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ALSO ON THIS PAGE: John Clay & the Lost Austin Band • Zoo Pilots • GRACK! Essay • Radio Interview

Live On-Location Recordings

For these spontaneous audio experiments, binaural microphones are positioned at ear level to capture ambient sound as realistically as possible. Headphones STRONGLY RECOMMENDED for maximum effect!

“Christmas at Taos Pueblo,” 12-26-2004, Taos Pueblo, Taos, NM: 15 minutes of gunfire, singing, and matachines dancers. There’s nothing like it in the world. NOTE: unlike when this was produced, audio/video recording at this event is currently forbidden. mp3, 13.7MB

“Up in the Valle Vidal,” 10-10-2004, Valle Vidal unit of the Carson National Forest, northern Taos County, NM: almost six minutes of spontaneous commentary from a trip into the wilderness. mp3, 5.34MB

“Coyotes,” 8-30-2004, Llano Quemado (Taos), NM: a quick 30 seconds of yips from my back door. mp3, 456KB

“Thunderstorm,” 4-14-2004, Llano Quemado (Taos), NM: About 3 minutes, 30 seconds of strange echos. mp3, 4.6MB

“Vaca Visit,” 4-13-2004, Llano Quemado (Taos), NM: I go see my new neighbors. 6 minutes, 30 seconds. mp3, 7.2MB

John Clay & the Lost Austin Band

Where to start? If you know who John Clay is or hung out at UT Austin during the ’60s & ’70s (and had your ears open), these live recordings will speak for themselves. (The Lost Austin Band deserves its own page here, if I ever get around to it.) Recordings and a helluva lot more by Leo Sullivan. Truly amazing stuff. (All songs written & sung by John Clay, accompanied by Gary Smith, Johnny Moyer, Doug Tabony, and John H. Farr.)

“Road to Mingus,” perhaps the best known of several signature songs, this one is about the perils of cold beer, fast cars, and “a reckless, speeding train.” mp3, 3.44MB

“Harley Hog,” an early and distinctly Austin signature song. Significantly weird and free. mp3, 7.3MB

“Don’t Look Now,” one of the first ecological protest songs: “Every place you ever knew or loved, it will all be gone someday…” Written when Austin was a quarter the size it is today. Dig it! mp3, 6MB

“All Our Weed is Gone,” an ironic lament that rises to the level of an authentic cultural document. San Franciscans and Austinites, take note. mp3, 4.28MB

“Do We Still Belong in this Land,” beneath the irony, a spiritual warrior’s struggle for the soul of the earth. mp3, 4.28MB

“It Helps to Pass the Time,” INCOMPLETE (so far). Missing the rousing opening line, “Another needle in his last good vein…” but still a great downer. mp3, 3.08MB

“West Texas,” captures what it was like out where the wind blows back in the ’50s. An amazing sociological statement in song that brings it all home. mp3, 10MB

“One Last Trip Down to the Border,” a true story of treachery in dope smuggling and love. The chorus is a classic wail of irony and despair. mp3, 8 MB

“Forties Song,” compelling emotional depth. An evocative cultural history with underlying sadness and bite. mp3, 6.6MB

Zoo Pilot Music

Mostly minimalist studio demos (with John H. Farr, John D’Aquino, Dale Trusheim) submitted under various names: the Zoo Pilots, Johnny & the Zoo Pilots, even Bothoflu & the Zoo Pilots. Also live recordings from a Zoo Pilots rock & roll show at Washington College in Chestertown, MD, USA in the early ’80s: band members were John H. Farr, Kate Bennet, Dale Trusheim, John Hansen, and Mike McBride. (All songs written & sung by John H. Farr.)

“Anthrax Boogie” mp3, 1.42MB
“Bering Strait” mp3, 1.63MB
“Butternut Street” mp3, 1.28 MB
“El Salvador mp3, 2.37MB
“John-John mp3, 3.24MB (live)
“Piss Test” mp3, 2.26MB (experimental)
“Sixties Song” mp3, 2.22MB (live)
“2011” mp3, 2.01MB

GRACK! AUDIO

Only one GRACK! essay from the series of online columns is available in this format at the present time. Recorded experimentally in Taos, NM in the dead of winter, complete with folksy introduction.

“Tunnel,” originally published 3-15-04. mp3, 7.4MB

KTAO-FM Interview

From an appearance on the “Spotlight on New Mexico” program on Jan. 4, 2004. John H. Farr reads two GRACK! columns. The 30-minute segment is posted at MyMac.com.

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