The Parable of Arable Land
| The Parable of Arable Land | ||||
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| Studio album by The Red Crayola (with The Familiar Ugly) | ||||
| Released | June 1967 | |||
| Recorded | March 1967 at Andrus Studio, Texas, United States | |||
| Genre | Experimental rock, psychedelic rock, proto-punk | |||
| Length | 41:32 | |||
| Label | International Artists | |||
| Producer | Lelan Rogers | |||
| The Red Krayola chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Pitchfork | 9.3/10 |
The Parable of Arable Land is the debut studio album by Red Krayola, then known as The Red Crayola. Self-described as a "Free Form Freak-Out", the songs on the album introduce mainstay Mayo Thompson's signature style of abstract lyrics wed to minimalist (and often avant-garde) melodies and rhythms. The album is also notable for instrumental cameos by label mate and 13th Floor Elevators frontman Roky Erickson.
The album was allegedly recorded in a single session, featuring the band (then consisting of Mayo Thompson on guitar and vocals, Steve Cunningham on bass and Rick Barthelme on drums) playing live with "The Familiar Ugly", which refers to the fifty-or-so friends of the band who provide the "Free Form Freak-Outs" tracks that appear between songs. They were instructed by the band to play whatever they pleased. To demonstrate, the liner notes from one "General Fox" (presumably producer Lelan Rogers, as he was present for the session) describe how "a young man made his music by striking two match sticks together... His girlfriend kept time by blowing in a pop bottle".Roky Erickson of 13th Floor Elevators plays organ throughout, and allegedly plays the solo on the album's first track, "Hurricane Fighter Plane".
A recording purporting to be a demo which surfaced on the International Artists Records compilation would partially refute this. The "demo" of "Hurricane Fighter Plane" is identical to the take used on Parable, only minus the crossfades in and out of the preceding and subsequent "Free Form Freak-Outs". This would suggest that the basic "song" tracks were first recorded by The Red Crayola, and then superimposed with the Familiar Ugly recording. (However, Erickson's organ is still present throughout the entire "demo" version.)
While the songs themselves introduce Mayo Thompson's signature style, it is the inclusion of the "Free Form Freak-Outs" for which the album is best known. They are seen by many critics as a foreshadowing (or a direct precursor) to the industrial music which surfaced in the 1970s. While marketed as a "psychedelic" album, the album also had a lot to do with (like Frank Zappa's work of the time) modern 20th-century composers and the avant-garde in general.
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