ALL things beautiful: orpheus' bruce arnold speaks out

Orpheus' demographically unlimited appeal is demonstrated by popular renderings of their songs by such artists as Hootie and the Blowfish ("Can't Find the Time"), and the band's influence has also extended to performers such as Boston vocalist Brad Delp ("More Than a Feeling.")  Delp, according to Arnold, dreamed of singing with Orpheus.  "We became close friends," Arnold says, "and I was stunned by his permanent solution to an apparently temporary problem."

 

Hardships aside, Arnold's discography provides clear examples of stylistic diversity, as jazz merges with pop hits including Left Banke's "Walk Away, Renee" and The Zombies' "She's Not There."  These tunes share space with the exotica of "The Dream," the novelty song "Borneo," and the nearly indescribable psychedelic tune "Door Knob."

 

Ascending (1969) was stamped by hard rock production techniques while being certified by Playboy Magazine critics as the top jazz album of the year - an oxymoronic honor for a collection marked by heavier landscapes.  "A fellow from Premiere Talent Agency said the agency’s representatives went around to every magazine store in Manhattan claiming to be from Playboy," Arnold shares, continuing, "They told the dealers that there was a mistake on the ballots and new ones would be in the next issue.  They removed thousands of ballots, filled in Orpheus, and Voila!"

 

By the time the band began to display actual jazz influences on Joyful, creative differences were evident and fans were left without Orpheus-related musical product between the release of their final album on MGM, Orpheus 4 (1971), and the appearance of Orpheus Again in 2010.  Regarding Orpheus Again, Arnold states, "I chose only songs that I really liked from our archive of over a hundred unreleased recordings," and the disc's wistful pacing results in a golden glow intensified by the circumstances surrounding the album's recording.  As one of many highlights of a lengthy career, Arnold emphasizes that he was invited by Star Wars director George Lucas to produce Orpheus Again at Skywalker Ranch in "twenty-one sessions over eight weeks."

 

In reflecting on the sessions, Arnold recounts, "I did exactly what I wanted to do because the CD was released on my own label," continuing, "I control the name Orpheus, and, since this CD was going to fit squarely within the Orpheus tradition, it was natural" while pointing out that several "firsts" occur on the album, such as drummer Bernard Purdie's vocal turn in "It's Insane" and Arnold's vocal duet with his son, John, on "Cinnamon."

 

Orpheus' story, like many others, includes first-hand accounts of industry shenanigans, shady agents, and misplaced memories.  Here, however, is a small portion of the surviving recollections of Bruce Arnold - a musician who has shared the stage with legends including Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Cream, and The Who - that have survived the ravages of time.

 

 

MS: How did your musical influences inspire you to become a professional musician?

 

BA: My brother, Lester, was the gatekeeper of what I heard when I was young.  Twenty-two months older than me, he had already sorted out he good from the ugly, and he always had my dad get him the latest turntables.  We got one of those famous RCA 45 RPM record changers that stacked them up, and he played DJ and I was the listener.

 

My father encouraged it all while adding Peggy Lee to my dream girl list and Van Cliburn to my role model list.  My mother loved Pattie Page, The Ames and Mills Brothers, and Frankie Lane.  They both loved all the big bands especially Glenn Miller and the Dorseys. Those bands would come to town in the Forties.

 

Elvis had a big influence on me, but he didn’t write music. Composers like Gene Vincent and Buddy Holly were great pop song crafters and singers.  But Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lieber and Stoller, and Lennon and McCartney made me try to write pop songs.  I had no formal training, but have always appreciated all music.  I always loved Glenn Miller and, later, Henry Mancini.  Ultimately, I searched for all the beautiful music in the world and found Satie, Faure, Von Williams, Gershwin, Copeland and Barber. This is what I listen to regularly today.

 

DeBussy is amazing.  I wish I lived in Paris during the turn-of-the-century "Banquet Years," as Faure, Ravel, and Satie all lived there at that time.

 

MS: What music was popular at the time that you started playing?

 

BA:  "Mr. Lee" (The Bobbettes), "Party Doll" (Buddy Knox), "Love is Strange" (Mickey and Sylvia), "Little Darling" (The Diamonds), "At the Hop" (Danny and the Juniors), "Everyday" (Buddy Holly), "Cathy’s Clown" (Everly Brothers), "Splish, Splash" (Bobby Darin), and everything Elvis.  There were basically two music stations in Worcester - WORC and WNEB.  Later WAAB came along.  WORC broke many records nationally, and, later, Lester became a DJ on the station - which helped generate a huge audience for Orpheus.  At night, you'd pull it in from Maine to the Carolinas.

 

After the Beatles, radio grew stale as bubblegum and crossover country fought for attention with B. J. Thomas emerging as the best of the bunch.  I met him when I was very young and hanging around at Joe Aboudi’s El Morocco in Worcester.

 

Folk music also made a big impression on me, as I placed importance upon those exemplary guitar parts and modal tunings.  As the Villagers, [Orpheus guitarist] Jack McKennes and I befriended many of the giants.  I have never left that world, spiritually, and much appreciate those who keep it pure - even while adding new musical elements.  Childhood friend Walter Crockett is an excellent example.  His guitar piece “Mary Jane," written when he was 20, rates highly.

 

MS: I read that you're a car enthusiast, and that you once owned a Volkswagen Beetle loaded with a Porsche engine and transmission.

 

BA: That was a hell of a car, but all it could beat in a straight line was a stock Beetle.  It could out-corner a Corvette on twisty back roads, though.  Things changed when I put Corvair power in my VW bus.  Now that was fast.

 

I have had a nice collection of classic cars throughout the years, including two 1963 Studebaker Avanti R2's. I restored a 1961 Lincoln Continental convertible and a 1968 Mercedes SLC, which became my personal cars.  We rebuilt several Corvairs and other Studebakers.  Well-designed cars are my obsession.  I currently have the new Prius and have found it to be flawless.  My personal driver today is a fully restored 1987 Suzuki Samurai. Not fast, but very durable.

 

In high school, I was interested in automotive design and planned to attend the Los Angeles Art Center School, a college that placed new designers in the industry. But shortly afterwards, I was offered the MGM contract and my creative focus turned to music.

 

MS: Where did the name "Orpheus" come from?

 

BA: We had just finished a day of auditions in New York and were winding our way back home with many proposals to consider.  Suddenly, we realized that we still hadn’t chosen a name, and, instead of having the record labels force one on us, we passed a big theatre neon marquee reading “Orpheum” and wondered aloud if "Orpheus" would be better.  We had to fight MGM about it, but we won.  Our first real gig, at a New York City club, was rough, because, first and foremost, the drumming needed to improve.

 

MS: Your debut album is notable for its orchestrations.  How were they created?

 

BA:  [Orpheus producer] Alan Lorber and I hit it off immediately, and quickly began to build the orchestrations together.  We sat at the piano, he copied my chords precisely, and, in one case, informed me that the third chord I was playing in "Can't Find the Time" was not just a B minor, but a B minor 11th with a double flatted third.  Alan's support was just what I needed, and by the fourth album, he even offered to let us have a new producer but I thought all we needed was to take the orchestrations back a bit.

 

I didn’t listen to criticism, and I loved using a 10 or 15 piece orchestra.  Good lord, who would say no to having the moonlighting New York Philharmonic do their music?  I had full access to every recording session.  Alan asked that I do it clandestinely, however, so we would not have the whole band breathing down our necks.  And I approved everything before it was presented to MGM.  By then, I didn’t need a new producer. I had learned to do it myself.  Alan has not been a saint with respects to paying royalties, though.

 

MS: Alan Lorber is generally cited as the creator of the "Boston (or Bosstown) Sound."  Music journalists have covered this short-lived phenomenon for decades, but, in your own words, describe the Boston music scene of the era.

 

BA: Initially, Alan wasn't expecting a group like Orpheus to emerge amidst what, basically, was just another "hippie rock" promotion and record launch.  We moved it in a different direction, and we thought tying the groups together was unwise.  There was no "Boston Rock Scene" that I was aware of.  There was certainly a scene after MGM had its way, but it appears that I missed out on that one, also.  Musically, there were no “genres” when we started.  We were not exactly like the Association, Beach Boys, or Beatles, and executives would ask, "is that jazz?"  Instead, it was a new American music even though I, unquestionably, loved Motown, Smokey Robinson, and the Righteous Brothers, and we were still somewhat in tune with Elvis.

 

MS: Did the band indulge in the "rock and roll lifestyle" at all?

 

BA: I drove home after every concert, so I do not know about the partying.  I do know, however, that we spent a lot of MGM’s money -  which turned out to be our money, of course - living in the penthouse suite at the New York Park Sheraton Hotel for weeks at a time.  That, I enjoyed, but I was disturbed that great artists were trying every kind of drug with no apparent concern for the consequences.  For some, there is no line between use and abuse.

 

MS: Why, in your opinion, is "Can't Find the Time" your most enduring composition?

 

BA: With over a million sold, nearly that much airplay, and, perhaps, because "ba da da da da" can be sung in any language, it appeals to people, internationally.  Some have pointed to different verses as their favorite, but the lyric most commented on is, “I look at your pretty face and I fall in love with you every time I see you" - a sentiment that every lover wants to hear.  The most confusion, though, is over the line “Baby you’re wrong."  I have heard “Baby, your eyes," “Baby, your love,” and even “Maybe you're wrong."  The lyric arose because my then-girlfriend complained that I did not communicate my fondness for her enough. Hence, the hyperbole.

 

Despite MGM's incompetence, we had the number one song in many areas with it.  As a result, Lorber could not fill all the performance requests, and there were no videos to send around yet, so, the night a fake "Orpheus" performed in San Francisco, [second incarnation of Orpheus member] Elliot Sherman called and asked them if they were the real band - to which they, unbelievably, affirmed.  We later did the first-ever rock video although both the fakes and the video were embarrasing and stupid.

 

Orpheus Again's arrangement remains unchanged even though the ambiance and key are different.  I love how Howie Hersh and Brad Delp sing so delicately on it.

 

MS: Was the original Orpheus tight-knit, or tension-filled?

 

BA: I developed close musical partners who are still with me, but it was in spite of Orpheus, rather than because of it.  Ultimately, the MGM Orpheus was not a prevailing part of my life, as that whole experience lasted less than three years.

 

MS: Since your music was so different than the music of the era's rock giants, how were the band's performances received?

 

BA: We never toured outside the United States, but when we opened for Blood, Sweat, and Tears, I saw Al Kooper gesturing animatedly to his management.  Turns out he was saying he didn’t want to follow us after we got such a huge reaction from the crowd.  He wouldn’t allow us to open for them anymore.  Members of The Who were very friendly, though, and took us with them on their Magic Bus.

 

MS: What songs did Orpheus perform live, and how did cover songs enter the band's repertoire?  Also, describe the typical Orpheus fan.

 

BA: The live band did not try to do “The Dream” or “Mine’s Yours,” but we played songs from all four albums such as "Big Green Pearl."  We had both male and female young adult fans that were, perhaps, a bit more mature.  They actually listened to us and preferred sit-down concerts.  Many claimed their parents enjoyed the recordings also.

 

Members often brought songs they liked to the band, like Jack did with “She’s Not There."  I brought “Walk Away, Renee," but both "By the Size of My Shoes” and “Brown Arms in Houston” were written for us.  “Me About You” was brought to us by Alan.  We also did “Don’t Be Cruel,” and I was working up arrangements for “Stay,” “One, Two, Three," “Need You,” and “Hey, Baby."  I had "Are You Ready” and “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” before I came to California.

 

MS: How did the band become involved with the Marlowe [1968 film starring James Garner] soundtrack, and did it enhance the band's reputation or sales?

 

BA: The soundtrack came and went without affecting anything.  It was brought to us by Alan pre-recorded.  I did not like the song and chose not to sing the lead.  I don’t know who the musicians were.  We did not play on it at all.

 

MS: Your second album, Ascending, was a critical success.  What are your thoughts regarding it today?

 

BA: I was not happy with it because it was sped up on purpose.  Everything is too fast, and, consequently, a half-tone high, and the mix is both thin and flawed by strange bouncing stereo echo effects.  At the time, no one considered the headphone implications.

 

[Legendary session drummer Bernard] Purdie had to come back and fix things in the studio, as his genius was sorely missing.  He was the Sixties' equivalent of a drum machine; producers always knew what they were getting without fail.  Erik [Gullicksen], however, adapted very quickly and played bass on everything except the first album, which was an especially bitter pill for him as Joe Macho, Jr., who had done many sessions for Lorber as part of Purdie's percussion team, played exact replicas of Erik's bass parts.  Finally, Alan told me to do what I had to do to make the band work, and, basically, it required replacing them.

 

MS: In what ways did working with Bernard "Pretty" Purdie stamp your music?

 

BA: I knew nothing about drumming until I met him.  He is a magic man with a unique style specifically developed for Orpheus, as he invented the "fatback" fills and galloping shuffles he uses in my songs because he says, “they need it.”  My musical partner, Tiger Okoshi, recently mentioned that a bar in "Love Bite" is in 11/8.  Ah, what an extra paradiddle can do!

 

When paying by the hour, one cannot afford to be holding classes, and you always know when you have met your soul mates.  It is a life-long relationship that never fades, and Purdie stays with me whenever he is in the Bay Area.  I learned that he had always wanted to be the drummer in Orpheus, but preferred not to "rock the boat."

 

MS: Why did the breakup of Orpheus occur?

 

BA: We were mismatched musically and in personality, and it wasn't fun anymore.  Capitol Records contacted me by telegram just as we were changing forms and flew me to New York, where I met the label president.  He took the first Orpheus album out of his desk drawer and said, "We want to make this the biggest record in the world.  Would you consider leaving MGM and coming here?”  We talked for several days by phone, but, unfortunately, newly-hired MGM President Mike Curb self-righteously decided to dump Orpheus due to a new "zero-tolerance drug policy" as a result of the lyric from the song "I've Never Seen Love Like This" that reads, “We turned on to a rainy day." The track was actually about getting turned on to a rainy day, cannibas optional., but after a front page Billboard story about it, Capitol disassociated themselves from us with a final telegram simply stating, "All negotiation cancelled."

 

I actually did not immediately care about the article because I was negotiating with Capitol at the time.  There was no changing Curb's mind, though.  He hypocritically kept the Animals on the label with the goal of restructuring MGM into a smaller company - the proof being continued releases of our "I've Never Seen Love Like This" single.

 

MS: Describe Orpheus' final gig.

 

BA: The second Orpheus incarnation did not perform much, live, but the original band's final gig was rough because we had been dealing with recently emerging chronic unreliability - news of which was making its way back to Curb.  I did not want to have to bear the wrath of another promoter because band members could not show up on time.  Two Foot Lamb Door, the group designed by [childhood friend and Orpheus 4 guitarist] Steve Martin to expose an audience to one of our typical nightly musical experiments, assumed the Orpheus persona to clear up the last few contracted gigs.  There was consternation in the Catskills when we didn’t sing "Can't Find the Time," though.

 

There is also a great tape of this band doing the fourth album songs at University of Massachusetts.  We are remastering and archiving all that rare material, and all former members of Orpheus keep in touch on Facebook.

 

MS: Describe your friendship with Indian music master Ali Akbar Khan.

 

BA: Khan sahib was not a philosopher or a saint, but he was the greatest stringed-instrumentalist in the world.  Indeed, he only wished that we soak up his music and not his lifestyle.  I did not study sarod, although I absorbed much of what I heard as his guest and applied it to my guitar style. He was primarily a good friend, and he loved my song, “The Dream."  I was invited to meet him while I was still living in Barre, Massachusetts, and, later, I arranged for the State of California to make Khan sahib's eightieth birthday "Ali Akbar Khan Day."

 

MS: Tell readers about your wife, Judy.  Does she enjoy the music of Orpheus?

 

BA: I met Judy thirty-seven years ago when she was an aid to a Marin County Supervisor, and now, she holds the county supervisor's position.  We kept our community spirit alive and well working with community groups on pressing issues, and when she decided to run for office, it seemed totally in keeping with her wishes.  So, off we went, winning against powerful opposition.  A county supervisor is like a mayor to unincorporated areas of the county that don’t have a city government.

 

She loves country music, but clearly cannot resist songs written about her.  Through listening to her Sirius/XM channels, I have come to love George Jones, Loretta Lynn and Waylon Jennings, among others.

 

MS: You have been linked to philanthropy.  Explain.

 

BA: Judy and I are confirmed Episcopalians, we appreciate the old English heritage of the Anglican tradition, and we organized a religious foundation to start a school, provide child care and low income housing in our small town.  We were social activists changing the fate of the poor and frail in the community, but we changed our focus to politics in the Nineties. In the public realm, you can do the same thing on a much larger scale.  We were very lucky, and wanted to give something back to our community that did not waste our lives on vainglorious pursuits.  I was given everything I needed, and I received it not by my labor but by my surrender.

 

MS: How are the majority of your days in the Twenty-First Century spent?

 

BA: I kept up an artistic interest in cars expressed by assembling a large collection of museum-quality 1/43 scale replicas of American car brands. To fill some gaps in the collection, I created a few of my own prototypes, and in 1998, Cadillac Motor Division saw some of my one-off miniature Cadillacs and requested that I design the patterns for a pair of 1/43 scale model cars to celebrate their hundredth anniversary.  Copies of the models were made in England and were offered through their website and catalog in a world wide promotion in 2000 - thus beginning my lengthy association with Cadillac.  I have since created a range of models sold under my name and, later that year, I toured the West Coast with Hootie and the Blowfish.  Darius and I traded verses on "Can't Find the Time," which was great fun.

 

I am currently working on a CD of more new material and also a vintage one.  I do most of my performing in the studio except for the rare occasion, though, and, in general, I prefer to practice my craft unobserved.

 

MS: Describe your approach to songwriting.

 

BA: Most of my own songs come out of my guitar or piano.  That is to say, I will discover a new chord twist, often coming from a mistake I made in some other song.  I just play it repeatedly until I have a chord progression I like.  Then, I work out a melody suggested by the chords.  Sometimes, it takes me a year to finish a song, but sometimes it comes all at once in whole cloth.  I always have several new tunes running around my brain.  For years, I considered the first album version of "Never in My Life" as my best composition, but, then, I wrote "Playground" from Orpheus Again.

 

Many songs are suggested by observation of the human condition - a neverending source of wonder as expressed in Proverbs 30: 18-19: "There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four of which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid."