Mort Garson | Artist

Morton Sanford Garson was a Canadian composer, arranger, songwriter, and pioneer of electronic music born 1924 in Saint John, Canada. He is best known for his albums in the 1960s and 1970s that were among the first to feature Moog synthesizers. He has one of the most unique and outright bizarre resumés in popular music, spanning from easy listening to occult-influenced space-age electronic pop. The son of Russian jewish refugees, Garson moved to New York City where he studied music at the Julliard School. He then worked as a pianist and arranger before being called into the Army near the end of WWII. After leaving the forces he became a session musician with an ability to compose, arrange, orchestrate, conduct, and play piano as required. He also co-wrote hit popular songs for artists such as Ruby & The Romantics, Brenda Lee, and Cliff Richards, plus he provided arrangements and accompaniment to many artists such as Doris Day, Mel Torme, Glenn Yarborough and Julie London. In 1967, Garson met Robert Moog at a music engineers' convention, and started to use an early Moog Synthesizer. Garson became one of the first arrangers and composers to work with the Moog, and his electronic albums from the period are now highly prized among collectors and exotica fans. The subject matter for his compositions included, astrology (the Zodiac), the occult (Black Mass), erotica (Music For Sensuous Lovers) and pseudo-science (Music for Plants). He released works under his own name as well as under Lucifer, Ataraxia and The Wozard of Iz. Standout albums include The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds, Electronic Hair Pieces, Didn't You Hear?, An Electronic Odyssey, Black Mass, The Unexplained: Electronic Musical Impressions of the Occult, and Mother Earth's Plantasia. The 2020 compilation Music From Patch Cord Productions is also recommended. Garson also worked in television and film, scoring a wide variety of music for many different movies and TV shows, from Beware! The Blob! to Kentucky Fried Movie to National Geographic specials. Garson's music was used as incidental music during the television transmissions of the Apollo moon landing by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969.

Artist Website: wikipedia/Mort_Garson

Featured Albums: Mort Garson

Related Artists: Lucifer, Ataraxia, The Wozard of Iz

Video Clips: Mort Garson: Featurette, Plantasia, Vintage Advertisement