
Side 1
HEART BEAT, PIG MEAT
Written and Performed by Pink Floyd

This song is more of a sonic collage. All of the Pink Floyd songs were written in Rome in 1969 right after the release of their album Ummagumma. Can you see where Massive Attack might draw some inspiration from Pink Floyd?
Brother Mary
Written and Performed by The Kaleidoscope

This song was written by the great side man and musician David Lindley. The Kaleidoscope was a favorite band of the LA scene and it was Lindley’s band. They were very respected by other musicians like Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, but they could never get a hit record. They made three LP’s with Epic Records and called it quits. Lindley went on to fame with Jackson Browne.
Excerpt from DARK STAR
Written and Performed by The Grateful Dead

This song really should need no introduction since it is one of the Dead’s most well know songs. I think it sounds awesome and it doesn’t last long enough. (The opposite of when you see the Dead perform it in concert.) Rhino Records has a double CD of the soundtrack that includes another 30 minutes of outtakes of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.
Crumbling Land
Written and Performed by Pink Floyd

I think a lot of people might not identify this song as being a Pink Floyd song. It has a definite Country twist to it.
Tennessee Waltz
Written by Pee Wee King and Performed by Patti Page

This song appears in the movie during the heroine’s drive through the desert. She here’s it on the radio.
Sugar Babe
Performed by The Youngbloods

This song also was heard on the car radio by the Heroine of the movie during her drive across the desert. It’s a little more hedonistic than the Tennessee Waltz…
Side 2
Love Scene
Written and Performed by Jerry Garcia

This is one of the great surprises of this record! This is a beautiful improvisation of Jerry Garcia. It contains everything that is great about his playing. The love scene is the core of the movie and it occurs out on Zabriskie Point in the desert. There is a lot of full frontal nudity and that may be one of the reasons that this movie has attained a level of cult followers… At any rate the music is sublime! Pink Floyd also wrote two different songs for this scene but both were rejected by Antonioni. I have included those cuts at the end of this blog for your evaluation and enjoyment.
I Wish I Was A Single Girl Again
Traditional folk song performed by Roscoe Holcomb.

Roscoe Holcomb was an icon of Blue Grass and Folk Music. This is him at his best. Quite a jolt after the Garcia Love music! Loud and proud!!
Mickey’s Tune
Written and performed by The Kaleidoscope
This is another cut by David Lindley & Company. It is a glimpse into the musicianship of this wrongly obscure band.
Dance Of Death
Written and performed by John Fahey
John Fahey is another interesting side story to this LP. He was a pioneer of the rediscovery and promotion of Folk Music. He single handedly rediscovered and revived the music of Skip James. He hated ‘hippies’, Antonioni, Jerry Garcia and anything else that appeared to undermine the United States of America. During the making of the movie he got into an argument with Antonioni and punched him in the face! How any of his music got in the movie, I can’t explain… By the way, it is rumored that he recorded hours and hours of music for the film that ended up on the cutting room floor…
Come In Number 51, Your Time Is Up
Written and performed by Pink Floyd

This song is an early version of Be Careful With That Axe, Eugene… This is the Pink Floyd we all know and love. This music is in the final scene where the Real Estate Developers house in the desert is blown up over and over and over again. The massive wall of guitar fuzz is the perfect accompaniment to total destruction.
Thus ends the soundtrack that is way better than the film it was made for. I am including the outtakes below.
Outtakes
Untitled
Written and performed by Pink Floyd

Love Scene #1
Written and performed by Pink Floyd

Love Scene #2
Written and Performed by Pink Floyd

Untitled (aka Oenone)

Untitled (aka Fingal’s Cave)

So Young
Written and Performed by Roy Orbison

This was the song heard over the closing credits of the movie.
So what IS the point of Zabriskie Point? I don’t know, but there seems to be several lessons. First, not all great music is inspired by great art or beauty. Inspiration can come from anywhere. Second, if we’re not open to new things we could miss a lot of great stuff. But last, I think the biggest lesson I learned can be summed up by the William Hurt character in the great movie “The Big Chill”: “Sometimes you just have to let Art flow over you…”
John,
Really liked the post. The piano in PF Love Scene #2 was great. I don’t see audio for Mickey’s Tune and Dance of Death. Did they some how fall off.
Fiting that such a counter culture movie ends with such a culture icon as Roy Obison
I look forward to watching the DVD with you some time.
Jim:
Thanks so much for catching the snafu on those two songs. They are now updated and included. I also look forward to watching the movie with you as soon possible. By the way I have the info on the “Lords Prayer” question. I think you will find it interesting as well. If you get a chance, “Mickey’s Tune” and “Dance of Death” are now operational.
This was a fun listen and read, thanks, John! I’d never heard a lot this music, completely agree with you, Jerry Garcia’s Love Scene truly is sublime. Speaking of Jerry, there is a little known film well worth a rental called The Music Never Stopped, based on the true story of a man who used the music of the Grateful Dead (and others) to connect with his estranged son who suffers from a brain tumor. Love the Kaleidoscope track, I’m a big fan of David Lindley. His Mercury Blues just might be my favorite “air guitar” track of all time, 3 minutes of sheer amped up , out of control rock and roll manic bliss.
Ken, thanks for the tip on The Music Never Stopped. I will check it out. I am also a big Lindley fan. What album is Mercury Blues on?
It’s on El Rayo X, his first solo album-produced by Jackson Browne. You gotta have the LP for this one-I have both and the CD is a pale, lifeless imitation of the real thing!
This is going to the top of the list for me! I’ll let you know after I pick it up.