Joy Unlimited
Butterflies
(a.k.a. Schmetterlinge)
I suppose it would be all too predictable of me to lionize a seven-piece
group for its multi-instrumental talent, what with a bassist doubling on
trumpet and a guitarist who also stretches out ably on flute and tympani,
but with Joy Unlimited, there is one bright star that outshines them all,
and that star is Joy Fleming.
In Germany she is an R&B legend, their homegrown version of Aretha
Franklin. The rest of Europe knows her mainly for her appearance at the
1975 Eurovision Song Contest, where (performing "Ein Lied kann eine Brücke
sein") she wiped the floor with the competition as far as emotional, strong
performances go...but Eurovision being the stodgy, ossified institution
that worships mediocrity and blandness that it is, she finished somewhere
near the bottom†. Those from North America, if
they know her at all, know her mainly for one 1971 album recorded by her
breakthrough band Joy Unlimited entitled Butterflies. It is this very
album which I'll be discussing here today. Though more exactly, they remember
the album mainly for one song. I'll get to that in a minute.
It all began with the birth of Erna Strube in 1944. She grew up in the
Ludwigshafen/Mannheim region of Germany. She started off singing in the
school choir, but secretly yearned to sing R&B in the American style.
She got her wish when she fell in with some local rock musicians, whence
she took on the stage name Joy Fleming. The group began their life in the
late 60's as Joy and the Hit Kids. After a couple of singles, they changed
their name to the more classy Joy Unlimited, and proceeded to take the country
by storm. Many live dates followed, and their legend began to grow.
In 1970, their debut LP appeared. Entitled Overground, and consisting
of a mix of original material and covers (notably the Beatles' "All Together
Now" and Elton John's "Border Song"), it garnered nearly universal positive
reviews. It was even released in the UK and the States*. Naturally, one has to ask, how can you top that?
How about by collaborating with a would-be classical composer to make a
rock ballet?
You heard right, the music on Butterflies was originally composed
to accompany a ballet. Some of it I can imagine some abstract movements
to, yet at other times, I am dumbfounded as to ponder how it could possibly
have been staged. Since it's rather obscure, I guess any hope of seeing
a video version of Schmetterlinge (the original German title) would
be highly unlikely indeed. At any rate, Butterflies certainly makes
quite an impression aurally, in part because of the strength and undeniable
talent of the instrumental unit, but also because of the powerful vocal
presence of their frontwoman.
"Rudiment" opens the album, and the introductory "Contacts" tableau,
with a heartbeat. Literally. The recorded heartbeat segues gradually into
a drumbeat, and with a fill, it's on to the main theme, expressed on bass,
organ and slightly distorted guitar. That's basically all there is to "Rudiment,"
a rockin' fanfare ending with a gong hit. It segues directly to "Connection,"
where we get our first real taste of Joy. "Come and touch my mind so I will
touch your mind," she sings. Well, it's not really what she's singing as
the way she sings it. Her voice is just so full of such raw emotion and amazing
power that it just lifts you up and away and into another world. And she's
not even at full-blast yet! Certainly her status as a blue-eyed soul legend
in Germany is confirmed before we even get to the chorus, she's just that
good. Oh, did I forget there's a six piece band backing her? The main verse
features piano, cymbal and flute accents over sustained organ chords, the
chorus is a more rockin' affair with fortissimo organ and distorted guitar
to the fore. There's also a staccato instrumental middle section with spiky
marimba and organ unison lines with the bass vamping underneath. After a
final repeat of the chorus and one final verse, we're led back into the "Rudiment"
theme. Mind you, the two tracks together total only about four-and-a-half
minutes. After the final, heavily sustained gong hit, it's off to...
"That's the key," which starts with a gentle theme expressed on organ
and vibes, eventually joined by Joy's wordless voice. Here she shows her
true veratility, on the last track she was wailing like a soul sister, while
here her voice achieves an almost classical "Lieder"-like quality. Eat
your heart out, Annie Haslam! Eventually they're joined by trumpet and
phase-shifted sax, ending on an ascending unison motive that we'll here
repeated throughout the album. Then the first verse begins. It's very
1971 sounding, with Chicago/BS&T-like horns and electric piano, and
more silly lyrics, but it's all forgivable. It's interrupted by a bass solo
backed by phase-shifted organ and sustained horn backing, ending with the
ascending motif again. Then it's back to the baroque opening theme again,
repeated a couple of times and ending on a climactic crescendo chord, leading
us directly into the rather minimalistic, but nonetheless amazing "For
you and me." The track opens with a heart-stopping, heavily fuzzed-out guitar
riff. Seriously, I played this for a friend, and he said something to the
effect of, "Black Sabbath would kill for that guitar sound!" Another
drum fill leads us into the main theme, basically that relentless guitar
riff backed by organ and drums and Joy singing. The only lyrics in this
song, by the way, are right there in the title...I mean, unless you count
"Whoa! Come on, baby!" and...er, "UNGHH! UNGHH!" The middle of the track
features an incendiary distorted guitar solo backed by sustained, orchestral
chords expressed on organ and horns, subjected to that ubiquitous phasing.
After that, it's back to Joy "For you and me"-ing, and gradually freaking
out delightfully as the sax player wails free-jazz style. It all ends with
that ascending unison figure yet again.
The sound of bombs and air-raid sirens open "Suppression" [sic], the
first track of tableau II: Manifestations, a short instrumental with a
strong proto-fusion feel, with organ, sax and guitar playing the memorable
unison lines as the bass and electric piano vamp underneath them. There's
a brief and very "out" sax solo under which the organ stabs out some very
dissonant chords, then it's back to the main theme, followed by a very impressive
accelerando figure over which the sax does more freaky things leading to
the very dark and ominous coda.
What follows is by far the album's most notorious track, and before Joy
even starts singing, you'll probably already have an inkling why. The main
riff to "Rankness" immediately announces itself as a slow, ponderously heavy
and totally sleazy blues, expressed mainly by Roland Heck's muffled Wurlitzer
electric piano. Then we hear...what is that, a sax squeal? No, it's Joy's
voice, emitting a sound I didn't know the human larynx was capable of producing.
Not only does this track prove that German women can sing the blues,
but they can be sexy. Well, sexual. But it's not Joy's performance
that makes the track so notorious as her lyrics, which are downright
filthy! The F-word is bandied about with reckless abandon, there is the
hint of the possibility of anal sex, and so on. Now imagine ballerinas dancing
to this in a concert hall. Yeah, that's the ticket!
The next track is what one poster on rec.music.progressive considers
to be the single scariest piece of music he's ever heard. I was certainly
startled by it the first time I heard "Face of war," but I think my main
feeling was one of emotional exultation (maybe because after having heard
"Rankness" I was beyond being shocked anymore). Anyway, the track begins
with a pounding unison part for drums, flute and marimba that repeats twice,
starting out pianissimo and then gradually crescendoing. Over scary staccato
instrumental stabs, Joy offers a sung-spoken proclamation, then it's off
to some scary organ and piano chords with some weirdly distorted guitar
over the rather martial drumbeat. Then it's back to the staccato figure,
over which Joy shrieks nightmarishly about "Bones and eyes, blood and skin."
It's scarier when she sings it. A disturbing organ chord sustains under
a softer section with Joy singing some creepy ascending triplets as swells
of freakishly distorted guitar weave in and out. A drum fill leads into a
chilling, minor-key interpretation of the "Connection" chorus, with Joy
gradually getting more intense and frightening, as Roland inserts some truly
Mephistophelean electric piano asides. Definitely a rather disturbing piece
of music, perfect for Halloween mix tapes.
"Free," true to its title, seems to be something of a free-jazz piece,
with vibes, flute and trumpet weaving in and out of each other as congas
and bass hold down some semblance of rhythm. Yes, I really could imagine
dancers dancing to this, though more Merce Cunningham than traditional
ballet.
"Sensual Impressions" is, for me, the album's instrumental highlight.
It starts with solo flute, subjected to cathedral-like reverb, playing a
somber melody. We hear some very light activity on the cymbals as
the flute gradually goes into a somewhat more active up-and-down part. After
some light improvised parts for flute alone, the flute plays a written motive
and then there is a sudden jarring FORTISSIMO unison part for flute,
organ and drums. Man, I thought "Rankness" had prepared me for anything,
but I damn near jumped right out of my skin the first time I heard that!
Then it's back to a much calmer duet between organ and flute, with cymbals
splashing like leaping flying-fish in the background. The flute plays that
fluttering written motive again, followed by the gentle flute/organ/cymbals
motive again, and then a jarring reiteration of the FORTISSIMO bit,
this time slightly longer and more intense. The flute player, seemingly
as startled by this as I was, starts playing some pretty wild stuff as percussion
and piano subtly improvise in the background. The flute solo gradually builds
in intensity and frenzy to compare with Rashaan Roland Kirk and Ian Anderson
at their most crazed. The flute player really comes into his own here, using
the reverb as another musical instrument in itself, playing off it and allowing
it to add texture to his solo. It truly is a moving and intense moment.
At the completion of his solo, the fluttering motive returns, and then it's
back to an extended variation of the soft organ/flute/cymbals theme with
some light guitar arpeggiations adding extra dimensions to it. The music
gradually swells to mezzoforte before dying away and the tune closes with
some gentle, ethereal solo flute punctuations. It's kind of like dying and
going to heaven...
But the album's not even two-thirds finished. The "Manifestations" tableau
is completed by "Quintessence," possibly the closest the album comes to
symphonic rock. The track opens with an intricate organ figure. Based around
ascending triads, it's not unlike something Yes would be doing a couple
of years down the road. Here, Joy's voice is rather more mannered and controlled,
less Janis Joplin and more Dusty Springfield. It only goes to prove her to
be one of the most expressive and diverse singers in all of Germany. And,
dare I say, all of progdom. Anyway, the opening organic verses give way to
a more funky and swinging set of verses based around Roland's rollicking
electric piano and featuring accentuating blasts from the horn section. A
rather cosmic and Bloom-like soprano sax solo follows, backed by seesaw organ
and bass. The climax is reached with a repeat of the opening organ figure
over which Joy sings, "Try it now, do it now and you'll fly, you are free,"
followed by a fanfare-like closing.
The third and final tableau, "Emotions", is something of a 12½
minute medley. It opens with the gentle "Eden-Park" theme. Soft bass notes
pulse, followed by vibes, plucked guitar notes and organ chords as cymbals
splash playfully and flute parts flitter around like, well, butterflies.
Joy's voice gradually joins in wordlessly, emotional yet tender and gentle
like a daisy, just showing you that there are many more facets to this jewel
of a woman than you ever thought. Some clean guitar arpeggios lead us into
the vocal section, what I call the "Time has come and gone" section due
to Joy's vocal part. It's rather anthemic without being bombastic, the trumpet
quite soft and distant, the guitar clean, the organ swirling along yet
not overpowering. Subtlety is the order of the day. From there, it's right
into the "Metamorphosis" section, a more "up" section, more chirpy and
less somber than "Eden-Park." After a couple of verses, the bass plays
Joy's wordless melody line from "Connection" over a backing of acoustic
guitar, light drums and pianissimo organ. Whole-note trumpet parts join
on the second repeat.
"In Search For The Last Word" opens with ominous electric piano, immediately
establishing a different tone. Joy is in a more bluesy mode here, as the
guitar jangles along funkily accented by tambourine and jazzy sax bits.
The eeriness doesn't last long, as soon we're back in anthemic mode, ending
with the horns and organ playing question-and-answer and a final reiteration
of the ascending unison motive we last heard at the end of "For you and
me." This goes directly into "Rising Mind," which opens with an organ solo
backed by more of those very 1971 horns and some gloriously dated fuzztone
guitar. Eventually the band are joined by Joy, wailing away at her most
soul-sister like with the utmost glee. It is this part I hear people often
comparing to Jesus Christ Superstar, and while I can kind of
see the similarity, I am loath to compare anything I love as much as this
album to something as low as anything Andrew Lloyd Webber had a hand in creating.
I will agree that this is the most "of its time" bit on the album, though,
and leave it at that. From there, it's on to a reiteration of the "Metamorphosis"
vocal line played on a soprano sax, followed by "Eden-Park again." This is
a reiteration of the "Time has come and gone" verse, followed by the opening
theme gradually diminuendoing as Joy's voice grows to a whisper. A pretty
classy way to close an album, if you ask me.
So there you have it. If you can get past the dated elements of tracks
like "That's the key" and "Rising mind" and the obvious shock-tactics of
"Rankness," you'll find much worth your while in Butterflies (or,
if you prefer, Schmetterlinge). And as much as I not only admire
but adore the band's obvious instrumental prowess, it's Joy's wondrously
emotive vocals which call me back to this album again and again like a siren's
song. Sure, Joy is still at it today, but part of me wishes she was still
singing stuff like this instead of misguided covers of songs by Cher and
Bette Midler and even more misguided attempts to become Queen of Eurovision.
Come back, Joy, all is forgiven.
Buy it: Not on CD yet. Check for the availability of the vinyl or 8-track
(!) over at GEMM.
Click on Joy and her bandmates to return.
©2003 by Progbear
*Just to screw with our heads and to confuse
compilers of discographies, Overground was released in the UK on the
Page One label as Turbulence, and as a self-titled album in the States
on Mercury. Incidentally, that Mercury release has one of the butt-ugliest
covers ever to grace an album...but I digress..... BACK
† ...and some bubblegum losers from the
Netherlands
clad in day-glo Qiana ran off with the Grand Prix de la Chanson that they
didn't deserve. At least they weren't as repulsive as Brotherhood of
Man. BACK