Songs of Experience (David Axelrod album)

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Songs of Experience
Studio album by
David Axelrod
ReleasedOctober 1969
GenreJazz fusion
Length32:01
LabelCapitol
ProducerDavid Axelrod
David Axelrod chronology
Song of Innocence
(1968) 		Songs of Experience
(1969) 		Earth Rot
(1970)

Songs of Experience is the second

Al Casey, bassist Carol Kaye, drummer Earl Palmer, and conductor Don Randi
.

As with his 1968 debut album

Third Stream concept. Axelrod composed Baroque orchestrations with rock, R&B, pop, and folk music
elements.

Songs of Experience received retrospective acclaim from critics, who found Axelrod's compositions musically varied and innovative. In the years since its original release, musicians also praised it as a source for sampling in hip hop production. Some of its songs have been sampled frequently by hip hop artists and producers. In 2000, the album was reissued by EMI.

Background

The album was inspired by Songs of Experience, an illustration collection of poems by William Blake.

As he had on the 1968 album Song of Innocence, Axelrod composed musical interpretations of the works of English poet William Blake on Songs of Experience.[1] He used eight poems from Blake's Songs of Experience (1794).[2] The album's gatefold packaging featured Blake's poems reprinted for each song and liner notes that stated, "an anthology of awareness after birth ... based on the 18th century poems of William Blake."[3] Blake's poems began with the premise of birth and innocence, and explored themes of life experience, rite of passage, and changes of perspective in life.[4]

Musical style

"The Human Abstract"
According to AllMusic's Thom Jurek, the song evokes themes of "unrepentant youth" and "the high-flying impetuousness of the restless spirit".[2]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

A

Irish folk song elements, and stylistic innovations from contemporary arranger Gerald Wilson.[2]

With Songs of Experience, Axelrod explored darker sounds,

tone poem to reflect Blake's opening stanza about the spiritual climate of London at the onset of the Industrial Revolution: "I wander thro' each charted'd street / Near where the chart'd Thames does flow / And mark in every face I meet / Marks of weakness, marks of woe."[4]

Reception and legacy

Songs of Experience was released in October 1969 by

movie music, with at least one cut ('The Fly') transcending the level of dreck".[11]

Songs from the album have been sampled frequently by hip hop producers and artists, including Black Moon, who sampled "A Divine Image", and DJ Shadow, who sampled the luminous piano line from "The Human Abstract" on his 1996 song "Midnight in a Perfect World".[12] English hip hop producer Metabeats called Songs of Experience one of his favorite sources for sampling music and said of the album in an interview for Hip Hop Connection: "You could sample everything on this record, and I think everyone already has. Axelrod is pretty much a sound library in himself – the quality is amazing."[13] American musician John McEntire ranked it third on his list of top-five albums and called it "early crate-digger stuff. Great, funky rhythm-section playing, crazy, overblown string arrangements."[14] In a 2000 interview for The Wire, rapper and producer Mike Ladd spoke of the album recording "London", deeming it "crazy stuff" that deviated from the one-dimensional rhythm loops of contemporary hip hop production. He went on the say, "this is definitely the kind of stuff I'm planning to do for the next album, incorporate more fusion elements and stuff like that. This is a really good production. I like it because it's little parts with gaps, which I don't normally have. Somebody told me I should listen to [Axelrod]. This is one I'm definitely going to buy I'd like to do more stuff with complicated melodies, everybody playing together, drum breaks, things like that."[15]

Track listing

All songs were composed, arranged, and produced by David Axelrod.[3]

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."A Poison Tree"3:10
2."A Little Girl Lost"3:24
3."London"2:47
4."The Sick Rose"4:47
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."The School Boy"2:30
2."The Human Abstract"5:32
3."The Fly"4:50
4."A Divine Image"4:39

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Murph, John (November 2005). "Autumn Chill: 41 of the Season's Best Albums, Part II". JazzTimes. Quincy. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Jurek, Thom. "Songs of Experience – David Axelrod". AllMusic. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Songs of Experience (gatefold LP reissue). David Axelrod. Capitol Records. 2000. SKAO-338.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ^ a b c d Sonksen, Mike (June 15, 2012). "LA Letters > Songs of Innocence and Experience: The Tone Poems of David Axelrod and William Blake". KCET. Archived from the original on March 26, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  5. ^ Cotner, David (2006). "David Cotner scopes out 7" records, 3" CDs and other odds & ends". Signal to Noise (41). Burlington: 53. ...the nourishing jazz fusion of Axelrod's own albums released at this time — Song of Innocence (1968) and Songs of Experience (1970).
  6. ^ Schwann, William (1970). Schwann Monthly Guide to Stereo Records. 22 (1–3). Cambridge. Songs of Experience (10-69) Cap. SKAO-338{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  7. ^ Kessler, Ken. "Rock Reissues". High Fidelity News and Record Review. 45 (7–12). London: 93.
  8. ^ George, Lynell (June 3, 2007). "Replay". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  9. ^ Mulvey, John (May 17, 2000). "David Axelrod – Songs of Innocence/ Songs of Experience". NME. London. Archived from the original on August 23, 2000. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  10. ^ "Reissues". Mojo (146). London: 136. January 2006.
  11. ^ Hull, Tom (May 2013). "Recycled Goods (#108)". Static Multimedia. Retrieved July 16, 2020 – via tomhull.com.
  12. ^ Fennessey, Sean (September 15, 2005). "David Axelrod: The Edge: David Axelrod At Capitol 1966–1970". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on June 2, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  13. ^ Douieb, Corin (December 2007). "My Melody". Hip Hop Connection (219). London: 40.
  14. ISSN 1074-6978
    . Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  15. ^ Shapiro, Peter (2000). "Oral Pleasure". The Wire. 197. London: 24.

External links

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