Henry Flynt & the Insurrections

Henry Flynt & the Insurrections were an American avant-garde and experimental garage rock band, led by musician, and future philosopher/multi-media artist, Henry Flynt, whose sound was highly influenced by blues and folk. Their songs expressed frustration with the Vietnam War, as well as radical political sentiments similar to those of better known acts of the time, such as The Fugs and the Godz. All of their material was recorded onto rehearsal demos in 1966, which are now included on the album compilation, I Don't Wanna, released in 2004 on Locust Music.

History

Henry Flynt & the Insurrections were led by musician, and future philosopher/multi-media artist, Henry Flynt, who was a classically trained violinist who also learned guitar from Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground in the mid-1960s not long before the formation of the Insurrections.^[1][2][3][4] Flynt, a native of North Carolina, was living in New York City during the 1960s and had come into contact with many of the conceptual, "Fluxus", and avant-garde artists and musicians living there at the time, including Yoko Ono, before starting his own group.^[2][4][5] He is sometimes credited with coining the phrase "conceptual art".^[5][6] According to Flynt, conceptual art devolves from his conception cognitive nihilism, which rests at the foundation philosophical system.^[7] Flynt who had initially been trained on guitar by Lou Reed briefly joined the Velvet Underground in 1966 substituting for John Cale, at his suggestion, while Cale was suffering from an illness.^[2][5] During that time Lou Reed gave him his first guitar lessons.^[2] Flynt had been interested in writing songs with political messages, so he began assembling an act of his own.^[2] The act that became Henry Flynt & the Insurrections started as a duo with Flynt as the vocalist and electric guitarist. He was accompanied by Walter De Maria, a sculptor and friend, on drums, who had formerly played in the Primitives, an earlier garage rock combo that included Lou Reed. The Primitives had recorded "The Ostrich," which was co-written by Reed and Cale.^[2] The duo specialized began to hone the kind of agitprop approach to topical songs which became their hallmark as they evolved into a larger group, eventually adding jazz musician Paul Breslin on upright bass and organist Art Murphy, and taking the name Henry Flynt & the Insurrections.^[2][4] Many of the band's songs were highly satirical, rife with references to topics such as "napalm," "Uncle Sam," "CIA-backed coups".^[1] They recorded songs onto rehearsal demos in 1966, but, due to Flynt and DeMaira's wariness of commercial success, the material was not released until years later.^[2] The band broke up shortly thereafter.^[2] Flynt, despite whatever reticence, continued performing as an avant garde musician.^[2][5] Occasionally he played alongside LeMont Young.^[4] He retired from music in 1983 to concentrate on theoretical and philosophical writing.^[4]

The group's demo tapes were re-issued in 2004 on the album compilation, I Don't Wanna, on Locust Music.^{[1][2][3][8][9]} In Records Ruin the Landscape: John Cage, the Sixties, and Sound Recording, David Grubbs describes the Henry Flynt & the Insurrections sound as "garage-punk protest".^[1] Their posthumously released I Don't Wanna was listed as Julian Cope's Album of the Month, not long after its release.^[2] Cope comments: "This album reveals such an astonishing quicksilver energy of interplay between the guitar and drums that it all sounds contemporary even today".^[1]

Membership

• Henry Flynt (vocals and electric guitar)
• Walter De Maria (drums)
• Art Murphy (keyboards)
• Paul Breslin (upright bass)

Discography

• I Don't Wanna (Locust Music, 2004)

Notes and references