Farewell Aldebaran

Infobox Album
Name = Farewell Aldebaran
Type = Album
Artist = Judy Henske and Jerry Yester


Background = lightsteelblue
Released = 1969
Recorded =
Genre = psychedelic rock, folk rock
Length = 34:33
Label = Straight Records STS-1052
Producers = Jerry Yester, Zal Yanovsky
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kznyxd0bjoly link]

Farewell Aldebaran by Judy Henske and Jerry Yester is an album of folk rock and psychedelic songs issued in 1969.

Henske and Yester met while both were working in the West Coast folk scene in the early 1960s, Henske as an uncategorizable solo singer recording folk, blues, jazz and comedy, and Yester as a member of the Modern Folk Quartet. They married in 1963. A few years later, Henske's career was faltering as a result of ill-advised forays into the cabaret market, while Yester had produced albums by Tim Buckley and The Association, and had also replaced Zal Yanovsky in The Lovin' Spoonful.

The pair, with their new-born daughter, moved to Los Angeles in 1968. Henske shared a manager, Herb Cohen, with Frank Zappa, and it was Zappa who suggested to her that she should put to music some of the verse she was writing. Yester, at this point, was working with Yanovsky on the latter's first solo album, and experimenting wildly with new electronic and other sound effects. The trio combined to put together "Farewell Aldebaran", drawing on a varied selection of their musician friends, and it was issued on Zappa and Cohen's new Straight label.

The album contains a wild mixture of late 1960s styles, as though recorded by ten different bands, but all featuring Henske's almost gothic lyrics and remarkable vocal range. The opener, "Snowblind", is a Janis Joplin style belter which was issued as a single, but is immediately followed by "Horses on a Stick", almost a parody of "sunshine pop". Next is the quasi-classical "Lullaby", and then a melodramatic hymn with strong anti-clerical lyrics, "St. Nicholas Hall". From here, the album picks up even higher in quality. "Three Ravens" is a sublime slice of baroque pop; "Raider" has been described as an acid sea shanty; "Rapture" is a folk-rock waltz; and the upbeat "Charity" is possibly the best track of all. Finally, the title track is the most overtly "psychedelic" track on the album, featuring electronically treated vocals and Bernie Krause's Moog synthesizer.

Although the album got some good reviews, it failed to sell, purchasers possibly driven away by its sheer eclecticism. Henske and Yester went on to form a more conventional band, Rosebud, before they went their separate ways at the start of the 1970s.

The album was finally reissued on CD by Radioactive Records [http://www.radioactiverecords.com/] in 2005.

Album cover

The album cover is a solarised negative photograph of Henske, Yester, their daughter and cat posed in a garden; the back cover is a color positive of the same picture. The photograph was taken by Ed Caraeff.

Track listing

All lyrics by Judy Henske, music by Jerry Yester; except where indicated

# "Snowblind" (Henske, Yester, Zal Yanovsky) - 3:07
# "Horses on a Stick" - 2:10
# "Lullaby" - 2:55
# "St. Nicholas Hall" - 3:35
# "Three Ravens" - 3:30
# "Raider" - 5:12
# "Mrs. Connor" - 2:17
# "Rapture" - 4:09
# "Charity" - 3:17
# "Farewell Aldebaran" - 4:21

Credits [http://www.tctv.ne.jp/m-site/jerryyester/JHJY6901.html]

*Larry Beckett - drums (track 1)
*Ry Cooder - mandolin ? (6? - "credited in Unterberger's book but not by Yester")
*John Forsha - 12 string guitar (2,5,9)
*Toxie French - drums (6,7,10)
*Judy Henske - vocals
*Eddie Hoh - drums (2,9)
*Bernie Krause - Moog synthesizer programming (10)
*David Lindley - bowed banjo (6)
*"David's friend" (Solomon Feldthouse ?) - hammer dulcimer (6)
*Joe Osborn - bass (2,9)
*Dick Rossmini - guitar (2,9)
*Jerry Scheff - bass (6)
*Zal Yanovsky - bass (1,10), guitar (1,10)
*Jerry Yester - vocals, guitar (1,2,8,10), piano (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10), harmonium (2), toy zither (3), Marxophone (3), Chamberlain Tape Organ (4), orchestra (5,10), organ (7,8), banjo (8), bass (10), Moog synthesizer (10)

*Produced by Yester/Yanovsky for Hairshirt Productions
*Recorded at Sunwest Studios - Hollywood
*Recorded and Mixed by Gary Brandt - except Farewell Aldebaran: mixed by John Boylan

*Executive Producer: Herb Cohen
*Cover Photo by Ed Caraeff
*Special Effects: by Litholab
*Album design by John Williams

External links

* [http://4dw.net/jerryyester/home.html Jerry Yester official website]
* [http://www.judyhenske.com/ Judy Henske official website]

Other source

*Richie Unterberger - Unknown Legends of Rock'n'Roll (1998)