covers complete.qxd 7/15/08 9:02 AM Page 1 MUSIC The first book ever about a mutant strain ofZ Songs in theKey of twisted pop that’s so wrong, it’s right! “Iconoclast/upstart Irwin Chusid has written a meticulously researched and passionate cry shedding long-overdue light upon some of the guiltiest musical innocents of the twentieth century. An indispensable classic that defines the indefinable.” –John Zorn “Chusid takes us through the musical looking glass to the other side of the bizarro universe, where pop spelled back- wards is . pop? A fascinating collection of wilder cards and beyond-avant talents.” –Lenny Kaye Irwin Chusid “This book is filled with memorable characters and their preposterous-but-true stories. As a musicologist, essayist, and humorist, Irwin Chusid gives good value for your enter- tainment dollar.” –Marshall Crenshaw Outsider musicians can be the product of damaged DNA, alien abduction, drug fry, demonic possession, or simply sheer obliviousness. But, believe it or not, they’re worth listening to, often outmatching all contenders for inventiveness and originality. This book profiles dozens of outsider musicians, both prominent and obscure, and presents their strange life stories along with photographs, interviews, cartoons, and discographies. Irwin Chusid is a record producer, radio personality, journalist, and music historian. He hosts the Incorrect Music Hour on WFMU; he has produced dozens of records and concerts; and he has written for The New York Times, Pulse, New York Press, and many other publications. $18.95 (CAN $20.95) ISBN 978-1-55652-372-4 51895 9 781556 523724 SONGS IN THE KEY OF Z Songs in the Key of Z THE CURIOUS UNIVERSE OF O U T S I D E R MUSIC ¥ Irwin Chusid Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chusid, Irwin. Songs in the key of Z : the curious world of outsider music / Irwin Chusid. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references, discography, and index. ISBN 1-55652-372-6 1. Musicians—Biography. 2. Popular music—History and criticism. I. Title. ML394.C56 2000 781.64'09—dc21 99-057640 Interior design: Lindgren/Fuller Design Cover design: Greg Carter © 2000 by Irwin Chusid All rights reserved First edition Published by A Cappella Books, an imprint of Chicago Review Press, Incorporated 814 North Franklin Street Chicago, Illinois 60610 ISBN 1-55652-372-6 Printed in the United States 54321 Dedicated to Mencken, Mary, and Mr. Mack KEY OF Z pt 01-3-L+F_ KEY OF Z pt 01/3/L+F 3/14/13 10:48 AM Page vi ¥ CONTENTS Introduction • ix Prologue: Transistor under My Pillow: A Memoir • xxiii 1 The Shaggs 12 Eilert Pilarm Groove Is in the Heart •1 The King of Sweden • 114 2 Tiny Tim 13 Lucia Pamela I Get a Kick Out of Uke • 13 Interstellar Overdrive • 119 3 Jack Mudurian 14 Captain Beefheart Chatterbox Jukebox • 22 Inscrutable Dreamer • 129 4 Joe Meek 15 Shooby Taylor, Blast from the Past • 26 the Human Horn Scat Man Do • 141 5 Song Poems Bus Fare to the Grammys • 37 16 Florence Foster Jenkins Widow’s Peak • 147 6 The Cherry Sisters The Fruits of Clean Living • 46 17 The Legendary 7 Jandek Stardust Cowboy The Great Disconnect • 56 Wide Open Space Cadet • 154 8 Daniel Johnston 18 Robert Graettinger Casper 1, Satan 0 • 67 Sleep in the Grave • 166 9 Harry Partch 19 B. J. Snowden Hallelujah! He’s a Bum • 79 Mission to Venus • 178 10 Wesley Willis 20 Wild Man Fischer Hell Ride • 93 Ritual of the Savage • 189 11 Syd Barrett 21 Snapshots in Sound Guitars and Dust • 101 Elsewhere in the Curious Universe • 199 Afterword • 233 An Incomprehensive Discography • 237 An Incomprehensive Bibliography • 249 Permissions • 255 Acknowledgments • 257 Index • 259 About the Author • 271 KEY OF Z pt 01-3-L+F_ KEY OF Z pt 01/3/L+F 3/14/13 10:48 AM Page viii ¥ INTRODUCTION “Folklore is the arts of the people before they find out there is any such thing as art.” —ZORANEALEHURSTON genius? Forget it. Talent? Beside the point. Welcome to the curious universe of “outsider music,” a mutant strain of twisted sonic art that’s so wrong—it’s right. Duke Ellington once said, “If it sounds good, it is good.” Well, sometimes if it sounds bad, it’s even better. Most people recognize “good” music when they hear it. Music that suc- ceeds in the broader market—call it “popular”—adheres to commonly accepted standards of melody, harmony, and tonal logic. Rhythm is fairly consistent, and lyrics tend to address—profoundly or vapidly—our shared culture and experiences. Occasionally popular music cleverly challenges or plays footloose with convention. But for the most part, basic formulas remain intact. There is right, and there is wrong, and producers, record execs, and radio programmers are paid obscene sums to determine what the market will accommodate. In an age of multitrack overdubbing and digital splicing, any performance miscue can be repaired. And though producers can work with serendipitous mistakes, even make them sound intentional, most studio professionals prefer to re-take a bum note or blown chord until done correctly. Now, imagine a musical universe where such standards do not exist, where keys beyond G are explored with élan. This book is a pan-galactic map of crack- pot and visionary music, where all trails lead essentially one place: over the edge. Picture a musical subclass glimpsed through the lens of Diane Arbus. { ix } INTRODUCTION This book is about artists who are instinctively gifted with what might be termed “imperfect pitch.” Outsider music sometimes develops naturally. In other cases, it could be the product of damaged DNA, psychotic seizures, or alien abduction. Perhaps med- ical malpractice, incarceration, or simple drug-fry triggers its evolution. Maybe shrapnel in the head. Possession by the devil—or submission to Jesus. Chalk it up to communal upbringing or bad beer. There’s no universal formula. That’s one characteristic that makes outsider music so refreshing: its unpredictability. Adventuresome musicians have been known to deliberately—even mali- ciously—jettison traditional approaches to expand the boundaries of music. Way beyond the parameters of pop stood renegade composer-theorist John Cage (1912–1992), considered by many the most avant of all gardes. Cage studied under twelve-tone formulator Arnold Schoenberg, who insisted, “In order to write music, you must have a feeling for harmony.” Cage lamented, “I had no feeling for harmony. [Schoenberg] then said that I would always encounter an obstacle, that it would be as though I came to a wall through which I could not pass. I said, ‘In that case I will devote my life to beating my head against that wall.’” Cage proceeded to create a unique body of work that remains among the most influential of the twentieth century—and not every- one calls it “music.” But no one doubted that he was in command of his men- tal faculties. Cage made a conscious choice to rebel, and regardless of the theoretical randomness of his aleatory (chance) music, he maintained control over his work. But there are countless “unintentional renegades,” performers who lack Cage’s overt self-consciousness about their art. As far as they’re concerned, what they’re doing is “normal.” And despite paltry incomes and dismal record sales, they’re happy to be in the same line of work as Celine Dion and Andrew Lloyd Webber. These artists populate the curious universe of outsider music. Lucrative careers in show biz are largely beyond their grasp, yet these quirky characters are compelled to create music, and public indifference is no deterrent. They orbit beyond the databanks of SoundScan and focus group surveys. They get little or no commercial radio exposure, their followings are limited, and they have roughly the same likelihood of attaining mainstream success that a pos- sum has of skittering safely across a six-lane freeway. The average person hearing outsider-type musicians for the first time might conclude that their performances are inept, or that these artists lack tal- ent. Their vocals sound melodically adrift; their rhythms stumble. They seem harmonically without anchor. Their instrumental proficiency may come across as laughably incompetent. { x } INTRODUCTION A common first reaction to the Shaggs’ landmark album Philosophy of the World is, “What were they thinking?” After witnessing a performance by the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, a club owner sneered, “That is the worst shit I’ve ever heard in my life.” And a radio station director once remarked that Harry Partch would “be a really good composer if only he’d compose regular music.” Such reactions presuppose that these artists are attempting to meet con- ventional standards of musicianship, but are failing miserably. To appreciate outsider music, however, an accommodation is required on the part of the listener. The rewards are ample: just when you think you’ve heard it all, outsider music reveals vistas you never imagined existed. Out- sider music is created to entertain, and does entertain at levels that exceed the indifference it might engender if it displayed greater technical ability and self-awareness. The “wronger” it is, particularly with lesser degrees of self- conscious intent, the closer it approaches pure originality. Millions of songs are written every decade, most of which flawlessly com- ply with the rudiments. The bulk of such work is bloodless, soulless, and acad- emic. Obeying rules is hardly a benchmark of creativity, much less of that elusive quality we recognize as “genius.” As some wag observed, “The angels love enthusiasm far more than perfection.” Long before the world knew him as the father of the Simpsons, Matt Groen- ing was collecting weird sonics and writing about them as a critic.