Pearls Before Swine (band)

With high school friends Wayne Harley (banjo, mandolin), Lane Lederer (bass, guitar) and Roger Crissinger (piano, organ), Rapp wrote and recorded some songs which, inspired by the Fugs, they sent to the avant-garde ESP-Disk label in New York. The group took its name from a Bible passage: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine ...." (Mat. 7:6, KJV), meaning: do not give things of value to those who will not understand or appreciate them. They were quickly signed, and recorded One Nation Underground (1967), featuring songs of mysticism, protest, melancholia, and some controversy in the case of "Miss Morse", which spelled out an obscenity in Morse code. The album eventually sold some 200,000 copies, although management and contractual problems meant that the band received little reward for its success.[1]

Rapp has said that "We never got any money from ESP. Never, not even like a hundred dollars or something. My real sense is that he (Bernard Stollman) was abducted by aliens, and when he was probed it erased his memory of where all the money was".[2]

The strongly anti-war-themed Balaklava (1968) followed, inspired by the Charge of the Light Brigade. Rapp has said "The first two albums are probably considered the druggiest, and I had never done any drugs at that point. I smoked Winston cigarettes at that time, so these are all Winston-induced hallucinations."[3] The album covers featured paintings by Bosch and Brueghel, while the records themselves included interpretations of the writings of Tolkien and Herodotus as well as archive recordings from the 1890s, with innovatively arranged songs using an eclectic variety of instruments.[1]

The band signed with Reprise Records in 1969, although by this time the other original members had left and the band name now referred to Rapp and whichever musicians he was recording or touring with, one of whom, Jim Fairs, was previously a member of The Cryan' Shames. The five albums on Reprise were generally more conventional in sound, but contained a unique blend of humanistic and mystical songs, with some whimsical touches. Some were recorded in New York and others – particularly The Use of Ashes and City of Gold – in Nashville with top session musicians including Charlie McCoy, Kenny Buttrey, and other members of Area Code 615. Several also featured Rapp's then-wife Elisabeth on vocals. The oddly upbeat "The Man", from City of Gold, was sung by David Noyes and recorded at A&R Studios in New York City during the summer of 1970. Noyes' friend Jon Tooker took his position when the band toured Europe that fall.

In his teens, Rapp lived close to Cape Canaveral and watched the rockets take off. The song "Rocket Man", on the album The Use of Ashes – written the day Neil Armstrong landed on the moon – was credited by Bernie Taupin with inspiring his hit song with Elton John of the same title: "We didn't steal that one from Bowie, we stole it from another guy, called Tom Rapp..."[3] Many of the other songs of this period reflected Rapp's interests in mysticism, his relationship with his alcoholic father, and his experiences of living for a time in (and marrying a native of) the Netherlands. "Rocket Man" was based on a story by Ray Bradbury.

In 1971, Pearls Before Swine toured for the first time, the group then comprising Rapp, Mike Krawitz (piano), Gordon Hayes (bass) and Jon Tooker (guitar). Around this time, Rapp often referred onstage, not quite seriously, to the group as "the house band for the SDS." A live album from this period, Live Pearls, recorded at Yale University, was released as a download in December 2008.[4] The final Reprise album, Familiar Songs, consisted of newly conceived, arranged, and produced recordings of some of Rapp's earlier songs, along with a few new and unreleased, featuring his then-current band, Morrie Brown (bass, guitar, mandolin and vocals), Robby Merkin (piano, organ, synth, bass and vocals), and David Wolfert (acoustic and electric guitar, 12-string, Dobro and vocals) along with drummer Billy Mundi, formerly of The Mothers Of Invention. Without Rapp's knowledge, the label released it not as a Pearls Before Swine album, but under his name alone.[5]

Two further albums followed, released under Rapp's own name on Blue Thumb Records. The first, Stardancer, was again recorded in Nashville, followed by Sunforest. The band—by that time comprising Rapp, Art Ellis (flute), Bill Rollins (bass, cello) and Harry Orlove (guitar, banjo)—toured until 1974, with Rapp from then performing solo until a final appearance in 1976 supporting Patti Smith.

After this, Rapp retired from music and, after graduating from Brandeis University, became a civil rights lawyer. After being contacted by the magazine Ptolemaic Terrascope, he re-appeared in 1997 at Terrastock, a music festival in Providence, Rhode Island, with his son's band, Shy Camp, and began recording again with 1999's A Journal of the Plague Year.[6]

Tom Rapp appears on the Neil Young 2-CD tribute This Note's For You Too with the song "After the Gold Rush" on Inbetweens Records.

Original member Roger Crissinger left the group in 1968, joining San Francisco band One (1) led by Reality D. Blipcrotch.[7] Lane Lederer is now a member of the Florida Orchestra.

Bass guitarist Morrie Brown became a record producer in R&B music. He was responsible for mentoring up-and-coming songwriters and producers Paul Laurence and Kashif.[8] Brown collaborated with Kashif and Laurence on creating hit singles for B.T. Express and Evelyn "Champagne" King. Brown produced King's biggest hits—"I'm in Love", "Love Come Down" and "Betcha She Don't Love You"—as well as Howard Johnson's 1982 hit "So Fine".[9] Since 1992, Brown has been the owner and founder of the printing software company PrintPoint.[10]

Guitarist David Wolfert also became a record producer, as well as session musician. Wolfert worked on albums by Barbra Streisand, Don Covay, and the Four Tops,[11] where he would produce the song "I Believe in You and Me" which would later be covered by Whitney Houston. Wolfert also produced the solo debut Out of Control for Kiss drummer Peter Criss. In recent years, Wolfert composed the music for the English language version of the anime Pokémon.

Jon Tooker died in a motorcycle crash in 2008. Art Ellis died on November 2, 2017.[12] Tom Rapp died on February 11, 2018, after suffering from pelvic cancer.[13]

Pearls Before Swine have been cited as a key influence by various musicians including The Dream Academy, Damon and Naomi, the Bevis Frond, This Mortal Coil, and the Japanese band Ghost. Three tribute albums have been released by Secret Eye Records.

• A tribute to Tom Rapp and Pearls Before Swine
• 1994 interview with Tom Rapp
• Article by Mark Brend
• Washington Post article
• Lane Lederer