Black Monk Time

Black Monk Time was the first album by the rock group The Monks, and the only album they released during their original incarnation.

The album was produced by Jimmy Bowien, and recorded March 1966 in Cologne, Germany. It was released May 1966 by Polydor in Germany. It was described in the mid-1990s by Julian Cope as a "lost classic",^[1] the album has since been reissued more than once, and has gained a broader, albeit still underground, appreciation and fame. Of the album's raw style, and the context of its production, Cope writes:

... NO-ONE ever came up with a whole album of such dementia. The Monks' Black Monk Time is a gem born of isolation and the horrible deep-down knowledge that no-one is really listening to what your [sic] saying. And the Monks took full artistic advantage of their lucky/unlucky position as American rockers in a country that was desperate for the real thing. They wrote songs that would have been horribly mutilated by arrangers and producers had they been back in America. But there was no need for them to clean up their act, as the Beatles and others had had to do on returning home, for there were no artistic constraints in a country that liked the sound of beat music but had no idea about its lyric content.^[2]

Track listing

All tracks written by Burger/Clark/Day/Johnston/Shaw.

CD bonus tracks

Key

• Rep. = 1994 Repertoire Records reissue
• IZ = 1996 Infinite Zero Archive/American Recordings reissue
• Retr. = 2004 Retribution Records reissue (titled Monk Time)
• LITA = 2009 Light in the Attic Records reissue

All tracks written by Burger/Clark/Day/Johnston/Shaw.

Complication single

"Complication" b/w "Oh, How to Do Now" was released as a single to promote the album. Like the Album, it failed to garner commercial success. The single was reissued in 2009 by Play Loud! Productions.

Covers

UK post-punk band The Fall has covered four of these songs: "I Hate You" and "Oh How to Do Now" on their 1990 LP Extricate, "Shut Up" on their 1994 LP Middle Class Revolt and "Higgle-Dy Piggle-Dy" on the 2006 Play Loud! Productions Monks tribute compilation Silver Monk Time.

In 2006 Play Loud! Productions released in conjunction with the film Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback the soundtrack/tribute double CD Silver Monk Time. 29 international bands (the original monks included) took part in this release.

Reissues

• Black Monk Time (1979, Polydor) [LP]
• Black Monk Time (1994, Repertoire Records) [CD]
• Black Monk Time (1997, Infinite Zero) [CD]^[a]
• Monk Time (2004, Retribution Records) [CD]
• Black Monk Time (2009, Universal Music Germany) [LP, CD]^[a][3]
• Black Monk Time (2009, Light in the Attic Records) [LP, CD]^[a][4][5]

Personnel

• Gary Burger – vocals, guitar
• Larry Clark – vocals, organ
• Roger Johnston – vocals, drums
• Eddie Shaw – vocals, bass guitar
• Dave Day – vocals, electric banjo

References

1. ^ Krautrocksampler: One Head's Guide to the Great Kosmische Musik - 1968 Onwards. 3rd ed. Head Heritage, 1996. p. 6
2. ^ Krautrocksampler: One Head's Guide to the Great Kosmische Musik - 1968 Onwards. 3rd ed. Head Heritage, 1996. p. 7
3. ^ "BLACK MONK TIME re-issued by Universal Music Germany (Release date March 13, 2009)". play loud! productions. 2009-02-18. http://blogplayloud.blogspot.com/2009/02/black-monk-time-re-issued-by-universal.html. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
4. ^ "Light In The Attic Records: Monks". Light In The Attic Records. http://lightintheattic.net/releases/monks/. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
5. ^ "The Monks: Black Monk Time - Light in the Attic". Too Cool to Die. http://www.toocooltodie.com/index.php?/tctd/aotw/the_monks_black_monk_time_light_in_the_attic/. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 

Links

• Black Monk Time at Discogs (list of releases)
• Black Monk Time article on Cult Cargo
• Powerade ad (2000) featuring Monk Time