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Sandy Bull and Our Inner Interplanetary Opium Den

Posted over 2 years ago
  • Artist:
    Sandy Bull
  • Album:
    Still Valentines Day 1969
  • Track:
    Memphis TN, No Deposit No Return Blues
Sandy Bull – Still Valentines Day 1969 (Water Records)Lately I have been trying to write more reviews, and in an effort to put my listening experience (of Still Valentines Day) into words, I have been listening to this album over and over. Every time I delve past the first sentence, I find myself in a daze and totally consumed by sounds that gently brush against my mind much like the waves of an ocean. Yes, I know that sounds super-hokey, but when you listen to this album, I think you will see what I mean. Previous to this release, I was not familiar with Sandy Bull, I mean I had heard the name, but in this game you hear so many names, so I never delved into the Sandy Bull catalog. Now I can honestly say, I LOVE THIS GUY. His music is soothing and engaging simultaneously, and from my experience it is very rare for an instrumental album to truly engage the listener, especially a live instrumental album. Though a combination of the electric oud and tape machines, Still Valentines Day shows you that we all have an interplanetary opium den in our heads, we just need a guide to find it, and Sandy Bull is just the man for the job. Highly recommended!!!! (LW – GP)(More in the comments)--Grand Palace Records128 ½ N. Church St. Murfreesboro, TN 37130615-890-3221www.grandpalace.usrecords@grandpalace.us
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Comments (1)

  1. Grand Palace Records
    Grand Palace Records says **Here’s Another Review, because mine sucks** From one of the most shadowy and hypnotic solo guitarists of the ‘60s comes this much-needed addition to his sparse discography. Compiled from recordings of two consecutive nights live at the Matrix in San Francisco in 1969, the album really focuses on Bull’s dynamics not so much musically but in range of instrumentation. Apparently this guy could play anything with strings. From reverb-drenched electric to oud to tape machines, Sandy Bull was an alchemist of the highest order. Influenced as much by Hamza el Din and Bach as he was from folk or psych, Bull created a singular style and some seminal LPs for the Vanguard label in the 60’s and early 70’s. Still Valenties Day highlights some of the best moments from this period. Two stunning versions of “Electric Blend” and gracefully subdued Oud improvisations (featuring Ornette Coleman drummer Billy Higgins!) sit next to Bull’s fried version of the Chuck Berry classic “Memphis, TN” and Bach’s “Bouree.” A collection of soulful, raw and cosmic string explorations (From Sound fix) **Who is Sandy Bull?** Sandy Bull (1941-2001) was a folk musician who was active from the late 1950s until his death. Sandy Bull was a composer and accomplished player of many stringed instruments, including guitar, pedal-steel, banjo and the middle-eastern oud. Sandy Bull's music and recordings are characterized by his blending of non-western instrumentation and improvisational traditions with the 1960's folk revival. His albums for Vanguard records often combined extended modal improvisations on oud with an eclectic repertoire of instrumental cover material. Bull is well known for his arrangement of Carl Orff's composition Carmina Burana for 5 string banjo on his first album, which was included on an album of R.E.M.'s favourite songs. Other such musical fusions include his adaptation of Luiz Bonfá's "Manha de Carnaval," and compositions derived from J.S. Bach themes. Sandy Bull's approach to performance, composition and recording is notable for his extensive use of overdubbing and multi-track tape recording before such techniques became commonplace in music production. However, unlike the sophisticated, glossy aesthetic commonly associated with these techniques, Bull simply used overdubbing as a way to accompany himself and plays all the instruments on many of his recordings. As documented in the "Still Valentine's Day 1969" concert recording, Sandy Bull's use of tape accompaniment was part of his live, solo performances as well. **What is an OUD? ** The oud, is a pear-shaped, stringed instrument, still used in traditional Middle Eastern music and East African music. **OUD History** According to Farabi, an Iranian philosopher of Turkic descent, the oud was invented by Lamak, the sixth grandson of Adam. The legend tells that the grieving Lamak hung the body of his dead son from a tree. The first oud was inspired by the shape of his son's bleached skeleton. The oldest pictorial record of a lute dates back to the Uruk period in Southern Mesopotamia, over 5000 years ago on a cylinder seal currently housed at the British Museum and acquired by Dr. Dominique Collon. The image depicts a female crouching with her instruments upon a boat, playing right-handed. This instrument appears hundreds of times throughout Mesopotamian history and again in ancient Egypt from the 18th dynasty onwards in long and short-neck varieties. One may see such examples at the Metropolitan Museums of New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and the British Museum on clay tablets and papyrus paper. This instrument and its close relatives have been a part of the music of each of the civilizations that have existed in the Mediterranean and Gulf regions, including the Sumerians, Akkadians, Persians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans. **Links In Which You Might Be Interested** This is a great piece on Sandy Bull http://www.globalvillageidiot.net/bull.htm
    Permalink posted 01/17/2007

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