Ron Geesin - 1972 - Electrosound (full album)
- 8 years ago
To many rock fans of advancing years, the name Ron Geesin may be vaguely familiar for but one reason. Anyone who has ever closely scrutinized the credits of Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother might have at least been momentarily perplexed to discover that the side-long title track is the work of Gilmour-Waters-Wright-Mason and Geesin -- the only instance of a Floyd track being even partially composed by anyone other than a member of the band, (at least before David Gilmour started roping in outside lyricists after Roger Waters' departure). Geesin's main contribution to the "Atom Heart Mother" suite was the elegiac cello melody, bizarrely subtitled "Breast Milky." Yet anyone thus prompted to get further acquainted with Geesin's solo work might have been in for something of a shock, for sober, classically tinged laments are far from being his stock in trade.
In the '70s, Ron Geesin's records -- by then released on his pioneering one-man label, Headscope -- used to bear the helpful instruction to record store staff: "File under Ron Geesin." This would have been unnecessary for any store that already had a section labeled "Madcap electronic composers-cum-performance artists who also write and declaim absurdist poetry and make far-ranging radio programs for the BBC." Yet even that would have grossly oversimplified the dizzying range of Geesin's work, which also includes painting, short stories, designing interactive sound and video-based art structures and installations, off-the-wall comedy, lecturing, and record production. In fact, his range of interests borders on the infinite.
Furthermore, the term "electronic composer" also does Geesin's literally inimitable jumble of musical influences a gross disservice. As a child growing up in the '50s, his first instrument was the banjo, which, by the age of 16, had led him to discover the arcane world of jug band music and trad jazz. This was followed by an early affection for the blues, which he played on the family piano -- using three fingers on each hand -- whenever his two sisters weren't practicing. By 1962, he had joined his first band -- the Downtown Syncopators -- resplendent in stripy blazers and bow ties. Yet perhaps the most significant discovery of his entire musical life was the tape recorder, and its previously unimagined capacity for the manipulation of sound. For the next 20 years, until he bought his first Fairlight computer, Geesin rejoiced in distorting, reversing, chopping up, looping, and electronically treating every sound -- both musical and non-musical -- that came within his ken.
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ron-geesin-mn0000231920
In the '70s, Ron Geesin's records -- by then released on his pioneering one-man label, Headscope -- used to bear the helpful instruction to record store staff: "File under Ron Geesin." This would have been unnecessary for any store that already had a section labeled "Madcap electronic composers-cum-performance artists who also write and declaim absurdist poetry and make far-ranging radio programs for the BBC." Yet even that would have grossly oversimplified the dizzying range of Geesin's work, which also includes painting, short stories, designing interactive sound and video-based art structures and installations, off-the-wall comedy, lecturing, and record production. In fact, his range of interests borders on the infinite.
Furthermore, the term "electronic composer" also does Geesin's literally inimitable jumble of musical influences a gross disservice. As a child growing up in the '50s, his first instrument was the banjo, which, by the age of 16, had led him to discover the arcane world of jug band music and trad jazz. This was followed by an early affection for the blues, which he played on the family piano -- using three fingers on each hand -- whenever his two sisters weren't practicing. By 1962, he had joined his first band -- the Downtown Syncopators -- resplendent in stripy blazers and bow ties. Yet perhaps the most significant discovery of his entire musical life was the tape recorder, and its previously unimagined capacity for the manipulation of sound. For the next 20 years, until he bought his first Fairlight computer, Geesin rejoiced in distorting, reversing, chopping up, looping, and electronically treating every sound -- both musical and non-musical -- that came within his ken.
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ron-geesin-mn0000231920