Genre: bizarre
Rating: **** (3 stars)
Title: The Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman
Company: ABC Command
Catalog: 938-S
Year: 1969
Country/State: --
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: gatefold sleeve; still fully laminated; someone wrote initials 'Rosenwasser' on cover
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 4340
Price: $50.00
Cost: $66.00
Yeah, I'm kind of surprised this album's in my collection ... Dick Hyman's been recording since the 1940s, but most of his catalog is jazz oriented, which is an area that I don't have a great deal of interest in - guess I'm simply too dense to understand the genre's complexities. As you've probably guessed, this 1969 album is way different from Hyman's normal repertoire. Regardless, this is one I picked up for the wild cover art. It wasn't till I played it that I even knew I'd heard the track 'The Minotaur' before.
Hyman's one of the
first well known musicians to embrace synthesizer technology and 1969's
"The Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman"
is basically a 'look at what you can do' showcase for those
experiments with the new fangled technology - particularly the Moog
synthesizer. Self-produced, the album showcased a series of nine Hyman
originals, including the unexpected hit 'The Minotaur' (which ELP basically
ripped off for their own 'Lucky Man'). All instrumental, the set
bounces all over the musical spectrum from conventional pop ('The Legend of
Johnny Pot'), to outright experimentation (''Four Duets In Odd
Meters'). The sound's certainly somewhat dated, occasionally recalling
an early Atari video game (remember this album's now some 35 years old), but
the LP has a bizarre charm that's simply hard to adequately describe.
Call it a personal favorite in the bizarre category ... Hyman provided
great liner notes that described what he was trying to do with each
composition. (By the way, I wasn't kidding. Released as a single
'Minotaur' b/w 'Topless Dancers of Corfu' (Command catalog number 45-4128)
actually went top-20 in the States.)
"The Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Topless Dancers of Corfu (instrumental) (Dick Hyman) -
2.) The Legend of Johnny Pot (instrumental) (Dick Hyman) -
3.) The Moog and Me (instrumental) (Dick Hyman) -
4.) Tap Dances In Memory Banks (instrumental) (Dick Hyman) -
5.) Four Duets In Odd Meters (instrumental) (Dick Hyman) -
(side
2)
1.) The Minotaur (instrumental) (Dick Hyman) -
2.) Total Bells and Tony (instrumental) (Dick Hyman) -
3.) Improvisations In Fourths (instrumental) (Dick Hyman) -
4.) Evening Thoughts (instrumental) (Dick Hyman) -
The album's been rediscovered by a younger audience thanks in part to Beck having sampled it for his 1996 "Odelay" LP. I think De La Soul borrowed part of 'Improvisations In Fourths' for one of their albums. Anyhow, the album's even seen a CD reissue, with a couple of bonus tracks.