Introduction
“My kind of composing is more like the work of a gardener. The gardener takes his seeds and scatters them, knowing what he is planting but not quite what will grow where and when – and he won't necessarily be able to reproduce it again afterwards either.” (Eno, )
It is statements like this that draw one to Brian Eno; his insightful, philosophical views on the world and art are truly captivating. Known mainly for his success as a producer, working with artists such as David Bowie, U2, Talking Heads and many more. Brian Eno the self-proclaimed “non-musician” is possibly one of the most underrated musicians to have risen to fame in the last 30 years. Eno created a “quiet revolution” (Hewett, 2016) in music, which influenced and continues to influence artists and producers worldwide.
Early Life
Brian Peter George Eno was born in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England on Saturday, May 15th, 1948. At a young age, Eno displayed an evident interest in music “I had wanted a tape recorder since I was tiny. I thought it was a magic thing. I never got one until just before I went to art school.” (Eno, ). Upon attending the Winchester School of Art, Eno was subsequently introduced to the work of John Cage, Terry Riley, and Cornelius Cardew. Eno found inspiration in the tape orchestration “It’s Gonna Rain” by Steve Reich (Ankeny, 2013).
Roxy Music
During Eno’s studies in university, he met Andy Mackay as they shared an interest in electronic and avant-guard music. Some time later, the two were reunited as Mackay invited Eno to join the band ‘Roxy Music’ in the winter of 1970/71. Initially, Eno was assigned the role of technical advisor. However, after a short period of time, Eno became a performing member of the group (O’Brien, 2010). The band originally consisted of Bryan Ferry on vocals/keyboard, Andy Mackay on sax/oboe, Brian Eno on synths, Roger Bunn on guitar, Graham Simpson on bass, and Dextor Lloyd on percussion.
Eno’s days as a member of Roxy Music were short-lived as on July 2nd, 1973, he said goodbye to his fellow band members. At the time, Eno told Melody Marker that “It’s very hard to know just how honest I should be about the reasons for my demise from Roxy”
During his days as a member of the group, Eno had what was described as a ‘friendly rivalry’ with friend and fellow bandmate Bryan Ferry (Swanson, 2013). Despite Ferry being the brains behind the majority of Roxy’s music, fans loved Eno. Ferry wasn’t particularly fond of the interview process; he often became tongue-tied, whereas Eno thrived due to his confidence.
Following his departure from the band, Eno stated that “It was a typical clash of young male egos”. According to Eno, he often attracted a lot of attention from the press due to him being “visually so bizarre looking”. His front presence in the group “distorted the impression of where the creative leadership of the band was.” He added, “It was definitely Bryan’s band.”
Transitional Period
In 1973, Eno began development on a tape-delay system. He collaborated with Robert Fripp, which inspired the name of his tape-delay ‘Frippertronics’. Eno used looped delays on Fripp’s guitar as a form of musical composition. This led to the release of ‘No Pussyfooting’.
Eno then began working solo, releasing ‘Here Come The Wild Jets’ which made it to the U.K Top 30.
For a short period of time, Eno fronted the Winkies. Unfortunately, after less than a week on tour, Eno was admitted to hospital for a collapsed lung. He spent the early part of 1974 in the hospital due to his ill health.
On a dark January evening in 1975, Eno was returning home from a recording session when he was struck by a car. Bleeding profusely, Eno was hospitalised once again. It was then, during his time recovering, that Eno invented ambient music.
An old girlfriend of his had brought a harp LP over to his flat. Eno recalled after having laid down, he realised the level on his amplifier was set too low and one channel on his stereo had failed completely. The music played nearly inaudibly, which he described as having presented him with a “new way of hearing music – as part of the ambience of the environment just as the colour of the light and sound of the rain were parts of the ambience.”
Music for Airports
The idea for ambient music returned when Eno spent hours waiting in airports. Flying made him anxious, so he wanted to make music that he could listen to while in airports to help him remain calm and hence, the idea for ‘Music for Airports’ was born.
While in Berlin working with David Bowie, Eno recorded some material for this project. He visited the studio of German producer Conny Plank and recorded a female German trio singing individual notes. This record was later released in the year 1978.
Talking Heads
Between the years 1978 and 1980, Eno and David Byrne’s band, Talking Heads, created three revolutionary albums together; ‘More Songs about Buildings and Food’ released July 7th, 1978, ‘Fear of Music’ released August 3rd, 1979 and ‘Remain in Light’ released October 8th, 1980.
Eno and Talking Heads frontman, David Byrne, shared writing credits on all tracks except for one on the world-music inspired album ‘Remain in Light’. The song ‘Once in a Lifetime’ was based on a mistake – Eno’s mistake. (Frere-Jones, 2014) “That song was a very good case of people not agreeing about the one,” Eno recalled in an interview with Sasha Frere-Jones, referring to the first beat in each bar. “I always heard it in a different place from everyone else, so I just kept sort of building things onto my one.”
However, conflict between Byrne and the other band members expedited Eno’s departure from the band’s circle. Byrne and Eno later joined forces once again to release the work of art which is ‘My Life In The Bush of Ghosts’. At the time of release, it was widely dismissed “[My Life In The Bush of Ghosts] sounded like a quirky side project on its release in 1981” (Dahlen, 2006) whereas in recent years, Nonesuch Records “repackaged it as a near-masterpiece, a milestone of sampled music, and a peace summit in the continual West-meets-rest struggle.” (Dahlen, 2006)
David Bowie
“For whatever reason, for whatever confluence of circumstances, Tony, Brian and I created a powerful, anguished, sometimes euphoric language of sounds,”
It is undeniable that Eno played a pivotal role in recording ‘Low’, ‘Heroes’ and ‘Lodger’ – David Bowie’s ‘Berlin Trilogy’. Eno had the ability to push Bowie “beyond the limits of rock” (Tamm, 1988).
‘Low’, released on January 14th, 1977, was considered to be Bowie’s ‘Another Green World’, though Bowie segregated the two sides of the album; one rock, the other strictly non-rock with “no stylistic exploration in between” (Tamm, 1988). Eno’s influence is more evident in the experimental, non-rock side of the album. In general, though Eno’s musical personality comes to light, Bowie’s own style is still most distinguishable on the record, as it does showcase ‘harmonic twists’ that Eno would usually avoid.
On the ‘Heroes’ record which was released on October 14th, 1977, Eno is credited as the co-author of four songs. The song titled ‘Heroes’ from the album has Robert Fripp to thank for its astonishing three-note guitar line as well as Eno for his background synthesiser work.
‘Lodger’, released on May 18th, 1979, proved to be the least successful album of t
he Berlin Trilogy. Eno’s treatments were lost within the mix as it was just too busy. Bowie and Eno had numerous arguments regarding particular songs. Eno later stated that “It started off extremely promising and quite revolutionary and it didn’t seem to quite end that way.”
Bowie later made a heartfelt, honest claim that “It is some of the best work that the three of us have ever done. Nothing else sounded like those albums. Nothing else came close. If I never made another album, it really wouldn’t matter now. My complete being is within those three. They are my DNA.” (Mastropolo, 2016)
U2
When U2 first contacted Eno, who had also previously recorded for Island Records, they were in the thought process for what would become ‘The Unforgettable Fire’. Eno wasn’t too keen on working with the band as he had moved away from recording rock in 1980. ‘Remain in Light’ by Talking Heads was the last rock record Eno had worked on and subsequent to that record, he focused mainly on ambient music, therefore this led to Eno turning down U2 when they first approached him.
Eventually, Eno was hired to produce U2’s fourth studio album ‘The Unforgettable Fire’. Eno insisted that Daniel Lanois was taken on also. In the end, Eno and Lanois co-produced the album. Eno was fond of using unconventional recording locations to achieve certain sounds that could not be replicated in a studio, Slane Castle being one of the locations for ‘The Unforgettable Fire’.
When U2 began recording ‘No Line on the Horizon’, they began recording with world-renowned producer Rick Rubin. Rubin’s requests to have songs ready to track in the studio didn’t suit the band however as they felt it hindered their songwriting ability. The band preferred Eno’s creative process in which they had adopted in their earlier years; to use the studio as inspiration for songwriting. U2 hence decided to work with Eno for the album ‘No Line on the Horizon’.