The Riddler
In 1989, Crispin Glover presented an enigma. If you enlarge the below image, you will be able to read the clues at the back of the album
One of the cult leaders pictured, Charles Manson, was a professional recording artist. In 1968, he recorded an album’s worth of songs at the encouragement of a producer named Phil Kaufman. Charles was ripped off when The Beach Boys decided to take and change one of his songs. In August 1969, Charles participated in the deaths of five people. While he was held in captivity, Charles repetitively urged his producer to release the album. It was released in March 1970, but this was one of those instances where no-one could say that there is no such thing as bad publicity.
In an April 2008 interview for a Toronto site called Now, Crispin told Tim Perlich: “In the mid-80s, Barnes & Barnes approached me with the idea of recording some songs with me. When we had a couple done, they suggested we make an album of it which became The Big Problem.”
In a March 2016 album for Digital Music News, Crispin told Noah Itman: “This was well before the internet, so a telephone number (not my home number) was printed on the album for people to call with their answer. Many people figured it out. The telephone message let people know information about how to order my books.”
The lone single: “Clowny Clown Clown has had more attention in recent years than the rest of the album in the last several years because YouTube has made the promotional video available and many more people have seen that than heard the rest of the album. I am glad I made the video for that song, but of course a lot more has gone in to making the films.”
In a January 2011 interview for Portland Mercury, Crispin told Dave Bow: “We worked on The Big Problem ≠ The Solution. The Solution = Let It Be for a couple of years. A lot of work was put in to it, and I am proud of the album. I think novelty album is probably the best way to describe it because you would really not call it a rock album, nor a poetry album. I do not think of “novelty album” as a pejorative.”
In the past decade, Crispin announced that he was going to publish a book about propaganda. It was supposed to be published in 2020, but it didn’t despite the number of professional artists who created projects to survive the pandemic. During that difficult time, I’m sure there were even more people who thought that the meaning of life is a Pandora’s box. In this case, live and let live. Naturally, I’m reminded of Paul McCartney’s Let it Be and Live and Let Die.