THE BEGINNING:

Less Than 500 Words? No Freakin’ way.

Of course I have to pick the “lean and mean” month of February to attempt a review on the most complex and difficult to explain album that I have ever heard.
Randy Newman’s Faust? A Breeze.
Alan Parson’s Project and their Tales Of Mystery And Imagination, Edgar Allan Poe? A cakewalk next to this one.

I have been drawn to thematic albums most of my life. The Wall, Sergeant Peppers’, Jesus Christ Superstar… all brilliant pieces that need to be listened to from start to finish. In fact my biggest complaint on today’s music is that artists (for the most part) come out with one or two signature songs on an album and the rest seem to be throw aways.
No wonder LimeWire is as popular as it is.
It seems that the days of the theme album are dead. It’s a shame, they were pretty cool and listening to them was an event.
And none caught my imagination as much as The Hunting Of The Snark.

For those of you who are aware of the Lewis Carroll poem The Hunting of The Snark… wow… I applaud you. Go grab a beer and take five while I try to explain my way through the basics.

For those who don’t, don’t feel bad. It’s not very well known.

THE BASICS:

They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;
They pursued it with forks and hope;
They threatened its life with a railway-share;
They charmed it with smiles and soap.

In 1876, the good Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodson, who created “Through The Looking Glass”, “Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland” and “Jabberwocky” under the name Lewis Carroll, produced his last great piece of work.
It was entitled “The Hunting Of The Snark”

"The Hunting Of The Snark" is a fanciful poem written with a preface and eight “Fits” or chapters.
Each fit contains 15 to 30 four-line stanzas and dwells on different characters and aspects of the adventure.

The adventure? A group of individuals board a boat and sail off to a distant land in hopes of finding the elusive Snark, a perfect beast that will cure all your problems; a delicious food that has many uses. The group includes The Bellman, his pet Beaver, the mysterious Boots, the Bonnet Maker, the Barrister, the Billiard Marker, the Banker, the Butcher, the Baker and the Broker.
Also, it seems that Hope and Care have stowed away.

We soon learn that there is a substantial element of danger in this quest.
The Baker enlightens his fellow travelers to a conversation he had with his Uncle just prior to coming.

"He remarked to me then," said that mildest of men,
" 'If your Snark be a Snark, that is right:
Fetch it home by all means--you may serve it with greens,
And it's handy for striking a light.’
" 'But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day,
If your Snark be a Boojum! For then
You will softly and suddenly vanish away,
And never be met with again!'

For the last 22 years of Dodson’s life (and ever since his death) people have speculated on the meaning of the Snark Hunt. Is it an analogy for the search for happiness? For true love? For financial success?
If you’re looking for enlightenment from me, you’re barking up the wrong tree. When asked point blank what the poem meant, Dodson’s response was “I honestly don’t know”.
So, you have to take it as it’s given; an epic adventure for a mythical creature, his version of Jason and The Argonauts.
Unfortunately The Snark doesn’t seem to exist. The one character that does find him vanishes in thin air “for the Snark was a Boojum, you see?”

The poem seems to be more a story of ineptitude than anything else.
The Butcher is a mild compassionate soul who can only kill Beavers and the one Beaver on board the ship becomes his life long friend.
The Baker can only bake “Bride Cake” and there aren’t any ingredients for it on the ship. He leaves all is possessions behind despite immaculate preparation.
The Billiard Marker is (of course) of no use what so ever and spends his time “Chalking the tip of his nose”.
The Banker has little to do and whiles away the hours making change for himself before he’s driven completely insane when attacked by a beast called a Bandersnatch.
The Barrister has an involved dream in which he’s in court against the Snark, prosecuting a pig for escaping his sty. He wins the case but finds out it was a complete waste of time when it is announced that carrying out the sentence will be impossible since “the pig had been dead for some years”

And what do you do with a nonsensical poetic quest, the meaning of which has baffled folks for over one hundred years?
Well, if you are Mike Batt, you turn it in to a sweeping musical that draws on a myriad of styles and influences.

This version of Batt’s production was the first he had put together. Recorded in 1984 it was a scaled down, dry run for a much larger piece he would eventually produce. It incorporated less than half the poem and only a dozen songs, but was essential for Batt to gauge the public interest. Interest was there. Eventually Batt’s musical would have 26 songs and be performed in 1991 on the stage of the Prince Edward Theatre in London costing over 2 million pounds to produce.

THE BAND:

An assembly of talent portraying characters most unusual:

The Boots- Mike Batt: Not quite the narrator of the piece but since the musical starts and ends with him, we get the feeling that the story is being reminisced by his character. For those of you who are unaware of Mike Batt, he was a lesser known contemporary of Elton John and wrote songs for many of the individuals who appear on this album.

The Bellman- Cliff Richard: The Captain of the group and the one who attempts to get them back on track, physically and mentally, when they wander off the quest. Richard was kind of a throw away in this role (at least at this early stage of the production) but has a decent enough voice and a comfortable past with Batts.

The Beaver- Deniece Williams: The Bellman’s pet. If you remember her signature song “Let’s Here It For The Boy” you will realize how good a casting job this is. She has a bubbly, high pitched, over the top vibrato that is perfect to portray a cute little furry vermin. Beavers are cute…Deniece is cute… it works.

The Butcher- Art Garfunkel: Casting Garfunkle as The Butcher was one of those decisions that are so smart you start to suspect it was an accident based on his and Batt’s past history. Who better to portray the irony of a pacifistic Butcher than the soothing high voice of Art Garfunkle. Even James Taylor would have been too edgy.

The Baker- Julian Lennon: He performs this well but one feels bad for Julian Lennon. It’s obvious that the first choice of The Baker was his dad. Every other male on the album, Cliff Richards, Roger Daltrey, Art Garfunkle… all late sixties/ early seventies peers to John. But John got shot when Mike was working on the concept of this and piecing together his “Dream Team”. So what do you do? Get a reasonable facsimile. And unfortunately (as cold as this may sound) that’s all Julian ever was, a vocal homage to his father. The true pity of this is that The Hunting Of The Snark would probably have appealed greatly to John’s literary sense as well as his love for the eclectic. Odds are good he would have accepted the part.

The Barrister- Roger Daltrey: Another great call. Daltrey has to do double duty not only as The Barrister but briefly as The Snark as well. He not only has a classically smooth high baritone but a low gruff edge when needed. If you need me to explain who Daltrey is, I’m going to come over there and smack you in the mouth.

The Billiard Marker- Raymond Burns- A.K.A.- Captain Sensible: Who? Former punk rocker with The Damned who turned New Wave. His cheesy 1940’s style singing voice is perfect for the song he’s assigned.

Hope- Maggie Reilly: Hope sings all of 2 lines, however it is important that those lines reflect an innocence and goodness to them. Scottish Maggie Reilly’s voice is pure and clean, almost the antithesis in vibrato to Deniece Williams’.

The Narrators- Sir John Gielgud and John Hurt: Narration of the poem is one aspect of the glue holding the songs together and not only stands alone in certain sections but overlaps various songs from beginning to end. Getting Sir John Gielgud and John Hurt to narrate was a stroke of brilliance. The rich cultured (if not befuddled) voice of Gielgud and the more nasal, scratchy and cunning feel of Hurt is what you would expect to hear if you were reading “The Walrus And The Carpenter” In the spoken word, they play off each other flawlessly.

Throw in a score performed by The London Symphony Orchestra and lead guitar riffs by George Harrison and you have the makings of a serious piece of music.

THE BALLADS:

1) Introduction: An orchestration that draws more on the “songs between the songs” or connectors than it does the highlighted feature tunes. Heavily influenced by Mike Oldfield’s 1973 work Tubular Bells

2) Children Of The Sky- Mike Batt.
Lyrical Offering:
“Don’t let the memory die, children of the sky, heroes of the sea
And as your life passes by remember how it feels to be
children of the sky”
Content and Feel: A call to arms for the beginning of the journey. Upbeat and happy growing in intensity. George Harrison presents his signature guitar style and you hear what will end up becoming The Traveling Wilburys. Song moves in to heavy orchestration, a substantial production that brings to mind a great sea voyage… including the cymbals crashing from the song as if waves on a bow.

3) The Bellman’s Song- Cliff Richard
Lyrical Offering:
I’m of notional persuasion
That I hear it’s distant cries
And they’re never very far away
(No they’re never very far away)
So I rise to remark
That I think we may be gaining on The Snark.
Content and Feel: Starts off as a rip off from Peter and The Wolf. Then Batt digs up the corpses of Gilbert and Sullivan, re-animates them and forces them to write this song… and it’s one of the better ones they have ever done. Someone should get dead composers (or de-composers as I like to call them) to write some more tunes.

4) The Escapade- Deniece Williams, Cliff Richards, Julian Lennon & Art Garfunkle
Lyrical Offering:
I came as the Beaver on this escapade
Though I must say I’m only here for the fun
An optimist on the run
I’m not lost, I’ve only been mislaid
I know one day I’ll find the sun
But now I’m walking in the shade
I’m only The Beaver on this escapade
Content and Feel: Starts off again as a Mike Oldfield tune, moves in to a little Queen, some heavy orchestration, a “Hooked On Classic’s medley driven by a half decent drum kit and then off in to a simple introduction of the characters of Beaver, Baker and Butcher. An interesting approach that Batts takes with this song is changing the style subtly from character to character despite the fact that they are singing the same notes and similar lyrics. The Butcher’s song is gentler than the Baker’s and The Beaver’s is more bubbly and uplifting. Here you discover how perfect the voices are for the parts they play.

5) Midnight Smoke– Julian Lennon
Lyrical Offering:
Sing Rhapsody
To the fickle Gods that guide you
Awake the brave adventurer, that sleeps inside you
Before you vanish away like midnight smoke
So that no signs or memories remain,
You might vanish away like midnight smoke
And never be seen again.
Content and Feel: The slow and dreamy song version of The Baker’s message from his Uncle. A soft flowing ballad with a 15th century canticle feel to it. Julian does well… but you can’t help but picture his father.

6) The Snooker Song- Captain Sensible
Lyrical Offering:
It’s only a game so put up a real good fight
I’m gonna be Snookering you tonight
I’m famed for my aim so you better believe I’m right
I’m gonna be snookering you, snookering you tonight
Content and Feel: The Billiard Marker’s song. Pure whimsy and fluff. Bubble gum pop tune from the 1920’s.You would expect to find this in the middle of a Billy Rose Extravaganza. It is almost impossible to listen to this song with out having twenty male tap dancers (in vests and bowlers) doing a routine across your brain.
Go watch Funny Lady and spend some time on the Ben Vereen tune Clap Hands. It’s almost an identical feel.

7) The Pig Must Die- Roger Daltry
Lyrical Offering:
Let’s teach it a lesson it will never forget
For a devious deed it will live to regret
It’s clear that the pig must die
We’re of the opinion the pig must pay,
We can’t let it live for another day,
We fear that the rules apply,
It’s clear that the pig must die.
Content and Feel: Corpses of Gilbert and Sullivan… meet Queen. Queen, meet the corpses of Gilbert and Sullivan. Now you boys put aside your differences and write a song that might be appropriate to sing in a cathedral. The Barrister’s Pig trial dream put to music

8) The Beaver’s Lesson- Deniece Williams & Art Garfunkle
Lyrical Offering:
Butcher-In the Valley, where the shady people roam
I was walking in the dark
When I realized that I was not alone
Beaver- In the valley, all those miles away from home
I was hunting for the Snark
When I realized that I as not alone
Content and Feel: The Butcher goes deep in to the heart of the Island at night to set a trap for the Snark and discovers that the Beaver is there as well.
They are alarmed by the cry of "The Jubjub” and The Butcher explains how a JubJub is good eats. A simple melody followed by substantial narration which is done (again) in a Peter and The Wolf style.

9) A Delicate Combination- Deniece Williams & Art Garfunkle
Lyrical Offering
Who would have foreseen
friendship between
Female Beaver and Male Caucasian
Content and Feel: A short old English canticle that is used to set up the “Love Ballad” between Beaver and Butcher.

10) As Long As The Moon Can Shine- Deniece Williams & Art Garfunkle
Lyrical Offering
I use to think of love as just a dream that disappears,
But you’ve taught me more tonight than I have learned in all those years
As long as the moon can keep on shining
And the sun keeps hanging in the sky
No one can take what flows between us
No one alive
Content and Feel:… ok.. look… you have to suspend some disbelief here. It’s a love ballad between a Butcher and a Beaver people.
Now a word about the voices of Garfunkle and Williams together. There’s a reason why 3 songs in a row are these two. They compliment each other beautifully. Art’s natural smooth, high-pitched harmonic is a fantastic mesh with Deniece’s baby doll cuteness. It’s a shame that they never did a duet outside of this musical. It’s also a shame that “As Long As The Moon Can Shine” never caught on with mainstream radio. You would have heard it at every wedding.

11) Dancing To Disaster- Deniece Williams
Lyrical Offering:
Forget the risk we are taking
Let it rain, let it hail, let it snow.
We could be wrong all along
But at least if we keep on we soon will know,
Although,
We could be dancing towards disaster.
Content and Feel: A sweeping big band, Lawrence Welk, disco tune. A fast upbeat happy song to counter balance the last three slower songs and to set up the tragedy of the events about to happen. The first time I heard this I thought of the song that use to play when The Muppet Show did their ballroom segment. You can all but picture Denise Williams in a flapper outfit with a wad of chewing gum in the corner of her mouth as she sings this.

12) The Vanishing- Julian Lennon, Mike Batt, Maggie Reilly
Lyrical Offering:
“Don’t let the memory die, children of the sky, heroes of the sea
And as your life passes by remember how it feels to be
children of the sky”
Content and Feel: The musical climax and denouement of Batt’s Rock Opera. Batt pulls quite a bit from the opening Boot’s song and comes full circle. He uses every style represented through out the album and includes some that you haven’t heard yet. There’s a wicked sax solo that strongly reminds you of Clarence Clemmons. The Snark is found but turns out to be a Boojum. The finder evaporates. The adventurers search intensely but find nothing.
You feel them all loose heart and when Maggie Reilly repeats Boot’s initial call to arms it’s a cry for hope, a plea to remember what happened so that the life that was sacrificed won’t be a waste.

Then you close your eyes, and you see the remaining troupe board the ship and leave the island. Lightening peels off in the background as they sail away. The Beaver and Butcher stand on deck in the rain and watch the island disappear.

And it’s OK

THE BOTTOM LINE:

My thoughts? This isn’t going to be for everyone. Not every work of art is, but it would be impossible to listen to this, with even a passing knowledge of the poem, and not admit that it is in fact a work of art.
A stunning, exciting work of art.
From the vocal casting, to the narration, to the song writing, it captures the heart and whimsy of Lewis Carroll’s poem.
It should never have worked and no-one should have ever had the imagination to do it, but Mike Batt did and the result is…well… it’s a Snark.


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Listening