The Wire magazine (issue 460 - June 2022) is out now with a piece by Gary Lucas on the TEB. As the publisher writes announcing the issue on the website:
"Epiphanies: Gary Lucas is enchanted by Third Ear Band’s trancelike medievalis."
Edited since 2009 by Luca Ferrari
The Wire magazine (issue 460 - June 2022) is out now with a piece by Gary Lucas on the TEB. As the publisher writes announcing the issue on the website:
"Epiphanies: Gary Lucas is enchanted by Third Ear Band’s trancelike medievalis."
Frankly, I never believed that Rotten had actually stated his appreciation for TEB and MacBeth music, particularly for the pop song "Fleance" (read HERE).
In a recent radio programme, however, (the YouTube video of which was pointed out to me by my friend (and musician) Alessandro Monti) John Lydon confirms this by stating that he loves the film's soundtrack - "I love the landscape they created...", "I really loved that band live, they played some very intersting things" (but please overlook the fucking comparison with Enja's 'foggy' atmospheres!)...
Below is the video with John endorsement at minute 29:30:
no©2022 LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first
Here below you can see an old Sunday Mirror short article about the Hyde Park free concert on June 7th, 1969 (the so-called "Blind Faith Hyde Park free concert") with a picture portraying Glen Sweeney as he smokes a pipe...
no©2022 LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)
It was probably the well-known journalist Karl Dallas who first coined the expression "organic sound" in reference to TEB. This is the article published by "Melody Maker" on December 20th, 1969, just after the tour in Holland and Belgium of the band in the new line-up with Ursula Smith.
With Steve Pank, one of the eyewitnesses to TEB's early years in the role of tour manager, it was always that way. His memories come up a little at a time, over the years I've gotten used to it.
A week ago, totally unexpected, he wrote me an email with a magnificent poster of the band attached, one of the best ever made (Carolyn thinks so too), and told me the anecdote that follows:
"There is a story with this. The Third Ear Band was doing a gig on the evening when Apollo 11 landed on the moon.
I was staying in Richard flat, when we got back, we turned on the TV and watched live footage, of Neil Armstong walking on the moon. A short while later, later Glen said to me that he had had a dream the night before about the Crab and the Crescent Moon.
I said, 'That would be a great title for a concert!' Dave Loxley agreed to do the poster, and this is the result."
Held on September 20, 1969 at Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), the evening was promoted by Blackhill Enterprises and also featured Bridget St John, Sam Hutt and DJ John Peel.
About Sam Hutt, Steve writes that "he was a friend of Peter Jenner . He's a qualified doctor, who at time prescribed medical cannabis. Later he became a spoof country singer under the name of Hank Wankford."
no©2022 LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)
The day CHRIS WELCH ("Melody Maker") reviewed "Alchemy" on the issue of July 26th, 1969, other records was the wonderful Fairport Convention's "Unhalfbricking" (Island Records), Tyrannosaurus Rex's "King of the Rumbling Spires" (Regal Zonophone) and Nick Drake's masterpiece "Five Leaves Left" (Island Records).
With his usual ironic register, that Glen loved too much, Welch writes about the mystical power of TEB's music - "simply strip to the waist on one's Earls Court pad, daub on cocoa, drop "Alchemy" on the turntable, and bingo! - one is immediatly in touch with the Spirit beings."
no©2022 LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)Dear TEB aficionados, here below you can read an old "Blind Date" extract from Melody Maker published on June 21th, 1969.
Provoked by listening some tracks blindly, Paul Revere & the Raiders' co-founder and lead vocals Mark Lindsay talks about TEB's "Mosaic", just recorded for "Alchemy".
no©2022 LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)
You thought Ghettoraga Archive had left the scene? Nothing could be further from the truth!
Here is an interesting interview of Charles with the great Paul Buckmaster, from an issue of Melody Maker dated December 26, 1970... with a rare photo of the four-piece line-up.
While I'm busy digging into the history of the Edgar Broughton Band for an upcoming book, finds related to the glorious Third Ear Band experience continue to emerge from the dusty archives of popular music history.
Stay tuned to these pages - you're in for a treat!
This is my copy of the original "14th Technicolor Dream" ticket that Glen gave me in 1989, when I visit him at his flat in Sheperd's Bush (London). It's hanging on the wall of my studio from that year. On the rear there's a dedication by Glen, a simple "To my friend Luca."
Apart the preciousness of this rare object and the emotion for having received it from Glen, this event was one the most important in the English underground, the concert I wanted to attend.
no©2022 LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)
While doing some research for a book dedicated to the Edgar Broughton Band, I came across this old poster of a Third Ear Band concert in Guildford on March 7, 1971. The event was titled "Contemporary Music in Guilford".
Just four days later, on March 11, the band recorded some tracks for a new album. "Evening Awakening" emerged from the vaults in 2018 when Esoteric Recording published the 3CDs remastered and expanded edition of "Third Ear Band" (PECLE 32653).
no©2022 LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first).
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Don singing on stage at Kozfest in 2017 (photo by Michal Skwarek) |
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Spirits Burning at Kozfest in 2017 (photo by Michal Skwarek) |
Two new reviews about TEB's box "Mosaics" are available on the Web: one is from the Italian magazine INDIEeye at https://www.indie-eye.it/recensore/coverstory/third-ear-band-mosaics-the-albums-1969-1979-la-recensione-e-lunboxing-del-cofanetto-cherry-red.htm with this pretty promo video:
the other one is from the English Velvet Thunder Webzine at https://www.velvetthunder.co.uk/third-ear-band-mosaics-the-albums-1969-1972-esoteric-cherry-red/ where Steve Pilkington writes with a funny register things like this:
"The origins of what would become the Third Ear Band began in 1966, with an outfit going by the bizarre yet tremendous name of The Giant Sun Trolley. Their aim was, effectively, to produce sounds that had never been heard before, at least under the guise of ‘music’. An electric and eclectic ensemble, to give you an idea of what this lot sprang from, one of their compositions was called Eternity In D, a piece designed exclusively to allow the band to play the same note for as long as possible. This was often used as a means to clear a venue of stragglers in the early hours, as The Trolley were sent on to play until the place was empty and the remaining audience had fled. This often took very little time. However, there were exceptions, as the enormously entertaining booklet with this collection informs us that one night they went on at 3am, and proceeded to play two notes until seven. That’s four hours of two notes. However, by 7am on this occasion a number of audience members were still there. Asleep. They would periodically wake up, hear the same two notes, and drift off again. That’s a pretty unsuccessful way to clear a club, but not unrelated to what would become the Third Ear Band."
In the Italian music magazine "Buscadero" last issue (# 442 September 2021), Andrea Trevaini reviewed the TEB's box with very positive words about the music and the band, but with some arguable statements about the actuality of their project (also totally ignoring the last part of their story in Italy...).
Here's a brief excerpt from the review:
"(...) these records are inextricably linked to a bygone era, so to appreciate them you really need to tune into the waves of a now-dissolved Hippy era. To understand this, it is enough to read some of the titles of the tracks of their first album Alchemy. (...) to find yourself immersed in a world where they seemed to be within reach of the counterculture: Indian music, Celtic religion, the cult of the dead from the Egyptian Pharaonic era, the phantasmagorical Chinese symbolism."
As I wrote in my last book on the band, I think that just a superficial approach to the TEB's music and themes can suggest such childish prejudice: "Alchemy" can be seen as a clear transposition of the Book of the Dead for contemporary souls (life and death, ethics, religion, human spiritual aim...) and the Elements album is a dramatically pure chant for a planet going dead...
Avant-garde musician (and friend) Alessandro Monti has published with Arcana Editrice a book titled "Riproduzione Casuale"(in Italian) about "a sort of listening path from the point of view of the musician who, shedding light on cult and often obscure records, manages to link together the most diverse and distant music, through memories, experiences, reflections and provocations."
His original, very personal journey, contains also his two contributions about the TEB posted in Ghettoraga Archive months ago.
For detailed infos and for buying a copy click HERE
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Ursula on cello during a rehearsal at St Andrew's Hall (Norwich) in 2008. |
"Third Ear Band music is a reflection of the universe as magic play illusion simply because it could not possibly be anything else. Words cannot describe this ecstatic dance of sound, or explain the alchemical repetiton seeking and sometimes finding archetypal formes, elements and rhythms...".
(Glen Sweeney on "Alchemy", Harvest Records 1969)
"The music is the music of the Druids, released from the unconscious by the alchemical process, orgasmic in its otherness, religious in its oneness communicating beauty and magic via abstract sounds whilst playing without ego enables the musicians to reach a trance-like stage, a "high" in which the music produces itself. Each piece is as alike or unalike as blades of grass or clouds".
(From the 1969 Isle of Wight concert programme)
“The trouble is that you can't be mystical without being called pseudo-mystical, and it's the fault of our previous education. I'm at Glastonbury most of the time, but we're all completely honest about it. We'll even use it honestly to make money, because the ancient Egyptians who were into it all said that you had to be rich because only then can you resist temptation”.
(Glen Sweeney to Richard Williams, “Melody Maker” June 1970)
“I've always felt that music should be pure. If you have lyrics, you are preaching in a way. Somehow words are a block to communication. It's almost impossible for me to explain exactly how I feel about this, that's why I'm a musician. The only way to really understand what I mean, is to firstly listen to a pop group and then listen to us, and then I hope you will know what we're trying to say."
(Glen Sweeney to Muz Murray, 1969)
“No announcements, numbers lasting 15 to 20 minutes, art form or con?
This might be valid criticism of (A) Thunderstorm (B) a cricket (C) Third Ear Band.
Their approach to music is different because there is no duality, no conflict between the natural element of chance and the human element of control, did the moon ask to be reflected in the water? If it wasn’t for the trees would the wind know when it was blowing? Paul Minns says there are some very beautiful forests in Hyde Park, trying to put titles to music is rather like trying to answer the question where does my hand when it becomes my fist”.
(From the Al Stewart-Third Ear Band 1970 tour programme)
"The Centipede was happy, quite, until a Toad in fun said: "Pray, which leg goes after which?".
This worked his mind to such a pitch, he lay distracted in a ditch considering how to run".
(Third Ear Band, 1970)
“We'd rather people called us a pop group. We do ragas, that aren't really ragas at all, and unless we get a turned on promoter, we get into some weird scenes. At Norwich once, when the promoter saw the audience sitting down and closing their eyes to our music, he accused us of putting them to sleep! Complete paranoia. So I imagine we wouldn't do too well on the Pop Proms”.
(Glen Sweeney interviewed by Chris Welch - “Melody Maker” July 12th, 1969)
“It's just a question of advertising. We've stayed very much Underground - no photos - and I think this was necessary so people wouldn't put us in a bag. We'd rather the just came up and heard us without ANY preconceived ideas. I suppose it is a bit shattering to see violins and cellos”.
(Glen Sweeney interviewed by Chris Welch - “Melody Maker” July 12th, 1969)
"I'd say ninety per cent of our music is improvisation. It's not really Indian music, although we use a drone instead of the usual bass line riffs. The music draws from everywhere.
"I think our appeal is that audiences can draw their own thing from us. We make no announcements and none of the numbers have titles. People in colleges we play come up after and say they can get fantastic images in their mind when they listen. We can offer a complete dream. The old Celtic bards used to have the same ability".
(Glen Sweeney interviewed by Chris Welch - “Melody Maker” July 12th, 1969)
“Third Ear Band’s new album “Magic Music” is about music as pure vibrations, as such it can be linked with colour because colour is vibration. It can even be linked to the music of the spheres which states that the vibrations of the planets can be heard with the third ear (silence). The free ragas that we play are modal, each note can be heard as a sound-colour that produces its own mood. Our rhythms come from all over the world, and we use these ideas and many others to try to make a new world music”.
(Glen Sweeney, notes on the “Magic Music” inner cover, 1990)
"We once had eight drunk rugby players yelling dirty songs at us. We played quieter and quieter. In the end they seemed ashamed and shut up. But I still don't think they dug the music!".
(Glen Sweeney interviewed by Chris Welch - “Melody Maker” July 12th, 1969)