The Apocalypse Now Sessions

Last updated
The Apocalypse Now Sessions
TheApocalypseNowSessions.jpg
Studio album by
Rhythm Devils
ReleasedMay 25, 1980
Genre World music
Label Passport
Producer Mickey Hart
Mickey Hart chronology
Diga
(1976)		The Apocalypse Now Sessions
(1980)		 Däfos
(1983)
Bill Kreutzmann chronology
The Apocalypse Now Sessions
(1980)		 Backbone
(1999)

The Apocalypse Now Sessions is an album by the Rhythm Devils. Subtitled The Rhythm Devils Play River Music, and sometimes referred to by that name, it contains music that was recorded for the soundtrack of the film Apocalypse Now . It was released by Passport Records as a vinyl LP in 1980. It was remastered and released on CD in somewhat expanded form by Rykodisc Records in 1990. [1]

Contents

The Rhythm Devils is a percussion based music ensemble led by Grateful Dead drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. At the time of the recording of The Apocalypse Now Sessions, the band also included Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, along with percussionists Airto Moreira, Greg Errico, Jim Loveless, and Jordan Amarantha, guitarist Mike Hinton, and vocalist Flora Purim.

Recording

After attending a Grateful Dead concert, director Francis Ford Coppola asked Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann to record drum music for his film Apocalypse Now, much of which takes place along a river in the jungle during the Vietnam War. Hart and Kreutzmann, along with seven other musicians, assembled many different drums and other percussion instruments at the Club Front recording studio in San Rafael, California. While a rough cut of the movie was screened, they improvised the music, some of which ended up being used on the final soundtrack. [2] [3] The recording sessions took place over a period of ten days. Selections from the sessions were remixed and assembled into the final album. [4]

In addition to using a large collection of percussion instruments from around the world, provided by the various musicians, the Rhythm Devils constructed some new instruments. One of these was The Beast, an array of bass drums with different tones suspended from a large metal rack. After the recording of The Apocalypse Now Sessions, The Beast was incorporated into the "Drums" section of Grateful Dead concerts, an extended percussion duet performed by Hart and Kreutzmann in the middle of the second set of songs. [4] [5]

Another unusual percussion instrument built for the sessions, variants of which have been built and later used in Grateful Dead concerts and Mickey Hart's solo touring bands, was The Beam. This is a large aluminum I-beam (actually a "C" shaped beam facing down with the strings across the flat outside-top surface) strung with 13 bass piano strings all tuned to the note of D (a Pythagorean mono-chord at various octaves). The Beam has a heavy-duty bridge and string anchor at one end and a nut with tuning hardware at the other end. It has a movable magnetic pickup block to facilitate capture and transmission of various tonal qualities. The pickup block feeds a volume pedal and various audio effects units, which route the signals through an amplifier or sound system. The Beam generates a large variety of low frequency primary tones and harmonic overtones, and is played by hitting the strings with a percussion mallet, plucking the strings by hand or with a plectrum, scraping them with various implements (fingernails, plectrums, metal bars), or by pounding on the beam frame itself to induce a bell-like resonance of all the strings simultaneously. [4] [6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [7]

Allmusic said, "Three members of The Grateful Dead (Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, and Phil Lesh) improvise on percussion instruments with several other musicians to provide incidental music for the movie Apocalypse Now. This is primarily a percussion album... an intense album that artfully conveys the beauty and terror of the jungle in which the movie is set." [7]

Smithsonian Folkways, writing about the CD, said, "Director Francis Ford Coppola asked Mickey Hart to provide a percussive underscore for his 1979 film Apocalypse Now. Combining the quiet sounds of tablas with harsher sounds of drum sets and demonstrating Hart's propensity for unusual time signatures, the album echoes the tones of war and death, and features extended tracks as well as tracks not included on the original LP release...." [8]

Track listing

All music written by the Rhythm Devils.

LP

Side 1:
  1. "Compound"
  2. "Trenches"
  3. "Street Gang"
  4. "The Beast"
Side 2:
  1. "Steps"
  2. "Tar"
  3. "Lance"
  4. "Cave"
  5. "Napalm for Breakfast"
  6. "Hell's Bells"

CD

  1. "Compound" – 3:17
  2. "Trenches" – 3:52
  3. "Street Gang" – 2:14
  4. "The Beast" – 4:12
  5. "Steps" – 2:26
  6. "Tar" – 1:38
  7. "Lance" – 2:50
  8. "Cave" – 5:55
  9. "Hell's Bells" – 3:29
  10. "Kurtz" – 4:49
  11. "Napalm for Breakfast" – 3:25

Personnel

The Rhythm Devils

Production

Related Research Articles

Mickey Hart American musician

Mickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 1971, and again from October 1974 until their final show in July 1995. He and fellow Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann earned the nickname "the rhythm devils".

Bill Kreutzmann American drummer (born 1946)

William Kreutzmann Jr. is an American drummer. He played with the Grateful Dead for its entire thirty-year career, usually alongside fellow drummer Mickey Hart, and has continued to perform with former members of the Grateful Dead in various lineups, and with his own bands BK3, 7 Walkers and Billy & the Kids.

<i>Infrared Roses</i> 1991 live album by Grateful Dead

Infrared Roses is a live compilation album by the Grateful Dead. It is a conglomeration of their famous improvisational segments "Drums" and "Space."

<i>Grateful Dead Download Series Volume 11</i> 2006 live album by Grateful Dead

Download Series Volume 11 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was released as a three-disc digital download on March 7, 2006. It contains the complete show the band performed on June 20, 1991 at the Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan. The first and third disc are supplemented by songs from the previous night at the same venue.

Sikiru Adepoju Musical artist

Sikiru Adepoju is a percussionist and recording artist from Nigeria, primarily in the genres of traditional African music and world music. He plays a variety of instruments and styles.

<i>Live at the Fillmore East 2-11-69</i> 1997 live album by Grateful Dead

Live at the Fillmore East 2-11-69 is a double live album by the Grateful Dead recorded during the Live/Dead tour on February 11, 1969 at the Fillmore East in New York City. The first disc represents the early show that night, the second the late show. The Dead opened for Janis Joplin. This album contains the first Grateful Dead CD release of the Beatles' "Hey Jude".

<i>View from the Vault, Volume Two</i> 2001 live album by Grateful Dead

View from the Vault, Volume Two is the second entry in the "View from the Vault" series by the Grateful Dead. It was released simultaneously as a three-disk CD and a one-disk DVD. This volume features the June 14, 1991 concert at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington, D.C., and bonus material from a show at the same venue on July 12, 1990. It is the only Grateful Dead video release featuring Vince Welnick and Bruce Hornsby.

<i>Nightfall of Diamonds</i> 2001 live album by Grateful Dead

Nightfall of Diamonds is a double live album by the Grateful Dead released in 2001. It was recorded on October 16, 1989 at Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford and includes the full concert. This was the final date of a five-day run at the venue.

<i>Dicks Picks Volume 9</i> 1997 live album by Grateful Dead

Dick's Picks Volume 9 is the ninth live album in the Dick's Picks series of releases by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on September 16, 1990 at the Madison Square Garden in New York City during the first tour with new keyboardists Vince Welnick and Bruce Hornsby. This CD contains the full show from that night.

<i>Dicks Picks Volume 16</i> 2000 live album by Grateful Dead

Dick's Picks Volume 16 is the 16th live album in the Dick's Picks series of releases by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on November 8, 1969 at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, California. It contains the first live performance of "Cumberland Blues". There is a monologue by someone not in the band during the song "Caution" shortly before the segue to "The Main Ten," who has never been definitively identified.

<i>View from the Vault, Volume Three</i> 2002 live album by Grateful Dead

View from the Vault, Volume Three is the third release in the "View from the Vault" series by the Grateful Dead. It was released simultaneously as a three disc album on CD and as a concert performance video on DVD. It contains the June 16, 1990 show at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California.

Rhythm Devils

The Rhythm Devils are a band led by founding Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann and drummer Mickey Hart who was a Grateful Dead member for most of the band's existence.

<i>The Closing of Winterland</i> 2003 live album by Grateful Dead

The Closing of Winterland is a four-CD live album by the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert performed on December 31, 1978. The concert was also released as a two-disc DVD. The title derives from the fact that it was the last concert in San Francisco's Winterland Arena, which was shut down shortly thereafter. The Dead celebrated the closing as an approximately five-hour-long party and invited some guests including guitarist John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service and Ken Kesey as well as actor Dan Aykroyd who provided the midnight countdown. It was certified Double Platinum by the RIAA on December 15, 2003 under the category of longform video, selling 200,000 units. The New Riders of the Purple Sage and Blues Brothers opened the show.

<i>Dicks Picks Volume 32</i> 2004 live album by Grateful Dead

Dick's Picks Volume 32 is a two-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on August 7, 1982 at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. It was released on July 20, 2004.

<i>Grateful Dead: So Far</i> 1987 rockumentary

So Far is a music documentary video by the Grateful Dead. Directed by Jerry Garcia and Len Dell'Amico, it is intended to give a subjective view of the Grateful Dead experience. The soundtrack includes Dead song performances largely from 1985. The visuals combine scenes of the band playing the songs, other Dead related material, computer animation, and found footage that has been altered and edited in various ways.

Reunions of the Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead were an American rock band known for their lengthy, partially improvised performances, as well as for a loyal fan base who often followed the band for several shows or entire tours. They disbanded in 1995, following the death of de facto bandleader Jerry Garcia. Since then remaining members have reunited for a number of concert tours and one-off performances, often in very different configurations. The following is a list of instances where former Grateful Dead members have reunited.

<i>Crimson White & Indigo</i> 2010 live album by Grateful Dead

Crimson White & Indigo is a live album by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia on July 7, 1989. The album consists of three CDs, plus a video recording of the same show on one DVD. It was released on April 20, 2010. The video was produced and directed by Len Dell'Amico.

<i>The Best of Mickey Hart: Over the Edge and Back</i> 2002 compilation album by Mickey Hart

The Best of Mickey Hart: Over the Edge and Back is a retrospective album by Mickey Hart. It was released by Rykodisc Records on April 23, 2002, in two formats — CD, and DVD-Audio. It contains music excerpted from six of Hart's albums – Diga (1976), The Apocalypse Now Sessions (1980), At the Edge (1990), Planet Drum (1991), Mickey Hart's Mystery Box (1996), and Supralingua (1998). It also contains one previously unreleased track.

<i>Daves Picks Volume 7</i> 2013 live album by Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks Volume 7 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert from April 24, 1978, at the Horton Field House, Illinois State University, in Normal, Illinois. It was produced as a limited edition of 13,000 numbered copies, and was released on August 1, 2013.

References

  1. ↑ The Apocalypse Now Sessions at the Grateful Dead Family Discography. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  2. ↑ The Apocalypse Now Sessions album liner notes.
  3. ↑ "The Rhythm Devils Featuring Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann Hit the Road", Glide magazine, July 24, 2006. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 Jackson, Blair (2006). Grateful Dead Gear. Backbeat Books. pp. 193–195. ISBN   0879308931 . Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  5. ↑ Trager, Oliver (1997). The American Book of the Dead. Touchstone. pp. 318–319. ISBN   0684814021 . Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  6. ↑ Weiner, Robert G. (1999). Perspectives on the Grateful Dead: Critical Writings. Praeger. p. 48. ISBN   0313305692 . Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  7. 1 2 The Apocalypse Now Sessions CD review at AllMusic. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  8. ↑ The Apocalypse Now Sessions CD review at Smithsonian Folkways. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.