I’ve heard and own a good bit and have championed it for a long time. If you want some “good” outsider music then check out Bobb Trimble.
I own and enjoy a handful of Jandek records and I’ve seen him live a few times. Once he started playing live, though, I think it became clearer that he’s not as much an outsider as originally thought. He (or people associated with him) seem pretty aware of the avant-garde/improvisational world
This is on one of the Songs In The Key Of Z comps…the book is required reading for this stuff. Incredibly Strange Music Volumes 1 & 2 as well.
The story is a bit more tragic, at least to the extent that the following New Yorker story is true. They were a group of sisters whose father pushed them into forming a band and performing. By all accounts the father was abusive and wanted them to become famous because of his own ego. The girls had no natural musical talent or interest in the music they were playing. To that extent, it isn’t really outsider music. It’s not a group of untrained artists creating art free from the constraints of tradition and dogma. It’s child abuse recorded. Meet the Shaggs
That tale is definitely sordid and horrible, but I'm not sure it has any impact on them being outsider artists. When you say "it’s not a group of untrained artists creating art free from the constraints of tradition and dogma. It’s child abuse recorded," I think it's clearly both of those. The Jacksons were famously bullied and abused by their father all throughout the years they were performing as the Jackson 5; they may have had more legitimate interest in making music, but in the end it boils down to the same thing, doesn't it? They were just far more musically educated and talented than the Shaggs. And we'd never say that their music somehow doesn't count just because they were basically forced to make it.
There’s a couple docs about him and at least one has a part where he’s at Kinko’s typing and printing out lyrics. Could be the same Kinko’s!
100% agree with this. I love the 'idea' of outsider art and it's fascinating to hear music that seems to be created without any preconceptions of what music 'should' be. However, it's fair to say that the majority (truthfully probably 99.9%) of what I've heard is awful. Often the story behind the music is what makes it fascinating to hear rather than the music itself. Having said that, I don't mind 'Lo-Fi' recordings which often go hand-in-hand with the 'Outsider music' tag (but is not limited to).
I thought about the Jackson 5 as I was writing this. There are some obvious similarities in the story, especially the abusive father at the center. The vast difference in talent between the two groups isn’t really the point though. The Jacksons loved music (Joe included), and that comes through in the writing and performance. Many of the members continued writing and performing even after their father’s influenced diminished. The Shaggs quit playing the day their father died and they are on record saying their own music is terrible. They seem to have created music purely as a means to avoid their father’s abuse, not out of any love for the form. Not trying to diminish them in any way, but at least to me, that back story is all I can hear when listening to the Shaggs record.
Yes, although I understand they were amateurs who knew they weren't skilled and were just having fun. So a bit different from the other "outsiders" who often didn't seem to know how strange their music was.
One genre that is sometimes classified as Outsider Music is the Song Poem...recordings made by professional recording companies (for a fee) from amateur "songwriters" who submit lyrics. The most famous song poem singer is Rodd Keith, who made hundreds of these types of recordings. Example-"Little Rug Bug":
All right! "Whooped" does sound better. "I'm Sorry That I Got Fat" is another of his intriguing song titles.
Do the Godz (favorite of Lester Bangs) count? Or are they just awful? (or, if it's your cup of tea, "superlative"? ) Make sure to keep listening until the track where they imitate cats.
