This is the ad Martin Cook designed last year for promoting Gonzo's TEB three CDs on some magazines. Martin is the designer who is editing the book on the band (written by LCF in Winter 2016 and ready in March 2017 for being published) soon out in the bookshops...
On the last issue of "The Wire" (# 422, April 2019), one of the few interesting music magazines around, Edwin Pouncey reviews TEB's Esoteric "Elements 1970-1971" with accurate claims about the music and the underground status of the band.
Here's the text: "Third Ear Band, "Music From Macbeth" (Esoteric/Cherry Red) - This challenging outfit were one of the more cerebral signings to EMI's prog-rock imprint, Harvest Records, when it began operations in 1969, and this absorbing package focusses attention on the music that they created for the soundtrack of Roman Polanski's typically controversial adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy "Macbeth" three years later. The evocative and eerie contents draw on elements of Indian music, early electronic fare and jazz, expanded here with the welcome addition of four hitherto unreleased tracks recorded by the band during the early seventies."
Kendra Preston Leonard is the author of an old essay titled "Shakespeare, Madness, and Music. Scoring Insanity in Cinematic Adaptations", published in 2009 by the Scarecrow Press Inc.
At page 84 she writes: "Polanski's employment of the Third Ear Band - an innovative London-based collective that drew from numerous traditions, including Renaissance forms and instrumentation, Indian ragas, and electric strings - led to the development of a soundtrack that included reasonably accurate attempts at period-appropriate accompaniments for the film. Julie Sanders asserts that this period-approximate music is used to "lull audiences into a false position of comfort [which collapses] as the camera pans out to the hostile environment in which the film is set, but this is not the only reading of the use of this music. Indeed, the relationship between the music, the settings in which it is used, and its link to Lady Macbeth create a framework around her in which she is a highly sympathetic character."
Polanski with Francesca Annis (Lady Macbeth).
"Strings, both plucked and bowed, recorders, oboes, drums, and folklike vocals not only place the film in time and location but also address the scale of the events and characters involved in them: there are no sweeping orchestral motifs or twentieth-century dissonances here to indicate the morality or lack thereof of the Macbeths, but instead a soundscape that reminds the audience of the brutality and still-developing cultural and ethical codes and expectations of a pre- or early-Christian Scotland. The script indicates that Polanski and his co-author, cultural critic Kenneth Tynan, put considerable thought into the use of music and musical style in the film. Their cues marking the entrance and exit of music - even noting the duration of the music - are explicit and deliberate. Polanski and Tynan write music cues for Lady Macbeth more than any other single character; music serves as a prologue and postlude to her texts above all other speeches and scenes, with one remarkable exception: her sleepwalking scene."
William Shakespeare
And later (page 85): "(...) During Macbeth's journey to Duncan's chamber (2.1.44) in which he imagines or hallucinates a dagger pointing the way, the music provided by the Third Ear Band has little in common with the earlier lute and drum dances; instead, it is reminiscent of Gyorgy Ligeti's chamber music. Using tremolo strings in high registers, sharp accent at seemingly random intervals, repeated phrases, the accompaniment for this scene "squeaks and gibbers", buzzing as Macbeth tried to steel himself for the task ahead. As he actually commits the murder, the same music is used again, but integrated with period instruments and percussions to create an atmosphere of adrenaline-filled terror and expectation. Lack of a tonal centre or an easily understood structure makes the music anaural counterpart to Macbeth's uncertain actions and emotions."
Macbeth (Jon Finch) and Lady Macbeth (Francesca Annis).
This is an interesting statement because usually, we read about TEB's Macbeth soundtrack that it is "medieval music" or, as Polanski's biographer Christopher Sandford wrote: "(...) the music of Third Ear Band, in the words of the press release 'achieving a degree of ethnic fusion of Indian, medieval, gypsy, Middle Eastern, electronic, jazz, trance and folk' (if not all in the same song)..." ("Polanski", Century-London 2007); but I think it is a kind of avant-garde chamber music and the reference to Gyorgy Ligeti is very pertinent because some tracks of the TEB's soundtrack seem inspired by the German composer. Apart "Fleance", that Sweeney and Minns didn't like it, and some few dances ("Inverness: The Preparation", "The Banquet", "Court Dance", "Groom's Dance", "Bear Baiting") based on harmonic elements taken from (a revisited) ancient music, the most of the tracks are twentieth-century atonal compositions related to the tradition of composers as like Berg, Stravinsky, Bartok, Schoenberg, Ligeti; or to free jazz or to minimalist music.
"Macbeth"'s electric guitarist and composer Denny Bridges writes me that "in reference to the music for Macbeth; as in every aspect of the band's music, we were influenced by many, many composers, musicians and musical forms from exotic parts of the world and from the ancient past too. We applied many of those influences to Macbeth but some scenes of the movie did dictate that we had to be traditional. I took the melody and chords for "Fleance's Song" from a song I had composed before I joined the band. I used just a small part of that song because the stanzas we had been given to work with were very short. I used the line "Oh your two eyes will slay me suddenly" to repeat at the end of the 'verse' as a sort of refrain. Could anything be more contrived? The Groom's Dance was based around a riff on electric 12 string guitar I had (heavily influenced by The Byrds) but with the rhythm of a jig imposed upon it. I suppose it's just a matter of opinion for that to be dismissed as just medieval. For the incidental music for the film, of course, we could be much freer."
I asked him, can you be more specific about the sources the Band used to listen to and influenced the music in that period? "It is very difficult, if not impossible, to answer that question. For "Macbeth" each scene required a different approach. Further to my previous comments on the music for Macbeth; Lady Macbeth's theme required at first a 'traditional' melody which then had to get darker and threatening as the piece progressed. To that purpose, I suppose we applied the influences of, for example, Schoenberg as you suggest. The witches theme is inspired by a scale of notes fewer than modern western music typical of eastern or ancient cultures. This could be a real scale or one that we imagined but, hopefully, should portray weirdness and evil to the listener. We were sharing between us and listening to a lot of music all the time. Absorbing those influence just by osmosis would have flavoured what we did for Macbeth and all our other music. I can't be more specific than that..."
However, whatever can be said about the sources, for modus operandi and musical references, "Macbeth" soundtrack was an innovative record for that time, still so actual and vivid.
In 1990 and 1991 Italian photographer Luca Fiaccavento(http://www.lucafiaccavento.net/) recorded two full gigs of the Third Ear Band in Rome, the line-up consisting of Sweeney, Carter, Dobson and Black.
The first concert was recorded at Classico on February 4th, 1990, it was the first time ever the band played in Rome. The year after, on December 28th, 1991, Third Ear Band played live at the famous Piazza Navona, one of the most beautiful square in Italy.
Just a few days ago he contacted Ghettoraga Archive to send me the full recordings of the two concerts!
The recordings was made with a Walkman professional Sony WM-D6C (the gig at Classico) and a Casio DAT DA-7 (the gig at piazza Navona) and the quality of sound is really good, so I will try to convince Cherry Red Records or Gonzo Multimedia to make some CDs from them...
"Someone else who posted here said they've learntmore about TEB in a fewhours here than in 30 years. I'd agree with that except inmy case it would be 44 years. An excellent archive for TEB fans and historians of the era. Thank you!" RACHAEL TYRELL
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Third Ear Band 1969: Paul Minns, Glen Sweeney and Richard Coff (photo: Ray Stevenson).
Luca Chino Ferrari (b. 1963) is an Italian music writer. Since 1985 he has written and translated books about folk and rock musicians as Third Ear Band, Robyn Hitchcock, Captain Beefheart, Tim Buckley, Nick Drake, Syd Barrett & the Pink Floyd for the main Italian publishers. He met Syd Barrett in 1986 and did contribute to the reunion of the Third Ear Band during the '80s. His latest book, published in 2020 for English ReR November Books, is a biography about the esoteric group Third Ear Band. He runs a personal Web site (in Italian/English) at https://chino6339.wixsite.com/gelatoaicorvi
TEB recording at Abbey Road Sudios in February 1971
Click on the picture to watch the video!
"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)
Paul Buckmaster at Hyde Park (June 7th, 1969).
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"ALCHEMY"
"Alchemy" (Harvest 1969)
Third Ear Band live at Hyde Park (June 7th,1969)
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Read "Necromancers of the drifting West"!!!
A book on the Third Ear Band edited by Luca Ferrari (published by Stampa Alternativa, Rome 1997). WITH THE FIRST ORIGINAL VERSION OF "ABELARD & HELOISE" SOUNDTRACK!
Third Ear Band at the Roundhouse (London, May 30th 1969).
As alike or unlike as blades of grass or clouds...
"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)
TEB - "THE LOST BROADCASTS" DVD (Gonzo Multimedia, UK 2011)
Richard Coff at Isle of Wight Festival, August 1969 (photo: Barry Plummer).
Pseudo-mystical...
“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)
"Macbeth" by Roman Polanski (Playboy Production, UK 1971)
“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)
A Third Ear Band tribute
Roberto Musci - "Mosaic. A tribute to Third Ear Band" (CD - Gonzo Multimedia HST411, 2016)
TEB 1971: Sweeney, Minns, Bridges and Buckmaster (photo: Blackhill Enterprises).
NOTES FROM OVERGROUND
“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)
TEB 1970: Sweeney, Minns, Coff & Smith (photo: Blackhill Enterprises).
"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)
TEB at Isle of Wight Festival, August 1969 (photo: Barry Plummer).
"Music from Macbeth" (Harvest 1972)
Third Ear Band - "Experiences" (Harvest 1976)
WEIRD SCENES
“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)
Third Ear Band - "Fleance" (Odeon 1972) Japan single edition
Third Ear Band - "Live Ghosts" (Materiali Sonori 1988)
VERY MUCH UNDERGROUND
“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)
Third Ear Band at a Druids ceremony in Glastonbury Tor (April 15th, 1970).
OTHER TEB RELEASES/APPEARANCES
"Picnic. A breath of fresh air" (2LPs - Harvest SHSS 1/2, UK 1970) various Harvest artists anthology
"Harvest Heritage. 20 Great" (LP - Harvest , UK 1977) various Harvest artists anthology
"The Harvest Story Vol. 1" (LP - Harvest EG 260097 1, UK 1984) various Harvest artists anthology
"All frontiers" (CD - Materiali Sonori MASO CD 90026, ITA 1991) various artists live compilation
"Sonora 2/91" (CD - Materiali Sonori, ITA 1991) various Materiali Sonori artists compilation
"Radio Session" (CD - Voiceprint VPR017, UK 1994) live album
"Materiali Sonori" (CD - Olis OM 0021, ITA 1996) various Materiali Sonori artists compilation
"Live" (CD - Voiceprint VP157CD, UK 1996) live album
Third Ear Band - "New Forecasts from the Third Ear Almanac" (ADN Records 1989)
90% improvisation...
"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” isabout music as pure vibrations, as such it can be linked with colour because colour is vibration. It can even be linked to the music ofthe 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 overthe world, and we use these ideasand many others to try to make a new world music”.
(Glen Sweeney, notes on the “Magic Music” inner cover, 1990)
SOLOS DISCOGRAPHIES
- GLEN SWEENEY -
Various Artists - "The greetings compact vol. 2" (CD - Materiali Sonori, 1990)
Rolling Stones - "Sticky fingers" (LP/CD - Rolling Stones Records, 1971)
Carly Simon - "Hotcakes" (LP/CD - Elektra, 1974)
Elton John - "Single man" (LP/CD - Rocket, 1978)
- NEIL BLACK (selection) -
UB40 - "Present Arms" (LP/CD - DEP, 1981)
Joan Armatrading - ""Track Record" (LP/CD - A&M, 1983)
Third Ear Band 1969: Minns, Sweeney and Coff at the Kensal Green Cemetery of London (photo: Ray Stevenson).
Third Ear Band - "Brain Waves" (Materiali Sonori 1993)
Eight drunk rugby players
"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)
Third Ear Band, Vinci 1989: Allen, Sweeney, Dobson and Carter (photo: Lucia Baldini).
QUOTATIONS, COVERS, REMIXES, MANIPULATIONS OF THIRD EAR BAND MUSIC
Stone Breath - "A silver thread weave the seasons" (2CDs - Hand/Eye, USA 2008). A 'cover' of "Fleance".
Marco Lucchi - "Baby a" (ITA 1982). A composition with a sampler of "Stone Circle".
Radio Noisz Ensemble - "Yniverze" (CD - Garden of Delights 1982/2009). A 'folky' quotation of "Water".
Fabio Zuffanti - "Third Ear Band demixed" (CD-r - Spirals Records, ITA 2000). The four elements electronically manipulated.
Algarnas Tradgard - "Delayed" (CD - Silence Records, UK 2001). A quotations of "Water" recorded in 1973-1974 (!).
Lady Husk & The Good Ship Neotropic - "A monstrous psychedelic bubble exploding in your mind" (file MP3 - The New Worck, NL 2007). A remake of "No title" (?!).
I Monster - "The Art of Chill vol. 6 - Mixed by I Monster" (2CDs Platipus, UK 2009). A remix of "Fleance".
Vibes and Stuff - guest mix Coby Sey (MP3 - UK, 2010). A remix of "Water".
AA.VV. - "The Fruits de Mer Annual for 2011" (2x7" - Fruits de Mer Records, UK 2011). A cover of "Fleance" by the HI-Fiction Science.
