The Masked Marauders

Last updated
The Masked Marauders
Masked Marauders.JPG
Studio album by
The Masked Marauders
ReleasedNovember 1969
RecordedOctober 1969
Genre Rock
Length33:39
Label Reprise/Deity (Original)
Rhino (Re-release)
Producer Deity Records
Singles from The Masked Marauders
  1. "Cow Pie / I Can't Get No Nookie"
    Released: November 1969
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

The Masked Marauders is a record album released on the Warner Bros Reprise/Deity label in the fall of 1969 that was part of an elaborate hoax concocted by Rolling Stone magazine. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

In its October 18, 1969 issue, Rolling Stone ran a tongue-in-cheek review of a non-existent album that purportedly captured a "super session" of the era's leading rock and roll musicians, including Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, George Harrison, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney. The review claimed that none of the artists could be listed on the jacket cover because of contractual agreements with their recording companies. The editors involved decided to extend the joke by hiring a relatively obscure band to record an actual album and then secured a deal with Warner Bros. [3] As an indication of how many people were taken in by the joke, The Masked Marauders reached No. 114 on Billboard's album chart.

Rolling Stone spoof

The Masked Marauders began as a spoof dreamed up by Rolling Stone editor Greil Marcus. Under the pseudonym T.M. Christian (a reference to Terry Southern's novel The Magic Christian ), Marcus wrote a satiric review of a fictitious double bootleg album in collaboration with record reviewer Bruce Miroff. [5] The review was intended to parody the "supergroup" trend then taking place (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Blind Faith) and was also inspired by Great White Wonder , a double album of unreleased Dylan recordings often credited as the first bootleg. [4]

Many readers, however, took the review seriously, despite its obvious jokes:

Recording sessions and contract

Enquiries began pouring into Rolling Stone regarding the album’s availability, not only from fans and retailers, but reportedly from the artists' managers, Allen Klein (Beatles and Rolling Stones) and Albert Grossman (Dylan). [7] The response sparked part two of the put-on: the album itself. Marcus and Rolling Stone editor Langdon Winner recruited the Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band, a Berkeley, California, group which had an album the previous year on Vanguard Records and played frequently at San Francisco’s Fillmore and Avalon ballrooms. [8] The group initially recorded three of the songs cited in the review: the Nashville Skyline -inspired instrumental "Cow Pie", Jagger doing "I Can’t Get No Nookie" (deemed "an instant classic"), and Dylan’s "Duke of Earl". [9]

After the songs aired on San Francisco and Los Angeles radio stations – from tapes Marcus supplied – the pranksters began looking for a major label to produce an album. Several recording companies expressed an interest, but Warner Bros. won the production rights, offering a $15,000 advance plus its considerable promotional power. [9] In November 1969, Warner released The Masked Marauders as a single LP on its newly created Deity label. The album, which sold more than 100,000 copies, spent 12 weeks on the Billboard album chart, peaking at No. 114. The single "Cow Pie" appeared on the Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart at No. 123 for one week on November 29, 1969.

Original and follow-up releases

Tipping off buyers to the joke (albeit after they had purchased the album), Warner inserted the Rolling Stone review as well as a San Francisco Chronicle column by critic Ralph J. Gleason, a co-founder of Rolling Stone. Gleason found it incredible anyone believed the review and declared the gag a "delightful bit of instant mythology." [7] The closing track, "Saturday Night at the Cow Palace," also made clear the album was all in fun. The track featured a riotous monologue by a record buyer so indignant at being taken in by the hoax that he vows, "When I get through with those people at Deity Records, I’ll have them walking out of the building in barrels." The album's liner notes, penned by "T.M. Christian," also offered its share of clues, most notably the line:

"In a world of sham, the Masked Marauders, bless their hearts, are the genuine article." [10]

In 2001, Rhino Records, under its Handmade label, remastered the album, releasing a numbered edition of 2,000 copies entitled The Masked Marauders - The Complete Deity Recordings. The lineup of songs is the same as on the original LP, except for bonus tracks of the monaural single, "I Can’t Get No Nookie" b/w "Cow Pie". The title of the re-issue posed yet another joke: the album was Deity’s only recording. As one of its contributions to the spoof, Warner created Deity under its Reprise subsidiary to match the name of the non-existent record company credited in the Rolling Stone review. [9]

Media coverage

The story of The Masked Marauders hoax was featured in an April 5, 2013, segment of the TV program Rock Center with Brian Williams . [11] [12]

Track listing

Side one

  1. "I Can't Get No Nookie" (The Masked Marauders) – 5:29
  2. "Duke of Earl" (E. Dixon, E. Edwards, B. Williams) – 3:21
    • Also briefly incorporates "Blue Moon" (Rodgers, Hart).
    • Features vocals by a Bob Dylan impersonator.
  3. "Cow Pie" (The Masked Marauders) – 2:18
    • Instrumental, but features extremely brief spoken vocals by a Bob Dylan impersonator. This song was also released as a single (Deity 0870), with the B-side I Can't Get No Nookie.
  4. "I Am The Japanese Sandman (Rang Tang Ding Dong)" (A. Williams) – 3:45
  5. "The Book Of Love" (W. Davis, C. Patrick, G. Malone) – 2:21
    • Also briefly incorporates "Norwegian Wood" (J. Lennon, P. McCartney).
    • The group's John Lennon impersonator is heard speaking briefly at the end of this track.

Side two

  2. "Later" (W. Davis, C. Patrick, G. Malone) – 1:11
    • A continuation of "The Book Of Love".
  3. "More or Less Hudson's Bay Again" (The Masked Marauders) – 3:31
    • Features vocals by a Bob Dylan impersonator.
  4. "Season of the Witch" (Donovan Leitch) – 10:13
    • Features vocals by the Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan impersonators.
  5. "Saturday Night at the Cow Palace" (The Masked Marauders) – 1:30
    • A spoken monologue atop a piano rendition of "Cow Pie," with a disgruntled voice profanely denouncing the album as a rip-off.

CD bonus tracks

  2. "I Can't Get No Nookie" (The Masked Marauders) – 5:02 (Monaural)
  3. "Cow Pie" (The Masked Marauders) – 2:18 (Monaural)

Musicians

As listed on the Rhino Handmade CD release: [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Highway 61 Revisited</i> 1965 studio album by Bob Dylan

Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 30, 1965, by Columbia Records. Having until then recorded mostly acoustic music, Dylan used rock musicians as his backing band on every track of the album, except for the closing track, the 11-minute ballad "Desolation Row". Critics have focused on the innovative way Dylan combined driving, blues-based music with the subtlety of poetry to create songs that captured the political and cultural chaos of contemporary America. Author Michael Gray has argued that, in an important sense, the 1960s "started" with this album.

<i>Back in the USA</i> (album) 1970 studio album by MC5

Back in the USA is the debut studio album by American rock band MC5.

<i>Let It Bleed</i> 1969 studio album by the Rolling Stones

Let It Bleed is the eighth British and tenth American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released 28 November 1969 on London Records in the United States and shortly thereafter by Decca Records in the United Kingdom. Released shortly after the band's 1969 American Tour, it is the follow-up to 1968's Beggars Banquet, and like that album is a return to the group's more blues-sound approach that was prominent in the pre-Aftermath period of their career. Additional sounds on the album draw influence from gospel, country blues and country rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Like a Rolling Stone</span> 1965 single by Bob Dylan

"Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 20, 1965, by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England. Dylan distilled this draft into four verses and a chorus. "Like a Rolling Stone" was recorded a few weeks later as part of the sessions for the forthcoming album Highway 61 Revisited.

<i>Dusty in Memphis</i> 1969 studio album by Dusty Springfield

Dusty in Memphis is the fifth studio album by English singer Dusty Springfield. Initial sessions were recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis, while Springfield's final vocals and the album's orchestral parts were recorded at Atlantic Records' New York City studios. The album was released on 18 January 1969 in the United States by Atlantic Records, and Philips Records distributed the record outside the U.S. Springfield worked on the album with a team of musicians and producers that included Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, Tom Dowd, conductor Gene Orloff, backing vocalists the Sweet Inspirations, bassist Tommy Cogbill, and guitarist Reggie Young.

<i>Before the Flood</i> (album) 1974 live album by Bob Dylan and the Band

Before the Flood is a live album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and the Band, released on June 20, 1974, on Asylum Records in the United States and Island Records in the United Kingdom. It was Dylan's first live album, although live recordings of earlier performances would later be released. It is the 15th album by Dylan and the seventh by the Band, and documents their joint 1974 American tour. It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, reached No. 8 on the popular album chart in the UK, and has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

<i>The Bride Stripped Bare</i> (album) 1978 studio album by Bryan Ferry

The Bride Stripped Bare is the fifth solo studio album by English singer Bryan Ferry. It was released in 1978, shortly before Ferry reconvened his band Roxy Music which had been on hiatus for three years. It was recorded after his girlfriend Jerry Hall left him for Mick Jagger in 1977, and appears to contain references to their break-up. The album peaked at number 13 on the albums chart in the United Kingdom.

<i>Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)</i> 1969 greatest hits album by the Rolling Stones

Through the Past, Darkly is the second compilation album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in September 1969 by Decca Records in the UK and London Records/ABKCO Records in the US.

"Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. It is the opening track on their 1969 album Let It Bleed. The song covers topics of war, murder, rape and fear. It features prominent guest vocals by American singer Merry Clayton.

<i>Joe Cocker!</i> 1969 studio album by Joe Cocker

Joe Cocker! is the second studio album by English singer Joe Cocker, released in November 1969. Following the template of his first LP, the album features numerous covers of songs originally performed by Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Leonard Cohen, and future touring partner Leon Russell. Cocker also co-wrote one song, "That's Your Business Now", with Chris Stainton, who was a frequent songwriting partner.

<i>Great White Wonder</i> 1969 compilation album (bootleg) by Bob Dylan

Great White Wonder, or GWW, is the first notable rock bootleg album, released in July 1969, and containing unofficially released recordings by Bob Dylan. It is also the first release of the famous bootleg record label Trademark of Quality. Several of the tracks presented here were recorded with The Band in the summer of 1967 in West Saugerties, New York, during the informal sessions that were later released in a more complete form in Dylan's 1975 album The Basement Tapes. Much of the other material consists of a recording made in December 1961 in a Minnesota hotel room, studio outtakes from several of Dylan's albums, and a live performance on The Johnny Cash Show. It was the first time that these previously unreleased recordings came to the market; many more would be released in similar formats over the coming years, though most were single albums, not double albums like this record.

<i>The Basement Tapes</i> 1975 studio album by Bob Dylan and the Band

The Basement Tapes is the sixteenth album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and his second with the Band. It was released on June 26, 1975, by Columbia Records. Two-thirds of the album's 24 tracks feature Dylan on lead vocals backed by the Band, and were recorded in 1967, eight years before the album's release, in the lapse between the recording and subsequent release of Blonde on Blonde and John Wesley Harding, during sessions that began at Dylan's house in Woodstock, New York, then moved to the basement of Big Pink. While most of these had appeared on bootleg albums, The Basement Tapes marked their first official release. The remaining eight songs, all previously unavailable, feature the Band without Dylan and were recorded between 1967 and 1975.

"Tears of Rage" is a song with lyrics written by Bob Dylan and melody by Richard Manuel. Dylan and the Band first recorded the song in 1967, but it was not released until 1975 on The Basement Tapes album. In 1968, the Band recorded it for their debut album Music from Big Pink.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watching the River Flow</span> Song by Bob Dylan

"Watching the River Flow" is a blues rock song by American singer Bob Dylan. Produced by Leon Russell, it was written and recorded during a session in March 1971 at the Blue Rock Studio in New York City. The collaboration with Russell formed in part through Dylan's desire for a new sound—after a period of immersion in country rock music—and for a change from his previous producer.

"I Am a Lonesome Hobo" is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan, released in 1967 on his eighth studio album, John Wesley Harding. The song was produced by Bob Johnston.

<i>Liver Than Youll Ever Be</i> 1969 live album (bootleg) by the Rolling Stones

Live'r Than You'll Ever Be is a bootleg recording of the Rolling Stones' concert in Oakland, California, from 9 November 1969. It was one of the first live rock music bootlegs and was made notorious as a document of their 1969 tour of the United States. The popularity of the bootleg forced the Stones' labels Decca Records in the UK, and London Records in the US, to release the live album Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert in 1970. Live'r is also one of the earliest commercial bootleg recordings in rock history, released in December 1969, just two months after the Beatles' Kum Back and five months after Bob Dylan's Great White Wonder. Like the two earlier records, Live'r's outer sleeve is plain white, with its name stamped on in ink.

<i>The Original Mono Recordings</i> 2010 compilation album by Bob Dylan

The Original Mono Recordings is a box set compilation album of recordings by Bob Dylan, released in October 2010 on Legacy Recordings, catalogue 88697761042. It consists of Dylan's first eight studio albums in mono on nine compact discs, the album Blonde on Blonde being issued on two discs in its original vinyl format. It does not include the singles collection Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits released during the same time span. The set includes a 56-page booklet with photographs, discographical information, and an essay by Greil Marcus. It peaked at No. 152 on the Billboard 200.

<i>The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971)</i> 2013 compilation album by Bob Dylan

The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971) is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 27, 2013 on Legacy Records. The eighth installment of the ongoing Bob Dylan Bootleg Series, it consists of unreleased recordings, demo recordings, alternative takes mostly from Dylan's 1970 albums Self Portrait and New Morning, and two live tracks from the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival.

<i>The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete</i> 2014 compilation album by Bob Dylan and the Band

The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete is a compilation album of unreleased home recordings made in 1967 by Bob Dylan and the group of musicians that would become the Band, released on November 3, 2014 on Legacy Records. It is the ninth installment of the Bob Dylan Bootleg Series, available as a six-disc complete set, and as a separate set of highlights – in a two-disc format common to the rest of the series – entitled The Basement Tapes Raw.

"Nothing Was Delivered" is a song written by Bob Dylan that was originally recorded by Dylan and The Band in the Fall of 1967 during the sessions that generated The Basement Tapes. The song was first released by The Byrds on their 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo.

References

  1. ↑ The Masked Marauders at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Noth, Pierre Rene (December 24, 1969). "Hoax Masked by Rock Record". The Milwaukee Journal.
  3. 1 2 "Were you a believer in The Masked Marauders?". NBC News. April 5, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (1970-01-08). "Album of the Year" . Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  5. ↑ Marcus, Greil (2002-03-12). "Online Exchange with Greil Marcus". Rock Critics Archives. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  6. ↑ T.M. Christian (Greil Marcus), "The Masked Marauders," The Rolling Stone Record Review, compiled by the editors of Rolling Stone (New York: Pocket Books, 1971), p. 392.
  7. 1 2 Gleason, Ralph J. (October 18, 1969). "On the Town". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-04-15..
  8. ↑ Dodsworth, Fred (2003-06-06). "At 35, the Freight Finds Its Future in Tradition". The Berkeley Daily Planet. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  9. 1 2 3 4 The Masked Marauders - The Complete Deity Recordings, Rhino Records
  10. ↑ T.M. Christian (Greil Marcus), "Masked Marauder" liner notes, Rhino Records, Claremont, California, 1969.
  11. ↑ "Scoop: Rock Center with Brian Williams on NBC - Today, April 5, 2013". Broadway World. April 5, 2013.
  12. ↑ Shattuck, Kathryn (April 5, 2013). "What's On Friday". The New York Times.
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.