Brian Eno and David Byrne: The Jezebel Spirit (1981)

 |   |  1 min read

Brian Eno and David Byrne: The Jezebel Spirit (1981)

When the Brian Eno and David Byrne album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts appeared in 1981, the musical, social and cultural climate was very different. Hip-hop had yet to establish the widespread use of sampling (although of course there had been artists who had used the technique), and the idea of a beat-driven album by two intellectual boffins was something unfamiliar also.

But on Bush/Ghosts, Eno and Byrne pulled together samples of voices and singers from radio and other records, and -- with a predominantly percussion-based group of players, Bill Laswell on bass, plus synths and guitars -- delivered a collection of pieces which you could listen to, or dance along with.

And three decades on the album and the concept still holds up. 

This track -- typical in some ways -- uses the voice of an unidentified exorcist recorded the previous year.

When the album was given CD reissue in the late Eighties and again in 2006 however -- in '06 with many additional tracks -- what was most noticed was what hadn't been included: the track Qu'ran which opened the second side.

Times had changed and what passed unnoticed in '81 was now sensitive stuff because it contained a sample of Algerian Muslims chanting the Qu'ran (Koran). It had been removed so as not to give offence. Curiously enough the sample had come from an earlier album The Human Voice in the World of Islam from '76 which seems not to have had any problems.

If you wish to hear the Eno-Byrne track Qu'ran it is here:

Qu'ran

If you feel you may take offence then don't listen.

You can still enjoy the sound of an exorcism with a relentless killer groove.

For more one-offs, songs with an interesting backstory or oddities check the (almost) daily updates at From the Vaults

Share It

Your Comments

Fraser Gardyne - Nov 27, 2012

Crikey Graham, I hadn't noticed that Qu'ran was missing from the copy we play regularly at the office. Great to hear it again. I'm looking forward to 'Lux' after enjoying a taste on National Radio last Saturday afternoon. You get lost in the beauty... GRAHAM REPLIES: Funny what you don't miss sometimes, but Qu'ran is terrific. And it is at Elsewhere . . . but few other Wheres! And please don't use the word "crikey" here, we might mistake you for a guttersnipe with language like that.

post a comment

More from this section   From the Vaults articles index

The Beatles; You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) (1970)

The Beatles; You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) (1970)

The 2009 remastering of the Beatles' catalogue allowed listeners not only the chance to reassess their sound, but also the breadth of their musical reach. Here was a band which created great pop,... > Read more

Jimmie John: Solid Rock (1959)

Jimmie John: Solid Rock (1959)

Rockabilly is a genre that seems to enjoy the fact that it doesn't change or grow, develop or move too far from a simple template of a backbeat and the invitation to dance. It is shamelessly... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

AND ANOTHER 10 SHAMEFUL RECORD COVERS I'M PROUD TO OWN

AND ANOTHER 10 SHAMEFUL RECORD COVERS I'M PROUD TO OWN

Further to previous confessional postings along these lines (here and here), this is another installment in albums bought on the basis of their cover art -- although "art" is perhaps far... > Read more

Larry Carlton. Bruce Mason Centre, Auckland. June 6 2014

Larry Carlton. Bruce Mason Centre, Auckland. June 6 2014

There's an old joke about jazz promotion: if you want to make a million bucks, start with two mill. The amorphous audience is the great unknown. As some promoters have found, you can... > Read more