| THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016). |
|---|
| By Nelly on Sunday, January 4, 1998 - 12:38 am: |
There are no songs on the album. No words. Just 2 full sides (parts 1-4) of orchestration and "the voice." An integral part of the Leda experience is the album jacket. On the front is a closeup photo angled upward against a gold swirly fabric background, of a woman in semi-profile, gazing into the distance, with bright red cascading hair (slight suggestion of brown roots showing--or possibly colorized?) and bright red lipstick extending beyond the outline of her parted lips. On the back are the liner notes. Would that there were time and space enough to quote them all here. Some highlights: "Here you have a piece of music written for and named after the girl who sings it--a girl, moreover, good-looking enough to pose for her own record cover picture... Who is Leda Annest? Well, to start with the obvious, she is a girl who sings. But this isn't as simple-minded as it sounds. When this girl sings she takes off into an area where most singers are lost, that area bounded by the libido to the east, the stream of consciousness to the west, the rivers of Lethe to the south, and to the north the Great Unknowable... Leda sings blood music. D.H. Lawrence would have understood her... I have seen a group of businessmen who listened to Leda together fall into consternation and embarrassment... Listen to Leda alone. It is much the safest. Or listen to Leda with one other person. But be careful who it is... Leda sings not to the ears but to the sympathetic nervous system. Does Leda sing about anything? Yes, about Everything. Is there a story told? Yes, and it is the story you hear when she sings it. It is your story she sings, whether you know it or not. It is a story, some say, about the loss of innocence, about lust and the sad recovery afterwards, about human darkness and despair. But that's their idea. You may find something else again... Leda has that quality--the indistinct passing of the naked face of someone familiar and beloved to each of us, seen and then not seen, there but--gone. The reeds whisper by the river bank. We knew her. Yes, we knew her. But when?" The record was "Composed and Conducted by Phil Moore," (tempted to mention him under Obscure Composers but knowing who hangs around there, thought better of it), and about him the notes are much more, uh, specific. (One theorizes that Leda's training and background, and perhaps even her real name, were things she chose to conceal.) His resume includes "masters of the country's higher institutions of pedagogy," the scoring of such films as "This Gun for Hire," "My Favorite Blonde," and "Palm Beach Story," and about 200 songs published including "Shoo Shoo, Baby" and "I Feel So Smoochie." "...anything that a musical man can do, Phil Moore has done, creating, directing, fostering talent, producing shows--a veritable one-man music industry, and all with taste, artistry and daring." As the story goes, "...one day...he heard a voice that made him put all else aside for a year of solid creative exploration..." No credit is given for the liner notes, but there is a strong suspicion that Phil's writing skills as well were called into play, especially noting the resemblance with notes from another of his albums that are prominently featured at The Wilds Scene: Liner Notes of the Gods. Truly a man of many parts. As to the music, if you're not lucky enough to have this album, I'll just have to leave it to your imagination. |
| By R.C. on Sunday, January 4, 1998 - 12:57 am: |
|
| By Nelly on Sunday, January 4, 1998 - 01:12 am: |
Piqued your curiosity, huh? |
| By R.C. on Sunday, January 4, 1998 - 01:49 am: |
Pleasant Dreams. |
| By Leda on Wednesday, February 11, 1998 - 06:44 am: |
ledas@.ac.anatolia.edu.gr |
I got a phone call from Leda Annest's daughter a few months ago and Leda did REALLY exist. BLEW ME AWAY, but still kinda asked her right away IF she had ANY copies of the LP she may want to sell OR have me put on CD for her in trade, MAYBE ????????? Nay she said and I despised her for it because the reality is that NONE of these grandchildren or beyond of Ms Annest have and in all likelyhood will NEVER have a rekkid player to hear it. DAMNITALL! So, I'm trying to get this company to reissue the LP. They already reissued Sabu's "SORCERY" on Columbia's Adventures in Sound series, so I jumped all over the Leda and just as amazing mind you, Phil Moore compositions and arrangements I'm a HUGE Phil Moore fan SO ANYWAY, classic hollywood major record label scum of the earth story. Record company screwed with her big time and she basically said LATER DOODS, I AM OUTTA HERE Only record she made, MUCH TO ALL OF OUR LOSSES! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!! Somebody stop me! I think that's it. I'll hopefully have the LP and CD for sale and my site is about to experience a 3 month late fabulous entire makeover with ALL ther same stuff plus sooooooo much more :-) presented in a way that will absolutley rock your world Please check it out at your leisure and THANKS for the article and the space :-) It IS an awesomely strange LP, indeed and the original is insanely rare. Mid 1950's Jack http://www.jackdiamond.com |
|
|