Ridiculous lists of instrumental credits

[groon]

And at the other end of the scale there's Bill Bruford's credit for his (non-)playing on Trio: "Admirable restraint".

[Miciah]

the lack of CD for this release is a crime - especially considering how absolutely played out and crappy my vinyl copy is.

I'll second that. Great album that long ago should have seen a CD release.

I first became aware of him in the early 1980s from a video I saw on TV (I think it was on Nightflight) of him walking down city streets (maybe NY) with a pair of drum sticks "playing" whatever he came across. I was fortunate to see a live solo show around the time These Things Happen was released. He had the stage literally covered with instruments and assembled "stuff" on which he performed.

If you're familiar with the album, it's also great to watch the dance for which the music was composed, "Fait Accompli," choreographed and directed by Twyla Tharp.

[dropforge]

I don't remember which Zombi has a list that included:

•Moog Source (x2)
•Sequential Circuits 6 Trak
•Sequential Circuits Prophet 600
•Sequential Circuits Pro One
•Korg Polysix
•some crusty old effects
•some other shit

Ed

Most of 'em! The SC gear is Steve's, IIRC. I think he's since sold the Six Trak or the Pro One.

[Kai]

Peter Gabriel's fourth album not only lists all the synths he used but also the specific Fairlight samples used on song-to-song basis. At least the LP and the original CD do. Though the remastered CD sounds better than the muffled original master, it has simplified credits. Which is a total travesty, as I see that original listing as informative rather ridiculous.

I remember making a tape copy of the library CD of Brian Eno's Another Green World, then rather painstakingly copying all the instrument credits on the booklet by hand, and think that some of the Instruments like "spasmodic percussion" and "uncertain piano" seemed a bit too much. But maybe that was just because my hand was getting tired.

[Mascodagama]

As several examples above show, percussionists tend to have fun with this. I recently got an album by Brad Dutz's Obliteration Percussion Quartet where the credit for instruments collectively played is:

whistles & windchimes, bellplate, bellchimes, washboards & waterphones, thavil, pots, spoxe & bones, Rawcliffe bowls, violin, Paiste cymbals, tintin, ice cube trays, bottle caps, brakedrums & hubcaps, trash set, artillery shells, oxygen tank, firebells, kanjira, string cajon, berimbau, balaphon, mixing bowls, bundt pans, concertina, doumbec, cans, marimba, xylophone, cookie tins, vibraphone, nipplegongs, cowbells, ghatam & Indian bells, bongos & snaredrums, sogo & steeldrums, Michael Thiele's slit drums, ho hum more drums, film cannisters & springs, assorted junk & sundry things

which has a certain poetry!

I don't remember hearing the violin, but possibly they were hitting it with something rather than playing it as such.

[Mister Triscuits]

My absolute favorite liner notes is Tribal Tech Rocket Science. Click on the picture and read the "instrumentation" of each guy - its very Monty Python inspired imo. Hilarious! Great album too, btw.

That reminds me of the Mothers of Invention thing where Art Tripp exhaustively details every item in his percussion set-up ("I have a low cowbell and a high cowbell...you didn't know about that, did you?...and I have Bunk Gardner, when I goose him he goes bunk..."), after which he passes the mic to Jimmy Carl Black, who drawls "I have a red set of drums."

The list of percussion instruments used by Combo FH on their Věci album takes the cake as far as sheer absurdity goes. And yes, all these are really used on the album!

Who could forget those poignant toy piggy solos?

Isao Tomita - Snowflakes are Dancing

The Mellotron is not an "accessory"!

[Progbear]

I can’t remember which of the Wavemaker albums it was, but one of them lists each component of their Electrophon Synthesizer. It was essentially an EMS Synthi 100 expanded by custom “RSE” gear, hand-made by a man named Ken Gale.

[GuitarGeek]

re: David Van Tiegham

I'll second that. Great album that long ago should have seen a CD release.

I first became aware of him in the early 1980s from a video I saw on TV (I think it was on Nightflight) of him walking down city streets (maybe NY) with a pair of drum sticks "playing" whatever he came across. I was fortunate to see a live solo show around the time These Things Happen was released. He had the stage literally covered with instruments and assembled "stuff" on which he performed..

I think the first time I saw him was on Ripley's Believe It Or Not, where they showed a bit of the video of him quite literally "playing" the streets of NYC. They also showed a clip of him performing a drum solo, of sorts, using no conventional percussion instruments. He uses a big metal bowl full of marbles, a half filled vodka bottle, a bunch of other stuff I've forgotten, and ending with him pulling out a large balloon, which he rubs with his hands before hugging with his arm, causing it to burst, ending the solo.

BTW: another musician/composer I remember seeing on Ripley's Believe It Or Not is Stephen Scott, a composer who works with what he calls his "bowed piano ensemble", ie he takes the lid off a grand piano and has his musicians stand around the piano, playing the strings with nylon threads and popsicle sticks covered with hair. The results sound a bit like a string section, but different.

[GuitarGeek]

re: David Van Tiegham

I'll second that. Great album that long ago should have seen a CD release.

I first became aware of him in the early 1980s from a video I saw on TV (I think it was on Nightflight) of him walking down city streets (maybe NY) with a pair of drum sticks "playing" whatever he came across. I was fortunate to see a live solo show around the time These Things Happen was released. He had the stage literally covered with instruments and assembled "stuff" on which he performed..

I think the first time I saw him was on Ripley's Believe It Or Not, where they showed a bit of the video of him quite literally "playing" the streets of NYC. They also showed a clip of him performing a drum solo, of sorts, using no conventional percussion instruments. He uses a big metal bowl full of marbles, a half filled vodka bottle, a bunch of other stuff I've forgotten, and ending with him pulling out a large balloon, which he rubs with his hands before hugging with his arm, causing it to burst, ending the solo.

And then VH-1 showed a video he did for his album Safety In Numbers, I think, on their old New Visions show. There's a bit where he's shown shattering light bulbs using percussion mallets with spikes on them.

BTW: another musician/composer I remember seeing on Ripley's Believe It Or Not is Stephen Scott, a composer who works with what he calls his "bowed piano ensemble", ie he takes the lid off a grand piano and has his musicians stand around the piano, playing the strings with nylon threads and popsicle sticks covered with hair. The results sound a bit like a string section, but different.

[GuitarGeek]

No shiz? Never saw it on New Visions. I did see TD's "Tiergarten," Oldfield's "Magic Touch," Ponty's "The Gift of Time," and a couple by Montreux and Suzanne Ciani.

THey showed a lot of cool stuff on New Visions. I remember them showing several Pat Metheny videos, there was a couple Leo Kottke things, Ponty's Individual Choice (which is comprised entirely of time lapse footage of, I believe, Chicago), a couple different Shadowfax videos (30 years later, I'm Facebook friends with GE Stinson!), Mark Egan's Ocean View and a bunch of other cool stuff.

I remember Mark Egan hosting one episode, and he brought along his custom built doubleneck Pedulla bass, and played a couple pieces. Another one had Bill Bruford hosting, and he brought along David Torn, who did a solo guitar piece. Anthony Phillips hosted one show, where he talked of the very first Genesis concert, during which there was more people onstage than in the audience! I also remember Michael Hedges performing on the show, too.

For what it's worth, VH-1 in the very early days, had promo that used a Mike Oldfield song called Pictures In The Dark.

[Mascodagama]

Who could forget those poignant toy piggy solos?

When I saw Hermeto he did a toy piggy solo!

[Zeuhlmate]

The Mellotron is not an "accessory"!

[Rarebird]

Peter Gabriel's fourth album not only lists all the synths he used but also the specific Fairlight samples used on song-to-song basis. At least the LP and the original CD do. Though the remastered CD sounds better than the muffled original master, it has simplified credits. Which is a total travesty, as I see that original listing as informative rather ridiculous.

On the Hubert Bognermayr and Harald Zuschrader album BergPredigt all Fairlight samples are also mentioned for each section of each part.
On their album Erdenklang, only the samples are mentioned for each movement.

[kenschwartz]

re: David Van Tiegham




I think the first time I saw him was on Ripley's Believe It Or Not, where they showed a bit of the video of him quite literally "playing" the streets of NYC. They also showed a clip of him performing a drum solo, of sorts, using no conventional percussion instruments. He uses a big metal bowl full of marbles, a half filled vodka bottle, a bunch of other stuff I've forgotten, and ending with him pulling out a large balloon, which he rubs with his hands before hugging with his arm, causing it to burst, ending the solo.

And then VH-1 showed a video he did for his album Safety In Numbers, I think, on their old New Visions show. There's a bit where he's shown shattering light bulbs using percussion mallets with spikes on them.

BTW: another musician/composer I remember seeing on Ripley's Believe It Or Not is Stephen Scott, a composer who works with what he calls his "bowed piano ensemble", ie he takes the lid off a grand piano and has his musicians stand around the piano, playing the strings with nylon threads and popsicle sticks covered with hair. The results sound a bit like a string section, but different.

i remember a "concert" of his, where he climbed and played a sculpture in Battery Park: http://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/14/ar...rcussions.html

[Trane]

This fantastic album

https://www.discogs.com/Mandingo-The...release/849301


And all these instruments....

Instruments used in this album include:

Tumbas, bongos, guiro, cueca, claves, conga drums, cow bell, bass drums, marimba, xylophone, boo-bams, timbales, african squeeze drum, temple block, tambourine, chinese gong, tubular bells, bell tree, glockenspiel, cabasa, maracas, percussion, tuned percussion, jawbone, piccolo, bassoon, soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone, horns, tuba, celli, pianoforte, organ, electric piano, electric hapsichord, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer.

but no one to have played them (seriously, I(e tried to look at who played on it, and found nuttin'

Even more seriously, if someone knows it would be appreciated.

[JJ88]

^I don't have their albums but Mandingo was a session project rather than a real group- I believe 'easy listening' arranger Geoff Love was responsible.

[syncopatico]

Morris Perts credits on Brand X's "Moroccan Roll": " percussion and a vast number of bits and things that he hit while the tape was running, including: The QE2, Idi Amin, and undiscovered parts of Scotland"

speaking of Brand X (and their often Monty Pythonesque album credits), the insert that came with the LP of Unorthodox Behaviour had some humo(u)rous listings. For example:

Touch Wood:

◾Written by Phil Collins, John Goodsall, Robin Lumley and Percy Jones.
◾John: Acoustic guitar.
◾Percy: Acoustic bass.
◾Robin: Acoustic piano.
◾Phil: Acoustic percussion, acoustic vocals, acoustic acoustics.
◾Soprano saxophone blown by Jack "Oh no, you're joking" Lancaster
---------------------------------------
(and of course, Bobby Charlton's credit on Euthanasia Waltz):

Euthanasia Waltz:

◾Written by Phil Collins, John Goodsall, Robin Lumley and Percy Jones.
◾John: 12-string acoustic and electric guitars.
◾Percy: Fender fretless bass.
◾Robin: Fender Rhodes piano, Mk. 1X Spitfire.
◾Phil: Drums, tambourine, vibes.
◾Bobby Charlton: Not much.

[Mascodagama]

^I don't have their albums but Mandingo was a session project rather than a real group- I believe 'easy listening' arranger Geoff Love was responsible.

He of the cheesetastic Geoff Love & His Orchestra

Well, he excelled himself with Mandingo.

[Halmyre]

I like Bez's credit on the Happy Monday's 'Bummed'album:

Shaun Ryder – vocals
Paul Ryder – bass
Mark Day – guitar
Paul Davis – keyboards
Gary Whelan – drums
Bez – Bez

[thos]

Peter Gabriel's fourth album not only lists all the synths he used but also the specific Fairlight samples used on song-to-song basis. At least the LP and the original CD do. Though the remastered CD sounds better than the muffled original master, it has simplified credits. Which is a total travesty, as I see that original listing as informative rather ridiculous.

I remember making a tape copy of the library CD of Brian Eno's Another Green World, then rather painstakingly copying all the instrument credits on the booklet by hand, and think that some of the Instruments like "spasmodic percussion" and "uncertain piano" seemed a bit too much. But maybe that was just because my hand was getting tired.

How about Gabriel's second LP? It had little square icons representing each player (with a small headshot) and instrument (with a graphic icon showing the instrument). (Fripp's icon was just a black box...) . Anyone remember that? I think it was Hipgnosis.. Creme & Godley had an album (I think "Freeze Frame") that used a similar technique

[Progbear]

Creme & Godley had an album (I think "Freeze Frame") that used a similar technique

Yep, little pictures of Kev and Lol and little pictures of the instruments they played. Similar was the first album French superstar Michel Polnareff recorded in the States, the one featuring his “controversial” “hit” “Jesus for Tonite,” in which the instruments/vocals are represented by little clip-art looking icons.

[happytheman]

I suppose if Yes had included the various car parts and other metal objects they picked up from the junkyard that ended up being used on Gates the list would have been rather extensive...

[Dave (in MA)]

The Mellotron is not an "accessory"!

Didn't one of the RMI guys use one just as a place to park one of his other keyboards at a NEARFest?

[Mister Triscuits]

Didn't one of the RMI guys use one just as a place to park one of his other keyboards at a NEARFest?

If so, most...expensive...music stand...ever.

[Yellow Jester]

King Crimson had some unusual credits on their albums;

On Discipline, Adrian Belew is credited on "elephantosity" (and Bill Bruford is credited for "batterie").
On Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Jamie Muir is credited for percussion and "allsorts" (and as another poster has mentioned Bruford gets credit for 'admirable restraint' for SABB's "Trio")
Also Boz Burrell's listing for "choreography" along with Bass Guitar & Vocals for Islands.