View source for The Masked Marauders

{{Short description|1969 album concocted by Rolling Stone editors}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = The Masked Marauders
| type       = studio
| artist     = The Masked Marauders
| cover      = Masked Marauders.JPG
| alt        =
| released   = November 1969
| recorded   = October 1969
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| length     = 33:39
| label      = [[Reprise Records|Reprise]]/Deity <small>(Original)</small> <br>[[Rhino Records|Rhino]] <small>(Re-release)</small>
| producer   = Deity Records
| prev_title =
| prev_year  =
| next_title =
| next_year  =
| misc       = {{Singles
 | name        =
 | type        =
 | single1     = Cow Pie / I Can't Get No Nookie
 | single1date = November 1969
}}
}}
{{Album ratings
|rev1      = [[Allmusic]]
|rev1Score = {{Rating|1.5|5}}<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r44197}}</ref>
}}

'''''The Masked Marauders''''' is a [[record album]] released on the [[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros.]]/[[Reprise Records|Reprise]]/Deity label in the fall of 1969 that was part of an elaborate [[hoax]] concocted by ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine.<ref name="Milwaukee Journal Hoax">{{cite news|last=Noth|first=Pierre Rene|title=Hoax Masked by Rock Record|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KwMqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PCgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4060,1901327&dq=the-masked-marauders+hoax&hl=en|newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal|date=December 24, 1969}}</ref><ref name="NBC News Were you a believer">{{cite news|title=Were you a believer in The Masked Marauders?|url=http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/05/17622557-were-you-a-believer-in-the-masked-marauders?lite|newspaper=NBC News|date=April 5, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Christgau">{{cite web | last = Christgau | first = Robert | author-link = Robert Christgau | title = Album of the Year | date = 1970-01-08 | url = http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/album-70.php | accessdate = 2008-04-15}}</ref>

In its October 18, 1969 issue, ''Rolling Stone'' ran a tongue-in-cheek [[review]] of a non-existent album that purportedly captured a "super session" of the era's leading [[rock and roll]] musicians, including [[Bob Dylan]], [[Mick Jagger]], [[George Harrison]], [[John Lennon]], and [[Paul McCartney]]. The review claimed that none of the artists could be listed on the jacket cover because of contractual agreements with their recording companies. The editors involved decided to extend the joke by hiring a relatively obscure band to record an actual album and then secured a deal with Warner Bros.<ref name="NBC News Were you a believer"/> As an indication of how many people were taken in by the joke, ''The Masked Marauders'' reached No. 114 on ''[[Billboard 200|Billboard]]'s'' album chart.

==''Rolling Stone'' spoof==
''The Masked Marauders'' began as a spoof dreamed up by ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' editor [[Greil Marcus]].  Under the [[pseudonym]] T.M. Christian (a reference to [[Terry Southern]]'s novel ''[[The Magic Christian (novel)|The Magic Christian]]''), Marcus wrote a satiric review of a fictitious double [[bootleg recording|bootleg]] album in collaboration with record reviewer Bruce Miroff.<ref>{{cite web | last = Marcus | first = Greil | author-link = Greil Marcus | title = Online Exchange with Greil Marcus | publisher = Rock Critics Archives | date = 2002-03-12 | url = http://rockcriticsarchives.com/interviews/greilmarcus/01.html | accessdate =  2008-04-15}}</ref>  The review was intended to [[parody]] the "[[supergroup (music)|supergroup]]" trend then taking place ([[Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young]], [[Blind Faith]]) and was also inspired by ''[[Great White Wonder]]'', a double album of unreleased Dylan recordings often credited as the first bootleg.<ref name = "Christgau"/>

Many readers, however, took the review seriously, despite its obvious jokes:

*"Produced by [[Al Kooper]], the album was recorded with impeccable secrecy in a small town near the site of the original [[Hudson Bay]] Colony in [[Canada]]."
*"The LP opens with an eighteen-minute version of '[[Season of the Witch (song)|Season of the Witch]]' (lead vocal by Dylan, on which he does a superb imitation of early [[Donovan]]).  The cut is highlighted by an amazing jam between bass and piano, both played by Paul McCartney."
*"Dylan shines on Side Three, displaying his new deep bass voice, with '[[Duke of Earl]]'."
*"Paul showcases his favorite song, '[[My Mammy|Mammy]]', and while his performance is virtually indistinguishable from [[Eddie Fisher (singer)|Eddie Fisher]]'s version, it is still very powerful, evocative, and indeed, stunning.  And they say a white boy can’t sing the [[blues]]!"
*"It can truly be said that this album is more than a way of life; it is life."<ref>T.M. Christian (Greil Marcus), "The Masked Marauders," The Rolling Stone Record Review, compiled by the editors of ''Rolling Stone'' (New York: Pocket Books, 1971), p. 392.</ref>

==Recording sessions and contract==
Enquiries began pouring into ''Rolling Stone'' regarding the album’s availability, not only from fans and retailers, but reportedly from the artists' managers, [[Allen Klein]] ([[Beatles]] and [[Rolling Stones]]) and [[Albert Grossman]] (Dylan).<ref name = "Gleason">{{cite news | last = Gleason | first = Ralph J. | author-link = Ralph J. Gleason | title = On the Town | newspaper = San Francisco Chronicle | date = October 18, 1969 | url = http://www.stones.at/stones/vinyl/lpdiv/masked.htm | accessdate = 2008-04-15}}.</ref>  The response sparked part two of the put-on:  the album itself.  Marcus and ''Rolling Stone'' editor [[Langdon Winner]] recruited the [[Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band]], a [[Berkeley, California]], group which had an album the previous year on [[Vanguard Records]] and played frequently at [[San Francisco]]’s [[The Fillmore|Fillmore]] and [[Avalon Ballroom|Avalon]] ballrooms.<ref>{{cite web | last = Dodsworth | first = Fred | title = At 35, the Freight Finds Its Future in Tradition | work = The Berkeley Daily Planet | date = 2003-06-06 | url = http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2003-06-06/article/16764 | accessdate = 2008-04-15}}</ref>  The group initially recorded three of the songs cited in the review:  the ''[[Nashville Skyline]]''-inspired [[instrumental]] "Cow Pie", Jagger doing "I Can’t Get No Nookie" (deemed "an instant classic"), and Dylan’s "Duke of Earl".<ref name = "Rhino">{{citation | title = The Masked Marauders - The Complete Deity Recordings | publisher = Rhino Records }}</ref>

After the [[songs]] aired on San Francisco and [[Los Angeles]] [[radio stations]] – from tapes Marcus supplied – the pranksters began looking for a [[major label]] to produce an album.  Several recording companies expressed an interest, but Warner Bros. won the production rights, offering a $15,000 advance plus its considerable promotional power.<ref name = "Rhino"/>  In November 1969, Warner released ''The Masked Marauders'' as a single LP on its newly created Deity label, distributed by Reprise.  The album, which sold more than 100,000 copies, spent 12 weeks on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' album chart, peaking at No. 114. The single "Cow Pie" appeared on the [[Bubbling Under the Hot 100]] chart at No. 123 for one week on November 29, 1969.

==Original and follow-up releases==
Tipping off buyers to the [[joke]] (albeit after they had purchased the album), Warner inserted the ''Rolling Stone'' review as well as a ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' column by critic [[Ralph J. Gleason]], a co-founder of ''Rolling Stone''.  Gleason found it incredible anyone believed the review and declared the gag a "delightful bit of instant [[mythology]]."<ref name = "Gleason" />  The closing track, "Saturday Night at the Cow Palace," also made clear the album was all in fun. The track featured a riotous [[monologue]] by a record buyer so indignant at being taken in by the hoax that he vows, "When I get through with those people at Deity Records, I’ll have them walking out of the building in barrels." The album's [[liner notes]], penned by "T.M. Christian," also offered its share of clues, most notably the line:

"In a world of sham, the Masked Marauders, bless their hearts, are the genuine article."<ref>T.M. Christian (Greil Marcus), "Masked Marauder" liner notes, Rhino Records, Claremont, California, 1969.</ref>

In 2001, [[Rhino Records]], under its Handmade label, remastered the album, releasing a numbered edition of 2,000 copies entitled ''The Masked Marauders - The Complete Deity Recordings''. The lineup of songs is the same as on the original LP, except for [[bonus tracks]] of the [[monaural]] single, "I Can’t Get No Nookie" b/w "Cow Pie".  The title of the re-issue posed yet another joke:  the album was Deity’s only recording.  As one of its contributions to the [[Parody|spoof]], Warner created Deity under its Reprise subsidiary to match the name of the non-existent record company credited in the ''Rolling Stone'' review.<ref name = "Rhino"/>

== Media coverage ==
The story of ''The Masked Marauders'' hoax was featured in an April 5, 2013, segment of the TV program ''[[Rock Center with Brian Williams]]''.<ref name="Broadway World Rock Center">{{cite news|title=Scoop: Rock Center with Brian Williams on NBC - Today, April 5, 2013|url=http://tv.broadwayworld.com/article/Scoop-ROCK-CENTER-WITH-BRIAN-WILLIAMS-on-NBC-Today-April-5-2013-20130404|newspaper=Broadway World|date=April 5, 2013}}</ref><ref name="New York Times What's On Friday">{{cite news|last=Shattuck|first=Kathryn|title=What's On Friday|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/arts/television/whats-on-friday.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 5, 2013}}</ref>

==Track listing==

===Side one===
# "I Can't Get No Nookie" (The Masked Marauders) – 5:29
#* Features vocals by a Mick Jagger impersonator.  This track is sometimes mislabeled as an outtake from the Rolling Stones' ''[[Jamming with Edward!]]'' sessions.{{cn|date=February 2022}}
# "[[Duke of Earl]]" (E. Dixon, E. Edwards, B. Williams) – 3:21
#* Also briefly incorporates "Blue Moon" (Rodgers, Hart).
#* Features vocals by a Bob Dylan impersonator.
# "Cow Pie" (The Masked Marauders) – 2:18
#* Instrumental, but features extremely brief spoken vocals by a Bob Dylan impersonator. This song was also released as a single (Deity 0870), with the B-side I Can't Get No Nookie.
# "I Am [[The Japanese Sandman]] (Rang Tang Ding Dong)" (A. Williams) – 3:45 
# "The Book Of Love" (W. Davis, C. Patrick, G. Malone) – 2:21
#* Also briefly incorporates "Norwegian Wood" (J. Lennon, P. McCartney).
#* The group's John Lennon impersonator is heard speaking briefly at the end of this track.

===Side two===
#<li value=6>"Later" (W. Davis, C. Patrick, G. Malone) – 1:11
#* A continuation of "The Book Of Love".
# "More or Less Hudson's Bay Again" (The Masked Marauders) – 3:31 
#* Features vocals by a Bob Dylan impersonator.
# "[[Season of the Witch (song)|Season of the Witch]]" (Donovan Leitch) – 10:13
#* Features vocals by the Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan impersonators.
# "Saturday Night at the Cow Palace" (The Masked Marauders) – 1:30
#* A spoken monologue atop a piano rendition of "Cow Pie," with a disgruntled voice profanely denouncing the album as a rip-off.

===CD bonus tracks===
#<li value=10>"I Can't Get No Nookie" (The Masked Marauders) – 5:02 (Monaural)
# "Cow Pie" (The Masked Marauders) – 2:18 (Monaural)

==Musicians==

As listed on the Rhino Handmade CD release:<ref name = "Rhino"/>

*[[Langdon Winner]]: Piano and Backing Vocals
*Annie "Dynamite" Johnson: Vocals and Percussion
*Phil Marsh: Vocals and Guitar
*Brian Voorheis: Vocals, Guitar and Harmonica
*Vic Smith: Bass
*Anna Rizzo: Drums
*Mark "The Fox" Voorheis: Drums and Vocals on "Saturday Night at the Cow Palace"
*Gary Salzman: Lap Steel
*Allen Chance: Vocals on "More or Less Hudson's Bay Again"

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/masked.asp Snopes article]
*[http://www.stones.at/stones/vinyl/lpdiv/masked.htm San Francisco Chronicle article]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aXvQ6cg9Vs] YouTube clip for I Can't Get No Nookie
* [http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Cleanliness%20and%20Godliness.htm Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band Family Tree]

{{Bob Dylan}}

{{Mick Jagger}}
{{The Rolling Stones}}

{{George Harrison}}
{{John Lennon}}
{{Paul McCartney}}
{{The Beatles}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masked Marauders}}
[[Category:1969 albums]]
[[Category:Musical hoaxes]]
[[Category:Musical parodies]]
[[Category:Reprise Records albums]]
[[Category:Rolling Stone]]