Sandy Bull
Encyclopedia
Alexander "Sandy" Bull was an American folk musician who was active from the late 1950s until his death.
Born in New York City, he was the only child of Harry A. Bull, an editor in chief of
Town & Country
magazine, and Daphne van Beuren Bayne (1916–2002), a New Jersey banking heiress who became known as a jazz harpist under the name Daphne Hellman. His parents were divorced in 1941, shortly after his birth.
Sandy Bull was a composer and accomplished player of many stringed instruments, including guitar, pedal steel guitar, banjo and oud
. His music blends non-western instruments with the 1960s folk revival. His albums often presented an eclectic repertoire including extended modal improvisations on oud. An arrangement of Carl Orff
's composition Carmina Burana
for 5-string banjo appears on his first album and other musical fusions include his adaptation of Luiz Bonfá
's "Manhã de Carnaval", a lengthy variation on "Memphis Tennessee" by Chuck Berry
, and compositions derived from works of J. S. Bach and Roebuck Staples.
Bull used overdubbing as a way to accompany himself. As documented in the Still Valentine's Day, 1969: Live At the Matrix, San Francisco recording, Sandy Bull's use of tape accompaniment was part of his solo performances in concert as well.
Bull primarily played a finger-picking style of guitar and banjo and his style has been compared to that of John Fahey
and Robbie Basho
of the early Takoma
label in the 1960s. Bull also played the oud on Sam Phillips
' 1991 album, Cruel Inventions
.
Bull later moved to Florida and then Nashville, where he built a recording studio and raised a family. He became close to many prominent Nashville musicians and in the 1990s recorded several records on the Timeless Recording Society label. Bull died of lung cancer
on April 11, 2001, at his home near Nashville, Tennessee
.
By his mother's second marriage to The New Yorker
writer Geoffrey Hellman, Bull had a half-sister, the sitar
player Daisy Paradis, and a half-brother, Digger St. John.
Born in New York City, he was the only child of Harry A. Bull, an editor in chief of
Town & Country
Town & Country (magazine)
Town & Country, formerly the Home Journal and The National Press, is a monthly American lifestyle magazine. It is the oldest continually published general interest magazine in the United States.-Early history:...
magazine, and Daphne van Beuren Bayne (1916–2002), a New Jersey banking heiress who became known as a jazz harpist under the name Daphne Hellman. His parents were divorced in 1941, shortly after his birth.
Sandy Bull was a composer and accomplished player of many stringed instruments, including guitar, pedal steel guitar, banjo and oud
Oud
The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
. His music blends non-western instruments with the 1960s folk revival. His albums often presented an eclectic repertoire including extended modal improvisations on oud. An arrangement of Carl Orff
Carl Orff
Carl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
's composition Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana (Orff)
Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana...
for 5-string banjo appears on his first album and other musical fusions include his adaptation of Luiz Bonfá
Luiz Bonfá
Luiz Floriano Bonfá was a Brazilian guitarist and composer best known for the compositions he penned for the film Black Orpheus.-Biography:...
's "Manhã de Carnaval", a lengthy variation on "Memphis Tennessee" by Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
, and compositions derived from works of J. S. Bach and Roebuck Staples.
Bull used overdubbing as a way to accompany himself. As documented in the Still Valentine's Day, 1969: Live At the Matrix, San Francisco recording, Sandy Bull's use of tape accompaniment was part of his solo performances in concert as well.
Bull primarily played a finger-picking style of guitar and banjo and his style has been compared to that of John Fahey
John Fahey (musician)
John Fahey was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. His style has been greatly influential and has been described as the foundation of American Primitivism, a term borrowed from painting and referring mainly to the...
and Robbie Basho
Robbie Basho
Robbie Basho was an American composer, guitarist and pianist, and one of the pioneers of the acoustic steel string guitar in America.-Biography:...
of the early Takoma
Takoma Records
Takoma Records was a small but influential record label founded by John Fahey in the late 1950s.. It was named after Fahey's hometown, the Washington, D.C. suburb of Takoma Park, Maryland.-History:...
label in the 1960s. Bull also played the oud on Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips (singer)
Leslie Ann Phillips, aka Sam Phillips is an American singer and a songwriter.-Biography:Phillips was born in Glendale, California. She began her musical career as a vocalist in the early 1980s, singing background parts for Christian artists Mark Heard, Randy Stonehill and others...
' 1991 album, Cruel Inventions
Cruel Inventions
Cruel Inventions is the sixth album from American singer-songwriter Sam Phillips.-Track listing:All songs by Sam Phillips.# "Lying" – 3:52# "Go Down" – 3:38# "Cruel Inventions" – 3:00# "Standing Still" – 3:10...
.
Personal life
Sandy Bull struggled with a drug problem for many years which seriously affected his performing. After completing a rehabilitation program in 1974, he began performing again. By this time he had relocated to San Francisco, where he shared living and rehearsal space with folksinger Billy Roberts [the composer of the Jimi Hendrix song, "Hey, Joe"] and on May 2, 1976 he opened a concert by Santana at the Berkeley Community Theater, where he performed using his 4-track recorder for backup instruments.Bull later moved to Florida and then Nashville, where he built a recording studio and raised a family. He became close to many prominent Nashville musicians and in the 1990s recorded several records on the Timeless Recording Society label. Bull died of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
on April 11, 2001, at his home near Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
.
By his mother's second marriage to The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
writer Geoffrey Hellman, Bull had a half-sister, the sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
player Daisy Paradis, and a half-brother, Digger St. John.
Vanguard Records
- Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo (VRS-9119, 1963; with drummer Billy HigginsBilly HigginsBilly Higgins was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, beginning in 1958...
) - Inventions (VSD-79191, 1965; with Billy Higgins)
- E Pluribus Unum (VSD-6513, 1969)
- Demolition Derby (VSD-6578, 1972)
- The Essential Sandy Bull (Vanguard Twofers VSD-59/60, 1974)
- Re-Inventions: Best of the Vanguard Years (79520-2, 1999)
- Vanguard Visionaries (73159-2, 2007)
Other record labels
- Jukebox School of Music (ROM, 1988)
- Vehicles (Timeless Recording Society, 1991)
- Steel Tears (Timeless Recording Society, 1996)
- Still Valentine's Day 1969: Live at the Matrix, San Francisco (Water, 2006)
Sources
- [ Sandy Bull at Allmusic]
- Web-copy of FolkRoots article