John Baker, who died 28 years ago today at the far too young an age of 59, was a musician and composer most readily known for his 11 year stint (1963 - 1974) at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. His work, with it's combination of traditional instrumentation with more unusual musique concrète techniques and sound sources -twanged rulers, pouring liquid, etc - is amongst the most easily identifiable of all the Workshop composers as, with Baker's jazz sensibilities never far from the surface, his compositions are often significantly lighter, catchier and more playful than those of his colleagues.
After leaving the Workshop in 1974 Baker never composed again and lived quietly until his death from liver cancer in 1998 which makes the body of work made in those 11 short years all the more remarkable.
The album below - along with Volume 2 which featured his soundtrack, library and advertising work - was released by Trunk Records in July and August of 2008 having been compiled by Alan Gubby of the great Revbjelde, head honcho of Buried Treasure where he released another album of Baker's music, 'The Vendetta Tapes' which I heartily recommend tracking down.
For those that would like to learn more about this fascinating composer the release page for the two Trunk albums features a lovely little biography written by Baker's brother, Richard that shines an illuminating light on the man behind and beyond the music.
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Regular readers of Wyrd Britain will know that I have an abiding love for the label, Trunk Records. Ever since Jonny Trunk became the first person to release The Wicker Man soundtrack back in 1998 I've been hooked. That he followed it with things such as the Dawn of the Dead OST, music from the Clangers, Ivor the Engine, The Tomorrow People and so very much more only cemented my love of the label.
In amongst all this televisual shenanigans trunk has also mined a bountiful seam of outsider music from the forgotten corners of both this odd little country and others just as wonderfully weird. A hunt through the archives will reveal music from BBC Radiophonic Workshop pioneers Daphne Oram, John Baker, Delia Derbyshire and Tristram Carey, UK jazz creators like Tubby Hayes and Basil Kirchin who has become almost a centrepiece of the labels output.
One of Kirchin's compositions, 'I Start Counting', opens this collection of whimsical and sometimes obtuse music. Joining Mr. Kirchin on the album are such folk as the Barbara Moore Singers, Pierre Arvay with h
is classic 'Merry Ocarina' (which some of you will remember from 'Vision On'), Reg Tilsley, The Piggleswick Folk and more.
It is a frankly ridiculously cheerful and quaint selection. As a CD it's one that has a tendency to come with me on long drives as it never fails to lighten the mood but equally it's just as good on a quiet summer evening with a glass of something tasty.
There's a lot more info on the tracks to be found on the Trunk website here.
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Poet Ian McMillan explores the world of ceative music making in the music education of the 1960s as he uncovers the work of teachers and children who created avant garde music and wonders how this impacted on the participants.
At only 30 minutes long it's far too short for such a large and interesting topic but it is fascinating with contributions from both enthusiasts - Jonny Trunk - and experts - Stephanie Pitts.
The BBC link won't embed so listen after the jump...
(if that link goes dead Jon Savage has it has his site here)
If this sort of thing is as up your particular street as it is mine then this is a subject that we've featured before with reviews of two Trunk Records releases...
Delia Derbyshire & Anthony Newley
(Trunk TTT008)
7" Single
Here we have an unreleased collaboration between Delia and the multi-talented Anthony Newley created apparently as soundtrack pieces but remained unused due to his move to the US with then wife Joan Collins.
Side one is a whimsical slice of vintage Delia all nursery rhyme atmospheres and tooting melodies over which Newley has added a voyeuristic commentary all sung in his best mockney manner (think Blur's 'Parklife'). Lyrics here - http://wiki.delia-derbyshire.net/wiki/Moogies_Bloogies
Over on the B side is something much, much stranger. 'I Decoded You (Moogies Bloogies pt.2)' sounds unlike anything else by Delia that I've ever heard and for it's 1 minute 28 second run time it is filled with busy clangs and tootles before twisting suddenly into a calliope waltz; over it all Newley, in another (more 'cultured') accent, again signs a frankly creepy love song. The notes on the reverse of the sleeve make the claim that musically this is an example of Delia sampling which seems reasonable and these folks are far more knowledgeable on this topic than me.
7 inch singles are rarely particularly cheap these days but they remain my favourite format and combining it with an unreleased rarity by a favourite musician makes this a real treat that's very much worth the asking price.
This
newer Trunk Records release of music by children lacks the sheer gonzo insanity that
made it's precursor on the label - 'Music For Children' by Carl Orff
& Gunild Keetman - such an amazing and compulsive listen but has
much to recommend it in it's own right.
Collated
from a variety of recordings made by school children between 1959 and
1981 it features folk songs, experimental oddities and a version of
'Bright Eyes'. For me the definite highlights are the moments of
avant-garde wonderfulness scattered throughout the album courtesy of a music education book and
album by the name of 'Sound & Silence' such as 'The Lyke Wake Dirge' (see below) but there are many moments of
simply sublime music littered across the album, and a version of
'Bright Eyes'.
I
was in primary and secondary school through the 1970s (indeed, the year of the
latest recording here is the year I started senior (comprehensive)
school) and so this sort of free and rather bucolic approach to musical
education brings back some strange memories and raises some odd feelings
(even though the songs we sung in school were in Welsh).
It
is a wonderful selection of tracks that manages to hold that sense of
wistful nostalgia whilst also remaining vital and entertaining even on
a version of 'Bright Eyes'.
This
is a collection of 3 LPs dating from 1958 of musical teaching methods
devised by Carl (Carmina Burana) Orff and Gunild Keetman and here
restaged in English by Margaret Murray who makes excellent use of the
talent of the children of the Italia Conte School, The Children's
Percussion Ensemble and Chorus of the Children's Opera.
What
we get is a tangle of folk songs, nursery rhymes, speech exercises and
percussion pieces all designed (in ways I'm too lazy to discuss here) to
teach the kids the rudiments of music. Whether they would work or not I
have no clue but what I do know is that it's fantastic fun to hear.
Orff and Keetman
The
rhythmic pieces are melodious tangles of glockenspiels, metallophones,
drinking glasses, tambourines, cymbals and drums. Other instruments,
such as lute, recorders and double bass, make appearances throughout and
the whole has the air of some sort of mediaeval mummers play as
filtered through the stones of Avebury or via an incursion of 'Time' in
an episode of Sapphire & Steel.
Margaret Murray
It
is frankly glorious stuff, partly ecstatic and partly massively creepy -
a group of children chanting the name 'Deadly Nightshade' had me
giggling and reaching for the rewind to hear it again and again. Only
for it to then be eclipsed by the simultaneous chants of 'Mad as a
Hatter' and 'Let the piper call the tune' (tracks 17 and 18 respectively in the playlist below).
It's
magnificently odd, deliciously creepy and beyond all that it's
fantastic fun and I don't think I'll hear a better album this year.
The album is available to download from Trunk Records (for a massive 50p) as is volume 2. They had reissued it on LP and CD too but they seem to be sold out from the label.
or alternatively you can listen to the whole thing here.
If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much welcome a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain
