Released
on May 9th, 1969, George Harrison's second solo album, Electronic
Sound, is turning 55 years old today. It was the first LP of entirely
electronic music released by a rock musician, breaking new creative
ground, though perhaps lacking in sophistication or any true
understanding of how to use the instrument.
In
the late 1960s, the MOOG modular system was a novelty, for the most
part. Micky Dolenz of The Monkees had purchased one and it was used on
the group's fourth LP, released in 1967, one of the first pop music
appearances of the instrument. George Harrison became fascinated by the
MOOG soon after and purchased his own the following year. While in
California making the purchase, he recorded a demonstration session by
Bernie Krause (of Beaver & Krause) which ended up becoming No Time
For Space on Harrison's album. This recording was done without Krause's
permission or knowledge and its release undermined Krause's plan for
his upcoming collaboration with Paul Beaver because he'd utilized a
number of themes they were planning on incorporating into their project
during his demo for Harrison. Harrison initially had Krause's name on
the LP cover, but it was painted over at the insistence of Krause, who
was offended by the use of his demo without permission as well as
subsequent interactions with Harrison which he found disrespectful and
insulting.
The second piece
recorded for the album was done by Harrison in England after receiving
delivery of the synth. Under the Mersey Wall displays Harrison's lack
of understanding of the device, a situation aggravated by the lack of a
user manual included with the unit, something about which Harrison
complained to Krause, further aggravating their already strained
relationship. The recording amounts to little more than childlike
noodling with the synthesizer, with little in the way of nuance or clear
intention.
The album was
released in tandem with John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Unfinished Music No.
2: Life with the Lions, the second album in their trilogy of
experimental recording releases. Both were issued on the same day by
Zapple Records, a short lived subsidiary of Apple Records that was set
up for the purpose of issuing budget priced spoken word and experimental
sound recordings. The sub-label, however, was quickly folded after
these releases, with a third title being shelved before being released.
The cover for Electronic Sound featured a childlike painting created by
Harrison himself, which quite nicely suited the amateurish innocence of
the music on the record.
At
the time of its release, it was mostly dismissed or ridiculed by serious
music critics, though some found it oddly amusing or confounding, yet
fascinating. However, despite its crudeness and the issues with the
questionable provenance of one of its recordings, it has managed to
become something of a cult favourite in some quarters. As with the
Lennon/Ono releases, and Harrison's previous debut solo release, these
flew in the face of expectations for The Beatles, as a collective, and
were nonetheless expanding the boundaries of pop music. In the case of
Electronic Sound, it cracked open territory that would later be properly
explored by the likes of artist like Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream and
Cluster. The concept of abstract electronic ambience was just getting
started, and Electronic Sound was the first foot in the door of that
genre in many respects. As crude as it was, it still managed to carve
out a place as a cornerstone album.
