BC

It's hard to talk about the track "The Parasite" from the 1971 Eugene McDaniels album Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse because there is just so much to talk about. The narrative and message, the high-concept artistic vision, the execution of that vision, the performances. It's really pretty heavy (more cultural context for the album can be found here).

Eugene McDaniels, who penned "Compared to What" and "Feel Like Makin' Love", is an artist unbound by genre and category. In this flowing and borderless existence he found a true comrade in bassist Gary King.

"The Parasite" is a re-telling of the story of America from a clear-eyed, holistic perspective - controversial enough at the time of release that Spiro Agnew successfully pressured Atlantic Records to pull the album from shelves. The song is written in AB form, repeating without structural variation. However, this minimalistic form manages to evolve consistently, shaping the lyric narrative: the A sections are coolly understated and sparse while the B sections become more disjointed and tumultuous every iteration. The rhythmic feel in these sections also serves to contrast the disparate moods with relaxed, almost loose A sections and B sections that are rhythmically tight with noticeable forward momentum. This dynamic is guided largely by Gary Kings bass performance by way of rhythmic syncopation, note choice, feel and expressive right-hand attack - all used in service to the lyric and concept. This structure ultimately crescendos into a viscerally raw avant-garde finale - a fitting end for this nine and a half minute opus.

I was moved deeply by the vision and creativity of this track, and was inspired to understand more deeply Kings performance through transcription. Ironically, after writing these thoughts down I'm left with the feeling that it is ultimately pointless to try to put into words what does not need to be said, and should arguably just be heard and experienced first hand.