Bobby Beausoleil has a bit of a bad rep. Bad rep could be an understatement, but it’s true.
It never helps to be friends with Charles Manson, or get caught up in a war against society, but its sad to have this overshadow some of his greater achievements, like music. It goes without saying that he was a rebel to the extreme; a hardcore bad boy, his music translates a certain genius that was erased by his life’s tragedies.
Entitled “Penumbra”, and composed by Beausoleil himself, the track was not used for the film, but can be heard today along with the Freedom Orchestra to create a magical and mystic ride to other places. It’s definitely something to jam to, and knowing how the darkness delights you, I’m sure you will find this one truly intrinsic.
Bobby Beausoleil appeared also appeared in Kenneth Anger’s magic short, “Invocation of My Demon Brother”, alongside Anger himself, and the notorious Anton LaVey – the founder and High Priest of the First Church of Satan, and a staple haunt of the entertainment industry in California during this time.
Bobby Beausoleil, insane in the membrane in “Invocation of My Demon Brother” (1969)
So, what do you think of the tune? HAUNTING? ? ?
+
I don’t mean to scare you . . .
So,
+until next time+
Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter
+
+
+++ {theEye}
+++
+
E.O.F. Style Idol, Hollywood Hero, Mystic Magick Muse, and all-time legendary underground film maker Kenneth Anger has hit the pages of Esquire magazine, marking a continued rise in interest from the mainstream in this myth of man who has rubbed shoulders with everyone from Mick Jagger to Anton LaVey (the forefather of the Church of Satan).
Anger talks about his fascination with occult, Old Hollywood, and stories from his career that have made him an inspiration not only to us, but many hundreds of thousands of people who found solace in his enigmatically beautiful short films from his first Fireworks in 1947, to his ultra epic Lucifer Rising (1972) which features Marianna Faithfull and a score by the notorious Bobby Beausoleil, who was arrested in collaboration with the Manson family in 1970.
Well, well…what have we here? Come back for some more?!
While we’re on the topic of Devils, it seems, we couldn’t resist bringing you this little niblit of the Film & Style Divine. Kenneth Anger. From “Invocation of My Demon Brother”, to “Fireworks”, “Lucifer Rising” , “Scorpio Rising”, and “Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome” – this auteur to the max has brought to the world an esoteric, rebellious, and divine sensibility to all of his works.
Inspiration we are still reaping today! Take for instance, Ryan Gosling’s iconic gold satin jacket with scorpion on the back in 2011’s “Drive” – it was Kenneth Anger’s “Scorpio Rising”, an experimental film made by Anger in 1963 about bikers, the occult, the underground, Catholicism, and Nazism that inspired the logo that would become synonymous with Gosling’s “Driver” character.
Throughout his work you can see his love for cinema, for art, for style, for fashion, for creative people that don’t see the world the way other people do. People who gather together to be the truest, and most extreme versions of themselves they can be. It takes a true creative mastermind to bring that into fruition.
Blending the world of the occult with pop culture and art-house cinema, Anger’s films are all one-of-a-kind, kaleidoscopic dreams (and sometimes nightmares).
For instance, take “Invocation of My Demon Brother” from 1969. With music by Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones Mick, Yes), and cameos by some of 1960s California’s most notorious esoteric celebrities including Founder of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey (making yet another appearance here at EOF), and Bobby Beausoleil (later charged in committing a first degree murder with members of the “Manson Family ).
Invocation of My Demon Brother” is a rare glimpse into a dark underground world, as well as a visual poem to the horrors of War, humanity, and nature itself.
There’s nothing really to be scared of here. Just a bunch of Hocus-Pocus…Movie MAGIC, if you will. It’s really lucky to recieve an entire commentary on the film by the artist himself, as there are not many interviews with the often recluse director.
Anger usually centres his work on ideas of the divine, spiritual, decadent, sexual, and supernatural. The now 86 year old auteur (Happy Belated! His birthday was February 3) got his start in the glorious heydays of Hollywood Babylon itself, as the Changeling Prince in Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle’s 1935 adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
Having seen the ins and outs of Hollywood and such a young age- a land full of magic, glamour, decadence, and of course, EVIL – it is fantastic to invite yourself into a Kenneth Anger piece, as you can always leave from it feeling a certain “je ne sais quoi”, as the French would say.
The French, and Europe in general, have always lauded this Prince of Darkness for his unique dark styles, as well as humor (yes, Humor!). Though it took upward of 40 years (40 YEARS!!!), the Fashion World finally seemed ready to let out a little Anger, and the American Auteur was given the helms of a short fashion video for Missoni’s “A/W 2010-2011.
We’re having that “je ne sais quoi” type of feeling again, how about you? If you want to learn more about the dark Prince of style you can visit his official website here. And to buy his masterworks, click here.
