Garnet (January) 2:26
Amethyst (February) 2:00
Bloodstone (March) 2:19
Diamond (April) 2:35
Emerald (May) 2:25
Moonstone (June) 2:12
Ruby (July) 2:33
Sardonyx (August) 1:59
Sapphire (September) 2:22
Opal (October) 2:43
Topaz (November) 2:00
Turquoise (December) 2:21
Contributing his magic vibes, marimba and percussion talents to a multitude of artists ranging from Charles Mingus to Frank Sinatra, Emil Richards also performed as part of The Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra on Frank Zappa’s “Lumpy Gravy” as well as contributing exquisite mallet work to the pair of instrumentals on The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds.” In the course of his professional career, he would contribute musically to a staggering 1,700 film soundtracks, help Harry Partch relocate to Los Angeles and between 1963 and 1964: become involved in a short-lived project called Aesthetic Harmony Assemblage (or AHA) comprised of himself, Paul Beaver and future Mothers Of Invention synthesist, Don Preston. They staged live mixed media performances that included a presentation where junked wood hanging on conveyor chains revolved around a nude dancer painted black and white as they performed. In what was probably one of the earliest occurrences of improvised freak-out music in L.A., Beaver played various keyboards, Richards maintained a variety of percussion devices while Don Preston operated his self-made instruments constructed from junkyard materials such as porch swings, springs, bumpers and gongs. Unfortunately, there is only scant documentation and no recordings extant of what in all probability was a brilliant ensemble.
After AHA split, Richards continued with a series of stints performing in various groups while recording many other studio sessions. By 1967, he signed to UNI Records and recorded a solo album called “New Time Element” comprised of instrumental versions of popular hits and themes such as “Georgy Girl,” “Happy Together,” and “Take Five.” Swiftly renaming his studio entourage the Emil Richards New Sound Element with the near-identical lineup of Dave Mackay (piano), Bill Plummer (bass), Mike Craden (percussion), Joe Porcaro (drums) and Paul Beaver (Moog synthesizer, clavinet), Richards (on all mallet instruments plus synthesizer) created the stunning album, “Stones.” A preeminent statement of wild experimentalism, “Stones” bears much in common with “Psychedelic Percussion” except it had more psychedelia, even more percussion and a far scaled down degree of drum kit use. The twelve tracks were also named not only for the months of the year but with their corresponding birthstones, they never ran any longer than three minutes while at all times they held down a density twice their length as they showcased a wide variety of emotional tones and colours. “Emerald (May)” starts off with lounge‑y vibes until soon spirited off into a world of quiet and mesmerising percussive twinklings and odd moods crossing into Beaver’s careening Moog accompaniments. Frequencies shift like waves of Moebius strips floating away in warm breezes until approaching a clearing in an exotic jungle of previously unheard and expertly wielded percussives. Skipping over to “Ruby (July)” comes the unambiguous highlight of the album as Beaver and Richards turn out a tour de force of combined marimba, mallet and Moog mischief with demented balloon gas giddiness. Over a tightly upbeat drum pattern, bells and innumerable gong crashes repeatedly smash then part for Beaver’s exquisitely pitch-controlled, pitch-bent and just-horribly-bent Moog scrawl to shriek in darting irrigation of call and response to the marimba Mama of Emil Richards. Highly clipped e‑clavinet counterpoint then emerges in and out to eventually part for a Moog solo postscript that sounds as if it were recorded under conditions of severest duress as it contorts with varieties of rhythm and pitch. The entire track is wholly ill and fascinating as hell. Passing over to the far side of summer, “Sapphire (September)” is an equal work of high wire artistry. Commencing with the same struck bells that that bring to mind those that herald The Deep’s “Color Dreams,” it gradually builds into extravagantly complex circular layers of burrowing rhythms and tones that struggle to the surface all at once with xylophone, vibraphone, every other kind of phone; you name it. Meanwhile, Beaver’s Moog placements just sally forth with all the spry confidence of a concert pianist running through “Chopsticks” while the belfry keeps clanging and ringing throughout the ever-amassing chaos that surrounds it. Next up on the calendar of events is “Opal (October)” which is located somewhere on the same continent as “The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny” by The Mothers Of Invention minus all the varispeed sniggering plus dissonance cut with a professional improvisational flair. Clipped stylophonic tones and sparse piano clusters operate as percussion and…Hey, hey: what’s that sound? Oh, no…A wobble board! Great name. Man, that’s what it’s called?!! The Yardbirds used one on “Hot House of Omagarashid,” Keith Moon shook one on “Postcard” and I never knew what it was called but whatever it was, it approximated the sound of shaking a long handsaw by the handle and just letting it…wobble. Anyway, after a pronounced duration, the clatter fest falls away to expose Beaver holding the Moog to clipped, high tones that swerve in pitch until finally setting off on a trajectory of increasingly high timbre only to catapult into a shooting star descent. One final gong hit quickly draws the track into silence. Whew.
Contributing his magic vibes, marimba and percussion talents to a multitude of artists ranging from Charles Mingus to Frank Sinatra, Emil Richards also performed as part of The Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra on Frank Zappa’s “Lumpy Gravy” as well as contributing exquisite mallet work to the pair of instrumentals on The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds.” In the course of his professional career, he would contribute musically to a staggering 1,700 film soundtracks, help Harry Partch relocate to Los Angeles and between 1963 and 1964: become involved in a short-lived project called Aesthetic Harmony Assemblage (or AHA) comprised of himself, Paul Beaver and future Mothers Of Invention synthesist, Don Preston. They staged live mixed media performances that included a presentation where junked wood hanging on conveyor chains revolved around a nude dancer painted black and white as they performed. In what was probably one of the earliest occurrences of improvised freak-out music in L.A., Beaver played various keyboards, Richards maintained a variety of percussion devices while Don Preston operated his self-made instruments constructed from junkyard materials such as porch swings, springs, bumpers and gongs. Unfortunately, there is only scant documentation and no recordings extant of what in all probability was a brilliant ensemble.
After AHA split, Richards continued with a series of stints performing in various groups while recording many other studio sessions. By 1967, he signed to UNI Records and recorded a solo album called “New Time Element” comprised of instrumental versions of popular hits and themes such as “Georgy Girl,” “Happy Together,” and “Take Five.” Swiftly renaming his studio entourage the Emil Richards New Sound Element with the near-identical lineup of Dave Mackay (piano), Bill Plummer (bass), Mike Craden (percussion), Joe Porcaro (drums) and Paul Beaver (Moog synthesizer, clavinet), Richards (on all mallet instruments plus synthesizer) created the stunning album, “Stones.” A preeminent statement of wild experimentalism, “Stones” bears much in common with “Psychedelic Percussion” except it had more psychedelia, even more percussion and a far scaled down degree of drum kit use. The twelve tracks were also named not only for the months of the year but with their corresponding birthstones, they never ran any longer than three minutes while at all times they held down a density twice their length as they showcased a wide variety of emotional tones and colours. “Emerald (May)” starts off with lounge‑y vibes until soon spirited off into a world of quiet and mesmerising percussive twinklings and odd moods crossing into Beaver’s careening Moog accompaniments. Frequencies shift like waves of Moebius strips floating away in warm breezes until approaching a clearing in an exotic jungle of previously unheard and expertly wielded percussives. Skipping over to “Ruby (July)” comes the unambiguous highlight of the album as Beaver and Richards turn out a tour de force of combined marimba, mallet and Moog mischief with demented balloon gas giddiness. Over a tightly upbeat drum pattern, bells and innumerable gong crashes repeatedly smash then part for Beaver’s exquisitely pitch-controlled, pitch-bent and just-horribly-bent Moog scrawl to shriek in darting irrigation of call and response to the marimba Mama of Emil Richards. Highly clipped e‑clavinet counterpoint then emerges in and out to eventually part for a Moog solo postscript that sounds as if it were recorded under conditions of severest duress as it contorts with varieties of rhythm and pitch. The entire track is wholly ill and fascinating as hell. Passing over to the far side of summer, “Sapphire (September)” is an equal work of high wire artistry. Commencing with the same struck bells that that bring to mind those that herald The Deep’s “Color Dreams,” it gradually builds into extravagantly complex circular layers of burrowing rhythms and tones that struggle to the surface all at once with xylophone, vibraphone, every other kind of phone; you name it. Meanwhile, Beaver’s Moog placements just sally forth with all the spry confidence of a concert pianist running through “Chopsticks” while the belfry keeps clanging and ringing throughout the ever-amassing chaos that surrounds it. Next up on the calendar of events is “Opal (October)” which is located somewhere on the same continent as “The Chrome Plated Megaphone Of Destiny” by The Mothers Of Invention minus all the varispeed sniggering plus dissonance cut with a professional improvisational flair. Clipped stylophonic tones and sparse piano clusters operate as percussion and…Hey, hey: what’s that sound? Oh, no…A wobble board! Great name. Man, that’s what it’s called?!! The Yardbirds used one on “Hot House of Omagarashid,” Keith Moon shook one on “Postcard” and I never knew what it was called but whatever it was, it approximated the sound of shaking a long handsaw by the handle and just letting it…wobble. Anyway, after a pronounced duration, the clatter fest falls away to expose Beaver holding the Moog to clipped, high tones that swerve in pitch until finally setting off on a trajectory of increasingly high timbre only to catapult into a shooting star descent. One final gong hit quickly draws the track into silence. Whew.
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