Moondog (album)

Moondog is the fifth album by American composer Moondog.

Moondog
Studio album by
Moondog
Released1969
GenreModern classical, avant-garde, minimal
Length30:06
LabelCBS Records
ProducerJames William Guercio
Moondog chronology
The Story of Moondog
(1957)		 Moondog
(1969)		 Moondog 2
(1971)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link

Moondog had released no music for twelve years since his 1957 album The Story of Moondog. Finally, in 1969, producer James William Guercio invited him to record an album for Columbia Records.[1]

The resulting album compiled various music which Moondog had been working on since the 1950s. This included two "minisyms" (Moondog's term for short symphonic-styled works performed by small orchestras); two canons; a chaconne in memory of Charlie Parker; ballet music originally written for Martha Graham ("Witch of Endor"); and three symphonic (or "symphonique") works, one of which was dedicated to Benny Goodman and featured elements of swing. A version of one composition, "Theme", had previously been recorded for Epic Records in 1952.[1]

The album has been re-released twice as a 2-for-1 CD combining Moondog and Moondog 2: once by CBS in 1989, and once by Beat Goes On Records in 2001.

The album has also been re-released on vinyl LP for Record Store Day 2017.

Track listing

All compositions by Moondog (Louis Hardin)

  1. "Theme" – 2:34
  2. "Stamping Ground" – 2:36
  3. "Symphonique #3 (Ode to Venus)" – 5:48
  4. "Symphonique #6 (Good for Goodie)" – 2:44
  5. "Minisym #1: i – Allegro, ii – Andante Adagio, iii – Vivace" – 5:42
  6. "Lament 1 (Bird's Lament)" – 1:41
  7. "Witch of Endor: i – Dance, ii – Trio: (a) Adagio (The Prophecy), (b) – Andante (The Battle), (c) – Agitato (Saul's Death'), iii – Dance (reprise)" – 6:27
  8. "Symphonique #1 (Portrait of a Monarch)" – 2:34

Personnel

The opening part of the Vivace section of Minisym #1 was used as a theme for The Late News on WCVB-TV in the 1970s.

"Theme" was used in the opening credits and as a recurring cue in Jack Nicholson's 1971 film Drive, He Said.

"Stamping Ground" was used for a segment in The Big Lebowski.[2]

"Stamping Ground" was released as a single to promote the Holland Pop Festival in 1970 and became its theme song. The movie "Stamping Ground" that documents the Holland Pop Festival also took its name from the song.

The London Saxophonic version of "Lament 1 (Bird's Lament)" was featured in the 2008 stoner comedy Pineapple Express, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco,[3] and in the 2018 Argentinian biographical crime drama film El Angel.[4]

References
  1. Sleevenotes for Moondog album, 2001 Beat Goes On reissue
  2. "Big Lebowski & Moondog". YouTube. March 6, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  3. "Pineapple Express Dopest Dope". YouTube. January 23, 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  4. El Angel (2018) - IMDb, retrieved 2019-05-30
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