First and Only Weekly Online Fanzine Devoted to the Life and Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs Since 1996 ~ Over 10,000 Webpages and Webzines in Archive |
|
First and Only Weekly Online Fanzine Devoted to the Life and Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs Since 1996 ~ Over 10,000 Webpages and Webzines in Archive |
 |
Aka JoN: Jeddak of the North Aka WILLIAM G. HILLMAN B.Sc. (4 Yr. Honours), B.Ed. (5 Yr.), M.Ed. 41 Kensington Crescent, Brandon, MB R7A 6M4 Canada 204.728.4673 ~ hillmans@westman.wave.ca BILL & SUE-ON HILLMAN ECLECTIC STUDIO www.hillmanweb.com |
HILLMAN
ERB QUEST:
Part
V ~ Roots and Wings
ERB FLASHBACKS
The music I have come to associate with ERB is a very eclectic mix which melds into a mosaic montage which, I feel, is the essence of ERB. Burroughs never visited Africa because the jungles and lost worlds he wrote about were really products of his imagination and had little in common with any locale on earth. Similarly, there is little chance of finding one type of music that would embrace all the images and moods conjured up by ERB. With this in mind, here are ten of the musical gems I would pack for today's trip to Barsoom (tomorrow's choices will no doubt be entirely different):
ERB Flashback IV: Music of the Spheres
1. The soundtrack from one of my favourite films -- Somewhere In Time written by Richard Matheson. The film has Christopher Reeve wishing/willing himself to another time and place (shades of John Carter) to join his "lost" princess, Jane Seymour in a Victorian/Edwardian setting. Somewhere in Time enjoys "Cult Classic" status. It is one of only three single motion pictures which can boast of a fan club dedicated entirely to it. The other two are: Gone With The Wind, and Wizard of Oz. The romantic music by John Barry - much of it incorporating themes from Rachmaninoff -- is hauntingly bittersweet.
2. The Local Hero soundtrack by Mark Knopfler. This was one of Burt Lancaster’s last films. I always thought his, and contemporary Kirk Douglas’ bigger-than-life screen presences would have been perfect for ERB character portrayals. This gem of a movie has a soundtrack which enhances and augments the weaving of visual images of starry skies, northern lights, sea shores, and mystical moors and highlands to emphasize a kinship with nature. It reawakens an appreciation of my Scottish heritage and warrior ancestors -- and creates a spell which unites me with many of the ERBdoms. I take special pleasure in watching the country dance sequence -- partly because it is a community dance not unlike many I attended in Canada in my early formative years, but also because the piano player is Alan Clark from Dire Straits who played keyboards on 18 songs in our England recording sessions. The whole experience reminds me of the veddy British and very ERB-like values and traditions I grew up with before we were swamped by a barrage of modern influences with their related Gung Ho arroganceand gum chewing & gun totin’ mentalities.
3. The spirit of many of ERB’s stories is best reflected in the captivating, celtic-flavoured music of Loreena McKennitt, who was raised not far from our home in Manitoba. Her songs and haunting voice weave marvelous tales of ancient warriors, knights and maidens, all painted over a backdrop of harps, exotic percussion, and droning synthesizers and traditional instruments. I am proud to say that our daughter, China-Li, has absorbed these influences and has developed a remarkable talent on harp, bagpipes, piano and synths - as well as an expertise in Celtic and Medieval lore, tales and weaponry.
4. Early Elvis - especially his Sun Sessions - because of the raw excitement he brought to my awakening teenage world. My discovery and appreciation of Elvis and ERB ran juxtaposed paths in the mid ‘50s. The southern-gentleman-from-humble-roots persona which introduced the world to an exciting new music form, as well as far-out clothes, revolutionary stage presence, guitar worship, and karate moves, all linked with, and paralleled Clayton and Carter in my mind.
5. The cowboy/folk story songs and love ballads of Ian Tyson and Marty Robbins provide a fine background for the reading of ERB’s Western novels.
6. I have to include much of our own original music here because I can’t deny that much of it has been permeated with ERB’s influence. The song Harvest, although ostensibly about a desire to re-experience autumn on the prairies, could just as easily be interpreted as an ode to far-off, lost worlds such as Barsoom. I believe such influences are everywhere in our music but especially in the songs which have more exotic themes and are beautifully sung by My Princess: China Song, In Sadness, China Lady, etc.
7. Tchaikowsky’s Piano Concerto in B Flat Minor takes on special significance when one recognizes it as the theme from the Orson Welles Mercury Theatre radio program which terrified much of America by reporting the Invasion from Mars on that Pre-WWII Halloween eve back in 1938.
8. The John Williams soundtracks from the Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies provide magnificently in-sync accompaniments to the Lucas and Spielberg tributes to Pulpdom.
9. Our music collection contains a large assortment of Science Fiction-related themes and soundtracks which are constantly begging for inclusion in my Barsoom travel pack. This week’s random choices are the themes from: Carl Sagan’s Cosmos series and Space Odyssey 2001.
10. My selections could go on interminably but the last choice for this trip will include instrumentals from guitar bands such as the Shadows and Ventures... now commonly labelled with the misnomer Surf Music. This genre, which I have performed for decades, transports me to the southern California that ERB loved so well.
ERB Flashback V: Image Generator
Roy Rogers ~ Gene Autry ~ Blackhawk ~ Disney Comics and Cartoons ~ Straight Arrow ~ Nabisco Shredded Wheat ~ Clair de Lune ~ Superman ~ Pep ~ Radio Dial ~ Cruising Down the River ~ I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover ~ Jimmie Wakely ~ Brer Rabbit ~ Skates ~ WSM ~ Toronto Star Weekly Tarzan Sunday Page ~ 5 Cent Coverless Comics ~ John Russell Fearn ~ Movie Serials ~ Radio and Cereal Premiums ~ Lone Ranger ~ Cheerios ~ Tom Corbett Radio, Comics and G&D ~ SFX & Organ on Radio ~ Hardy Boys ~ Zane Grey ~ Edgar Rice Burroughs ~ Whitman ~ Tennis ~ Football in the Snowbanks ~ Baseball ~ Cisco Kid ~ Shadow ~ Eddie Arnold's Cattle Call ~ Bomba ~ Saskatoons ~ Mosquitoes ~ Sun Records ~ Elvis ~ Cash ~ Perkins ~ JL Lewis ~ Harmony Monterey ~ Silvertone Electric Guitar ~ Rock 'n' Roll ~ Doc Williams Guitar Course ~ Chet ~ Gretsch ~ Captain Marvel Jr. ~ Batman & Robin ~ Family ~ Fudgesicles 6 Cents ~ Popsicles 5 Cents ~ MAD ~ Double Bubble ~ 3D Comics ~ Mighty Mouse ~ Three Stooges ~ Prince Valiant ~ Cinemascope ~ Tree House ~ Father's Hunting Knife ~ Wild Flowers ~ Snow Caves ~ Sloughs ~ BC & Quebec Air Cadet Camps ~ Empire Stadium Football Usher ~ Marksmanship Trophy ~ Bike ~ Fair Day ~ Rupert Annual ~ George Formby Movies ~ 78s ~ 45s ~ 33 1/2 albums ~ Lonnie Donegan Skiffle ~ Cliff Richard Shadows ~ Hal Lonepine and Lennie Breau Western Shows ~ Sabre Jets ~ Ventures ~ GI Joe Comics ~ '49 Meteor ~ SF & Mystery Book Clubs ~ Classics Illustrated ~ Working Summerfallow ~ Playboy ~ Board Games ~ Home-made Jetan board ~ Piano Lessons ~ Glasses ~ Sgt Preston ~ Farm Chores ~ Help Magazine: Kurtzman, Elder, Davis, Wood, Roth ~ Humbug ~ Saturday Night 25 Cent Allowance ~ Big Little Books ~ "And Now In The Very Words of Mr. Burroughs..." ~ Nautilus baking soda and vinegar ~ family jam sessions ~ war surplus helmets, belts and haversacks ~ Eaton's Christmas Catalogue
