VENETIC

Great Psychedelic Albums:

House of Leather

by the Blackwood Apology

I discovered this album in the “obscure and interesting” bin at Slow Boat Records in Wellington in 1989. The first thing that caught my eye was the cover, which is a muddled collage of contemporary and Civil War America, with images ranging from some topless psychedelic chick, through to Tiny Tim, skyscrapers and tinned food, cut-out engravings of Union and Confederate soldiers, and black men’s heads that have been glued onto the bodies of women wearing period dress and a burlesque costume, amongst other images. Up in the top right-hand corner is the title “House of Leather”, with the letters forming a cabin with the silhouette of what looks like a naked woman standing coyly in the doorway, with “The Blackwood Apology” in loopy lettering immediately beneath.

Flipping the record over, looking for clues as to the provenance of this strange disc, all I found were more images of Civil War-era and contemporary USA, and a track listing. Noticing it was a gatefold cover, I slipped it out of its worn plastic sleeve, only to find the same track listing in larger typeface on the inside left, and what looked like lyrics on the inside right, superimposed over a two-tone image of five clean-cut young men wearing suits and spotted ties.

The fine print stated Minneapolis as being the recording place, and the mention of “Dunwich Productions Ltd.” and “Yuggoth Music” clinched it for me, so I ended up buying this mystery record. In the shop, I could not see any publishing date, either on the cover or on the record itself, the former of which was emblazoned with a stamp saying “PROMOTIONAL COPY NOT FOR SALE”. Needless to say, it was a US pressing (even though some pretty obscure US psychedelic albums were pressed in New Zealand in the 60s). Judging from the artwork and these other clues, it looked like the album had been released in 1968 or 1969, and the latter date turned out to be correct. However, the best reference work I had at the time only gave minimal details on the Blackwood Apology, declaring them to be from Minneapolis and stating that this, their first and last album, was released in ’69.

Perusing the Internet over 20 years later, I initially did not turn up much more than that level of info, and a few comments from people wanting to find out more about the Blackwood Apology and wondering what on earth this album was all about.

Blackwood

It turns out that although the rest of the world does not really know much about them, the Blackwood Apology are still held in high esteem in Minnesota, having been inducted into the Minnesota Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in April, 2007, and are remembered locally as the band that supported the Grateful Dead for their first concert in Minneapolis, in addition to having a reputation for being fine live performers in their own right. Three of the Blackwood Apology’s members hailed from the group the Castaways, who had a hit in 1965 with the single “Liar Liar” (which is ironically referenced in a passage in House of Leather).

The first time I heard House Of Leather, at first I was not very impressed by it. The vocals sounded too “pop”; like something the Association would have recorded, and the recurring themes and overtures sounded like space fillers. But I could not deny even then that the electric guitar playing was arresting, and the organ playing weaved its way expertly through the various arrangements, providing a distinctive connecting strand. The Blackwood Apology definitely had their own sound. For greater atmosphere, they also throw in instruments like acoustic guitar and even pipe organ. The arrangements on the album are complex, and it is cleverly structured so that by the end of the record, the piece has returned to its starting point, meaning that you can put the album on shuffle play and listen to it as an endless loop on your MP3 player should you so choose.

I am not so dedicated as to want to do that, but I did find myself coming back to this album again and again over the 20 years that have elapsed since I bought it. In addition to the advanced musicianship, my main focus was the lyrics. Even with the full text provided on the inside cover (along with an elliptical explanatory note on the instrumental depiction that the album provides of the American Civil War), the words are perplexing. As someone on the Internet wondered; is the House of Leather a cathouse? The images on the cover suggest it is a house of ill-repute of some sort. And why is it the house “Of Leather”? Was it some sort of kinky B&D joint where moustachioed gents went to get their jollies in unorthodox ways?

Finally, after 20 years of scratching my head, I sat down and listened to the lyrics, and not just once but several times, in an attempt to get to the bottom of what this perplexing album is about.

The story starts “down along the Swanee River”, where we are introduced to a young lady named Sarah Jane who has “got love to send you… straight to heaven where she comes from”. We move on to a reminiscence of the House of Leather, where “the pretty young things all got together” to dance, among other things. We are then introduced to one Mrs Grim, who appears to be the matronly figure in charge of the House of Leather, and the narrator reminds her of Donny Brooks, a farmer who she used to know in one capacity or another, and obliquely makes mention of the town’s mayor, a man by the name of Ramsey. A little bit further on, we find out that the House of Leather is a school of some sort, and Sarah Jane appears to be a teacher there (teaching what exactly? – again, we don’t know), who both Donny Brooks and Ramsey have fallen in love with. The outcome of this love triangle is that Sarah Jane ends up with Donny Brooks the farmer, and they settle down on his farm, where she ends up bearing him a child.

Then along comes the US Civil War, in which her husband and child (a boy) are both killed. After the war, Sarah Jane stays on at the farm, which Ramsey, the mayor, now owns. The album concludes with the words “Sarah’s on her knees… building dreams… begging for love”, and “if you’re ever…. way down along the Swanee River… you’re not far from the House of Leather… where I was born….”

Well, that’s all perfectly clear, isn’t it? So the narrator is the offspring of Sarah Jane and Ramsey… or is he? And if he was their child, why was he born in the House of Leather and not down on the farm? Was she kicked off the farm and ended up having to work for a living? But working in what capacity? And exactly what sort of education is offered by an institution that ventures to call itself the “House of Leather”?

The plot thickens when we discover that House of Leather was not just an album, but was also performed live at the end of the ‘60s in Minneapolis at the Little Cricket Theater, as the aural backdrop to what was described as a “rock revue-drama”. Peter Altman, reviewing the play in the Minneapolis Star Critic (28 March 1969) provides a few more tantalising clues about the nature of this strangely-named institution:

“The play takes place in […] a New Orleans emporium purveying armaments and sex around the time of the Civil War. It has a strong and persuasive message about history, which it sees as a succession of cycles of venality and injustice.”

So the House of Leather was indeed supposed to be a whorehouse… The review goes on to mention a cast of characters who weren’t mentioned on the LP, and a great future is predicted for the drama:

“House of Leather is a brilliantly fluid and integrated presentation which, with a little time and luck, could become as big a hit as Hair.”

Sadly, the world is an unjust place, and that particular eventuality never came to pass. However, over 40 years later, House of Leather is not entirely forgotten, and is worth tracking down if you ever have a hankering to hear a mysterious and bizarre psychedelic rock opera set in and around a Southern cathouse back in the days of the US Civil War…

Great Psychedelic Albums

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