David Byrne & Brian Eno: My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

With David Byrne and Brian Eno getting along like the proverbial house on fire, it was perhaps inevitable that they would go off in their own corner to create, while the other three Talking Heads bided their time (or rather, didn’t have to sit around waiting for them). The two were already fascinated with exotic rhythms and the blending of cultures, and so spent the better part of a year experimenting with tracks, other like-minded musicians, and trawling through Eno’s collection of off-air recordings from various American AM radio stations.

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts was the result, released on Sire (the Heads’ label) in the US but on Eno’s label in the UK but with Eno’s name listed first; chances are more of the public was aware of it at the time due to Byrne’s name recognition. Even after the eclectic sounds of Remain In Light—which was recorded later but released first—what listeners heard would have been surprising.
“America Is Waiting” pretty much sums up the content of the album as a whole: a mildly danceable track with nutty percussion, something of a groove, and a repeated loop of a guy ranting on a radio talk show. Elsewhere, the voices range from evangelists to exorcists, Mideastern chanting and other non-Western sounds. “Regiment” stands out, a bass-heavy groove courtesy of Busta Jones and Chris Frantz, and the voice of a “Lebanese mountain singer” nicely juxtaposed with an uncredited guitar solo from Robert Fripp. “Mountain Of Needles”, which closes the album, is much closer to Eno’s archetypical music for films.

At the time, this was all considered very advanced, and the album gained notoriety over the decades as a “sampling” became more of a common thing across all genres of music. Which is great if you’re a musicologist or amateur snob, but if you were a Talking Heads fan who liked their catchy songs and wacky vocals, it may have left you cold.

Even though they took time to get clearances for all the borrowed sounds they could identify, not everyone was happy with the album. A track called “Qu’ran”, not surprisingly, raised the hackles of various Islamic organizations, so the track was soon replaced with the much more low-key “Very, Very Hungry”. “Qu’ran” reappeared on the first CD version of the album with “Very, Very Hungry” as a bonus track, only to revert to the second LP sequence for its second CD reissue in the early ‘90s. The Nonesuch label gave My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts a grand reboot in time for its 25th anniversary, adding liner notes, new artwork and photos, another “side” worth of bonus tracks, and even downloadable stems for people to make their own mixes, but no “Qu’ran”. Some of these tracks were cut from the original running for the album, and would have fit in well; we’re particularly fond of the pretty ambient “Solo Guitar With Tin Foil”.

Brian Eno—David Byrne My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts (1981)—3
2006 reissue: same as 1981, plus 8 extra tracks (and minus 1 track)