The Parable of Arable Land
Recording
Demos for The Parable of Arable Land
Release
Released 1967-07 International Artists
Interviews
1968: Mother
Excerpt from Mother: Houston's Rock Magazine's interview with The Red Krayola:
MOTHER: Why was the chaos, the freak out, separated from the order, the structured music, on the album instead of being integrated? MAYO THOMPSON: If you wish, the album tends to visually orient itself. It's like a continuous line where there are small blips like on a graph and these songs with simple structures appear in the more complex structures. MOTHER: Who wrote the structured parts? MAYO: Well, all three of us. Rick wrote the music and I wrote the words to "Pink Stainless Tail" and "Transparent Radiation". Steve wrote "Former Reflection Enduring Doubt", and we all worked on "Parable of Arable Land" while Rick and I wrote the words to "War Sucks" and we all wrote the music.[1]
Reviews
1967-07-21: The Berkeley Barb
Excerpt from the Berkeley Barb's review of The Red Krayola's performance at the Berkeley Folk Festival:
Their first lp was released by that strange Houston company International Artists, who also record the 13th Floor Elevators, and it is selling far more than it should because it looks like a rock lp and and the liner notes, which are deceptive, make it sound sort of like the mothers or something else which is recognizable.
Basically they went into the studio with a lot of people and recorded it. Most of the "other people" are just background noise, and they represent, as does the record, a certain stage in the experimentation, which is more or less successful depending upon your intellectual framework.
I like two of the cuts very much: "War Sucks" and "The Parable of Arable Land", and no doubt so will you about the third time time thru. It took me that long.[2]
1968-07-01: The Chicago Seed
This is probably the freakiest album ever recorded. Released around the end of last June, it made it to Chicago sometime this spring. The Crayola specialize in shifting from chaos to structured runs, while the Ugly (I hope they'll pardon me for becoming familiar_) play such background instruments as coke bottles and kazoos. "Hurricane Fighter Plane" has the freakiest lyrics ever, and the combined group makes the ultimate statement on violence in "War Sucks". Forget General Fox's stupid liner notes and pick up on it. Highly recommended for listening to when stoned, especially for the amazing channel separation (IA LP #2).[3]
Reissues
1978 Radar reissue
2011 Sonic Book remix
Related projects
1978: Hurricane Fighter Plane (1978 version)
1999: Fingerpainting
2013: Letters to The Jackson Pollock Bar in the Style of The Red Krayola
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Free Form Freak-Out" | 1:30 |
| 2. | "Hurricane Fighter Plane" (When the Ride Is Over You Can Go to Sleep) | 3:33 |
| 3. | "Free Form Freak-Out" | 2:24 |
| 4. | "Transparent Radiation" (Red Signs Out-Side, Which I Contain) | 2:32 |
| 5. | "Free Form Freak-Out" | 4:21 |
| 6. | "War Sucks" (You Remember What Happened to Hansel and Gretel) | 3:38 |
| 7. | "Free Form Freak-Out" | 3:09 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Free Form Freak-Out" | 1:52 |
| 2. | "Pink Stainless Tail" (Seven Guest Are Quite Now, And Now Not Half So Much) | 3:16 |
| 3. | "Free Form Freak-Out" | 3:05 |
| 4. | "Parable of Arable Land" (And the End Shall Be Signaled By the Breaking of a Twig) | 3:06 |
| 5. | "Free Form Freak-Out" | 4:09 |
| 6. | "Former Reflections Enduring Doubt" (I Pass in a Rain That Is Always Too Soon) | 4:57 |
| Total length: | 41:32 | |
Other links
Wikipedia: The Parable of Arable Land
RateYourMusic: The Parable of Arable Land
References
- ↑ Mother: Houston's Rock Magazine Iss. 2: 22-26. View online
- ↑ The Berkeley Barb Vol. 5, Iss. 3: 8. View on JSTOR
- ↑ The Chicago Seed Vol. 2, Iss. 11: 15. View on JSTOR