What is Mother Earth's Plantasia?
A little explanation behind the cult-classic album for plants.
The Artist behind the album.
Before we start explaining what the album is, let's talk about the artist who created the album- Mort Garson. Born to two Russian Jewish refugees in 1924 in Saint John Port city, Canada but raised in New York city, Garson started his musical career as a student at Juilliard School of Music. Originally working as a pianist and arranger, it wasn’t until 1957 and after serving as an Army during World War II that Garson started producing and writing music. The musician gifted with many skills- composing, arranging, orchestrating, and conducting, is also the man behind Apollo 11 crew’s first moon walk.
Mother Earth's Plantasia.
The album “Plantasia” was released in 1976 as promotional material for Mother Earth Plant Boutique, a houseplant store located in Melrose Avenue, California. The early success of the album was hazed by the lack of accessibility, those who purchased house plants from Mother Earth Plant Boutique or Simmons mattress from Sears were the only customers who could get their hands on the record. Until the early 2000s, you could scavenge through $1 bins outside record shops to find a copy of the album, but with rising popularity and new listeners from YouTube, the album price quickly jumped to hundreds- that was until Sacred Bones Record announced that they were reissuing the album.
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Inspiration behind the Album.
The soundtracks were produced on a Moog modular synthesiser, the same instrument used by the Beastie boys and The Beatles. The intention behind the music was to help plants grow (if talking to your plants works, why wouldn’t the music?), Garson was inspired by Peter Tomkins and Christopher Bird’s book “The Secret life of Plants”, a pseudoscientific book that made claims such as- plants can feel your pain and plants are telepathic. Although the science behind the music is debatable, it certainly doesn’t hurt to put on the track, kick back and relax with your plants. Hey, it might even help.