After the local news at noon, this live broadcast from Overlook Mountain in Woodstock, NY, will explore the work of Phillip Pearlman, an obscure pioneer in psychedelic folk music. His personal story is as remarkable as the music he made. From 1965 to 1976, Pearlman recorded four albums and one single, starting with a doo-wop parody band, Phil and The Flakes. In 1967, the music switched to deep psychedelia with The Beat of the Earth (1967), Our Standard Three Minute Tune (1967), The Electronic Hole (1970), and the West Coast folk-tinged Relatively Clean Rivers (1976). Around this time Pearlman, born Jewish, converted to Christianity, changed his last name to Gadahn (a biblical reference), and never released music again. In fact, he virtually disappeared; there’s not even a Wikipedia page about him. In the early 2000s, Pearlman’s name re-emerged not for his music but because of his son, Adam [Yahiye Gadahn], who converted to radical Islam, and became a senior advisor to Osama bin Laden and an al-Qaeda spokesperson and propagandist. Host Rob Saffer will play excerpts from The Beat of the Earth (Radish 001), Our Standard Three-Minute Tune (Radish 001.5), The Electronic Hole (Radish 002), and Relatively Clean Rivers (Pacific Island 17601).

“Overlooked” is a show focusing on overlooked and under-heard jazz, improvisational, and other fringe music, from early roots to contemporary experiments, a mix of familiar to rare, classic to weird. Live from the shadow of Overlook Mountain in Ulster County.

Host Rob Saffer is the former Executive Director and Producer of the Creative Music Foundation. While living in Brooklyn for 25 years, he served on advisory boards for Celebrate Brooklyn and Symphony Space. He also curated the Brooklyn Museum’s summer jazz series and helped found The Mingus Big Band.

Overlooked Playlist Archive