| The Use of Ashes | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 1970 | |||
| Recorded | March 1970 Impact Sound, NY and Woodland Studios, Nashville, TN | |||
| Genre | Psychedelic rock, folk rock | |||
| Length | 32:06 | |||
| Label | Reprise RS 6405 | |||
| Producer | Peter H. Edmiston | |||
| Pearls Before Swine chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
The Use of Ashes was the fourth album made by American psychedelic folk group Pearls Before Swine, and the second on Reprise Records after their move from ESP-Disk.
After recording the 1969 album These Things Too, the other original founding members of Pearls Before Swine had all left, and leader Tom Rapp and his then wife Elisabeth moved to her home country of the Netherlands (travelling on the maiden voyage of the QE2 liner) to live for several months near Utrecht. Most of the songs on The Use Of Ashes were written there. They were recorded back in Nashville in March 1970, with some of the city's top session musicians, many of whom formed the basis of the band Area Code 615.
Many of Rapp's admirers regard this, and particularly the first side of the original LP (tracks 1 through 5), as the finest and most consistent of all his albums. The opening track, "The Jeweler", with its refrain of "He knows the use of ashes / He worships God with ashes", came to him when he saw his wife cleaning a piece of jewelry with a paste made from ashes, and is generally regarded as one of his finest and most poetic songs. A version was later recorded by This Mortal Coil. The next track, "From the Movie of the Same Name" is largely instrumental, featuring David Briggs' harpsichord and, like all the tracks, is beautifully and sensitively arranged. "Rocket Man" is based on the Ray Bradbury story "The Rocket Man" (in his book "The Illustrated Man") about an astronaut and father burning up in space, but also draws on Rapp's difficult relationship with his own father and the fact that, in his teens, he lived near Cape Canaveral in Florida. Irish singer-songwriter Pierce Turner recorded the song for his 2022 album Terrible Good. [2] The song itself inspired Bernie Taupin's lyrics on Elton John's hit of the same title. [3] Another highlight, "Song About A Rose", again shows Rapp's ability to convey metaphysical thoughts within an artfully arranged song, with the lyrics "And even God can only guess why or where or when or if the answers all belong / And you and I we sing our song about a rose / Or perhaps the shadow of a rose".
A different texture is provided by the jazzy "Tell Me Why," shimmering with vibraphone beneath Rapp's whimsical lines. The song "Riegal" was inspired by reading a newspaper article on the wartime sinking of a prison ship, the MS Rigel , when up to 4,000 prisoners drowned. Later histories suggest the number may have been out by 1,000 odd souls, but the sinking remains one of the worst maritime disasters ever [4] [5] and the song is an evocation of the perils of going down to the sea in ships. Rapp does not apportion blame, indeed the lyric gives credit to the German, but probably not Nazi, captain who apparently saved many lives by grounding his ship. Rapp's juxtaposition of stark imagery reveals that while Pearls Before Swine might not have continued the more bombastic direction set about on their earlier protest songs "Uncle John" or "Drop Out," they maintained social and political relevance. The final track, "When The War Began", contains an equally potent message on the futility of war.
A single, "The Jeweler" / "Rocket Man" (Reprise 0949), was issued from the album. Additional material from the Nashville sessions was released on the next Pearls Before Swine album, City of Gold .
The sleeve design shows a late 15th-century French or Flemish tapestry, "The Hunt of the Unicorn: vi, The unicorn is brought to the castle", from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It shows three huntsmen bringing down a unicorn with spears and swords. The sleeve continued the group's approach of using classic art on their album covers, started with their debut album One Nation Underground .
In 2003 The Use of Ashes was issued on compact disc as part of the Jewels Were the Stars compendium, anthologizing Pearls Before Swine's Reprise Records output. It was again reissued, with These Things Too, as a two-on-one CD by Floating World Records in 2011. [6]
A Dutch group [7] formed in 1988 out of the rock band Mekanik Commando took the name "The Use of Ashes", inspired directly by the Pearls Before Swine album.
All words and music by Tom Rapp
The Illustrated Man is a 1951 collection of 18 science fiction short stories by American writer Ray Bradbury. A recurring theme throughout the stories is the conflict of the cold mechanics of technology and the psychology of people. It was nominated for the International Fantasy Award in 1952.
Pearls Before Swine may refer to:
Pearls Before Swine was an American psychedelic folk band formed by Tom Rapp in 1965 in Eau Gallie, which is now part of Melbourne, Florida. They released six albums between 1967 and 1971, before Rapp launched a solo career.
MS Rigel was a Norwegian vessel built in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1924. The ship was used as a German prisoner of war (POW) transport during World War II, and was sunk by British Fleet Air Arm aircraft off Norway on 27 November 1944 with more than 2,500 dead, mostly POWs.
David William Logan Johnstone is a British rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band.
Thomas Dale Rapp was an American singer and songwriter who led Pearls Before Swine, an influential psychedelic folk rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Described as having "a slight lisp, gentle voice and apocalyptic vision", he also released four albums under his own name. He later practiced as a lawyer after graduating from University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1984.
Damon & Naomi are an American dream pop/indie folk duo, formed in 1991 by Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang, formerly of Galaxie 500.
"Skyline Pigeon" is a ballad composed and performed by English musician Elton John with lyrics by Bernie Taupin. It is the eighth track on his first album, Empty Sky. It was originally released by Guy Darrell and Roger James Cooke simultaneously as a single in August 1968.
Balaklava was the second album recorded and released by psychedelic folk group Pearls Before Swine in 1968.
One Nation Underground is the debut album by American psychedelic folk group Pearls Before Swine. It was released on the ESP-Disk label in July 1967.
These Things Too is the third album by American psychedelic folk group Pearls Before Swine, and their first for Reprise Records. It was released in 1969.
City of Gold was the fifth album made by American psychedelic folk group Pearls Before Swine, and their third on Reprise Records. It was released in 1971.
... Beautiful Lies You Could Live In was the sixth album credited to American psychedelic folk group Pearls Before Swine, and their fourth on Reprise Records. It was released in 1971.
Familiar Songs is an album released on Reprise Records in 1972 by American singer-songwriter Tom Rapp, the leader of folk-rock group Pearls Before Swine. It was presented as his first solo album, although several previous albums credited to Pearls Before Swine had actually been recorded by Rapp with session musicians, rather than by a working group. The album is also sometimes known simply as Tom Rapp, because its title does not appear on the front sleeve.
Stardancer was the second solo album credited to American singer-songwriter Tom Rapp, the leader of folk-rock group Pearls Before Swine, and his first for Blue Thumb Records. It was recorded and first released in 1972.
Sunforest was the ninth album recorded by American singer-songwriter Tom Rapp, his second for Blue Thumb Records, and his final record before his lengthy retirement from the music industry after the mid-1970s.
"Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)" is a song by English musician Elton John, written by John and Bernie Taupin, which first appeared on his sixteenth album Jump Up! released in 1982. It was the second single of the said album in the UK, and the lead single in the United States. The song is a tribute to John Lennon, who had been murdered 15 months earlier.
Rocket Man, Rocketman, etc., may refer to:
"Rocket Man" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was originally released on 17 April 1972 in the US, as the lead single to John's album Honky Château. The song first charted in the UK on 22 April, rising to No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 6 in the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming a major hit single for John.
"We All Fall in Love Sometimes" is the ninth track on Elton John's album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, written by John (music) and Bernie Taupin (lyrics) released in 1975.
