{"id":11750,"date":"2016-11-15T05:30:44","date_gmt":"2016-11-15T10:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=11750"},"modified":"2016-11-15T07:51:19","modified_gmt":"2016-11-15T12:51:19","slug":"a-belated-hello-to-farewell-aldebaran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/15\/a-belated-hello-to-farewell-aldebaran\/","title":{"rendered":"A Belated Hello to “Farewell Aldebaran”"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1969 a husband-and-wife duo made a record that sounded little like anything either had done previously. Judy Henske<\/strong> was a critically-acclaimed folk singer with an impressive range; after performing and cutting records with folk groups, she released four solo albums between 1963 and 1966. Producer Jack Nitzsche<\/strong> called Henske \u201cQueen of the Beatniks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jerry Yester<\/strong> began his recording career in 1960 as a member of the New Christy Minstrels<\/strong>, went on to the Modern Folk Quartet<\/strong>, and earned notoriety as a producer for The Association<\/strong>, The Turtles<\/strong>, Tom Waits<\/strong> and Tim Buckley<\/strong>. He joined The Lovin’ Spoonful<\/strong> just in time to see that group break up.<\/p>\n

\"farewell_aldebaran_lp\"<\/p>\n

With Farewell Aldebaran<\/i>, Henske and Yester sought to follow their inspiration where it took them. That journey yielded one of the most unusual and compelling albums of its era. Originally released on Frank Zappa<\/strong>‘s Bizarre\/Straight label, Farewell Aldebaran<\/i> was listlessly promoted (if at all), sold poorly, and sank quickly into obscurity. Despite its growing cult reputation, the album has been out of print since the very early 1970s.<\/p>\n

Some needle-drop pirated reissues of the album have been making the rounds, but now in 2016 Omnivore Recordings is releasing an authorized version of Farewell Aldebaran<\/i> on LP and CD. The new release was sourced from the original two-track master tapes, and the CD version features bonus outtake tracks from the album sessions, five instrumental demos that illustrate Farewell Aldebaran<\/em>‘s rich and deeply textured arrangement and production.<\/p>\n

Though they divorced around 1972, Henske and Yester are both enthusiastically involved in the reissue, and were happy to discuss the album and its history.<\/p>\n

Bill Kopp: How exactly did you end up on Straight\/Bizarre Records?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Judy Henske:<\/b> Frank Zappa’s manager was Herb Cohen<\/strong>. He was my manager and Jerry’s manager. I had been an Elektra artist before that.<\/p>\n

Jerry Yester:<\/b> Herbie was the co-owner of Straight\/Bizarre along with Frank.<\/p>\n

Bill: Was Farewell Aldebaran<\/i> a one-record deal?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Judy:<\/b> Nobody even thought of things like that, I don’t think. It wasn’t like, \u201cOh, I’ll go to this person’s office and see what he says.\u201d Everybody was just going around together all the time.<\/p>\n

Jerry:<\/b> We didn’t really sign a long-term contract; it was just that Herbie was the source of release for our stuff. We didn’t have any other offers. But when Frank heard Farewell Aldebaran<\/i>, he said that he liked it very much. And that wasn’t easy to get out of him! But we both had a good relationship with Frank. Rosebud<\/i> [the self-titled 1971 album made by Henske and Yester’s next \u2013 and for many years their last \u2013 project together] came out on the label, too.<\/p>\n

Judy:<\/b> What was really neat about it was that nobody said, \u201cOkay, go out there and make some money!\u201d<\/p>\n

Bill: Speaking of money, original copies of the album \u2013 if you can even find one \u2013 are quite expensive. What’s your understanding as to why Farewell Aldebaran<\/i> has been unavailable for so long?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Judy:<\/b> [laughs] The reason it’s been unavailable is that nobody wanted it!<\/p>\n

Jerry:<\/b> [Straight\/Bizarre’s distributor] Warner Brothers stopped pressing it. For a long time, you could find it for either 10\u00a2 or $150. But it did well in Europe; a lot better than Herbie told us.<\/p>\n

\"farewell_aldebaran_bw\"<\/p>\n

Judy:<\/b> You know what I think really<\/i> happened? Didn’t Alice Cooper<\/strong>‘s first album [Pretties for You<\/i>] come out right after it? [Actually, four weeks prior. But close.] I think Herbie put everything behind Alice Cooper. I didn’t ever think that Alice Cooper was as interesting \u2013 musically or lyrically \u2013 as Farewell Aldebaran<\/i>. But Herbie liked that \u201cnyah-nyah-na-nyah-nyah\u201d kind of stuff. So that one got all the attention, while ours died on the vine.<\/p>\n

Bill: So how did this reissue finally come about?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Judy:<\/b> If it hadn’t been for Richie Unterberger<\/strong>‘s piece in that book [1998’s Unknown Legends of Rock ‘n’ Roll<\/i>], I don’t know if anything would have ever<\/i> happened. But [Omnivore Recordings co-founder] Cheryl Pawelski<\/strong> was a fan of the record. As the years went by, I got to know Cheryl. And she always wanted to do something with it. It’s wonderful how circumstances come together like that; it’s one of those things that is meant to be. Maybe it’s now<\/i> that this record should be out, and not 1969.<\/p>\n

Jerry:<\/b> The first time I met Cheryl, she was with Rhino. She wanted to release Farewell Aldebaran<\/i> there, but I don’t think she was getting a lot of cooperation. So when she started her own company, she did. And I’m very glad she did.<\/p>\n

Bill: There aren’t really many hints in your previous material that suggested you’d ever make an album like <\/b>Farewell Aldebaran<\/b><\/i>. Jerry did produce Tim Buckley’s out-there music; that’s about the only thing that comes to mind.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Jerry:<\/b> If there’s a similarity between Farewell Aldebaran<\/i> and Goodbye and Hello<\/i>, it’s not in the material. Maybe it’s in the production techniques that I used when I produced Tim. There was kind of a similar feeling with both albums, that there just weren’t any rules. That was my whole approach to making albums: just go with your gut on everything. I always thought that was the best way to go, but the record companies often didn’t agree.<\/p>\n