Eno -- "The Great Pretender" (1974)

Monica sighed

Rolled on to her side

She was so impressed 
That she just surrendered

2 or 3 lines does not use the term "genius" lightly.  But if that term applies to any of the musicians whose music has been featured on this wildly popular little blog, it certainly applies to Brian Eno.

Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno, who was born in the UK in 1948, was one of the original members of Roxy Music – one of my absolute favorite bands during my law school days.  

At first, Eno wasn't really a member of the band – he ran the mixing console during their live shows from offstage.  But eventually he appeared on stage, playing keyboards and singing backing vocals.  

Brian Eno in 1973

Eno left Roxy Music after their first two albums – he didn't like touring and didn't get along with Roxy frontman Bryan Ferry (who does strike me as being a high-maintenance kind of guy).  I eventually purchased those two albums, but my first two Roxy Music albums  were LPs #3 and #4 for the band – Stranded (1973) and Country Life (1974) – and Eno doesn't appear on either one.

So I guess my first acquaintance with Eno came through his first two solo albums, Here Come the Warm Jets (1973) and Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) (1974).  

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To say that some of the records from my law school days that I've written about on this blog haven't really held up over the years is a big-ass understatement.  But these two Eno albums are just as enjoyable and undated-sounding as they were 35 years ago. 

I had a difficult time deciding which one of Eno's songs to choose for this series.  So I'm not choosing one – I'm choosing several.  (At least three, I think – maybe more.)  

"The Great Pretender" relies as much on synthesizers and electronic effects as it does on guitars and drums.  It is dense, pounding stuff – but still bouncy.  Listening to it doesn't fatigue you.

Brian Eno today

But it's Eno's lyrics that are truly unique.  One of the ways he came up with the words for his songs was to sing random, nonsense syllables as the music played.  Eventually, individual words and phrases would sort of accidentally pop out of the nonsense, and pretty soon he had the lyrics for a song -- which rarely told any kind of coherent story, but were compelling nonetheless.

I have no clue what the rest of the song is about.  One critic has written that the song describes the rape of a suburban housewife by a crazed machine.  (Say whut?)  But I suspect it's not "about" anything.  How in the world could these lines be "about" anything?

Settled in a homely fishpool

Hung with little eels

Often thinks that travel widens

Stay at home, the trout obliges

Wondering where Eno got the title for the album that this song is part of?  Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy is a Chinese revolutionary opera that tells the true story of a Communist soldier who infiltrated a gang of bandits during the Chinese Civil War.  Eno saw a book of postcards from the opera in San Francisco and decided to use the same title for his second album, which has something of a Chinese feel to it and several songs with China-theme lyrics.

Here's the album cover:

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There's one other thing you need to know about this album.  While he was recording it, Eno and a friend created the "Oblique Strategies" deck of cards, which is sort of an artsy version of the old "Magic 8-Ball."

Each "Oblique Strategies" card has a printed phrase on it that is supposed to be used to help you break a deadlock or overcome uncertainty.  For example, there are cards that say "Try faking it," "Honor thy error as a hidden intention," and "What would your closest friend do?"  While he was putting this album together, Eno would draw a card and use it to guide the next step in the recording process.

Ultimately, Eno and his collaborator created five editions of "Oblique Strategies."  The older editions sell for ridiculous amounts of money – one rare book dealer is currently offering a fourth edition "Oblique Strategies" for $2200.  Here's a link to the "Oblique Strategies" website.

Here's an example of an "Oblique Strategies" card:

Richard Linklater's 1991 movie, Slacker, features an "Oblique Strategies" deck.  One of the cards is quoted in the famous R.E.M. song, "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"  MGMT (which titled one of their songs "Brian Eno") had a deck in the studio when they recorded their 2010 album, Congratulations, but later said they don't know if they used it correctly. 

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I wouldn't award the "genius" title to Eno solely on account of his first two solo albums – although I think they are amazing albums.  

Eno has also contributed to the production of much great music by other performers.  He has collaborated with or produced albums for the Talking Heads, U2, Devo, David Bowie, and others.

David Byrne and Eno: Geniuses!

Eno became a major figure in avant-garde music with his "ambient music" albums.  The notes to his album, Ambient 1: Music for Airports (1978), describe ambient music in these terms:  "Ambient music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting."  

Click here to listen to an example of Eno's ambient music.

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According to Eno, his musical career was the result of accident as much as anything.  In 1992, he said that "as a result of going into a subway station and meeting [Roxy Music saxophonist Andy Mackay], I joined Roxy Music, and, as a result of that, I have a career in music. If I'd walked ten yards further on the platform, or missed that train, or been in the next carriage, I probably would have been an art teacher now."

But isn't that true of life in general?

Click here to listen to "The Great Pretender."

Click here to buy that recording from Amazon.