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Tao of Music

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Welcome to the Tao of Music. This section of our Tao has been somewhat difficult to create--as the subject of Music is so vast-we didn't know where to start. Since we are Flower Children-Bards and Troubadors seemed to be a good place to start. The 60s era was a fertile ground for troubadors and bards-such as Bob Dylan, Donovan, Gordon Lightfoot, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, David Crosby-Stiils and Nash, Buffy St.Marie and so on- and now in the 90's and 2,000's-the Celtic Bardic Traditions have come alive through the vast interest in Celtic lore, Paganism and the Goddess movements. Such artists as Lorenna McKennitt, Clannad, Kate Price, Enya, just to name a few.

We intend to take this Tao into many traditions-slowly -and also create new sections in our Music Stores to accomodate these genres we love- and have derived spiritual inpiration from through the years--to assist us in our rituals, meditations, festivals and love-making. So please journey through-we will be adding books and some music to embrace this Tao. Thankyou for visiting--please check back often.

Merry Meet

LionHeart & SunInMoon

Under Arizona Skies & The Blue Dome

Music: A Sound Of Its Time

By Leon Crosby

Music has often been slated for either encouraging or making light of controversial issues, either political, religious, personal (such as drugs and sexual freedoms) or otherwise.
All the arts have in fact been blamed for inciting dissident thought, which is why over the centuries they have been suppressed in one way or another. But it was in the 1960's when music become the main "culprit" of the establishments attack on alternative culture.

Of course this has always really being about what the music represented, which during the 60's was freedom of thought, body and soul, something which was highly alien to most people, who came from a very orderly and mundane life, and indeed wanted to keep it that way, so they viewed the music and the people who listened to it as a threat. But the question of course is, why the music was made, and why it was listened to?

Music is the sound of its time, during the 60's the adult generation grew up during WW2, and their parents had most likely lived through WW1. In between these two massive conflicts had been various other civil wars around the globe, most notably the Spanish civil war. The first half of the 20th century had been a bloody and confused 50 years, and its children wanted no part of it.

So during the late 1940’s and 1950's society tried to cleanse itself of its history, old buildings where destroyed and replaced by new clean lines. The children the mothers had when their men had come home from war, would become the generation of the 60’s, but in 1946 they where babies asleep in their cots. The music of the 50's, while unconventional in sound, was still rather conservative in a lyrical sense. Everyone was wholesome, the guys went out with the gals and everyone lived happily ever after in their new world of pastel colours and pretty flowerbeds.

But trouble was brewing with the start of the cold war, people started to even fear that humanity would come to an abrupt end, ironically by the same means the last great conflict was ended, the nuclear bomb. But for the time being, everyone tried to get on with the general façade of happy times.
The 60’s started with a near miss. In 1962 Russia deployed a missile base in Cuba. The Americans almost bust a gut and humanity was nearly plunged into a second dark age. Fortunately it blew over and everything was ok.

Then in 1963, JFK was assassinated. The adults of the 1950’s where shocked, there perfect world could come crashing down. Their children, now anywhere between 14 and 20 looked at the society they where living in, the threat of annihilation, the idea they might be sent off to war, but to defend what? At the time America, and to a lesser degree Europe, where rife with religious, racial, economic and sexual inequality. This wasn’t the kind of world they wanted to die for. They wanted to change things, and that started to show, almost immediately, in the music.
The youth had new ideas, idea’s that had of course been dreamed of before, but only now did it seem possible that maybe, just maybe they could actually be put into practice. Also, unlike their parents they looked at the past to gain knowledge and insight for the future, but still to make something new, just not to do it blindly.

Probably the two most controversial issues associated with the youth of the 60’s were drugs, and their search for spirituality outside of christianity. The two aren’t entirely separate things either. Organised dogmatic christianity had suppressed drug use. But the religions and beliefs of other cultures didn’t necessarily do so, if it was in pursuit of some higher plane of thought or enlightenment.
All this came out through music, and because music was such an obvious channel for the emerging counter culture, it came under attack as been a corrupting influence on the youth of the day. What they failed to see was it wasn’t the music that was corrupting the youth, but the youth who where changing the music.

The 60’s was a time of massive political and social change. On the negative side, the cold war got colder, the Vietnam War reared its ugly head, and mass media upped its campaign to pulp people’s minds. All these things where a consequence of big business or big politics. People at the top of the food chain making decisions for the people further down the chain.
On a more positive note, the rights of women, racial minorities, and people living in poverty where starting to be addressed. These things came about due to mass protests, a fresh perspective of the youth and a general contempt for the mess the powers that be where making of world affairs.
Music reflected all these changes, and highlighted the troubles of the 60’s, in turn helping its youth to make some sense of it, or at least to show a light at the end of the tunnel. It incorporated styles and sounds that hadn’t been used before, at least not in western music, which again shows the influence of other cultures and past times.

By the end of the 60’s and the early 70’s things had begun to change again. The world was becoming more cynical, some of the 60’s generation had become adults, and had run out of hope. Three figureheads of 60’s music died one after another, and the world their generation had envisioned hadn’t come about. This wasn’t really through no fault of their own; the world wasn’t ready then. The older generation, the people who where in power where still seeking the 50’s dream of utopia. But perhaps there is still a hope.

The 80’s were a bleak period of consumerism, big business, the yuppie, and keyboard synthesiser music. Lennon was dead. Everything was blue, in more ways that one, and things felt as if they where on a sliding slope, going down. Then the USSR and the communist threat came to a sudden end. Everything seemed a lot brighter for the 90’s. In fact it was a period of calm, nothing major happened at all in fact, quite boring really.
Then 2001, again, at the beginning of a new decade (and this time a new millennium) something big changed things forever.

9/11 as it has become known woke people up from their apathy. The youth looks back and see’s a time when people had hope for the future, in a bleak world such as ours, hope and belief in humanity are important, just as they where in the 60’s with the threat of the cold war, our threat is international terrorism. So perhaps, in the next few years, the children of the 90’s will get up and try and change the world once again, I think it can already be seen, at least the seed of a great idea is starting to grow.

So has the music started to change to reflect this? I think so, just has The Doors, Jimi Hendrix and others reflected the 60’s, the Sex Pistols reflected the cynicism of the 70’s and 80’s, and Nirvana reflected a youth bored with apathy in the 90’s, music is starting to move away from the mellowness of the last decade, and inject a little life, and maybe, just maybe, the world, its youth, and even this time its adults, can take a fresh perspective of the world we live in, and in 10 years time who knows what the music will reflect.

- Leon-

If you would like to comment on this article or write Leon

Click on the Hendrix Poster Below and also visit his website!

Bards and the Bardic Tradition

The three chief endeavours of a bard: to learn and collect knowledge;
to teach; to make peace and put an end to all injury. To act
contrary to these things is not usual or fitting to a bard.

How can these bardic tasks become part of our own spiritual
path today? How can they be integrated into our culture? Every
society needs knowledge that informs and is appropriate for its
members: it does not want to hear about bygone lore. This means
that every would-be bard should indeed research to the very roots of
knowledge the thing that she wishes to convey, but she must also seek
out the relevance and practical wisdom of that topic.

The ancient bards could inspire, encourage, enchant their
listeners. The modern bard must learn the old art of oral
performance rather than of written exposition. These skills may be
learned from our spiritual allies, who are the true teachers of the
bardic knowledge, as well as from situations in which the solution to
difficulty is imparted by spontaneous, synaptic inspiration: where
knowledge, problem and answer line up.
This leads to the making of peace andthe cessation of injury --
skills that we need very badly in our own time.

The bardic performance can bring the end to hostility, especially if music is
part of the picture. In the presence of music, all people are
brought into harmony and understanding as its universal language
speaks to the soul. We may bring an end to injury and offence
through the offices of a modern bard in times not so far distant from our own.

Taken from the book 'The Celtic Spirit - 'Daily Meditations for theTurning Year' by Caitlin Matthews

Bardic History

Bards are found in Celtic cultures (Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Manx and Brittany) and a rough equivalent can be found in Norse culture, too, where they were known as "scops."
There is no real equivalent to the Celtic Bard in Anglo-Saxon England, however.
In Ireland and Scotland, the use of the word "Bard" apparently fell into some disrepute, as the records we have show that the Bard was simply a minor poet, while the "filidh" (seer) or the "ollave" (master poet) occupied the former status and functions of the Bard.

In Wales, the Bard was not so lucky. There, the traditions ossified, and the Bards, after the advent of Christianity, became Court Poets, known as "Gogynfeirdd," or "Prydydd," limited in subject matter and form, and with rigidly structured rules.
The word that corresponds with the Irish "filidh," in Welsh, would be "derwydd," (oak-seer) the word from which "druid" is derived.
The "hedge-Bards" were the ones that carried on the real traditions of the Bard. These are the people that gave us the "Cad Goddeu" and the "Hanes Taliesin," and who -may- have passed the "Matter of Britain" on to the French troubadors and trouveres, thus giving us Arthur and Camelot.
The word "Bard," in Wales, denoted a master-poet.

In Ireland it meant a poet who was not an Ollave, one who had not taken all the formal training. Apparently even the lower-status Irish Bard was on a level with the Welsh Bard in knowledge and poetic education, however, and these were what I have termed "hedge-bards," above.
In the Celtic cultures, the Bard/Filidh/Ollave was inviolate. He could travel anywhere, say anything, and perform when and where he pleased. The reason for this was, of course, that he was the bearer of news and the carrier of messages, and, if he was harmed, then nobody found out what was happening over the next hill. In addition, he carried the Custom of the country as memorized verses...he could be consulted in cases of Customary (Common) Law. He was, therefore, quite a valuble repository of cultural information, news, and entertainment.

Bards were part of the Druidic hierarchy, though this may or may not (depending on who you talk to!) be period for the SCA.
A true Bard must know the following: music (and the playing of a period instrument, preferably Harp), poetry (original, and other people's), song (original and other people's), the History, Law and Custom of his/her Kingdom and of the SCA, as much knowledge of mundane medieval history, Law, and custom as they can possibly learn, and at least a very basic knowledge of linguistics and alphabet/cyphers. Some training in Folklore, and in the arts of Sociology and Semantics would help, too. A reasonable amount of heraldic knowledge would not be out of place, either.

Bards do -not- just sing songs! They recite, and write poetry, stories, tell myths, but the operative word here is that they -speak-.

Just playing music does not entitle you to be called a Bard.

Some Bards are "titled," that is, someone, be it another Bard, or whoever, or sometimes (very seldom) the Bard himself, has given them a bardic "name" or "title," that serves to identify them. Thusly, I am known as "y bardd Gwyn," "Bard Ban," or "the Whyte Bard." Another was known as "Derwydd Prydain," while even another has no title at all, and does not want one. Be wary of taking such a title yourself. Allow the giving of such to happen on its own, and do NOT take it from a King of any kind, unless you wish to be the "King's Bard" in the Welsh sense of the word.

Each individual Bard will have certain perogatives that they have developed over the years. For example, they tend to interrupt a Coronation court, or other Courts, at any time with a poem, or a song, relating to the event. Other Bards will have other perogatives. Don't try to set yourself up with these; let them happen naturally.
A Bard should remain as neutral as possible in matters of politics, though the expressing of his/her opinion -in verse- about such things is quite acceptable, and is traditionally "non-challengeable," but maybe answered -in verse,- and ONLY in verse.

The other classes of period musical entertainers include Minstrels, Troubadors, Trouveres, Jongleurs....and, believe it or not, Heralds!

(Joe Bethancourt-Phoenix Arizona (SCA)

TEXTBOOK EXAMPLES OF THE GENRES
1950's pop music
the "popular vocalist" type such as often recorded in Los Angeles for Capitol Records, Frank Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole, Peggy Lee, Jo Stafford, The Four Freshmen, Patti Page, Bobby Darin, Tony Bennett
Rhythm'n'Blues, Rockabilly
"Race" music (which eventually became soul music)
Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Roy Orbison, Sam Cooke, The Coasters, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, Billy Haley & The Comets, The Everly Brothers, Rickie Nelson, Little Richard, LaVern Baker.
1960's early pop music
the behind-the-scenes people who wrote and produced songs, especially for the NY groups (and who eventually in many cases became the sensitive singer/songwriters of the 1970's), Gerry Goffin & Carole King, Neil Sedaka, Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich, Neil Diamond, Burt Bacharach & Hal David, Quincy Jones, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman.
New York Doo Wop and girl groups
The Skyliners, The Tokens, The Shirelles, The Chiffons, The Shangri- Las, The Duprees, Dion & The Belmonts, Little Eva, The Four Seasons.
R&B, Soul
Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, The Isley Brothers, Jackie Wilson, The Impressions, Inez Foxx, Wilson Pickett, The Drifters, Ike & Tina Turner, Percy Sledge, James Brown, Ray Charles, Booker T. & The MG's, Ben E. King, Otis Redding.
California Studio Wizards and Surf Groups
Beach Boys/Brian Wilson, Jan & Dean, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Phil Spector, Dick Dale & The Deltones, The Surfaris, The Ventures, The Fantastic Baggys (Phil Sloan &Steve Barri), Terry Melcher, Gary Usher, Curt Boettcher, Gary Zekley.
Detroit Motown (Berry Gordy, Jr., founder and producer)
The Supremes Marvin Gaye, The Temptations Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops Mary Wells, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Holland, Dozier & Holland (producers & songwriters).
The British Invasion:
in their own category
The Beatles
the mop-tops
Chad & Jeremy, Peter & Gordon, Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas, Gerry & The Pacemakers.
mods and rockers
Dave Clark Five, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Spencer Davis Group, The Hollies, The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Kinks, The Small Faces, electric blues, Derek & The Dominoes, Cream, The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin.
the phonies and wanna-be's, and other heavily-influenced's
The Standells, The Monkees, The Buckinghams, The Searchers, Tommy James & The Shondells, The Turtles, The Beau Brummells.
Electric Folk
The Byrds, The Lovin' Spoonful, Donovan, The Band, The Mamas & Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, Creedence Clearwater Revival.
White Blues, Blue-eyed Soul
Janis Joplin, Mitch Ryder, Three Dog Night, The Animals.
Mainstream Protest Songs
War (What Is It Good For), Eve of Destruction, Think, Who'll Stop The Rain, Cloud Nine, Abraham Martin & John, Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology), What's Going On, Living For The City, Love Child, Have You Ever Seen The Rain, Ball of Confusion, Fortunate Son, In The Ghetto.

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We Will be Moving This Drumming Tribute to 'Baba Olatunji' to our Music Stores Soon with Links.

As Our Tao of Music Evolves!

-In Memoriam -
Michael Babatunde "Baba" Olatunji
Our friend, brother and spiritual leader left this plain for another,
Sunday, April 6, 2003, 7:30 am, at the age of 75.
Babatunde Olatunji was a virtuoso of West African percussion. His 1959 album "Drums of Passion" was a worldwide smash hit. He received a Grammy Award in 1991 for his collaboration with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart on their Planet Drum album. He was also the founder of the Voices of Africa foundation.
"The Creator wants us to drum. He wants us to corrupt the world with drum, dance and chants. After all, we have already corrupted the world with power and greed.... which hasn't gotten us anywhere - now's the time to corrupt the world with drum, dance and chants."
Babatunde Olatunji

DRUMMING MUSIC
"The evocative power of the drum can be compared to the Trinity;

the drum's frame comes from the trunk of a tree, and that tree has a spirit.

It is not dead wood. There is also spirit in the animal skin; if there weren’t, it would not produce sound.

Those, plus the spirit of the person playing become an irresistible force."

Babatunde Olatunji

From Left To Right!

(CLICK TO VIEW AND PURCHASE)

Drums of Passion [EXTRA TRACKS] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]
Babatunde Olatunji

Drums of Passion: The Beat
The World (Rykodisc/Mickey Hart Series), Babatunde Olatunji

Drums of Passion: The Invocation by Babatunde Olatunji.

Healing Session
Babatunde Olatunji

Love Drum Talk
Babatunde Olatunji

Planet Drum
The World (Rykodisc/Mickey Hart Series), Mickey Hart

Spirit into Sound
Mickey Hart

Supralingua
The World (Rykodisc/Mickey Hart Series), Mickey Hart

Air Mail Music: African Drums
Madou Djembe

Vol. 1-African Percussions
Djembe

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Bards and the Bardic Tradition

Taken from the book 'The Celtic Spirit - 'Daily Meditations for theTurning Year' by Caitlin Matthews

Bardic History

Bards do -not- just sing songs! They recite, and write poetry, stories, tell myths, but the operative word here is that they -speak-.

Just playing music does not entitle you to be called a Bard.

The other classes of period musical entertainers include Minstrels, Troubadors, Trouveres, Jongleurs....and, believe it or not, Heralds!

(Joe Bethancourt-Phoenix Arizona (SCA)

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