Filmmakers Tim Mahoney and Morgan Evans have launched a Kickstarter to fund production of a documentary about a rare Mort Garson album, Plantasia:
Here’s what they have to say about it:
“Plantasia” is a super rare and criminally neglected masterpiece of modern music that was made for plants. Literally. It’s electronic music for plants to grow to. It was written by genius composer/arranger/instrumentalist/moog-master Mort Garson in the mid-70s under the moniker “Mother Earth”.
Most of Garson’s releases during this period are difficult to get your hands on. Given Mort Garson’s use of weird pseudonyms, strange subject matter, and the utilization of smaller, independent pressing plants, many of his original records cost a pretty penny. But “Plantasia” is different.
Due to a bizarre (and possibly very dumb?) promotion which paired the record as a giveaway if you bought a Simmons mattress in 1976, authentic copies often remain hidden away on thrift store racks, garage sale driveways, or dusty attics. Because of how difficult it is to find this record, the resale market on mint condition copies is astoundingly high. Buying a clean copy of “Plantasia” at a record store could easily cost upwards of $300 USD.
In Finding Plantasia, Tim and Morgan hit the road to search for this forgotten musical treasure in its natural habitat. In this documentary film, Tim and Morgan will be speaking to fans of this record and digging through the stuff society has discarded in search of a true gem. The road trip story provides a great framework to get into the nitty-gritty history of “Plantasia” and the niche culture that has sprung up around it.
Details are available at the project site.
This is not the kind of immature jackassery that inspires me to donate money.
On the other hand, it seems like their jackassery might otherwise render them difficult-to-employ. Supporting this project might keep them out of their parents’ basements for a few weeks. Think of the parents.
I ordered the bootleg of this when it was on TTL but mine got canceled before it could ship out. Would love one of these records.
Telling you. All that’s next is for someone to grow some marjiuana to the music and call it “analog weed”
Oh dam, I have this album, just rummaged through my collection to find it. Dad gave it to me back then, as I was building modular synths—it still has the “Compliments of W. Simmons” sticker on it.
my copy cost me $1 a decade or more ago.
I got mine through a trade some years ago. I love this record and had no idea of the seemingly out of nowhere price surge. So thankful I got mine when I did.
Great record but these guys can jog on.
This post prompted me to check out this album on youtube
Never heard it till now
Was a really swell way to spend 30mins feasting my ears upon for the first time
thank you
I’ve listened nothing as many times as this album in the past 5 years.
Please explain to me what I am missing? I have listened to some of the album on Spotify, but to me it sounds totally uninspiring and boring. Is Mort Garson the Claus Wunderlich of synthesizers? (I do like Claus Wunderlich by the way). Is this hyped purely because it has some sort of cult status, or is there actual genius behind this that I am totally oblivious to?
My label, Rubellan Remasters, licensed and released Garson’s other two MOOG masterpieces, Lucifer ‘Black Mass’ and Ataraxia ‘The Unexplained’ on CD in 2018. These were licensed from Universal and Sony, and remastered from original master tapes. I tried to find out about licensing Plantasia for reissue but it didn’t happen because the original label, Homewood, seems to be long gone and Garson’s remaining heir, who may or may not hold the rights since the original label is dead, was not interested.
Hey Scott,
I’d love to chat with you about that. We’re getting closer and closer to the master.
Sure, I’d be happy to chat about it. You can reach me at [email protected]. My label is also on Facebook and Twitter.