Gothic Horror exists around you. It is the realm of possibility. Most of them are unexplained. It hides in the eyes and reticence of those who know its story, its peril, and its next victim. It frees you for the daytime hours, watching and observing at a distance like a new pet. Then at night, as your tension increases to the point of manifesting a mixture of inseparable fear and dread, it illuminates a path to slowly draw you into its realm of possibility.
American-British author Henry James was suffering from gout and seeing his once sparkling literary reputation lose its luster as the end of the Nineteenth Century neared. His mother, the diarist Alice James passed away. His dear friend Robert Louis Stevenson followed. Lonely and feeling his career slipping away, James wrote a friend in October 1895, “I see ghosts everywhere.”
Now whether this was figurative or realistic remains to be proven. However, James became fascinated with the proverbial “ghost story” especially its fascination with ambiguous details and capture of claustrophobia. Two years later, James moved to the English city of Rye and accepted a contract from Collier’s for his own twelve-part ghost story.
Opening with a lengthy prologue that establishes the story’s voice (not the narrator,) James provides a framework to guide you through the times themselves. When you watch the Gore Vidal adaptation from the Sixties or the Dan Curtis version from 1974, this portion is removed and you are deposited into the story in medias res. As you begin to hear the actual tale from the standpoint of the Governess, the idyllic landscape and the grandeur of the house in Essex take on a life of their own. It is easy to feel her being dazzled (her verbiage) to the point of distraction.
Distraction, as we know, is a common practice among magicians. So it is fitting that James feeds you so many details and expects you to take them in. The two children Miles and Flora are almost too good to be true. The help around the manse is caring enough but live in hiding. In his most skillful style choice, the once-serialized (with illustrations) chapters tend to end with a small revelation. These are not the cliffhangers of film serials or adventure stories (ready to replay to start the next episode of say “Doctor Who,”) these are designed to allow the story to live on in your thoughts.
James' horror is not even of the potboiling variety, if anything it is a reappropriation of Victorian tropes. In one section, the Governess actually mentions in an internal monologue "relatives living in the attic," a possible allusion to Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre." In addition, the pair of perfect orphan children in play could serve as a subtle reminder of Pip and Estella in Dickens' "Great Expectations." Nonetheless, James seems to know intrinsically that the familiarity of the surroundings to the characters and the story to readers will make the discoveries and events truly memorable.
Like modern Gothic storytelling such as Peter Medak's 1980 film "The Changeling," we need to see things as more out of place than the characters. The Governess is new to this world, as our reliable narrator, we are given her fresh perspective and its impact on her life. For example, upon arriving at this stately manor, she begins losing sleep. Now this is no surprise to us, as she is excited about this new occupation and the possible promise of a family. In addition, James is writing the Governess as her own woman. She is very independent, takes pride in all of her work, and is open to new experiences with no lengthy mentions of her past. So, imagine teaching and caring for two children from sunup to sundown as well as staying cognizant to the other working functions of the house. One long June day, she finally secures her time alone for introspection. On a stroll around the grounds, in her mind, "it would be charming as a charming story suddenly to meet some one. Some one would appear there at the turn of the path and would stand before me and smile and approve."
The Governess is creating situations in her imagination that idealize what is shaping up to be an ideal life choice for her.
"was a sense that my imagination had, in a flash, turned real. He did stand there!--but high up, beyond the lawn and at the very top of the tower to which, on that first morning, little Flora had conducted me...It was as if, while I took in, what I did take in, all the rest of the scene had been stricken with death."
With that, every vision is touched by this single harrowing image. After suffering such a shock, and not having the closure that a simple explanation would provide or the assurance that this was a common event among other inhabitants, it can only live, grow, and expand on the most fertile substrate - the imagination.
—
Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
Rocktober Reissues Edition
BAD COMPANY [CLEAR LP](Atlantic/Rhino) • The first of the true Seventies supergroups that worked, Bad Company almost unknowingly established the chemistry for every AOR band to follow for decades (balance the rockers and ballads.) Bad Company emerged from Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke’s workingman’s grooves from Free, Mick Ralphs’ Glam guitar flash from Mott The Hoople (whose borrowed “Ready For Love” is a building block here,) and Boz Burrell of King Crimson circa “Islands.” While Boogie was the rage on radio (“Rock Steady,”) all these years later a simmering blues/country potboiler like the title track still works because this classic caught them in mutual admiration before the hits rolled in. Also available on Clear vinyl, the greatest hits of Bad Company "10 from 6."
BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD - Buffalo Springfield Again [MONO LP] (Atlantic/Rhino) • When the wheels came off the steamroller that was Buffalo Springfield, careers were built (Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Richie Furay) and derailed (bassist Bruce Palmer was deported to Canada for drug possession before this one could even be started.) When Palmer was replaced by a rotating cast of players, tumult was captured here. Young, in between quitting a number of times, contributed the real game-changers in “Mr.Soul” and “Expecting To Fly.” Laurel Canyon Country/Rock had been psychedelic before but never like this. Working with composer Jack Nitzsche turned Young's “Broken Arrow” into a thrilling album-ending (and really, band-ending) suite. Stills brought in Jazz (“Everydays”) and Blues (the soaring “Bluebird.”) Rhythm guitarist Furay even managed to turn his stately ballad “Rock N’Roll Woman” into a complex rocker. When the smoke cleared, Buffalo Springfield was practically no more and Country/Rock was never the same.
FOREIGNER [CLEAR LP](Atlantic/Rhino) • After the demise of the Leslie West Band, Mick Jones stayed in New York to try to figure things out. While the city was tapped into the energy of Punk, Disco, and Art, Jones managed to reconfigure the AOR Rock he played with Leslie West and Spooky Tooth to bask in a modern post-boogie sheen. Having assembled his band down to the singer, Jones auditioned sixty people before remembering a band that he saw open when he was in Spooky Tooth. The gruff but sweet vocals of Lou Gramm would be the last ingredient in Jones’ new formula. Every dish needs a catalyst. Recording their demo and naming themselves “Trigger,” the tape landed on a desk at Atlantic Records. John Kalodner fresh from the mailroom after seeing an entirely different band with the same name, convinced President Jerry L. Greenberg to listen. Signed to Atlantic and renamed Foreigner, the debut was recorded and refined until it would sizzle upon release in March 1977. By May, “Foreigner” was Gold with two Top 10 hits (“Feels Like The First Time” and “Cold As Ice”) as well as countless AOR radio staples (“Long, Long Way From Home.”)
GRATEFUL DEAD - Madison Square Garden 3.9.81 [5LP BOX] (Grateful Dead/Rhino) • “I think of recording (albums) as sort of a necessary evil in a way” — Jerry Garcia, 1980.
Under contract for one more album from Clive Davis at Arista, The Dead were forbidden to release any live works until this deal was done. So, working at their home studio with Gary Lyons (who masterminded 1977’s “Foreigner,”) the Dead limped home with the satirically titled “Go To Heaven.” For this 1981 show with newly indoctrinated keyboardist Brent Mydland, they kick it off with two songs from “Go To Heaven” that are stronger than the album versions. As if they just programmed them to get the required new cuts out of the way, Garcia surprises by taking immediate control on the guitar. Even as they weave in and out of the fan favorites, traditionals, and a mega “Drums > Space > The Other One,” they still prove they have more surprises in them here than they will in the live “Reckoning” set they handed Clive Davis on their way out of Arista.
IRON BUTTERFLY - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida [CLEAR LP](Atlantic/ Rhino) • The first Platinum album (it remains the only source for the 18-minute title cut) in Atlantic history emerged from principal songwriter Ron Ingle drinking a gallon of wine and slurring out “In The Garden of Eden” over a minute-and-a-half long deep Blues jam segment. After consistent use in TV and movies, this is still a Classic Rock song that the changing veils of history cannot shake.
MC5 - Kick Out The Jams [RED LP](Atlantic/Rhino) • MC5 - Back In The USA [CLEAR LP](Atlantic/Rhino) • MC5 - High Time [SPLATTER LP](Atlantic/Rhino) • Can we summarize three of the best records of all time in one paragraph? Outside of the handful of other outlier artists waiting to take an alternate route into the Rock N'Roll Hall of Fame (so long, Jann Wenner) Ann Arbor/Detroit's mighty MC5 richly deserves this honor. While the artistic Velvets made primordial Punk, the MC5 gave Punk its ability to Rock. There is nothing casual about the live album as your opening statement. it is an assertion of dominance. This is the thrilling live show that demolished Cream and left the audience there to see Janis Joplin lead Big Brother & The Holding Company - demand more MC5. For the second album, the Five proved that drugs, controversy, and personnel issues could NOT keep them down. The most trebly/compressed record in your collection crushes it from opening cover to closing cover. They drive anger, angst, teenage frustration, the necessity of release, and even a righteous anti-war song home in under half an hour. Sound problems corrected, personnel problems not, "High Time" is the big farewell. Thankfully Fred "Sonic" Smith took the reins. A year later half the band was doing time for drug possession and Detroit began its collapse. Did I mention they played at the 1968 Lincoln Park concert during the tumultuous DNC while rocks were being thrown and all the other bands hid on the bus?
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS - Thank You [SKY BLUE LP](Atlantic/ Rhino) • Hailing from the hometown of Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, the similarities to Seattle bands were built into any model of an early Nineties band. Branded “Grunge imitators” after their first Metalloid hits, in 1994 STP were voted Rolling Stone’s Best New Band and Worst New Band. Thirty years later, it seems wise how Scott Weiland reprogrammed his gruff rumble into the presence of a powerful lead singer even as he tragically fell apart behind the scenes. As for the band, the little additions still stand out like Dean DeLeo’s double-tracked out-of-phase guitar chords on “Wicked Garden” or the blinding hot trebly solo in “Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart,” or Robert DeLeo’s wise bass lines taking the place of rhythm guitar parts (he powers their best song ever, “Interstate Love Song.”) However, to their credit, they learned early on to push that dreaded “Grunge” button and then left-turn into a soaring Glam Rock chorus (“Big Empty.”)
TALKING HEADS - Little Creatures [BLUE LP](Sire/Rhino) • TALKING HEADS - True Stories [RED LP](Sire/Rhino) • TALKING HEADS - Naked [PURPLE LP](Sire/Rhino) • Success did not spoil Talking Heads. The Eighties belonged to Byrne, Harrison, Weymouth, and Frantz. All of the promise of the earlier records morphed into World/Funk/Pop on "Remain In Light" and "Speaking In Tongues." As video grew in importance, so did Talking Heads. 1984's "Stop Making Sense" was a massive critical success because it changed the way viewers saw the dreaded "concert film." By 1985, Talking Heads were Popstars. So "Little Creatures" dives into Americana ("And She Was") and moody Pop ("The Lady Don't Mind.") It even manages to position itself as a message album with the still-applicable "Road To Nowhere." What it did not know it signaled was the end of their Avant Garde/artistic period. So, David Byrne re-ascended to the visionary post and saw "True Stories" as a set of original Talking Heads songs to be interwoven into the movie he was directing. It was a bold experiment but the film versions and the album versions were different, and the whole package failed to generate much heat. As bands do, they returned to democracy and the music that made them famous on "Naked." The effect here was the same as in "True Stories," with more stars (Johnny Marr, Kirsty MacColl) detracting from the classic sound they were looking for. While "Naked" is not without its brilliant moments ("Blind,""(Nothing) But Flowers," and the chilling tension of "Cool Water,") it felt like even Byrne, Harrison, Weymouth, and Frantz knew it would never be another "Remain In Light." Shortly after the release of "Naked," Talking Heads were on hiatus. Three years later, they announced they "disbanded" and a lengthy period of acrimony began - that may have ended or cooled this year.
