Circus Maximus (U.S. band)
Encyclopedia
Circus Maximus was a United States
band in the late 1960s, who combined influences from folk music
, rock
, and jazz
into a form of psychedelic rock
.
. Bruno's song "Wind", from their eponymous first album, became a minor hit in the United States, particularly through airplay on "progressive" FM radio stations
. This track was also a great favorite on Dick Summer's seminal "Night Light" program on WBZ-AM in Boston.
In late December 1967, they performed in an unusual pair of "Electric Christmas" concerts together with the New York Pro Musica
, an ensemble devoted to performing early music
. The 80-minute performance in New York City
(rehearsed in the nightclub Electric Circus
where Circus Maximus were in residence much of that month, but performed at Carnegie Hall
) included a light show by Anthony Martin and electronic music
by Morton Subotnick
; the groups performed both together and separately. The material performed together included a reworking of 14th-century composer Guillaume de Machaut
's "La douce dame jolie" as an English-language song "Sweet Lovely Lady" and a Bruno original "Chess Game" that, unbeknownst to Bruno himself but noted by John White, director of the Pro Musica, strongly echoed the "Romanesca", a piece first written down in 16th-century Spanish lute
books.
The concert was not a critical success. Donal Henahan, writing in the New York Times, said that it "fell somewhat short of being the total-environmental trip that was promised… the night summed up most of the esthetic ideas now in the air: incongruity, simultaneity, games theory, the put-on, the parody, the Trip… and the effort to create a 'Total Environment' in which all the senses can come into play." Henahan opined that the concert's commercial success showed a break-down in the separation of classical and popular audiences.
Bruno's interest in jazz apparently diverged from Walker's interest in folk music, and by July 1968, the band had broken up and Walker was appearing at the Bitter End in Greenwich Village
, sharing a bill with Joni Mitchell
. Bassist Gary White went on to write Linda Ronstadt's first solo hit, "Long, Long Time."
Robert Shelton
included the Circus Maximus album Neverland Revisited in a November 1968 list selected to represent "the breadth… of today's rock".
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United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
band in the late 1960s, who combined influences from folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
into a form of psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
.
History
The band, originally called the Lost Sea Dreamers (Vanguard Records insisted on a name change, as the initials "LSD" were considered too linked to the drug culture), was formed in 1967 by Bob Bruno and Jerry Jeff WalkerJerry Jeff Walker
Jerry Jeff Walker is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is probably most famous for writing the song "Mr. Bojangles.-Biography:...
. Bruno's song "Wind", from their eponymous first album, became a minor hit in the United States, particularly through airplay on "progressive" FM radio stations
Progressive rock (radio format)
Progressive rock is a radio station programming format that prospered in the late 1960s and 1970s, in which the disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always what is played...
. This track was also a great favorite on Dick Summer's seminal "Night Light" program on WBZ-AM in Boston.
In late December 1967, they performed in an unusual pair of "Electric Christmas" concerts together with the New York Pro Musica
New York Pro Musica
New York Pro Musica was a vocal and instrumental ensemble that specialized in Medieval and Renaissance early music. It was co-founded in 1952, under the name Pro Musica Antiqua, by Noah Greenberg, a choral director, and Bernard Krainis, a recorder player who studied with Erich Katz.The ensemble is...
, an ensemble devoted to performing early music
Early music
Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
. The 80-minute performance in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(rehearsed in the nightclub Electric Circus
Electric Circus
Electric Circus, aka EC, was a Canadian live dance music television program aired on MuchMusic and Citytv. It aired from September 16, 1988 until December 12, 2003....
where Circus Maximus were in residence much of that month, but performed at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
) included a light show by Anthony Martin and electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
by Morton Subotnick
Morton Subotnick
Morton Subotnick is an American composer of electronic music, best known for his Silver Apples of the Moon, the first electronic work commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch...
; the groups performed both together and separately. The material performed together included a reworking of 14th-century composer Guillaume de Machaut
Guillaume de Machaut
Guillaume de Machaut was a Medieval French poet and composer. He is one of the earliest composers on whom significant biographical information is available....
's "La douce dame jolie" as an English-language song "Sweet Lovely Lady" and a Bruno original "Chess Game" that, unbeknownst to Bruno himself but noted by John White, director of the Pro Musica, strongly echoed the "Romanesca", a piece first written down in 16th-century Spanish lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
books.
The concert was not a critical success. Donal Henahan, writing in the New York Times, said that it "fell somewhat short of being the total-environmental trip that was promised… the night summed up most of the esthetic ideas now in the air: incongruity, simultaneity, games theory, the put-on, the parody, the Trip… and the effort to create a 'Total Environment' in which all the senses can come into play." Henahan opined that the concert's commercial success showed a break-down in the separation of classical and popular audiences.
Bruno's interest in jazz apparently diverged from Walker's interest in folk music, and by July 1968, the band had broken up and Walker was appearing at the Bitter End in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, sharing a bill with Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
. Bassist Gary White went on to write Linda Ronstadt's first solo hit, "Long, Long Time."
Robert Shelton
Robert Shelton
Robert Shelton was a music and film critic.Shelton's most enduring claim to fame was that he helped launch the career of a then unknown 20-year-old folk singer named Bob Dylan...
included the Circus Maximus album Neverland Revisited in a November 1968 list selected to represent "the breadth… of today's rock".
Members
- Jerry Jeff WalkerJerry Jeff WalkerJerry Jeff Walker is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is probably most famous for writing the song "Mr. Bojangles.-Biography:...
, rhythm guitar and vocal (credited on first album as "Jerry Walker") - Bob Bruno, lead guitar, organ, piano, vocal
- David Scherstrom, drums
- Gary White, bass
- Peter Troutner, vocal and tambourine; also some guitar work
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Albums
- Circus Maximus, Circus Maximus, VanguardVanguard RecordsVanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
VRS-9260 (mono) and VSD-79260 (stereo) (1967)- Travelin' Around (Bob Bruno)
- Lost Sea Shanty (Jerry Jeff Walker)
- Oops, I Can Dance (Jerry Jeff Walker)
- You Know I've Got The Rest Of My Life To Go (Bob Bruno)
- Bright Light Lover (Bob Bruno)
- Chess Game (Bob Bruno)
- People's Game (Jerry Jeff Walker)
- Time Waits (Bob Bruno)
- Fading Lady (Jerry Jeff Walker)
- Short-Haired Fathers (Bob Bruno)
- Wind (Bob Bruno)
- Circus Maximus, Neverland Revisited, Vanguard VSD-79274 (1968)
- Hello Baby (Bob Bruno)
- How's Your Sky, Straight Guy Spy (Bob Bruno)
- Come Outside, Believe In It (Jerry Jeff Walker)
- Parallel (Bob Bruno)
- Trying To Live Right (Jerry Jeff Walker)
- Lonely Man (Bob Bruno)
- Mixtures (Jerry Jeff Walker)
- Negative Dreamer Girl (Jerry Jeff Walker)
- Neverland (Bob Bruno)
- Neverland Revisited (Bob Bruno)
- Hansel and Gretel (Jerry Jeff Walker)
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