THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,254) Dick Hyman — “The Moog and Me”
Dick Hyman (see #798) put America in the mood to Moog, and put Beck in the mood to whistle. “Switched-on pop for ‘counter’ revolution!”
The Candyman writes:
Years ago, Dick Hyman established himself as a whistler when he made the first hit recording of “Mack the Knife”. The tune then was still known by its original title, “Moritat”, and Dick’s whistling gave it a fascinatingly, exotically lonely feeling. On “The Moog and Me” . . . he whistles and plays both piano and the synthesizer, accompanied by the Maestro Rhythm [drum machine] unit. “This,” he said, “is the ultimate attempt to humanize the Moog.” Notice the series of timbre changes he achieves in the synthesizer, somewhat similar to the effect that Jimi Hendrix used to get by using the wah-wah pedal on his guitar. And listen, too, to the breaks that [he] takes by turning off his rhythm unit briefly. This is done with a foot pedal. “With the Rhythm Unit you get perfect time,” [Hyman] commented, “but it has no initiative. Of course, this has its advantages. It doesn’t talk back to you and it doesn’t insist on having its own solos.” Some elements from this track, most notably the whistle that serves as the lead-in, were sampled by Beck for the song “Sissyneck” on his 1996 album “Odelay”.
http://stereocandies.blogspot.com/2017/12/dick-hyman-moog-electric-eclectics-of.html?m=1
As to the album, In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi says:
The Electric Eclectics Of Dick Hyman is one of the great early Moog synthesizer records following the groundbreaking instrument’s use at the Monterrey Pop Festival in 1967 and Wendy Carlos’ top-selling Switched On Bach. A master keyboard player, Hyman said his “objective [was] to humanize electronic music as well as to humorize it and to play it as a full performance instead of a collection of unearthly sounds.” Cheeky whistling sounds, lounge instruments, and soundtrack arrangements meet electric drum, pads, basslines, laser tones, and futuristic lead lines from the legendary space age Moog synthesizer. Recorded all the way back in 1969, the album holds up surprisingly well placed up to modern synth recordings. . . .
[T]he now legendary “The Minotaur” . . . was the track . . . which got picked up by radio stations months earlier and was fundamental to the success of the . . . album, becoming the very first single featuring a Moog synthesizer to chart. . . .
Thom Holmes tells us how the album came about:
Dick Hyman was already on his way to becoming a musical legend by 1968, and it had nothing to do with the Moog modular synthesizer. Having established himself as a jazz and studio keyboardist, arranger, and composer, he found himself thrust into yet another role — that of pioneering electronic musician. At the time, Hyman was extremely busy as a session musician for Enoch Light’s Command label, known for its adventurous recordings of instrumental music and exotic arrangements. Hyman’s New York recording sessions for Command and other companies kept him busy for many years as a pianist, organist, arranger, and occasional player, as needed, of other keyboards. Then along came Bob Moog’s synthesizer. When producer Enoch Light . . . heard the Moog, he knew that it had to become a part of the new sound of Command Records. Before long, Light had the most remarkable keyboard player in his organization sitting in front of the Moog to see what would happen, and the results are now part of recorded music history. . . . Many early Moog experimenters viewed the synthesizer primarily as a special effects machine. But Hyman, like a select few of his contemporaries . . . recognized the musical potential of this instrument. . . . the unique tonalities that one could coax from it. . . . His mastery of Hammond and Lowrey organs also gave him insight into how to shape and play intriguing sounds with an electronic instrument. . . . [After] reportedly spending 70 hours crafting the album in the studio, Command unleashed Hyman’s first LP of electronic jazz pop. . . . Electric Eclectics was “Switched-on pop for ‘counter’ revolution!” Hyman had the first chart-making single using a Moog synthesizer, “The Minotaur” . . . . Hyman . . . partnered with audio technician Walter Sear . . . Bob Moog’s New York sales and technical representative. Sear worked with Hyman by programming the Moog patches and engineering the multi-track recordings. Often Hyman would suggest a kind of sound and the two would explore patches until they found what they liked. . . . [“]Walter would suggest registrations or tone productions which were new to me; sometimes I would ask him for settings comparable to my experience as an organist.” . . . Hyman, working with Sear, approached each session as one of exploration. Some pieces were totally improvised in this fashion. When Sear had presented a new and intriguing sound, Hyman would work out a melody or pattern, and then build the piece on successive tracks. The “composition” per se was the multi-track recording itself, not a page of written music. Other pieces were based on compositions by Hyman, newly created for the album, or in some cases older works re-arranged for the new tonal universe offered by the Moog modular. . . .
As to Hyman, Scott Yanow writes:
A very versatile virtuoso, Dick Hyman . . . . worked with Red Norvo . . . and Benny Goodman . . . and then spent much of the 1950s and ’60s as a studio musician. He appears on the one known sound film of Charlie Parker (Hot House from 1952); recorded honky tonk under pseudonyms; played organ and early synthesizers in addition to piano; was Arthur Godfrey’s music director . . ; collaborated with Leonard Feather on some History of Jazz concerts (doubling on clarinet), and even performed rock and free jazz; but all of this was a prelude to his later work. In the 1970s, Hyman played with the New York Jazz Repertory Company, formed the Perfect Jazz Repertory Quintet . . . and started writing soundtracks for Woody Allen films.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dick-hyman-mn0000211424/biography
Here is Beck:
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Well I know of Whistling Dick and I know of the Moog, but this throws me for a loop!
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😂
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