Outsider music
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Outsider music is music performed either by social outsiders, who have no or few associates in the mainstream music business, or by musicians who choose to live and work in seclusion, often due to compromising behavioral or psychological conditions. Outsider music reflects these conditions in various ways. Lyrics are often bizarre or emotionally stark and songs may show a great ignorance or disregard for structural conventions or popular trends in mainstream music. Also, outsider musicians frequently have no formal training and/or significant music skills in the traditional sense. The end result is music that is much stranger and more abrasive than more popular musical styles. Outsider music is a form of outsider art.
By definition, outsider music has very few outlets and most outsider musicians (save those such as Syd Barrett and Skip Spence who became popular before becoming recluses) come to be known through word of mouth, usually among communities of music collectors. Only a few, including Tiny Tim and Wesley Willis, have achieved much renown outside of a small coterie of devotees. Outsider music is frequently praised by musicians with experimental leanings, such as avant-garde jazz saxophonist John Zorn. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana famously wore a shirt designed by outsider Daniel Johnston, whom Cobain admired.
Some outsider musicians are famously awful and most of their audience considers them to be a surreal comedy act, something many of these performers realize and embrace. Examples include Florence Foster Jenkins, an American soprano who sang ear-splitting renditions of compositions far outside her range and Eilert Pilarm, a Swedish Elvis impersonator known for his utter lack of resemblance to Elvis Presley, as well as his questionable singing abilities and shaky command of the English language. A majority of outsider artists, however, are honestly appreciated for their unique and uncompromising styles of music.
There are arguably some links between outsider music and anti-folk: the emotion starkness, the lack of formal training and the humour. Jeffrey Lewis names his number one influence as Daniel Johnston, Syd Barrett was named the 'godfather' of antifolk's British strain in an unofficial poll and you can hear similarities between the tuneless singing styles of Wesley Willis and Paul Hawkins. However, one major difference is that while many outsider musicians are famous recluses, musicians regarded as 'antifolk' are usually grouped in a collective around a certain location (such as in New York or London). Hip-hop outsider musicians include the Australian Space G who uses raw recording techniques and space related lyrics.
A comprehensive guide to outsider music is Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music (2000) by music journalist and radio personality Irwin Chusid. The book profiles several relatively well known outsider musicians and gives a definition to the term. The book inspired two companion compilation CDs, sold separately.
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[edit] Notable outsider bands
- Arcesia was a band fronted by big-band singer turned psychedelic troubadour, Johnny Arcesi.
- The Residents are a dadaist American band who have maintained complete anonymity throughout their career.
- The Shaggs were a 1960s rock band of sisters with only rudimentary musical skill, whose ineptitude became semi-legendary.
- The Tiger Lillies, formed in 1989, are a darkly humourous Brfechtian cabaret three-piece from London, UK.
[edit] Notable outsider musicians
- Syd Barrett (1946-2006), psychedelic folk pioneer, was a founding member of Pink Floyd.
- Bugo is an Italian musician and composer, born in Novara.
- Captain Beefheart (1941- )
- Y. Bhekhirst is an exotic New York-based sound sculptor.
- Eugene Chadbourne (1954- )
- Roky Erickson (1947- ), a one-time mental patient, is the reclusive and eccentric former leader of the 13th Floor Elevators.
- Jad Fair is a solo artist and member of Half Japanese.
- Larry "Wild Man" Fischer (1945- ) is a street musician who sang for dimes, later discovered by Frank Zappa and was the first artist recorded by Rhino Records.
- Bingo Gazingo is a retired New York postal worker turned slam poet.
- Ralph Gean is a 64 year-old country and western singer from Texas who sings songs about unusual subjects.
- Louis "Moondog" Hardin (1916-1999) was a blind poet, percussionist and composer who designed his own musical instruments and lived as a busker on the streets of New York City for fifteen years.
- Jandek is a Texas-based singer/songwriter who largely avoids publicity, but releases albums prolifically.
- Florence Foster Jenkins (1868-1944)
- Daniel Johnston (1961- ) is a Texas singer-songwriter known for recording music on his radio boom box.
- Sexton Ming (1961- )
- R. Stevie Moore (1952- )
- Jack Mudurian
- Lucia Pamela (1904-2002) was an eccentric entertainer best known for recording a music album in 1969 about her fictional travels to the moon.
- Harry Partch (1901-1974) was a composer who built his own instruments according to his own system of musical scales.
- Skip Spence (1946-1999) was a former Moby Grape member who produced one cult classic album, Oar (1969), of stark, strange folk music.
- Foe Tamajiro is an Japanese outsider musician , living in Las Vegas. Founder of shocker_tv.
- Jan Terri is a middle-aged limo driver from Chicago, who has released several albums and videos.
- Gordon Thomas (1917- ) is a former big-band trombonist and musical folk artist.
- Silvano Togneri (d. 2006) was an Italian outsider musician, born in Barga, Italy.
- Bob Vido (a.k.a. Robert Zaprian Vidoloff)
- Wesley Willis (1963-2003) was a 350 lb. roaring schizophrenic from Chicago who sang songs about fast food, public transportation and his favorite bands, among myriad subjects.
- Wing is a Hong Kong-born New Zealand singer.
[edit] Further reading
- Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music by Irwin Chusid ISBN 1-55652-372-6
