance – Instrumental Soloist and Best Engineered Classical Recording.

From the 1968 album, Switched on Bach, Wendy Carlos electronic rendition of Johanne Sebastian Bach’s “Cantata 147, 10^th movement”, “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”.

M3 Song Trois Gymnopedies On A Theme By Erik Satie, Album Blood Sweat & Tears, Album Artist Blood Sweat & Tears, Composers Éric Satie (published 1888), Year 1969 , Released Sony BMG Music

Eric Satie born 1866 in Paris, was an eccentric by French composer and pianist, his most famous composition is the Gymnopédies.  The Gymnopédies, published in Paris, is three piano compositions. ..short pieces written in 3/4 time, and today are regarded as the precursors to modern ambient music, or …”Furniture Music” as this was once known. Today we use the term “Background Music”.  Speaking as a music composer, I consider the term “background  music” a perjorative expression. First, much of the elevator and office background music programmes leave much to be desired in terms of the quality of the selections, and secondly, who would want their music relegated to the background, to not be on the front of the stage, not the main attraction?? Over the years following the Gymnopedies, music did find significant reinvention through its use as the movie soundtrack, as jingles in modern advertising and program theme songs, and some of the worst arrangements have found their way to true elevator background music.

One of the finest ambient music examples, Gymnopedies has survived the test of time, some 123 years running. It is peaceful and mellow, and you can multitask to this music.

Almost 100 years after this song’s debut, in 1968, Blood Sweat & Tears released their second album, which included an adaptation of Gymnopédie #1 (arranged by Dick Halligan) which they titled as Variations on a Theme by Erik Satie (First and Second Movements). The first movement is a straightforward elaboration of the basic theme using flutes, an acoustic guitar and a triangle. The second is an abstract variation using brass instruments and sound EQ and FX. Halligan is the song arranger, very versatile, he plays Flute, Trombone Organ, Piano, and Vocals on this album. In 1970 this song earned BS&T a Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Performance. Now Gymnopedies as performed by Blood Sweat & Tears.

M4 Song Bouree, Album Stand Up, Album Artist Jethro Tull, Composer  J.S. Bach, Year 1969 Morgan Studio London, Released Reprise in US and Canada

The bourrée is a dance of French origin in the 17th century. “Bourrée in E minor” is a popular lute piece, the fifth movement from “Suite in E minor for Lute”, written by Johann Sebastian Bach. Believed to be the most famous piece among guitarists, “Bouree in E minor” demonstrates counterpoint, as the two voices of the piece, the song’s part and counterpart, move independently of one another, so typical of J.S. Bach’s work organ work.

In 1969, the progressive-rock band Jethro Tull included an instrumental track inspired by “Bouree in E Minor” on their album Stand Up. Leader of Jethro Tull, flautist great Ian Anderson, is a unique, world-class, progressive rocker, featuring the modern flute as the lead instrument within a rock format. Ian Anderson’s tremendous flute expressions, self-learned technique, and vox- flute effects, within a rock framework, clearly set him apart. And almost 45 years following the release of the Stand Up LP, Jethro Tull continues to tour.

On this song, Jethro Tull is made up of:

• • Glenn Cornick: bass guitar
• • Clive Bunker: drums
• • Martin Barre: electric guitar,
• • Ian Anderson: flute

And now “Bouree” from the 1969 album “Stand Up”, as arranged by Ian Anderson and performed by Jethro Tull.

M5 Song The Barbarian, Album Emerson Lake & Palmer, Album Artist Emerson Lake & Palmer, Composer Béla Bartók, “Allegro Barbaro” (1911), Year recorded 1970, London, Released 1970 Island, Atlantic records and Manticore (UK)

This composition appears on the 1970 debut release of “Emerson Lake & Palmer” on the very first track, “The Barbarian”. This song is an arrangement for rock band of Bartók’s 1911 piano composition, ‘Allegro Barbaro’. Béla Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary’s greatest composer . Béla Bartók was born in a small town in Hungary in 1881. At age 21, in 1902, Bartok met Richard Strauss, at the Budapest premiere of Also sprach Zarathustra, and this meeting strongly influenced Bartok’s early work.

‘Allegro Barbaro’, composed in 1911, is one of Béla Bartók’s most famous and frequently performed solo piano pieces. The composition is typical of Bartók’s style, utilizing folk elements. The work combines Hungarian and Romanian scales; Hungarian peasant music is based on the pentatonic scale, while Romanian music is largely chromatic.

The opening melody of Allegro Barbaro is largely pentatonic (the first 22 notes of the melody use only a tone and a minor third, the building block of the pentatonic scale).

The album, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, is the 1970 debut album of British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer. The Barbarian opens Side One of this LP. This is a reflection of Keith Emerson younger piano repertoire, now, arranged for a rock band. The Barbarian tracks very closely to Bartok’s “Allegro Barbaro” piece, with the arrangement adding in the four parts of … lead guitar, bass, organ and drums.

Personnel

• • Keith Emerson: Hammond organ, Moog synthesizer
• • Greg Lake: acoustic guitar, bass, electric guitar, vocals
• • Carl Palmer: drums, percussion

 

M6 Song  Also Sprach Zarathustra 2001, Album  Prelude, Album Artist  Deodato, Composer  Richard Strauss, Year  1972, Released By CTI

“Also Sprach Zarathustra” is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896. Richard Strauss conducted its first performance in 1896, in Frankfurt. A typical performance of Also Sprach lasts 30 minutes. Over seventy years later, the “initial fanfare” movement in Also Sprach became well known to the public because it was used as the opening theme in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film “2001: A Space Odyssey”. Brazilian musician Eumir Deodato (pron. ew – m ih r) covered the “initial fanfare” under the title “Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)” on his 1972 album Prelude. It is a jazz-influenced rendition of the introduction from the Richard Strauss composition .Released as the album’s single in 1972, Deodato’s nine-minute funky rendition peaked at #2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #7 on the UK Singles Chart. It won the 1974 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

On this song, Personnel

• • Eumir Deodato – piano, electric piano  (pron  ew – m ih r)
• • Stanley Clarke – electric bass (solo on “Also Sprach Zarathustra”)
• • Billy Cobham – drums
• • John Tropea – electric guitar (solo on “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, )

M7 Song East St. Louis Toodle-Oo, Album Pretzel Logic, Album Artist Steely Dan, Composer Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1927), Year 1974 , Released By ABC

East St Louis Toodle-Oo is a song by written by pianist “Duke” Ellington and trumpeter Bubber Miley, and recorded in New York in 1927. This song is of the RAGTIME style, Ragtime’s main characteristic is its syncopated, or “ragged,” rhythm, hence the term “rag-time”. This back-beat style of music began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans many years before being published as popular sheet music for piano. Familiar to many is the early ragtime song from Scott Joplin, his 1899 composition, the “Maple Leaf Rag”.  East St. Louis Toodle-Oo was the first charting single for Duke Ellington in 1927. The song is structurally perfect, and it is considered by many, to be a jazz masterpiece.

This song was covered by American jazz-rock band Steely Dan on their 1974 album Pretzel Logic. You probably did not see much of Steely Dan between 1975 until 1993. Their early tour history was brief, and the tour in support of Pretzel Logic would be the LAST TIME Steely Dan appeared live until 1993. Becker and Fagen disliked touring and wanted to concentrate solely on writing and recording. This led Becker and Fagen to move to a studio process on all later albums, but still under the name Steely Dan.

This version of East St Louis Toodle-Oo is a note-for-note rendition of the original composition. For Steely Dan, there are many reasons this song is unique. This is the only instrumental ever done by Steely Dan, the only Steely Dan song, until that time, to feature a banjo, and is the only song on which Donald Fagen is credited with playing the saxophone. Fagen also plays the piano lead. This album also marks the first time Walter Becker would play guitar on a Steely Dan album.

Musicians on this song:

• Donald Fagen, saxophone, piano solo
• Walter Becker lead guitar
• Jeff “Skunk” Baxter pedal steel guitar
• Jim Hodder drummer

Side 2 Track 2 from Steely Dan’s Pretzel Logic, their rendition of Duke Ellington’s East St. Louis Toodle-Oo