Edward Gorey (1925-2000)

[dem bones]

Gorey's evocative cover illustrations for the Marvin Kaye-edited doorstopper Masterpieces Of Terror & The Supernatural (Doubleday, 1985), and Alan Ryan's Penguin Book Of Vampire Stories (1988).

Another fellow who deservedly has his own tribute site, Goreyography.

[pulphack]

picked up Amphigorey 1&2, anthologies of his small books, last new year second hand. saw the first volume in Waterstones the other week - a must-buy. creepy, scary, stunning art and odd text - mr Gorey was an incredible artist with a highly original vision. Charles Addams is close, but Gorey is a little more edgy.

also, look out for Michael Mantler's 'THe Hapless Child', which was recorde din the mid-seveties with robert wyatt singing texts from the books, cover illustrations by Gorey, and the cream of european mad jazzers from the seventies. a very good aural equivalent.

[Steve]

pulphack said:

also, look out for Michael Mantler's 'THe Hapless Child', which was recorded in the mid-seveties with robert wyatt singing texts from the books, cover illustrations by Gorey, and the cream of european mad jazzers from the seventies. a very good aural equivalent.

I'd also recommend what I believe was the last project Gorey was involved in, The Gorey End, a Musical collaboration between himself, self-styled "Satanic Folk" group The Tiger Lillies, and Kronos Quartet.

From The Tiger Lillies website;
"Writer/Illustrator Edward Gorey enjoyed 'Banging in the Nails' (a Tiger Lillies tune) so much he sent us a large box of his unpublished stories, some of which we adapted and turned into songs. Then, before he could hear them, Mr Gorey passed away. So sad... We think he would have enjoyed them. If he hadn't passed away. Tragically."

A is for Arsenic someone thought fun
To include in the icing on top of a bun.
B is for bats that swoop out of the air
And squeaking inaudibly catch in one’s hair.
C is for cord of a moderate length,
To hang oneself from it requires no great strength...
M is for madhouse where is confined
A lady whose friends say she’s out of her mind...
Q is for quilt wrapped around a dead torso,
A sick-making sight could hardly be more so.
R is for Ray’s wicked invention,
Dissolves at a distance the parts you don’t mention.
S is for suicide so it would seem,
But then who was it uttered that unfinished scream...
Y is for yonder where something is lying,
Which proves, seen close, to be somebody dying.
Z is for zero, the hour of doom,
It will strike any minute but no-one knows whom.

- from "ABC"

You can listen to some songs here at the record company website (and there's also a flash presentation/game thing...)
www.angelrecords.com/Detail.asp?UPCCode=724355751324

[Steve]

pulphack said:

look out for Michael Mantler's 'THe Hapless Child', which was recorded in the mid-seventies with robert wyatt singing texts from the books, cover illustrations by Gorey, and the cream of european mad jazzers from the seventies. a very good aural equivalent.

The Hapless Child and Other Inscrutable Stories (1976)

"...Wyatt's voice, impeccably British and rational-sounding, declaims the horrors of, say, being sacrificed to giant mantids"
(Village Voice review)

I've been enjoying this over the weekend & suspect that a few others here may do too.
Although most of the musicians involved are associated mainly with free jazz and the like, vaulters whose tastes stretch as far as to take in anything a bit proggy should also find much to like here - or even if, like me, you just like anything a bit off the beaten child... sorry, I meant path. Much of it is surprisingly listenable, some of it's even quite 'catchy'.
Robert Wyatt's voice suits Gorey's words quite nicely. The poems & stories (all of which come from the Amphigorey collection) range from vaguely creepy nonsense to some very dark stuff indeed.
Hardest work of all is probably the title track, not so much for the music as the unrelenting grimness of the thing.

Anyway, you can judge for yourselves;

The Sinking Spell (4.8MB)
The Object Lesson (4.6MB)
The Insect God (4.6MB)
The Doubtful Guest (4.4MB)
The Remembered Visit (5.9MB)
The Hapless Child (6.5MB)

(I've uploaded each track separately to try and avoid lengthy downloads)


Thanks to the person I got this from!

[dem bones]

steve said:

Hardest work of all is probably the title track, not so much for the music as the unrelenting grimness of the thing.

No prizes for guessing which one I'm downloading as a taster ...

Thanks for breaking it down into smaller files - I find it impossible to deal with anything over 8.MB on dial-up as the connection always cuts out and I'm sure it's the same for fellow dinosaurs. I managed to get most of the Tales Of The Frightened's you put up and they were delightful.