ihatemusic

Henry Flynt is one of the most remarkable musical forces I have ever heard. His unique blend of electrically distorted Dylan-esque 60's folk, combined with an avant-garde spin of classic 50's rock & roll, all meshed together with a beautifully distorted hillbilly sentimentality and amazing classically trained musical skill make for one of the most enjoyable sonic experiences you will ever receive.

Please if anyone here has heard of this maestro, can you recommend (if possible) any similar artists or collaborators as this is quickly becoming my favourite genre of music ever.

i don't know much about him, but i did read this essay which fearandpanic posted and was inspired to check out hillybilly tape music, which i found very strange and enjoyable, not entirely sure what i make of it as i've only given it one listen as of now

fearandpanic wrote:I think both La Monte Young and Henry Flynt furnished an American way out of "Western" art-music's false claims to universalism with more enjoyable music than Riley ever could. I'm painting with a broad brush in characterising Minimalism (and In C) this way, but I think there's truth in it. Flynt's greater grasp of the extent of the problem:

http://www.henryflynt.org/aesthetics/me ... _music.htm" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;

I think allowed him to make a more thorough break with snobbery and classical music elitism; as well as to make more enjoyable music.

Yuzz wrote: Please if anyone here has heard of this maestro, can you recommend (if possible) any similar artists or collaborators as this is quickly becoming my favourite genre of music ever.

The most obvious one is the Velvet Underground, which you probably already knew. Flynt depped with them on at least one occasion. I think there was a gig outside of New York when Lou Reed was sick with hepatitis where Flynt came in as 4th member.
I've got the idea that this was the series of gigs where the riff for sister ray first emerged but think i may well be collating 2 different gigs.

I think he was back doing some stuff a few years ago with several more current names too though.

Yuzz wrote: Please if anyone here has heard of this maestro, can you recommend (if possible) any similar artists or collaborators as this is quickly becoming my favourite genre of music ever.

Flynt's combination of elements is unique to him--I can't imagine much that's very similar. He very much sees himself as pursuing his philosophical and musical agenda all by himself (see his website linked above).

He isn't much of a droner except on C Tune; if you know and like that you could try Tony Conrad's Four Violins (there's an LP on the Table of the Elements label). You might want to hear La Monte Young's X for Henry Flynt as well. Not because it's similar to Flynt's music--just to get some sense of the Fluxus origins of his thought and music.

Luckily a lot of Flynt's music has become available in recent years thanks to the Locust label and a few others, almost all of which I like (Hillbilly Tape Music is good in part) and some I absoutely love (Back Porch Hillbilly Blues Vol. 1 and, especially, I Don't Wanna, with his snotty protest punk band The Insurrections).

Don't miss this fantastic interview (conducted in 1989, long before the recent revival of interest in his music):

http://www.stewarthomesociety.org/interviews/flynt.htm

Stevo wrote:The most obvious one is the Velvet Underground, which you probably already knew. Flynt depped with them on at least one occasion. I think there was a gig outside of New York when Lou Reed was sick with hepatitis where Flynt came in as 4th member.
I've got the idea that this was the series of gigs where the riff for sister ray first emerged but think i may well be collating 2 different gigs.

I think he was back doing some stuff a few years ago with several more current names too though.

Wow I didn't know that at all I will definitely look into those recordings, know where or how they might be available?

fearandpanic wrote:He isn't much of a droner except on C Tune; if you know and like that you could try Tony Conrad's Four Violins (there's an LP on the Table of the Elements label). You might want to hear La Monte Young's X for Henry Flynt as well. Not because it's similar to Flynt's music--just to get some sense of the Fluxus origins of his thought and music.

Luckily a lot of Flynt's music has become available in recent years thanks to the Locust label and a few others, almost all of which I like (Hillbilly Tape Music is good in part) and some I absolutely love (Back Porch Hillbilly Blues Vol. 1 and, especially, I Don't Wanna, with his snotty protest punk band The Insurrections).

I own all of those Flynt albums. I Don't Wanna is my favourite too. thanks for the other suggestion though, I will definitely check them out.

Yuzz wrote:

Stevo wrote:The most obvious one is the Velvet Underground, which you probably already knew. Flynt depped with them on at least one occasion. I think there was a gig outside of New York when Lou Reed was sick with hepatitis where Flynt came in as 4th member.
I've got the idea that this was the series of gigs where the riff for sister ray first emerged but think i may well be collating 2 different gigs.

I think he was back doing some stuff a few years ago with several more current names too though.

Wow I didn't know that at all I will definitely look into those recordings, know where or how they might be available? .

I doubt they are. As far as I know there is very little Cale era bootleg material around. There have been a couple of late '68 Yule era sets torrented on Dime recently but I think the Cale stuff is better.
Didn't Cale also prevent one of the better known (more mythical) live recordings from his era from becoming the Bootleg series volume II? Was it the GYmnasium set?
Possibly the closest you'd get to the Henry Flynt gigs would be the Columbus set from '66, which I love even in the non remastered version I have. I got the Green and Purple banana sleeve 2cd version I think I saw there was a remastered (probably wrong word since difficult to find actual masters) Japanese version a few years back. Anyway its got great versions of Nothing Song and Melody Laughter on plus a 9 minute Run Run Run where the Dresden bombing meets Bo Diddley match is even more noticeable.

fearandpanic wrote:He isn't much of a droner except on C Tune

His 1986 cassette on Edition Hundertmark, You Are My Everlovin / Celestial Power is fairly droney..

seht wrote:

fearandpanic wrote:He isn't much of a droner except on C Tune

His 1986 cassette on Edition Hundertmark, You Are My Everlovin / Celestial Power is fairly droney..

And so is the great 'purified by the fire' from 2005. It covers some similar themes as c tune but it's a different enough performance they they both warrant special attention.

I'm a huge Henry Flynt fanatic so it's great to see this discussion!

As for recommendations, it depends so much on which part of Henry Flynt you've been getting into! I really don't know anyone that has covered as much musical ground as he has. Maybe it's because it's all been coming out over the span of just a few years but represents a lifetime of recording.


ted

http://www.ubu.com/sound/flynt.html

Don't miss this fantastic three-hour interview with Flynt from a few years ago on WFMU, speaking on Cage, Wolff, Bartok, rockabilly, jazz, Indian music, economics, and cultural elitism. Fascinating stuff, and I think what made me interested in Flynt in a big way (that and hearing I Don't Wanna)

I need to sit with "I don't wanna" longer. I finally found a copy of the 2LP Back Porch Hillbilly Blues - if it ever shows up in the mail. Those two volumes are by far my favorite stuff of his though.

I don't Wanna - I remember realllly liking the guitar work, but that was all.

The others I've seen have only existed on CD - so I haven't heard em - aside from the droney one, something about Fire?..

Does anyone know if Michel Sampson has any solo work floating about anywhere? I have all the Ayler sides he plays on, but he's another favorite Viola/violin player for me.

rmocker wrote:I need to sit with "I don't wanna" longer. I finally found a copy of the 2LP Back Porch Hillbilly Blues - if it ever shows up in the mail. Those two volumes are by far my favorite stuff of his though.

I don't Wanna - I remember realllly liking the guitar work, but that was all.

The others I've seen have only existed on CD - so I haven't heard em - aside from the droney one, something about Fire?..

Back Porch Hillbilly Blues volume 1 & 2 rank among my favorites although I'm not crazy about how the vinyl was packaged. I actually really prefer having them as separate listening experiences the way the cds originally came out.

If you like this side of him and you are a vinyl only sort, I have a recommendation. I just snagged a copy of his latest release on locust called Nova'Billy - the vinyl is so beautiful i nearly lost it at Kim's. It's a weighty Double lp in a deluxe gatefold.

This is a totally different beast but it's clearly all Henry Flynt. Who else would do a boogie rock version of the socialist anthem - International - with a completely straight face? Although very diferent, this seemed to be similar to his insane raga vocal take on the Marine's Hymn on Raga Electric from 10 or 15 years earlier.

I knew to expect something pointing in a new direction from the 45 that came out on locust last year (that is DEFINITELY worth tracking down) but nothing prepared me for the Nova'billy double lp. I guess you could say the closest connection is to the Insurrections but the politics are stranger in this setting, the music is a lot tighter and unlike I Don't Wanna, the songs are extended jams and not short garagey cuts. That said, there are a few cuts from his other records that are reprised on Nova'Billy in a fuller band atmosphere. "Sky Turned Red" appears for the third time, by my count ( it was on one of the Back Porch discs and I Don't Wanna )and it's just as nutty as ever, "Good Morning" is an update of "Goodby Wall St." from I Don't Wanna.

The musicians show some serious chops here. Henry's fiddle playing is outstanding and so is guitarist jim mcallister. The band has a southern fried groove that's as much pre punk as it is hippie jam band. A google search on the members brought back pretty neat info & really helped me get a sense for who he was working with at this point (mid 70s). McAllister seems to be the same Jim McAllister who played with Sparks, Don Christensen & Paul Colin were both with the Contortions & James Chance spin off projects, bassist Larry Bennett seems to be the same Larry Bennett from the San Francisco psych band the Mystery Trend and Peter Gordon has been a regular on that downtown avant scene for a long time. I have a solo album by him that sucks but I've been told the love of life orchestra is worth checking out.

I don't have favorites yet and am taking the whole album experience in but that's how this is best listened to anyway.

As for the Velvet's comparison brought up earlier, Side D's "Stoned Jam" is a sleepy lingering blues jam that seems like the bearded cousin to VU tracks like Ocean from the live 1969 double.

Anyway, I'm still getting acquainted with this one but I can easily say it's one of the great discoveries of the last couple of years for me. I keep hoping someone would do a longer article on him. The usual suspects like the Wire or Signal To Noise covered Henry but it was several years ago and before the Insurrections CD came out.

I like "Graduation and Other New Country and Blues Music" quite a lot. But it doesn't seem to get mentioned.

Esquilo wrote:I like "Graduation and Other New Country and Blues Music" quite a lot. But it doesn't seem to get mentioned.

i think it's one of the worst. it just doesn't gel well. Apparently, the Cramps people never released it because they didn't know what to do with it.

that was the first flynt i heard, but honestly i have no recollection of what it sounds like.

you are my everlovin is my favorite, though i've spent very little time with the last couple, should go back to them.

m

truncatedted wrote: i think it's one of the worst. it just doesn't gel well. Apparently, the Cramps people never released it because they didn't know what to do with it.

Yes, it's mixed, but I don't think "not gelling" is much of a criticism here. What you get is mostly a series of long country & R 'n' B instrumental jams: "Portrait" highlights some great fiddle playing; "Lonesome Train Blues" a two-guitar interplay that tends to bring Beefheart to mind (the steel guitar here I think is great); "No Rights" brings in a definite funk influence (with electro-kitsch organ) along with more of Flynt's impressive violin jamming. The title tune, "Graduation," I think is fantastic, great lyrics and impressively sung. The twenty-minute closer, "Celestial Power," is the only real drag, I think; its sliding chords and flickering echo are pleasant enough for about five minutes, but no longer.

Here's Henry vs. Stockhausen in the early 60s. It's worth remembering that Cardew's much-lampooned book attacking Stockhausen in similar terms emerged in 1974, ten years after Flynt's (naive in some ways, but mercifully non-Maoist) Action Against Cultural Imperialism:

http://www.artnotart.com/fluxus/hflynt- ... ainst.html

http://www.artnotart.com/fluxus/hflynt- ... decor.html

mudd wrote:that was the first flynt i heard, but honestly i have no recollection of what it sounds like.
you are my everlovin is my favorite, though i've spent very little time with the last couple, should go back to them.

m

well, if i had to list my faves in order of most recommended to least recommended, it would look something like the list below. I would qualify the statement and say that I find that it's very hard for me to compare something like 'you are my everlovin' to 'back porch hillbilly blues vol. 1'. It is apples and oranges, as it were.

My very subjective list


Nova'Billy (locust) - His latest release & maybe his most accessible record to date. the music is just spellbinding mix of jazz,r 'n' b, jamband, boogie & early rock and roll workouts with a huge tie to how a vision of hillbilly fit within the new york scene. It also has the clearest tie to the Velvets IMO. With careful listening to Flynt's performance, it's just as ecstatic as his drone records.

I highly recommend this and if you can find it the 45 that came out last year. that has a great version of "left ear" that's faster & has some excellent guitar and violin soloing. The version on the full nova'billy release is more of a foot stomper with bass playing that sounds like cowboy cumbia polka rhythms.

Raga Electric (locust) - maybe his most difficult disc. A deeply personal, solitary outsider classic filled with free improv sax noise, verbal freakouts, etc. He's not at his most proficient here if that matters to anyone but given the time this was created, it's a marvelous incomparable document where his ideas are just completely wild and idiosyncratic. I never get the impression that his work is eccentric for the sake of being 'out there'. There was a picture disc lp that sounds surprisingly great for the medium.

Back Porch Hillbilly Blues Volume 1 & 2 (locust / bo'weavil) - essential in defining the avant hillbilly aesthetic. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I prefer to take these in as separate releases. It was a wise decision for my ears. I wish the vinyl was released as two different editions. (locust / bo'weavil)

I would place his drone records in a similar plane. You are my everlovin (recorded), C Tune (locust) & Purified by the Fire (locust) are all exceptional releases. I don't know if C Tune & Everlovin are in print or not. These are all gems.


Henry Flynt & The Insurrections (locust cd/ bo'weavil vinyl)- a great garage rock protest release. The best writing i've seen on it is something julian cope did on headheritage.

Hillbilly Tape Music (recorded)- This is an interesting experiment of modulated guitar / fiddle playing.

Spindizzy (recorded) - i have trouble remembering what this sounds like.

Graduation (ampersand) even though there are some cool jams on here with a band that is similar to nova'billy (sorry, this isn't in front of me for reference), the sound quality is questionable & the pairing of 70s jam band with a version of celestial power - a pulsing heavy environmental sound piece that worked best on the everlovin' cd- seems completely ill suited to the music that precedes it.

Ascent to the Sun (recorded) - as far as i can tell, this the same exact material on purified by the fire layered multitracked and slightly out of sync. It's not a bad listen but it seems to be among the least necessary. It's a bit abrasive by comparison to the three drone records above. My least favorite.

Ted

fearandpanic wrote:The twenty-minute closer, "Celestial Power," is the only real drag, I think; its sliding chords and flickering echo are pleasant enough for about five minutes, but no longer.

This is what ruins it. It feels very hastily assembled.

Ted

listened to the new locust nova billy thing on a country drive this weekend and was floored. 'i don't wanna' is one of my alltime favourite records, and i think this is pretty close.

fearandpanic wrote:http://www.ubu.com/sound/flynt.html

Don't miss this fantastic three-hour interview with Flynt from a few years ago on WFMU, speaking on Cage, Wolff, Bartok, rockabilly, jazz, Indian music, economics, and cultural elitism. Fascinating stuff, and I think what made me interested in Flynt in a big way (that and hearing I Don't Wanna)

I loaded that up on an mp3 player for a trip 2 years ago. Listened to the whole 3 hours straight through. It's really great.

Henry Flynt is my favorite Lou Reed guitar student, but unlike Lou he's not just a curmudgeon. I find his viewpoints on cultural elitism really interesting. His writings:

http://www.henryflynt.org

Demolish Serious Culture!

haha... but no, seriously.. the man is on to some things. It's worth a read.

Is "Stoned Jam" on the Locust LP?