Aleister Crowley on vinyl
The appearance of occultist Aleister Crowley on the sleeve of Sgt Pepper is well-documented—here he is looking rather grainy on my CD insert—although I always forget which of the Beatles it was who put him in the list of “people that we like”. I’d guess John Lennon who would have appreciated Crowley’s obscene poetry, copious drug intake and ability to consistently épater la bourgeoisie.
Less well-known is what I presume must be the first outing for Crowley’s voice on this rare undated single from the mid-Seventies. Along with the cassette tapes I discussed earlier, this was another item turned up during a recent clearout of household junk. I’ve yet to see a detailed description of the origin of these Crowley recordings. I have the first CD pressing and haven’t looked at later editions so can’t say whether those contain more information about what are supposed to be wax cylinder recordings copied to acetates. The first complete collection of these was a vinyl release produced by David Tibet in a limited edition in 1986. I was among those that ordered a copy.
The Marabo single features two of the same recordings, of course, albeit in slightly poorer quality. (And I love the way it has a removable centre, as though it might well end up in a jukebox.) One feature of the continual reissuing of the recordings is that sound quality has improved over the years. The versions of The Pentagram and La Gitana on YouTube sound better than the ones on my CD. The occult resonance of Crowley’s voice (which always reminds me of Winston Churchill) have inevitably made it a popular sampling source. In the pre-sampling era 23 Skidoo and Psychic TV (both with David Tibet) used loops of the Enochian Calls. Bill Laswell later took to using samples on his ambient releases and the most recent CD version includes an entire disc of ambience with Crowley’s voice subjected to digital processing.
The sleeve art was by Steffi Grant, occultist wife of occultist Kenneth Grant, and it’s possible the pair sing backing vocals on the less-than-compelling B-side, a soft rock number entitled Scarlet Woman by Chakra. The song is credited to “Ponton/Ayers/Grant/Magee” so even if one or other of the Grants didn’t sing they helped with the lyrics. It should be noted that Mrs Grant’s artwork is often better than these illustrations and does much to enliven her husband’s volumes of occult philosophy. Some of their work was also featured in the seven-volume encyclopedia, Man, Myth and Magic, which featured Kenneth among the staff of consultants.
Before anyone asks: no, the single isn’t for sale. I’ve sold a lot of old vinyl over the past few years but I’m keeping this particular item. I know a couple of unreleased recordings by Chakra exist; if anyone has further information about the group, please leave a comment.
Update: Jok posted a link which resolves the mystery. It was indeed Kenneth Grant on backing vocals.
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Old music and old technology
• The Man We Want to Hang by Kenneth Anger
• The art of Cameron, 1922–1995
• Austin Osman Spare
10 comments or trackbacks
#1 posted by musicobsession
Oct 21st, 2008
oh, he really is on that cover, scary.
#2 posted by xtiaan
Oct 21st, 2008
I always wondered whats the slits on old singles were for….
#3 posted by John
Oct 21st, 2008
Yes, jukeboxes. Cheap record players used to come with a plastic disc which allowed you to play ex-jukebox singles.
If this had been on a jukebox it would have been a good candidate for a spot of Wyatting.
#4 posted by Márcio Salerno
Oct 21st, 2008
I take Crowley very seriously. I read the Tarot, and the Thot deck, his and Frieda Harris, is my choice. I think Crowley should be envisaged in a much more serious way than most would-be magicians do nowadays.
I also share his passion for women, and I do lack a princess to practice some of the magicks with me. Well, we’ll see about that…
The Beatles were always a synonim of John Lennon to me, and I do believe his was the choice, as both George and Paul wouldn’t have liked Crowley that much. Well, there’s always Ringo, but I don’t think so.
#5 posted by John
Oct 21st, 2008
Don’t be too hard on Paul, he was more radical in 1967. He was the Stockhausen fan and I seem to recall he was also the one who put William Burroughs on the cover.
I’ve only just noticed that the Crowley picture they used is slightly doctored from the original. Peter Blake removed his bow tie.
#6 posted by musicobsession
Oct 22nd, 2008
I think he is much more dangerous than Ayers. LOL
#7 posted by Thombeau
Oct 22nd, 2008
This would make a great companion piece to that Anton LeVay album!
#8 posted by John
Oct 22nd, 2008
I think I have a copy of that Satanist album somewhere. I also have a cheap paperback of The Satanic Bible which contains the same Enochian Calls (from John Dee and Edward Kelley) which Crowley reads.
I agree someone could make a compilation of music (or recordings) by occultists, I think Sixties “King of the Witches” Alex Sanders also made an album. The trouble is that the music on these things is usually terrible!
#9 posted by Jok
Oct 24th, 2008
It’s strange seeing that those pictures of that single on the Internet knowing it was the one that used to be in my possession and knowing how much it goes for on ebay – I should imagine it’s probably in better condition than if I hadn’t passed it on to you though!
Anyway, it is Ken on “incantation” according to the other members of Chakra according to this:
http://greengalloway.blogspot.com/2007/01/kenneth-grant-makes-first-ever-punk.html
Oh, and those plastic discs are invaluable to reggae bores with collections of Jamaican sevens pressed with no centre at all! In fact what the plastic discs are actually called is a matter of debate amongst the reggae crowd..
#10 posted by John
Oct 24th, 2008
Hi Jok. I was trying to remember who it was gave me that single, forgot it was you! And yes, it’s still in pretty good condition, it was kept in a vinyl sleeve and rarely played. Thanks too for the link, I was hoping that might be confirmed somewhere. Doesn’t surprise me that Jimmy Page bought a load of them.
Those plastic things for jukebox singles seem to be called…middles. Or adaptors. Which is rather dull, you’d expect them to have a unique name. This site has some nice fancy aluminium ones:
http://www.45central.co.uk/products.html
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