On this day 40 years ago Pink Floyd began working on what would become what many consider to be the band's masterpiece, and what would become one of the bestselling rock albums of all time: Dark Side of The Moon. A Floyd project that fewer people are familiar with is the album that the band meant to do instead of Moon: An album recorded using nothing but household objects. This project, despite the inevitable cult stays that it would attain, probably wouldn't have lived up to the acclaim of the album the band did end up recording. Still, we can't help but appreciate the idea of using non-musical items in a more musical sense. Here are seven songs (if not full albums) that feature some outside instrumentation.
"Vegetables" by The Beach Boys
Smiley Smile, despite featuring one of the greatest pop songs of all time in the form of "Good Vibrations," didn't impress The Beach Boys' fan base as much as it entertains modern appreciators of experimental music. Brian Wilson was almost out of his mind at the time due to drugs and his intense desire for perfection, a combination of effects that led to the cancellation of the original Smile. One of the best tracks on the album that did make it to market was "Vegetables," a song featuring the chewing of the titular food group as a sound effect. That stalk of celery was chewed by the most acclaimed of chewers in music history: Paul McCartney, a longtime admirer of Wilson who had stopped by the studio for a visit.
"Dancing In The Street" by Martha & The Vandellas
"Dancing in The Street," one of the all-time classics to come out of Motown, had transformed from a ballad written by Marvin Gaye to a dance-and-party song performed by Martha & The Vandellas. The problem for fellow songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter was that the drum track, even from a backing band as funky as Gordon records', just wasn't enough to live up to his vision of the song. He had a brilliant idea and it was in the back of his car: Hunter grabbed a crowbar from his vehicle and slammed it on the ground whenever the downbeat came during the recording, resulting in the distinctive percussive effect we hear today.
"Drain You" by Nirvana
Kurt Cobain, for being the face of modern alternative music as we know it, was a fairly conservative songwriter. He loved melodies and he hated all the work that went into improving songs during post recording sessions. Thus all of the overdubs on "Drain You" from the classic Nevermind were somewhat forced upon him by Butch Vig. One unconventional element that did have Cobain's permission to exist: The rubber duck that makes an appearance during the bridge. The bath toy would appear further in Nirvana lore as it makes a visual appearance on the back of the 1992 EP Incesticide.
"Oceans" by Pearl Jam
Another grunge-era band used unique instruments during its recording session although this time around it was a tad more improvised. Pearl Jam was working on Ten, a debut album that would make them millions, but prior to that it wasn't exactly getting Butch Vig to work on its recording sessions. "Oceans," one of the tracks on that album, required shakers and some unique percussion so engineer Tim Palmer used a pepper shaker for one and drumsticks-on-fire-extinguisher for the other. He would later claim that the band wasn't just trying to be weird...it was just too long of a drive to the closest instrument rental shop so they made do.
"In The Cave" by Pepe Deluxé
Most parents would immediately express concern after their child bumped their head on a rock. Leland Sprinkle however noticed that the stalactite in Luray Caverns created an interesting tone and he spent years crafting "The Great Stalacpipe Organ," an electronically powered instrument that creates music by tapping the ancient stones. Somehow the Finnish electronic act Pepe Deluxé got access to the historic instrument and recorded the short "In The Cave." They also included all the sounds of water dripping and other cave noises just to enhance the full effect. Organist Monte Maxwell has also released recordings with the instrument although none of them were original compositions.
"Runnin' With The Devil" by Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen was famous for his tinkering. After all, he put together his iconic "Frankenstein" guitar by taking apart other axes and switching out parts until it sounded the way he wanted it to. So it should be no surprise that he also built a device for touring that featured multiple car horns, was powered by a car battery and operated by a foot switch. The device makes an appearance at the opening of the first Van Halen record when a note unleashed by one of the horns was played backwards to open "Runnin' With The Devil."
"Clara" by Scott Walker
Scott Walker is one of the foremost names in avant garde and art rock so it's no surprise that everyone, from Bat For Lashes to SunnO))) wants to team up with him. The second track on his 2006 album The Drift features nearly 13 minutes of bizarre instrumentals including what sounds like someone beating a human body like it was a conga drum. The good news: It wasn't a human body...it was a big side of pork. Somehow that news only makes us even more uncomfortable when listening to this recording.
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