It might have received next-to-no press coverage at the time, but Trust In Rock had a lasting impact on the genre nonetheless. We did not think much of the term ‘art rock ’ It was just another way of making music.”(To wit: “Leading a Double Life” and “Next Time Might Be Your Time” were later re-recorded for Tyranny’s winsome Lovely Music debut, Out of the Blue, which Unseen Worlds also reissued.) Tyranny’s four contributions, which comprise the collection’s first half, showcase rollicking piano work interwoven with boogie-woogie, western swing, Ellingtonian jazz, and more, propelling the band to ecstatic peaks on the 20-minute “On the Other Hand.” He says of the concerts, “The idea of developing those song forms through different generative ‘new music’ procedures was unique to Trust In Rock.
Throughout these performances, Gordon and Tyranny sculpt the raw material of their past into a fresh, eccentric future. “He didn’t care about the rules of music…treating the rhythms, riffs, and sounds as raw material.” “Don thought of music as a sculpture and abstract painter,” Gordon says. Starting out on saxophone and organ in rock and funk bands as a high schooler, Peter Gordon frequented the house in Woodland Hills where Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band rehearsed their infamous Trout Mask Replica album, an experience that clearly rubbed off on Gordon. And when he moved up to Ann Arbor, he backed up touring Motown acts and formed The Prime Movers, a blues band that featured the future Iggy Pop on the drums. Tyranny cut his teeth in rock ’n’ roll bands deep in the heart of Texas while also getting an earful of country and Tex-Mex music. While Gordon and Tyranny were exploring unknown realms in new music, both also shared roots in the American pop vernacular. Gordon started composing new material as well, looking to the works of postmodern feminist writer (and then-girlfriend) Kathy Acker for inspiration: “I would ask Kathy for lyrics,” he explains, “and she would write or extract from whatever she happened to be writing at the time.” While in NYC, Gordon immediately fell in with musical iconoclasts Philip Glass, Arthur Russell, and Rhys Chatham, and performed an early version of Trust In Rock highlight “Intervallic Expansion” with Glass on keys and the Modern Lovers’ Ernie Brooks on bass. Gordon relocated to New York City, but he and Tyranny stayed in touch. “I believe he was the first person I heard saying that the revolution is personal,” Tyranny says. Tyranny was also the engineer at the college’s recording studio and-as Gordon recalls-“I was always pestering for studio time.” Tyranny recalls hearing one of Gordon’s tape pieces that mixed the Buchla synthesizer with a newscast about Patty Hearst.
“Academic composers, who controlled the major institutions and funding for composers, were still deep into either post-serialist structuralism or austere minimalism.” And rock was stalled in the cul-de-sac of progressive rock, still awaiting the jolt of punk.Īt the time, Tyranny was working as a teacher at Mills College, and Gordon was enrolled as a grad student, studying music under the tutelage of groundbreaking composers like Robert Ashley and Terry Riley. These shows were “largely in response to the ‘new music’ in general,” Gordon says.
Trust In Rock, which was originally a three-night concert event, is now a sprawling three-LP (or two-CD) set, thanks to the Unseen Worlds label. Imagine Steely Dan and Steve Reich jamming in the studio, or Terry Riley making In C with Linda Ronstadt, and you have an idea of the odd confections tucked into the set. In truth, it was a bit of both-the duo fronted an eight-piece ensemble that zig-zagged through academic new music with catchy choruses and a distinct rock backbeat, while also snatching up jazz, R&B, gospel, classical, and minimalism along the way. Pre-order buy pre-order buy you own this wishlist in wishlist go to album go to track go to album go to track
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