Memory Serves Explained

Memory Serves
Type:	Album
Artist:	Material
Cover:	Memory Serves.jpg
Released:	1981
Recorded:	OAO Studio, Brooklyn, New York
Length:	38:51
Label:	Celluloid, 529812 Elektra/Musician
Producer:	Material with Martin Bisi
Prev Title:	American Songs
Prev Year:	1981
Next Title:	Bustin' Out
Next Year:	1981

Memory Serves is a 1981 album by the New York based No Wave music group Material.^{[1] [2]}

Track listing

1. "Memory Serves" (Bill Laswell, Michael Beinhorn) – 5:08
2. "Disappearing" (Olu Dara, Sonny Sharrock, Laswell, Beinhorn, Fred Maher) – 7:11
3. "Upriver" (Billy Bang, Laswell, Beinhorn, Maher) – 5:25
4. "Metal Test" (Fred Frith, Laswell, Beinhorn, Maher) – 4:30
5. "Conform To The Rhythm" (Laswell, Beinhorn, Frith) – 4:30
6. "Unauthorized" (Sharrock, Laswell, Maher) – 3:50
7. "Square Dance" (Frith, Laswell, Maher) – 4:29
8. "Silent Land" (George Lewis, Laswell, Beinhorn) – 3:48
9. "For A Few Dollars More" (E. Morricone) - 3:51 (7" edit, bonus track on CD release)

Personnel

Material

• Bill Laswell – 4, 6 and 8 string basses
• Michael Beinhorn – synthesizers, tapes, radio, guitar, drums, voice.
• Fred Maher – drums, percussion, guitar (except "Silent Land")

Additional personnel

• Sonny Sharrock – guitar (except "Square Dance" and "Silent Land")
• Fred Frith – guitar, violin, xylophone (1,4,5,7)
• Olu Dara – cornet ("Disappearing", "Upriver")
• Henry Threadgill – alto sax ("Disappearing", "Unauthorized", "Square Dance")
• George Lewis – trombone ("Memory Serves", "Square Dance", "Silent Land")
• Billy Bang – violin ("Upriver", "Unauthorized")
• Charles K. Noyes – drums, percussion, bells ("Memory Serves", "Silent Land")

Production

• Recorded at OAO Studio, Brooklyn, New York. Produced by Material with Martin Bisi.

Reception

Writing in The Boston Phoenix, Howard Litwak said that on Memory Serves, "Material intersperses its potent riffs and explosive electric power with interludes of noise, musique concrete, and unaccompanied synthesizer blats. Overlaid on this foot-stomping sound — the rhythm section of bassist Bill Laswell and drummers Michael Beinhorn and Fred Maher wants to kick your speakers out — is a collection of first-rate jazzmen (Henry Threadgill, Olu Dara, George Lewis, Billy Bang, and Sharrock) who are willing to interpret Material’s music on its own terms."^[3]

Notes and References

1. http://www.jazzlists.com/SJ_Label_Elektra_Musician.htm Jazzlists: Elektra Musician LP discography
2. http://www.bsnpubs.com/elektra/elektra60000.html Both Sides Now: Elektra/Asylum Album Discography, Part 8: Consolidated 60000 Series (1982-)
3. News: Litwak . Howard . Material possession . August 5, 2024 . The Boston Phoenix . March 9, 1982.