WITCHCRAFT & MAGIC: AN ADVENTURE IN DEMONOLOGY - Vincent Price
YEAR: 1969
LABEL: Capitol
TRACK LISTINGS: Prologue - The Tale of Master Seth, Hitler and Witchcraft - Witchcraft in History, Women as Witches - Witch Burning, Witch Tortures, Witch Tortures (continued) - The World of Spirits and Demons, Preparation for Magic - Instruments of Magic, How To Invoke Spirits, Demons, Unseen Forces - The Magic Bloodstone, The Witches' Cauldron - How To Communicate with the Spirits, How To Communicate with the Spirits (continued) - Gerald Yorke and Necromancy, How To Make A Pact with the Devil - How To Become a Witch, Curses, Spells, Charms, Curses, Spells, Charms (continued) - Potions, The Hand of Glory - The Witches' Sabbat, Witchcraft Today - Epilogue
IMPRESSIONS: This is a super Halloween album which is quite unlike the lighter toned Caedmon albums (which featured poetry and spooky tales mostly) Price would record in the 1970s and it's a really great atmospherically spooky listen. It's also filled with a lot of informative stuff concerning the history of witchcraft and its practices; the accuracy of which depends on how much credence you give to occult matters. This is a perfect representation of the upswing in general interest in the occult which boomed in the late 60s into the 1970s.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Despite the breaking up of the album into tracks, this is more like a 100+ minute lecture and therefore my fave tracks would be all of 'em; it has to be listened to as a whole.
FACT SHEET: This album has been variously referred to as WITCHCRAFT & MAGIC: AN ADVENTURE IN DEMONOLOGY as well as THE SECRETS OF WITCHCRAFT & MAGIC REVEALED. It was originally released as a two-record set. The text performed by Vincent Price was written & directed by Terry D'Oberoff. The album was produced by Roger Karshner and also features some early synthesizer by Douglas Leedy which provides not only a spooky drone but also sound effects like howling winds and bubbling cauldrons. Price apparently recorded the entire 122 page text in one 5 hour session; the best sections were edited together to make the album. There are also actresses interspersed between certain tracks reciting lines from Shakespeare's MACBETH by the three witches.
The need to hear this record out weighs me sounding like an idiot - are you sharing rips of the albums? I ask this because I have scoured the post for links and could not find a live link. - any help or clarification would be most welcome as you have an entire universe of incredible albums like the Vincent Price albums.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very valid question and not an idiotic one at all! Unfortunately, I don't put audio for any of these albums up on this blog. I would like to, of course, but the current Draconian crackdowns on the interwebs concerning posting audio makes it impossible. However, I will pass on the fact that a legal copy of Vincent Price's WITCHCRAFT album can be got on iTunes for a fiver. Also, some (but not all) of the other Vincent Price albums are available there as well. I hope this information is helpful and you'll be able to listen to this great album soon. And thank you very much for visiting my blog!
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