Escalator over the Hill

History

Escalator Over the Hill is more than two hours long and was recorded over three years (1968 to 1971). It was originally released as a triple LP box which also contained a booklet with lyrics, photos and profiles of the musicians. Side six of the original LPs ended in a locked groove, the final track "...And It's Again" continuing infinitely on manual record players. (For the CD reissue, the hum is allowed to play for almost 20 minutes before slowly fading out.)

In 1997, a live version of Escalator Over the Hill, re-orchestrated by Jeff Friedman, was performed for the first time in Cologne, Germany. In 1998, "Escalator" toured Europe. Another live performance took place in May 2006 in Essen, Germany.

The musicians involved in the original recording play in various combinations, covering a wide range of musical genres, from Kurt Weill's theater music, to free jazz, rock and Indian music. Writer Stuart Broomer considers this to be a summing up "much of the creative energy that was loose between 1968 and 1972".

Viva acts as narrator. Jack Bruce also appears on bass and vocals (due to the album's long production, he also appeared on Frank Zappa's album Apostrophe, playing bass on the title track). Among the vocalists is a young (and still relatively unknown) Linda Ronstadt, in addition to Jeanne Lee, Paul Jones, Carla Bley, Don Preston, Sheila Jordan, and Bley's and Mantler's then-4-year-old daughter Karen Mantler.

In 2006, Paul Haines' daughter, Canadian musician Emily Haines, adapted the Escalator Over the Hill cover art for her own first widely distributed album under her own name, Knives Don't Have Your Back.

Reception

Jonathon Cott's Rolling Stone article stated "Like an electric transformer, Escalator Over the Hill synthesizes and draws on an enormous range of musical materials - raga, jazz, rock, ring modulated piano sounds, all brought together through Carla Bley's extraordinary formal sense and ability to unify individual but diverse musical sections by means of the editing of the record medium... The opera is an international musical encounter of the first order."

Track listing

Side one

1. "Hotel Overture"– 13:11

Side two

1. "This Is Here..." – 6:02
2. "Like Animals" – 1:21
3. "Escalator Over the Hill" – 4:57
4. "Stay Awake" – 1:31
5. "Ginger and David" – 1:39
6. "Song to Anything That Moves" – 2:22

Side three

1. "Eoth Theme" – 0:35
2. "Businessmen" – 5:38
3. "Ginger and David Theme" – 0:57
4. "Why" – 2:19
5. "It's Not What You Do" – 0:17
6. "Detective Writer Daughter" – 3:16
7. "Doctor Why" – 1:28
8. "Slow Dance (Transductory Music)" – 1:50
9. "Smalltown Agonist" – 5:24

Side four

1. "End of Head" – 0:38
2. "Over Her Head" – 2:38
3. "Little Pony Soldier" – 4:36
4. "Oh Say Can You Do?" – 1:11
5. "Holiday in Risk" – 3:10
6. "Holiday in Risk Theme" – 0:52

Side five

1. "A.I.R. (All India Radio)" – 3:58
2. "Rawalpindi Blues" – 12:44

Side six

1. "End of Rawalpindi" – 9:40
2. "End of Animals" – 1:26
3. "... And It's Again" – 9:55

"... And It's Again" would later be expanded to a length of 27:17 for CD release, with 17:23 minutes of the humming sound found on the inner groove of the LP.

Personnel

Principal Cast

Jack, Parrot: Jack Bruce

Leader, Mutant, Voice, Desert Women: Carla Bley

Sand Shepherd: Don Cherry

Ginger: Linda Ronstadt

Ginger II: Jeanne Lee

David: Paul Jones

Doctor, Lion: Don Preston

Viva: Viva

Cecil Clark: Tod Papageorge

His Friends: Charlie Haden, Steve Ferguson

Calliope Bill: Bill Leonard

Roomer: Bob Stewart

Ancient Roomer: Karen Mantler

Loudspeaker: Roswell Rudd

Used Woman: Sheila Jordan

Operasinger: Rosalind Hupp

Nurse: Jane Blackstone

Yodelling Ventriloquist: Howard Johnson

Therapist: Timothy Marquand

Dad: Perry Robinson

Phantoms, Multiple Public Members, Hotelpeople, Women, Men, Flies, Bullfrogs, Mindsweepers, Speakers, Blindman:

Musicians (alphabetical)

Gato Barbieri - tenor saxophone

Souren Baronian - clarinet

Karl Berger - vibraphone

Carla Bley - organ, celeste, chimes, calliope, piano

Sam Brown - guitar

Jack Bruce - bass, vocal

John Buckingham - tuba

Sam Burtis - trombone

Bob Carlisle - French horn

Don Cherry - trumpet

Roger Dawson - congas, xylophone

Sharon Freeman - French horn

Charlie Haden - bass

Peggy Imig - clarinet

Jack Jeffers - bass trombone

Leroy Jenkins - violin

Howard Johnson - tuba

Sheila Jordan - vocal

Jimmy Knepper - trombone

Jeanne Lee - vocal

Jimmy Lyons - alto saxophone

Michael Mantler - prepared piano, trumpet, valve trombone

Ron McClure - bass

John McLaughlin - guitar

Bill Morimando - orchestra bells, celeste

Paul Motian - drums, dumbec

Nancy Newton - viola

Don Preston - Moog synthesizer

Enrico Rava - trumpet

Perry Robinson - clarinet

Linda Ronstadt - vocal

Roswell Rudd - trombone

Calo Scott - cello

Michael Snow - trumpet

Chris Woods - baritone saxophone

Richard Youngstein - bass

Musicians (chronotransductional)

Orchestra (& Hotel Lobby Band)

Carla Bley (piano)

Jimmy Lyons (alto saxophone)

Gato Barbieri (tenor saxophone)

Chris Woods (baritone saxophone)

Michael Mantler, Enrico Rava (trumpet)

Roswell Rudd, Sam Burtis, Jimmy Knepper (trombone)

Jack Jeffers (bass trombone)

Bob Carlisle, Sharon Freeman (French horn)

John Buckingham (tuba)

Nancy Newton (viola)

Karl Berger (vibraphone)

Charlie Haden (bass)

Paul Motian (drums)

Roger Dawson (congas)

Bill Morimando (orchestra bells, celeste).

Jack's Traveling Band

Carla Bley (organ)

John McLaughlin (guitar)

Jack Bruce (bass)

Paul Motian (drums)

Desert Band

Carla Bley (organ)

Don Cherry (trumpet)

Souren Baronia (clarinet)

Leroy Jenkins (violin)

Calo Scott (cello)

Sam Brown (guitar)

Ron McClure (bass)

Paul Motian (dumbec)

Original Hotel Amateur Band

Carla Bley (piano)

Michael Snow (trumpet)

Michael Mantler (valve trombone)

Howard Johnson (tuba)

Perry Robinson, Peggy Imig (clarinet)

Nancy Newton (viola)

Richard Youngstein (bass)

Paul Motian (drums)

Phantom Music

Carla Bley (organ, celeste, chimes, calliope)

Michael Mantler (prepared piano)

Don Preston (Moog synthesizer)

Awards

Jazz Album of the Year 1972 by a Melody Maker Readers Poll

French Grand Prix du Disque in 1973