The Hippie Folk Influence
Another type of music with recorders is ‘60s and ‘70s music from American hippie and psychedelic pop groups. California group The Association used the recorder in mainstream hits "Windy" and "Along comes Mary." Another California group, Jefferson Airplane, a little further out from the mainstream, used recorders on songs such as "Martha" and "Comin' Back to Me.” Their singer Grace Slick was even pictured with a recorder on the cover of the album. The recorder was not the only non-traditional instrument used in this type of music: others include a prominent oboe and bassoon in Sonny and Cher's "Little Man."
Across the ocean, British rock groups with a folk influence also regularly used the recorder. This includes groups such as Gryphon, Gentle Giant, and (similar, though Australian) Fraternity, all now largely forgotten.
The Rolling Stones were not afraid to use some unusual instruments: recorder and cello on "Ruby Tuesday," and recorder and tablas on the more psychedelic "Gomper." The recorder on "Ruby Tuesday" has nothing to do with any preconceived imagery, nor is it used as a solo instrument: it is played with a short echo, making it a textural element of the song.
Probably the ultimate psychedelic use of a recorder is Jimi Hendrix freaking out on a soprano recorder on “If 6 was 9.” Here he is (go to the 3 minute mark) playing random notes as fast as possible, purely for the effect of it. The engineer put a lot of echo on it to make it almost unrecognizable as a recorder.
These last two examples bring us to the third category.
|