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''Song of Innocence'' is the debut album of American composer and producer David Axelrod, released in October 1968 by Capitol Records. Axelrod sought to capitalize on the experimental climate of popular music at the time and composed the album as a suite-like tone poem based on ''Songs of Innocence'', a 1789 illustrated collection of poems by William Blake. It was recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles with an orchestra and a variety of studio musicians, including keyboardist and conductor Don Randi, guitarist Al Casey, bassist Carol Kaye, and drummer Earl Palmer. ''Song of Innocence'' is an instrumental jazz fusion record that incorporates elements of classical, rock, funk, pop, and theatre music. It is arranged for bass, drums, and string instruments, written in the rock idiom with tempos centered on rock-based patterns by Palmer. Axelrod used contrast in his orchestral compositions and interspersed the album's euphoric psychedelic R&B form with dramatic, harrowing arrangements to reflect the supernatural themes found in Blake's poems. The music's reverent, psychedelic overtones evoke their themes of innocence and spirituality. Although ''Song of Innocence'' was innovative for its application of rock and jazz techniques, it was not commercially successful and confounded contemporary critics, who viewed it as an ambitious curiosity piece. In the 1990s, critics reassessed the album as a classic, while leading disc jockeys in hip hop and electronica rediscovered and sampled the album's music. "Holy Thursday", the record's best-known song, was frequently sampled by hip hop producers. The renewed interest in Axelrod's work prompted Stateside Records to reissue ''Song of Innocence'' in 2000. == Background == In 1968, David Axelrod gained national fame for his controversial mass composition ''Mass in F Minor'', which he wrote in a contemporary rock vein for the Electric Prunes. Axelrod, who was challenged by what he described as a "new breed of record buyer ... more sophisticated in his thinking", was one of several Los Angeles-based musical eccentrics during the late 1960s who expanded on the mid-1960s studio experiments of Brian Wilson and George Martin. After his success with the Electric Prunes, he was asked to record a similar album by Capitol Records, for whom he worked as a staff producer and songwriter.〔; ; 〕 Axelrod wanted to further capitalize on the experimental climate of popular music at the time and chose to adapt works by English poet William Blake on an album. At the time, Blake musical settings were at the height of their popularity among musicians and composers. Numerous serious music composers had set his poems to music since the 1870s, and the practice was eventually adapted in other musical fields during the 20th century, including popular music, musical theatre, and the 1960s folk idiom.〔; ; 〕 Axelrod, a self-professed "Blake freak", had been fascinated by Blake's painting and poetry since his late teens and frequently read the poems as an adult.〔; ; 〕 He conceived ''Song of Innocence'' after he had bought an edition of Blake's complete poetry while working in Capitol's art department and considered the concept for a few years before ''Mass in F Minor''.〔; 〕 Axelrod was not sociable with colleagues, such as record executives who could have helped him professionally, and felt that he could identify with Blake; he considered the poet "very bad at making new friends". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Song of Innocence」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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