Pop Culture Chronicles: Albert Ayler

POP CULTURE CHRONICLES

By Mike Olszewski

Weird, Cool & Cleveland
How Paul McCartney used a John Adams High grad to annoy his producer

When the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame opened in 1995, the celebration and day-long concert at Municipal Stadium drew journalists from around the globe to Cleveland. 

Not long after, I received a letter from England that said I was quoted in “The Times of London,” leaving me scrambling to find a copy. The letter-writer asked for information about jazz saxophonist and Cleveland native Albert Ayler, a name I had heard but didn’t know much about.

Joe Mosbrook, along with his long career as one of Cleveland TV’s most honored television reporters, is also a noted jazz historian. I had a conversation with him some time back and mentioned Ayler, whom Mosbrook said took the term avant-garde to a whole new level. He said some of his recorded work sounds like he never picked up an instrument, but when he did a second take, it started the same way. I hunted down some of those tracks and Mosbrook was right. Unless you are really into that type of jazz, it’s not likely you’ll be tapping your toes to his extensive catalog. But the backstory on Ayler is far more interesting.

Music Man
Born here in 1936, Ayler took up the saxophone with the encouragement of his dad, later performing as a duo. He continued his musical education at John Adams High School, and by the time he was 15, was playing semi-professionally with Little Walter Jacobs.  

He attended college briefly, but lack of money left him few options, so he joined the Army, playing in the military band at bases across Europe. Ayler developed his distinctive free jazz style while stationed in France. He briefly returned to Cleveland in 1961 after he left the service.

 Ayler took his act on the road, honing a technique that was once described as a “Salvation Army Band on LSD.” At an April 1966 booking at Cleveland’s La Cave nightclub, he joined up with a violinist from the Netherlands; a recording from those sessions was released after Ayler’s death as part of the “Holy Ghost” box set. 

In November 1970, at just 34 years old, Ayler’s body was found floating in New York’s East River. Authorities said no foul play was involved. But even then, conspiracy theorists spread stories that Ayler had a bullet wound to the head and was chained to a jukebox. The Army paid for his funeral, and he was laid to rest at Highland Park Cemetery in Cleveland.  Adding to his mystery, the gravestone says Ayler died in Vietnam, which isn’t true. So how does Paul McCartney fit into this?

McCartney was into experimental music and in the mid-1960s, produced a film showing a French gendarme directing traffic using Ayler’s “La Marseillaise” as the soundtrack. He had several of Ayler’s albums, and when The Beatles were recording their “Revolver” album, McCartney was sometimes at odds with producer George Martin about the band’s musical innovations. To annoy Martin, McCartney would play Ayler’s album “Spiritual Unity” while they were dining.  

BOOMER TRIVIA: Last issue, I mentioned that one of the most feared movie villains was a Northeast Ohio native who starred in a banned episode of “Sesame Street.” In this episode, Margaret Hamilton reprised her role as the Wicked Witch of the West on the program. The episode ran once and, after a wave of parent complaints saying it frightened their kids, was never shown again. A copy turned up when the “Sesame Street” archives were given to the Library of Congress but was only available to researchers. It has since shown up on YouTube. 

For next time, a Cleveland band left audio instructions on their debut album for the best way to enjoy the LP.  Which band was it?

Photo courtesy Cleveland Public Library Collection