what Frank is listening to #8 – SANDY BULL – Demolition Derby – (Vanguard) – 1972
I was searching through my records for something to put on, and this cover grabbed me … a lean, stringy moustachioed Phil (a friend of ours) standing outside on the rubble of some house on the south side I suspect …
When I found this record in an op shop I didn't know who this guy was though the name sounded familiar and I bought it because it was on the Vanguard label, so I knew it would be folk of an interesting variety.
And, it is folk, though a weird amalgamation of a number of folk styles played mainly as guitar instrumentals with scattered dialogue and vocals. It would be called "mood" music or "world" music now but it would also be crap if done now by anyone else apart from Bull. Bull's taste is obviously a lot wider than most "world" musicians and he can fingerpick with the best in the US folk tradition whilst throwing in jazz and a bit of the experimental styles.
Allmusic on the net says "Bull produced some of the first extended instrumental compositions for guitar that incorporated elements of folk, jazz, and Indian and Arabic-influenced dronish modes" … referring to his first two albums … and I must say this applies here.
This is Bulls 4th album.
Side 1
The first two tracks are practically instrumentals – "Gotta Be Juicy (or it aint Love)" and "Carnival Jump" ( a mesmerizing 9 minutes … and I don't like long tracks normally) are excellent … Bull has been compared to Leo Kottke (though he predated him) but to me he is akin to John Fahey at his most Eastern.
Then we cut into a vocal version of the beautiful Patti Page song "Tennessee Waltz" – one of the best of all country laments and Bull sings it with one of the worst vocals I have heard in a long time – he makes Tom Waits sound like Pavarotti (and the couple of backup singers mimprove him making him sound like a less tuneful Gram Parsons ) … one thing for certain, at this point I knew I was hooked.
The last track on Side 1 "Sweet Baby Jumper" is another guitar instrumental with a steel drum as percussion and a not surprising Caribbean feel … another good track.
Side 2
"Last Date": The old Floyd Cramer piano hit (Floyd played with Elvis by the way and was a top Nashville session man) … I'm not sure what to make of this … it's not done on piano obviously and the melody has been changed a tad – weird.
The next track, "Easy Does It", is a 9 minute Eastern raga with guitar and hand drums and it really works as a groove or a drone – either way its hypnotic. I would much rather listen to this than synth "chill out" or ambient music.
And then there is "Coming Together (a song of faith)" … a reggae-ish track with vocals ( and we all know how much I hate reggae) … which is quite bearable and the guitar is Eastern and sounds slightly sitar-ish.
The last track quite appropriately is the sound of a "Cheeseburger" … the largest non nuclear bomb used in Vietnam was the cheeseburger … and the track goes for 0.02 seconds … a statement of its times!
Well for me this is a keeper.
And I am sure it would sound even better with a wine
Bull's earlier albums are even better apparently.
Finally I got this from an Italian site … and the writer is a dolt – I read some of his other pages and he doesn't have a clue though his enthusiasm suits my mood for Bull at the moment:
Sandy Bull was probably the single most original performer of the early 1960s. Alas, he was 30-40 years ahead of the rest of rock music, and therefore was still neglected at the end of the century. While the Merseybeat bands were flooding the charts with idiotic three-minute ditties, Bull was already composing 20-minute long raga/jams that belonged to no known genre. These "blends" marked the first fantastic fusion of eastern and western music, even before western musicians learned what a sitar was. Virtually no encyclopaedia or history of music mentioned his name, but Sandy Bull is probably one of the few musicians of the 1960s who will be mentioned in every encyclopaedia and history of music centuries from now. http://www.scaruffi.com/vol1/bull.html
Sound:
I have attached a scratchy "Gotta be Juicy" off my $1 special
Bio information:
http://www.myspace.com/404819447
The back cover:
(originally posted: 18/04/2009
