Understanding Eno, Brian Eno in His Own Words...
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Artist:
Groon kicked off the Brian Eno love fest by posting a track from Brian Eno/David Byrnes new colaboration Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. I believe Eno to be one of the most important people working in popular music today - but probably one of the hardest to pin down as to what exactly he does. Frankly, Eno is a renaissance man, making music, writing, creating art instalations, and producing albums. He is a Rock n' Roll Marcel Duchamp. But he is extremely eloquent in explaining his thoughts on music, and is able to synthesize his somethimes theory heavy ideas into ways that everyone can understand. So I hope to do a few posts, maybe many more, leting quotes from Eno explain Eno. I have been reading the wonderful book Brian Eno: His Music and the Vertical Color of Sound by Eric Tamm. (Here's a link to download the tree free version (Word) or a PDF version of the book). This quote was taken from that book.
"I suppose people here [in the U.S.] might think it's strange to regard
doo-wop as magical music, but I did, because in England we had no
tradition of it whatsoever ... It could have been from another galaxy for
all I knew. I was absolutely entranced by it, from the age of seven or
eight, when I first heard those early songs like "Get A Job" [The Silhouettes,
1958]. I thought, "This is just beautiful." I had never heard
music like this, and one of the reasons it was beautiful was because it
came without a context. It plopped from outer space, in a sense. Now,
in later life I realized that this removal of context was an important
point in the magic of music. One of the things I've been concerned
with quite a lot is to deliberately dismantle or shift contexts around so
that something comes from an area where you didn't expect it, or
something appears and it has a certain mysteriousness to it."
(Jim Aikin, "Brian Eno," Keyboard 7 (July 1981), 62.)
Locating MOG account...
Comments (22)
Eno has been a hero of mine for a quarter of a decade now.
He's beyond simply "creative". A true innovator.
Fascinating quote. The removal and shifting of context is a really interesting idea. I've a couple of his ambient albums and am eager to check out more of his work. Ta for the link.
I would reccomend "Another Green World", "Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy", and "Here Come The Warm Jets" which are his "rock" albums. Kinda pick up where he was going with Roxy, but it goes more into the stratosphere. This is beyond Glam - I'm not really sure how you'd describe it, because it's Art Rock, but not the played stereotypical Prog Rock (like later ELP or what have you). Some periods of his music are just so different than others, it's interesting it came from the same person.
Thanks for this! It's always interesting to me how something that sounds so natural and ordinary to my ears can be a source of fascination for someone else, and vice versa. It's like listening to some far out tribal ethnic music and being amazed, only to realize that to someone out there in the world, this music is completely run of the mill normal, and to that person something like Led Zeppelin would be almost beyond their comprehension.
Just downloaded and printed the free book. Over 200 pages. Ambitious.
Thanks for this.
DC - Yeah, it's actually kinda academic in it's approach, but it's nice because it actually talks about his music and not who he was dating or what he was eating. Very refreshing and very intelligent.
Groon - I love little quotes like this. It just shows how powerful the UK - USA creative connection has been in furthering Rock. We had to have the Brits discover the blues and sell us on the idea! And then I think we did some great things with it (Hendrix comes to mind) and then they turn it around and give us stuff like Pink Floyd or "Tommy". It's a beautiful symbiotic relationship.
I think that could almost be the case with kids getting all these MP3's nowadays. There's no refference other than that they like how it sounds, but it leads them on this wild goose chase of discovering what appeals to them about music. I think were on the edge of something great!
But I want to know who Eno was dating! ;-)
I'm not sure but it was probably Bebe Buell...
Looking forward to the book, thanks for the link contra! Eno impressed from the very first Roxy lp. The idea that a band member did not just play, but was also responsible for modifying the sounds of the rest of the band was an exciting concept. Diving off Roxy ('cause even THAT level of avant garde wasn't enough), he has gone on to do such incredible things. I really don't think U2 would be what they are without his guidance. A few years back, someone collected a number of chalk-board drawings by famous folks, and Eno was among them. Check out his (whimsical?) flow chart of how the different forms of music have migrated between the continents. "The Arabic Singing Diaspora"
Here's a bigger version for your (off-mog viewing) pleasure...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2358/2226992947_0fe3998ed3_o.jpg
contra - lol! Who hasn't had her? ;-)
scotfree - that is just too cerebral.
I remember reading Eno talking about how he created these "sound baffles" I was "baffled" reading about it! ;-)
scott - some of his writing or understanding of things is just so amazing. I wish I could find a 20 minute or so docmentary on him I saw in school. It was so amazing! I'd also recomend his essay's like "The Long Now" which will have you reassesing your whole life (well maybe from a creative stand point). Thanks for the link.
DC - The word "fixture" comes to mind with Bebe.
I'd like to "fix" her - OH!
i've been lucky with Eno. although uncredited, i was an assistant on several sessions for "Life in the Bush of Ghosts" in '79 and got to watch him work a bit.
The real encounter though, was in Dublin when i was on tour with Laurie Anderson. We did some pretty amazing stuff on that tour and after-show, Laurie came up to me in catering and told me Brian wanted to meet me. Turns out he was with Bono and they were curious about MY work. talk about a mind-fuck. we sat in the green room for about a half hour talking and i remember asking if this was really happening.......i thought it was a dream. that day's mentioned in his book "a year of swollen appendices", which is basically his diary from that year.
that event reminded me of why i got into this business. Brian's an icon and i'm glad you guys are paying attention to his work and his thoughts.
Let me respectfully bow to you. That's all I want being a creative person, is to be recognized by piers or others in the field. What a great experience.
It is the least I can do for Eno, since I think he is sometimes happy to be in the background, but he has such interesting points he makes in everything he does. I really mesh with his thinking (and Byrnes as well) and especially admire that it's never been a capital "A" art and lower case "a" art with him. I find his work, though often heavy in theory, comes with about as little pretense as you can find. He is intelligent but doesn't seem to be full of himself. I also find it inspiring that he doesn't consider himself a true musician, but makes some of the best music out there - that's DIY and that's Rock n' Roll!
RD - very cool story.
Newfound respect to you (not that I didn't have already).
Meeting and actually having a conversation with Eno would be a dream come true for me.
Thanks for the link Tyler... will definitely check it. Looking forward to more Eno posts.
" it came without a context. It plopped from outer space, in a sense. Now,
in later life I realized that this removal of context was an important
point in the magic of music"
very interesting that this is his take on it... very much heralding the current age of "bedroom studios" .... because from another point of view.... the Magic of music is very related to and dependent on the context, the performance and interaction with other people.... anyway I'll have to think on that.
Eno side project, maybe after he left Roxy, was a live album 801 Live, which has an extremely hard-rocking cover of the Beatle's Tomorrow Never Knows, titled TNK on the record. Check it out, it's worth looking for. Very interesting man, quite articulate and a significant body of recorded work.
BerkeleyBob
Thanks for the heads up!
I'm not too familiar myself, but all the talk and love fest is compelling. Thanks for the education...time to get caught up.
Reasons I love Eno:
1. 'Here Comes The Warm Jets' treated each song by itself without any regard to how it sounded as an album. (Without context?) At the time that was a really radical idea.
2. He once tried to have sex with as many girls as possible in 24hrs. He was in the middle of no. 6 when he collapsed his lung.
3. His injection into both Talking Heads and U2 made two interesting bands into two extraordinary bands. ('Achtung Baby' without Eno? Impossible.)
4. He introduced me to my first serious reggae experience: 'Double Seven' by The Upsetters. It's Lee Perry ca 1972 at his warped best. Brian insisted it was inspiring and he was right - it's in the album's first 30 seconds. Get it if you haven't heard it.
5. 'My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts'
6. Going to the studio one night when he was working with John Cale and seeing a synth keyboard with one key taped down. He was recording the note for the whole song.
7. Getting Phil Manzanera to play a solo high on the fret board, then another one low down the neck, then choosing the bits he liked from both and mixing them together to make one solo, regardless of whether the notes and sounds matched. (I wish I could remember which song it was for.)
8. Having such a great sense of humour.
9. Loving the electric guitar so much.
10. Proposing a night club where there was no music.
right on! I would say the sense of humor is key in every thing - keeps you from taking yourself too seriously.
I have a bunch of Perry comps, but I'll have to find that one, thanks Eno, thanks Jonh!
"Going to the studio one night when he was working with John Cale and seeing a synth keyboard with one key taped down. He was recording the note for the whole song."
Love it! He's a mad scientist - though I don't think he's mad only where it matters!
'Double Seven' came out about 8 - 10 years ago as part of a 3-CD Upsetters set on Trojan. Whether it's still around is anyone's guess.