LOST TREASURES – Smoke Rise

Posted on 24 April 2015

LOST TREASURES

Smoke Rise

“The Survival of St. Joan”

Smoke Rise

By Peter Marston

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I can still remember taking a community bus to the beach and, on the drive home after a day of body surfing with my junior high friends, hearing The Assembled Multitude’s “Overture from Tommy” for the first time. I was amazed, thrilled and an instant fan of the long form. As soon as I got home, I pilfered my brother’s copy of the Who album and listened to it over and over the rest of the summer. When Jesus Christ Superstar appeared on the scene I was equally rapt—who knew I loved opera! I snapped up every rock opera that came on the market, from the unbelievably horrible The Truth of Truths (featuring Jim Backus as God—that should have been a hint) to Smoke Rise’s thoroughly enjoyable Survival of St. Joan.

 

The project began with an original play and libretto by James Lineberger, a playwright and screenwriter perhaps best-known for adapting the screenplay for the Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton movie Taps. The basic story of The Survival of St. Joan is based upon the conceit that Joan of Arc was spared her execution by virtue of a double being burned in her place. After this stroke of good fortune, Joan is led off to a farm where her caretaker falls in love with her and wants her to settle down, but Joan, restless and driven, leaves to try to rejoin the French army in the Hundred Years War. Things go poorly and Joan is again accused of being a witch and this time, does not survive the stake.

Smoke Rise - CD back

Lineberger gave the libretto to Smoke Rise—a completely unknown American band—to compose and perform the music for the songs. The band consisted of three brothers: Gary, Hank and Stan Ruffin (guitar, keyboards and drums, respectively) along with Randy Bugg (bass). About two-thirds of the songs were written by Gary Ruffin; the other third by Hank Ruffin. The work attracted the attention of Stephen Schwartz who, along with David Blue, produced the album, released on Paramount Records in 1971. It was an ambitious debut: a two-record set spanning twenty-three songs.

 

The music on The Survival of St. Joan is mainstream early ’70s pop and rock, leaning a bit more to the FM side of the dial. There are occasional prog elements, especially in the keyboards parts, while the guitar playing has a generally light and folky feel. The vocals remind me of a cross between CSN and Three Dog Night and are excellent throughout. Like in Tommy and Jesus Christ Superstar, there are some reprises of themes and even whole sections of songs, though generally in very different arrangements. There are no spectacular songs or shoulda-been hit singles here, but the entire piece has a melodicism and an easy pop sensibility that is hard to resist. With twenty-three tracks, a play-by-play review isn’t advisable, but let me identify a few highlights. The opening “Survival” is a hard rocking number with searing lead guitar, terrific harmonies and a memorable dynamic shift in the chorus. “Someone is Dying” begins with a very gentle arrangement and then builds to an appropriately harrowing climax for a song seeking to represent a woman being burned at the stake. “Back in the World” is a strong melodic track with an arrangement that vaguely recalls the Blues Image’s “Ride Captain Ride.” “Stonefire” is more folk-influenced with rolling piano and, again, great harmonies. “Cannonfire” is the second act ballad which is the closest thing to a showstopper here. It’s a great song with a memorable melody and a beautiful vocal.

Smoke Rise creepy

The Survival of St. Joan was staged shortly after the recording of the album, with a preliminary run in Buffalo, New York, and then a brief run off Broadway (very brief, in fact—a mere sixteen performances). The cast included Gretchen Corbett as Joan and F. Murray Abraham playing several parts. None of the actors sang the songs—that was all done by Smoke Rise―which must have proved most puzzling for audiences expecting a Broadway musical. Schwartz was the musical director for these productions and was even asked to write an additional song to flesh out the story—and while the song was not completed before the show folded, the music would serve as the basis for “As Long as You’re Mine” from the musical Wicked.

 

Not much more was heard from Smoke Rise—only a one-off single on ATCO in 1972 (“I Need a Woman” b/w “Late Last Friday Night”). Schwartz, of course, went on to great success, first with Godspell and then with Pippin and the aforementioned Wicked.

 

The Survival of St. Joan has never been officially released on CD or in the digital domain. An unofficial CD is available on amazon and other sites, but is merely a needle-drop of the original album. The original vinyl appears frequently on second-market sites and is often available for a modest price. If you are a fan of rock opera or early ’70s FM rock, I highly recommend it!

 

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Pop Pioneer and “Lost Treasures” writer, Peter Marston is the leader of long-running power pop band, Shplang, whose most recent album, “My Big Three Wheeler” has been described as “the Beatles meet Zappa in pop-psych Sumo match.”  Peter has a new project in 2015 under the name MARSTON.   They will have a track on the upcoming “Power Pop Planet – Volume 5” compilation due in May, 2015.

You check it out at this link:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/shplang

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LINKS:

WIKIPEDIA:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Survival_of_St._Joan

Good Blog Post:  http://badcatrecords.com/BadCat/SMOKErise.htm

VIDEOS:

“SURVIVAL” & “SOMEONE IS DYING”

“LONELY NEIGHBORS”

“THE ALBUM”
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkFtwsyWPiBhh_RjrBlepNEeXAfXcAUa

 

 

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