The Liner Note

[blissblogger]

There was a time when all long-playing records - and some short-playing records - had liner notes on the back.

Obligatory it was.

Sometimes perfunctory and showbiz-smarmy "introducing the band" jobs... other times wanna-be hep ramblings.

Then people stopped doing them - late Sixties, probably to make room for artwork, or because "the music speaks for itself". The bands, now capital A artists didn't need any suits introducing them or pre-framing the pictures that would shortly unfurl across your stoned mind.

Oh they would still crop up now and then (Roxy Music had a great impressionistic word salad on their debut album, penned by Simon Puxley, Ferry-friend-turned-sort-of-PR).

And they started to reappear here and there in the 1980s, in a sort of ironic, deliberate-throwback way (ABC's singles)

This is a thread for Liner Notes.

Starting with my favorite, for this great album by Tim Rose, almost capsized by the unintentional (or are they?) double-entendres of this drooling liner note by the record's producer David Rubinson.

 

[blissblogger]

Aforementioned Ferry friend Dr. Simon Puxley on the first Roxy Music album inner gatefold

 

[william_kent]

classic seventies liner notes have to be the ones for for Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans where Jon Anderson fails to explain the mess that occupies four sides of vinyl

We were in Tokyo on tour and I had a few minutes to myself in the hotel room before the evening's concert (recorded as "Yessongs"). Leafing through Paramhansa Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi," I got caught up in a lengthy footnote. It described the four-part shastric scriptures that cover all aspects of religion & social life as well as fields like medicine & music, art & architecture. For some time I had been searching for a theme for a large-scale composition, so positive in character were the shastras that I could visualize there and then four interlocking pieces of music being structured around them. That was in February (1973). Eight months later, the concept was realised in this recording.

1st Movement: Shastris: "The Revealing Science of God" can be seen as an ever-opening flower through which simple truths emerge examining the complexities & magic of the past & how we should not forget the song that has been left to hear: 'The knowledge of God is a search, constant & clear.'

2nd movement: Suritis: "The Remembering:" All our thoughts, impressions, knowledge, fears, have been developing for millions of years. What we can relate to is our own past, our own life, our own history. Here. It is especially Rick's keyboards that bring alive the ebb & flow & depth of our mind's eye: The topographic ocean. Hopefully, we should appreciate that given points in time are not so significant as the nature of what is impressed on the mind, & how it is retained & used.

3rd movement: Puranas: "The Ancient:" probes still further into the past beyond the point of remembering. Here Steve's guitar is pivotal in sharpening reflection on the beauties & treasures of lost civilisations, Indian, Chinese,Central American, Atlantean. These & other peoples left an immense treasure of knowledge.

4th movement: Tantras: "The Ritual:" Seven notes of freedom to learn & to know the ritual of life. Life is a fight between sources of evil & pure life. Alan & Chris present & relay the struggle out of which comes a positive source. "Nous sommes du soleil." We are of the sun. We can see.​

We are of the sun. We can see

sure Jon, sure....

 

[blissblogger]

Fantastic!

Actually that semi-disproves my contention that the proggy direction led to the death of sleevenotes (to make room for the abstract or surrealistic deluxe artwork)

That said, I do tend to associate the fading away of liner notes with the transition from bands with a definite article in front of them to bands with no definite article - from The Hollies to Cream. Or The Spencer Davis Group to Traffic.

 

[william_kent]

another prog concept that makes no sense was the drivel penned by Peter Gabriel for Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

Keep your fingers out of my eye.
While I write I like to glance at the butterflies in glass that are all around the walls. The people in memory are pinned to events I can't recall too well, but I'm putting one down to watch him break up, decompose and feed another sort of life. The one in question is all fully biodegradable material and categorised as 'Rael'. Rael hates me, I like Rael, - yes, even ostriches have feelings, but our relationship is something both of us are learning to live with. Rael likes a good time, I like a good rhyme, but you won't see me directly anymore - he hates my being around. So if his story doesn't stand, I might lend a hand, you understand? (ie. the rhyme is planned, dummies).

etc.,

wtf Pete?

I would have quoted the full text but Dissensus objected as I exceeded the character limit with the Gabriel verbiage

 

[blissblogger]

Andrew Loog Oldham, who was a sort of composite of Simon Puxley ideologue and an actual hustling manager, used to do liner notes for the Stones early albums.

For the Rolling Stones No. 2 he penned this:





“It is the summer of the night London’s eye be tight shut all but twelve peepers and six hip malchicks who prance the street. Newspaper strewn and grey which waits another day to hide its dirgy countenance the six have been sound ball journey made to another sphere which pays royalties in eight months or a year. A Snippet from A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess The Luna was well up now, and we could viddy this cottage fine and clear as I eased up and put the brake on, the other three giggling like bezoomny, and we could viddy the name on the gate of this cottage veshch was HOME, a gloomy sort of a name. I got out of the auto, ordering my droogs to shush their giggles and act like serious, and I opened this malenky gate and walked up to the front door. I knocked nice and gentle and nobody came, so I knocked a bit more and this time I could slooshy somebody coming, then a bolt drawn, then the door inched open an inch or so, then I could viddy this one glazz looking out at me and the door was on a chain. "Yes? Who is it?" It was a sharp's goloss, a youngish devotchka by her sound, so I said in a very refined manner of speech, a real gentleman's goloss: Sound is over back eight visions clear and dear. Friends, here are your new groovies so please a-bound to the sound of THE ROLLING STONES. We walk past flatblocks “There’s a femme in a frock”, “Come on luv”, says Bill. “Give us a kiss of Christmas”, “for why I should,” says she. “Your bods ain’t mistahs, with hair like that you should wear skirts not shirts!” What about Charles I? says Mick, “I am Charles I” says she – “Ah dear” foiled again said Keith, whose quite a wit, “she’d have kissed you in Richmond”. Well, my groobies, what about Richmond? With its green grass and hippy scene from which the Stones untaned. The cry in those days of May was have you heard of STONES, a new groupie who look wild and good. Their music is Berrychuck and all the Chicago hippies. Travel to Chicago and ask the malchek plebbies where is Howlin’ Wolf? Be he be not the one with Cheyanie Bodie. Oh my groogle back to your window box. Meanwhile back in Richmond, THE STONES have grown and people come from far and wide to hear the STONES “Somewhat like the Pied Piper”, one mal observed. “What a wit”, said Keith. A day in May at Richmond came to the treen, two showbiz genties with ideas plenty for THE STONES, Easton and Oldham named they were. The rest is not history so I’ll tell you about it. Records followed so did fame, Beatles wrote a song for them that got to number ten. Tours of the country and fame at large THE STONES were here, and we’ll be back with you when break commercial is over. (This is THE STONES new disc within. Cast deep into your pockets for loot to buy this disc of groovies and fancy words. If you don’t have bread, see that blind man knock him on the head, steal his wallet and lo and behold you have the loot, if you put in the boot, good, another one sold!) Back to the show, all was on the go, fame was having its toll of sweat and grime of a million dimes, ah! What a lovely war, Man, Easton called a meet one day; Stones arrived. “Columbus went to America, so shall we!”, so we went, naturally. They want you in France, in Germany you can dance. No, Brian, no need to grow a moustache. That’s all over, It’s different now – come on, just you see. So see we did, all over the globe, here and there. I remember when we arrived one day at a town called Knokke-le-Zoute. Imagine my surprise and of the plane we got that Charlie has on the same suit. “Never mind”, said Mick, “go to your analyst, he’ll sort you out”. So off we went, Charlie and me. The doctor knew the score. “Change your tailor”, said he, as he handed us a bill for 50 gins. “Ah”, said Keith, who is quite a wit, “such is fame”. So now it’s time to ponder as my penmind can write no longer. What to say on the bag of this bag of groovies. I could tell, tale of talent, fame and fortune and stories untold of how these teen peepers (eyes, that is, to you) have taken groupdom by storm, slur you with well-worn clichés, compare them to Wagner, Stravinsky and Paramour. I could say more about talent that grows in many directions. To their glory and their story, let the trumpets play. Hold on there, what I say is from the core of this malchik. To this groupie that I have grown with and lived with . . .Dear Mick, Keith, Brian, Bill and Charlie – lease autograph this leg I send you ‘cause man, that’s the sign of a real fan! Andrew Loog Oldham

 

[blissblogger]

another prog concept that makes no sense was the drivel penned by Peter Gabriel for Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

View attachment 11244

View attachment 11245



etc.,

wtf Pete?

I would have quoted the full text but Dissensus objected as I exceeded the character limit with the Gabriel verbiage

I like the geometric shaped photo inserts

 

[blissblogger]

Another Loog Oldham job, even more garbled



Twelve new blackbands, six in each hand

december’s children, children of stone

out of the heads: heads of stone

that in the words of that folk singer whose name I forget

contemplate, and meditate and speculate for you

and bring new weapons for your washing machine

to show where you’ve been and where you’re at:

let Elvis Presley be the diplomat

and the boys and mum nosh at the Lotus house,

when while ten noodles of truth, red-eyed and grimm,

put today in the chord for the hords,

of that left wing fanatical movement

that moved to a bigger compound

and touched every bit of blood-stained land

that rose above the sea, a children’s castle

made of bricks, and stone and steel and oil

and people who’s minds in today’s turmoil

blew down the bricks around them.

Hey, didn’t you know there’s a war on.

Ray Coleman is slamming the folk fakers

but we have no message to our sea of faces

of destruction and riots in downtown L. A.;

and war in uptown Vietnam,

or who really killed that soldier of peace in Dallas a year or so ago,

in this world where minds have overtaken reason

and every thought is potential treason,

the only message about this new ellpee

is let’s all live to enjoy it.

And in the words of Lou Folk-Rock Adler,

these are december’s children,

and january’s and february’s

and everybody’s.

And in the words of my local parson,

If the bomb does go off, make sure you get higher than the bomb’

It’s the only way to go,

and why not take this disc along –

out of our heads.

andrew loog oldham

 

[william_kent]

I like the geometric shaped photo inserts

if we were to be kind, we could call "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" an Eno album, hence the artistic touches...

 

[blissblogger]

I always loved this one even though it seemed both silly and sad by 1980 or whenever it was that I picked up this 1972 compilation of The Doors, Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine - another gatefold. Bruce Harris was The Doors's publicist but he really seems like a true believer - even more mesmerized by Jim than that fanboy who wrote No One Here Gets Out Alive. Or Oliver Stone for that matter.

 

[blissblogger]

Okay, we enter the age of postmodernism - irony and retro. A series of liner notes for ABC singles (but not the album Lexicon of Love) penned by singer Martin Fry. Note also the cute period touch of instructions on how to best care for your vinyl. All very much part of their anti-rockist shtick of "back to the days of professional entertainment".

 

[blissblogger]

 

[blissblogger]

 

[william_kent]

my own ( half-arsed ) theory about liner notes is that during the 50s they were a necessary marketing device for clueless consumers who could not decode the album art work - eg., black guy smoking in blue room = jazz, hawaiian guy ( or "exotic" model ) with xylophones visible in Tiki bar = exotica - and a bunch of punters who REALLY needed convincing that hi-fidelity was the future needed educating on the wonders of hi-fi and "long play", but once a "music press" became established this reduced the need for on sleeve marketing ( mid to late 60s ) and the requirement for paying some hack to tout the wonders of the vinyl diminished, but, although the 70s maybe the trough for "liner notes", they were still required when some drug addled prog rocker wanted to explain their "concept"

by the 80s, we have compilation albums with sleeve notes by an "expert" ( i.e., a record collector ), which, I have to confess, were actually useful
( I'm thinking reggae and garage psych compilations )

90s... reggae compilations persisted with detailed sleeve notes, no idea about other genres

2000+ - reissue market, essential to repress an album with "expert" commentary - this is where we snowball from "liner notes" and "sleeve notes" to "booklets" and "books" accompanying an overpriced release...

 

[william_kent]

@blissblogger

did Martin Fry write those?

for some reason I mix them up with the words Paul Morley wrote for ZZT

an aside: has anyone else seen the ABC short film? I remember that the majority of it is set on a train... maybe the worst short film I have ever seen.... and I have sat through "The Orchard End Murder" ( probably the worst short film ever ( UK Horror! ), but the ABC film is neck and neck.. )

 

[william_kent]

ABC - Mantrap ( dir: ~Julien Temple, 1983 )

of course, I should have looked, the ABC "short" film is on youtube...

now you can all share my pain ( if you actually press play )

edit: the train stuff only starts about 30 minutes in, that must have been the point when I started watching whenever it was broadcast on TV, my only memory is of a pock-marked face and a train carriage

 

[blissblogger]

@blissblogger

did Martin Fry write those?

for some reason I mix them up with the words Paul Morley wrote for ZZT

an aside: has anyone else seen the ABC short film? I remember that the majority of it is set on a train... maybe the worst short film I have ever seen.... and I have sat through "The Orchard End Murder" ( probably the worst short film ever ( UK Horror! ), but the ABC film is neck and neck.. )

Ah, that is a very good point - completely forgot about the infamous Morley ZTT notes (there is also an Ian Punman one for the album that did around the Nic Roeg film Insignificance, if I recall). I wonder if there is someone who has compiled all the ZTT liner notes and the ad copy - the complete Morleyana. Again, I think the idea of having them was a kind of postmodern / retro-nuevo gesture, as well as more expanse for Morley to fill with his language spurts.

Penman did a great sleeve note for ZE's Mutant Disco compilation - and again I think with ZE I think there's an air of retro-chic to even having a liner note on your record. I don't recall any others though, on say the Kid Creole albums.

Yes I think the ABC ones were done by Martin Fry - I mean, they are signed by him. He was a fanzine writer before joining Vice Versa / ABC and used to send out postcards to journalists with ABC-ideology on them.

 

[blissblogger]

ABC - Mantrap ( dir: ~Julien Temple, 1983 )

of course, I should have looked, the ABC "short" film is on youtube...

now you can all share my pain ( if you actually press play )

I never watched the whole thing, but I did look at clips on YouTube and yes, diabolically misconceived.

Lisa Van Der Pump who was in Mantrap and before that, the "Poison Arrow" video, later became famous for being in Real Housewives of Beverley Hills and now has her own spin off show

 

[blissblogger]

Being a journalist, the phenomenon of the overpriced box set with liner note booklet commissioned from a journalist is of course something I can't decry. Indeed have one out in a few months as part of an Associates Sulk box.

 

[blissblogger]

Yeah it sort of makes sense that the liner note essay would return with reissues. I can remember a Joe Strummer one, handscrawled, on a Charly compilation of Lee Dorsey's best tunes.