Newsgroup: it.arti.musica.rock
Titolo: [Fifty Foot Hose ] cauldron

Fifty Foot Hose were one of the most unusual '60s San Francisco
psychedelic bands, in part because they weren't really that
psychedelic. Like a few other acts of the time (most notably the
United States of America), they were trying to fuse the contemporary
sounds of rock with electronic instruments and avant-garde
compositional ideas. Only one album resulted from the ambitious
enterprise, and that record (Cauldron, 1968) still remains unknown to
all but hardcore collectors. Although an erratic work, it was
intriguing for its mix of jazzy psychedelic rock tunes with electronic
sound effects that anticipated future models of synthesizers, but
sounded fiercer and more primitive.
Fifty Foot Hose were founded by bassist Cork Marcheschi, who had
previously been in a conventional rock/R&B band, the Ethix. Under
Marcheschi's prodding, in 1967 the Ethix released one wildly atonal
single, "Bad Trip," whose violent musique concrete foreshadowed the
avant-garde postures of his subsequent group (in fact, "Bad Trip" was
more avant-garde than anything Fifty Foot Hose would record).
(Apparently it was played once on a local underground radio station,
and then never again.) Interested in the ideas of experimental
composers like Edgar Varese, John Cage, Terry Riley, and George
Antheil, Marcheschi constructed his own electronic instrument from a
combination of elements like theremins, fuzzboxes, a cardboard tube,
and a speaker from a World War II aircraft bomber.
Fifty Foot Hose were filled out by guitarist David Blossom and his
vocalist wife Nancy, who brought both psychedelic and jazz influences
to the band, and a couple of musicians who had played with Marcheschi
in other acts. A home demo successfully demonstrated their fusion of
electronic effects and songs that were loosely in tune with the San
Francisco psychedelic vibe. It led to a deal with Limelight, a
subsidiary of Mercury that focused more upon experimental music than
conventional rock and pop outings.
Cauldron was perhaps more interesting for its experimental textures
than the sometimes routine compositions - eerie electronic swoops and
jolts swam through the background and foreground of the tracks,
enhanced by techniques like putting instruments through an FM
transmitter. The jazzier and spookier tunes worked better than the
bluesier hard rock items, yet it was an admirably risk-taking effort.
But, ultimately, a pretty uncommercial one - although they got some
live work in San Francisco, the album was heard by few at its time of
release. Fifty Foot Hose were finished, ironically, by the temptations
of a much more commercial project - when the musical Hair came to San
Francisco, most of the members joined the production to satisfy their
need for more reliable income. Interest in the group resurfaced in the
1990s, as they became recognized as precursors to the electronic rock
sounds of groups like Throbbing Gristle. Marcheschi is now a respected
sculptor, specializing in public work using neon, plastic, and kinetic
characteristics. 
Richie Unterberger
martin venator
http://digilander.iol.it/martvenator/
http://mysite.ciaoweb.it/humptydumpty
http://digilander.iol.it/flohgisto/
 
http://mysite.ciaoweb.it/flohgisto
[Usa got 6,000 nuclear weapons ready to annihilate the world. 
People have forgotten about it, but they are still 
operational and ready to fire. Russia has exactly the
same amount of nuclear weapons ready to fire. 
They are not currently pointed towards the USA, 
but it takes about one minute to retarget them. 
A small mistake on either side could cause the
destruction of the entire USA (and most of the 
world) in less than an hour. In 1999 the United 
States military spending was 2.5 times the total 
spending of Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany
and Japan, a staggering 276 billion dollars].

Fifty Foot Hose were one
Ma tu guarda cosa ti va a cercare questo :-)
s

 Ma tu guarda cosa ti va a cercare questo :-)
attorno a meta' anni Ottanta, questa freakeria fu ristampata con
copertina di cartone pesantissimo e vinile palesemente ripreso da
altro vinile. La foto di copertina era sfuocatissima e l'effetto
complessivo straziante. Il disco e' carino, niente di piu'.
Saluti
         silvio

complessivo straziante. Il disco e' carino, niente di piu'.
E' stato ristampato dalla Ace/Big Beat con due pezzi in piů.
Sembrano un po' gli United States Of America, un po' piů
fluxus-eggianti e, almeno, bisogna dire, strani. 
bye s
--
"Se uno desidera comunicare con gli
dei e gli spiriti, dovrebbe usare soluzioni
di metalli e praticare la moltiplicazione della
sua persona. Moltiplicando la persona si
vedranno automaticamente, dentro il proprio
corpo, le tre anime Uhun  e le sette anime
Pho"
Ko Hung (circa 300 d.C) citato in Needham, 'Science
and Civilization in China'

 fluxus-eggianti e, almeno, bisogna dire, strani.
a fluxus non avevo pensato. Ripescherň i vinili del genere (pochi
e non ascoltabilissimi, in realta'). Rispetto agli U.S.A., erano
meno capaci di scrivere melodie. La melodia e' tutto.
Saluti
         silvio

fluxus-eggianti e, almeno, bisogna dire, strani. 
E' stato ristampato parecchie volte, e come accenna Silvio, spesso in
maniera inadeguata. La ristampa della Weasel con TRE bonus tracks č
tutt'ora la piů pregiata. 
Per quanto riguarda la valutazione: il disco č una miniera di spunti e
di freakerie psych di primissimo piano, che spesso trovano la loro
misura in piccoli capolavori. "If not this time" č una delizia di
chitarrine criptojazz, theremin subliminali, recorders assonnati. 
E il protobarrettismo di "the things that concern you?". "Red the sign
post" č un pezzo senza il quale non si comprenderebbero bene certi
anni ottanta piů sperimentali.
Gli USA sicuramente conoscevano questo disco, la cui influenza č
ravvisabile nei suoni e nella comune conoscenza di compositori
d'avanguardia quali Varese. Se poi aggiungiamo che era il 67 (e USA č
del 68) ci accorgeremo come i referenti per un disco come questo erano
pochi e forse indiretti. La West coast pop art experimental band, i
primi (decisivi) passi delle Mothers..e poi? 
IMHO un disco la cui importanza va certamente ri-valutata: pochi
scherzi, questi sono gli autori di "bad trip": il pezzo che farei
ascoltare a chiunque abbisognasse di una propedeutica psichedelica.
Comprate gente.


IMHO un disco la cui importanza va certamente ri-valutata:
Beh, sicuramente rimane piů centrale quello degli United States Of
America di Joe Byrd. Senza di loro credo che nemmeno i FFH si
sarebbero potuti muovere piů di tanto, fermo restando che certe
sperimentazioni analoghe erano nell'aria nel mondo psych USA 60s, ad
esempio alcuni brani dei Neigh'borhood Child'ren avevano atmosfere
gia' FFHeggianti.
s