At home with Raymond and Dorothy

Grainy Library of Congress reference copy of contact sheet chronicling Scott demonstrating one of his electronic gizmos to then-wife, singer Dorothy Collins, at their Long Island home. Year unknown, but likely mid-1950s. Judging from the slanted ceiling, the monstrous machine appears to be installed in their attic. Whether it was built or hauled up there is an intriguing question. The device could be an early version of the Electronium, Scott's "instantaneous composition-performance machine" which he developed in the 1960s. Whatever it is, the magnificent instrument no longer exists.
 
Addendum (28 July 07) Jeff Winner of RaymondScott.com adds: I included another (presumably earlier) version of this device on page 23 of the book accompanying the Manhattan Research CDs. Same room, same piano bench, same shirt & haircut. I have another pic of this instrument, but neither RS nor DC are in the frame. I've been hoping that sooner or later we'd find a photo of this device with some info written on the back, or a caption in an old magazine that would explain more detail, but I've had no luck in that department. Yet.

Powerhouse

"Powerhouse" is arguably one of Raymond Scott's three best-known works, along with "The Toy Trumpet" and "Mountain High, Valley Low" (from the 1946 Broadway musical Lute Song).

First recorded by the Raymond Scott Quintette in 1937, "Powerhouse" was covered by dozens of orchestras and small jazz combos worldwide in the following decade. In 1943, Scott sold his publishing rights to Advanced Music, a division of Warner Brothers, and that year Carl Stalling began peppering his Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoon scores with Scott melodies — "Powerhouse" being the most oft-quoted.

We don't know why Scott sold his publishing, although money is a good place to begin any conjecture. He was probably advised to sell rather than initiating such a transaction on his own. Scott was obsessed with music and engineering (not necessarily in that order) and inclined to leave the paperwork to trusted associates. (Not that such associates deserved to be "trusted." Late in life, explaining his depleted finances, Scott remarked that someone "managed my money until I managed to not have any.")

Once the publishing belonged to WB, Scott had no further involvement with licensing, other than to collect writer's royalties. He surely had nothing to do with the use of his melodies in Looney Tunes. There is no indication that Scott and Stalling ever met, or that Scott was even aware of Stalling, though Stalling was certainly hyper-aware of Scott's music.

There's more info about "Powerhouse" at Wikipedia.

Scott by Marc Crisafulli

pen and felt-tip marker on paper (1997)

Good Morning Cephalgia (animation)

Thomas Sebasian Smolenski writes:

"A few years ago I obtained some sheet music from the Raymond Scott archives so I might perform it for the soundtrack of my college senior thesis animation. Unfortunately I was never able to finish the animation or record the music because of the schedule I was on.

"What I finished (basically sans ending ... and a weak middle...) is available on YouTube.

"Recently I've been working in animation in and around Manhattan, and I've really wanted to play Scott's music again — mostly for myself, not so much for a soundtrack."

"Good Morning Cephalgia" contains five Raymond Scott Quintette recordings ("Powerhouse," "The Penguin," "Toy Trumpet," "Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals," and "In an 18th Century Drawing Room").

Smolenski is currently working at a studio called Flickerlab and animating a short for Conan O'Brien called "Pale Force."

Raymond Scott meets Jim Flora

In a design sense, anyway. Their professional paths nearly crossed: early in his career Scott recorded for Columbia Records but left the label in 1941, one year before Jim Flora was hired by Columbia's art department. In the late 1940s, Flora (1914-1998) launched a legacy by illustrating quirky, cartoonish jazz album covers for the label. His historical portfolio includes dozens more for RCA Victor during the 1950s.

Through my working relationship with Jim Flora Art LLC, the deceased artist's estate, I've long wanted to revive this tradition by using rare Flora art on new CDs. Seattle's Reptet released Do This! in 2006, the cover bedecked with a Flora three-eyed monster we call a "triclops." Later this year, the first CD collection of the 1948-49 Raymond Scott Quintet will feature a Flora cover (above) designed by the brilliant Dutch art director Piet Schreuders. The 1951 illustration was most likely rendered during Flora's Mexican idyll. Ectoplasm refers to a Scott composition on the CD, which this author is producing for Basta Audio-Visuals.

N.B.: The Lothars album Oscillate My Metallic Sonatas (released in 2000) adapted Flora's 1955 album cover art for This Is Benny Goodman and His Orchestra (RCA Victor).

Lunch

A Visa check card TV commercial ("Lunch") that runs on high octane "Powerhouse" has aired sporadically since November 2006. In case you still haven't seen it—or need to view it on demand—it's posted on YouTube. The recording of the Scott classic was created for the spot; no existing version was licensed.

Portrait of Scott

Raymond Scott by Jason Beaty, 2002

The Coctails: Raymond Scott medley

One evening in 1992: dinner at Maxwell's, the legendary Hoboken tavern/rock club. A bunch of bands I'd never heard of were booked for the back room. Dinner was first priority. Mid-meal, buddy and fellow WFMU DJ Gaylord Fields came running down the corridor that links restaurant with club, ordered me to drop the fork, and proclaimed, "Come back here. The Coctails are playing 'Powerhouse'!" I zoomed in and caught 2/3 of the band's rambunctious take on the Scott classic. Later I found out it was half of a medley that opened with "The Penguin."

After the set, I found the band in the downstairs dressing room and complimented their arrangement. We became fast friends, which prompted several stayovers at their Chicago loft in the next few years (during which I met their buddy, Chris Ware, the incomparable illustrator).

In 1993, the Coctails invited me to join them in the studio for their first recording of the Scott medley, on which I banged some percussion. The final mix was released on SOL (Singles Only Label—"The little record with the big hole"), a boutique vinyl venture by Nicholas Hill and Bob Mould. The track was subsequently reissued on the group's 3-cd retrospective Popcorn Box (Carrot Top Records).

iTunes Music Store links:
The Penguin/Powerhouse (studio version)
The Penguin/Powerhouse (live at Lounge Ax)

Cyclic Bits: The Raymond Scott Variations

Ergo Phizmiz will air his one-hour Raymond Scott remix program "Cyclic Bits" on WFMU Wednesday, May 16, from 7-8 pm (Eastern).

Artists who have contributed remixes and reinventions:

Bebe del Banco
David Fenech
DJPE
Ego Plum
Felix Kubin
Fireworks Ensemble
4,000,000 Telephones
Automated Acoustics
Freezepop
Listen With Sarah
Martha Moopette
Orionza
Satanicpornocultshop
Tracky Birthday
Vernon Lenoir

As previously mentioned, the contributors were given free rein to sample vintage Scott '50s and '60s electronica. An album of the full remixes might be released later.

The program will be archived as streaming audio in the station's memory hole.

photo: Martha Moopette

Raymond Scott on myspace

I hate myspace. So do you. So do millions of people who use it. I don't use it—I just hate it. Don't send me your myspace link. Thanks. There is a Raymond Scott page on myspace, and it serves many good purposes. It can be updated faster and easier than the Scott website, and it catches the attention of—well, of people who use myspace. Which I don't, because I hate it. Remember? I won't remind you again. Promise. You can find information at the RS myspace page you won't find here or at RaymondScott.com. So can your mother. So can Raymond's—and everybody's—friend Tom. The Raymond Scott page is probably the coolest one in all of myspace, and the only one you need to know. All the rest are bogus. The Scott page was created by Jeff Winner, the same good buddy who operates RaymondScott.com. Nota bene from Jeff: "On the page, I try to make clear it's NOT actually RS doing the page, because lots of people assumed that was the case when it first launched." People, Raymond Scott died in 1994. That's several years before the internet was even invented! Speaking of obituaries, did you know Scott composed "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm"? Neither did we! You won't find that here, at the Scott website, in his Wiki entry, or on his myspace page. The web is just FULL of fascinating information—some of it true!

In 1993, MTV used to care ...

... about such things:

Not that they made a big deal about it—forty-five seconds or so on MTV News. The hook wasn't Scott's legacy or musical appeal, but the fact that his vintage recordings were being used in the recently launched Ren & Stimpy Show.

"pointless music, horrible remastering"

We warned you. Kimba W. Lion reviews Rock and Roll Symphony on Amazon.com:

 "Raymond Scott, so often the quirky innovator, really fell flat on his face with this album. Arranged to please other people rather than himself, the music is blander than bland, failing to evoke the flavor of either rock and roll or symphonic music. A couple of tracks rise to the level of decent MOR, but not really worth the wade through the rest. "The remastering for CD is a pure amateur job. Treble-heavy, with no bass, and a gee-I-can-do-hiss-removal approach to noise reduction that has left a heavy cloud of digital burbles and other artifacts over the music that is far worse than any tape hiss could possibly be. Note to whoever thinks they can remaster for CD: First, buy yourself a decent pair of headphones. Then look for something beyond the first freeware program you find that claims to do noise reduction, and learn how to set the parameters so that the result sounds like music."

Down to Earth—and leaving it

One of my favorite Raymond Scott compositions—and one of his few genuine pop songs—is "Coming Down to Earth." Scott composed it in 1936, before launching his seminal Quintette, but didn't record the tune until 1953, when it was released as a post-WWII orchestral period piece.

Rochester-based musician Dave Cross belatedly introduced me to the virtues of "Earth." Having heard only the nondescript RSO version, I couldn't understand why Cross cared enough to record the tune with his avant-weird band, Coffee, in the mid-1990s. Cross eventually sent a small stack of 7" singles with a skeletal but jaunty slide guitar take of "Coming Down to Earth" slotted between two Coffee originals. The arrangement (which clocked 1:06) was so radically different from Scott's, it was barely recognizable as the same composition. Yet Coffee retained the melody and structure, which gave me a deep appreciation of this pop gem.

The group later recorded a spooky synth cover of another little-known Scott 1950s orchestral work, "Naked City." I loved these recordings because they didn't attempt to recapture Scott's style; they reinvented Scott in a strikingly original way. Because of these imaginative takes, Coffee were invited to perform at the second (and last) multi-artist Scott tribute concert at New York's Bottom Line in 1997. (R. Stevie Moore joined them onstage.)

Several years ago I learned that Cross was undergoing treatment for a brain tumor. Phillip Marshall, one of his Coffee-mates, dropped me a note Saturday evening:

Dave Cross lost his seven year battle with a brain tumor last Friday. He was instrumental in getting "Coming Down to Earth" recorded by Coffee, which was really a duo of Dave and Tim Poland.

Dave wasn't much of a musician per se. However he was wildly creative with sound and with organizing Coffee events. He flagged me down 10 years ago because he had received the sheet music of "Coming Down to Earth" from you. (I had my brush with fame playing guitar with the wonderful Colorblind James Experience.) Neither he nor Tim could read music so they had me figure it out. Dave had the impression that no recording of the song existed. I had no idea of Scott's intentions with the piece, and I heard it as a whimsical yet sentimental ballad.

When Coffee was invited to play at the Bottom Line, they again recruited me for guitar. We played "Down to Earth," "Caterpillar Creep" and "City of New York." The Raymond Scott songs were the only remotely tuneful or melodic music Coffee ever played.

Dave will be missed but his spirit will be present anytime a creative person responds to the urge to reach beyond their own limitations and make something happen.

There will be a memorial service in Penfield, NY on Tuesday, May 1 at 11:00 am in Linear Park where Dave always found fishing quite good.

Our condolences to Dave's family and friends. We hope Coffee's two Scott covers make it to CD release. They were among the first new recordings to demonstrate how Scott's vintage music could be revitalized for the 21st century.

The Happy Farmers (named for a Scott tune) were formed a year ago to support Dave when things were going badly for him. True to form, Dave forged on for another year! L to R: Adam Wilcox, upright; Phil Marshall, guitar; Tim Poland, guitar; Dave Cross, snare and cymbal.

Racalmuto

Madrid-based sextet Racalmuto has released a self-titled CD containing six Raymond Scott Quintette tunes: "Powerhouse," "The Penguin," "Happy Farmer," "Moment Musical," "Steeplechase," and "Square Dance for Eight Egyptian Mummies."

The Scott evocations are joyous and brash, mixing nicely with the band's originals and nuggets by Stuff Smith and Charlie Shavers. The Scott covers sizzle with élan. In paying homage to the RSQ tradition, Racalmuto adds inventive touches that surprise and impress. But don't overlook their composer chops: pianist Pascual Piqueras's "¿Quién Quiere un Tornado?" evokes elegant 1930s modernism and classic cartoon jazz (an equally apt description of the original RSQ); and clarinetist Marco Cresci's "Ataque de Celos en Zakopane" conjures a swing-era outer space fantasy.

Update: Here they perform Scott's "Powerhouse" on Spanish TV.