Subud Musicians (from Matthew Clark)

Subud Musicians (from Matthew Clark)

SICA-USA

November 27, 2019

News

From Matthew Clark:

Several legendary musicians were Subud members.  Along with Mama Cass of the Mamas and Papas, Roger (Jim) McGuinn of the Byrds, and Jim Yester and Terry Kirkman of The Association was…. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.  Plenty of confirmation online, including a long article in my collection from Crawdaddy Magazine, once a competitor of Rolling Stone Magazine.

Here’s a sample blurb about Brian.  Love to meet someone who knew him in those days.

“A friend introduced me to Subud, which I guess you would call a method of worshipping God, of accepting him. The ceremony is called latihan, and it takes about three months’ probation before you’re admitted. I’ve been going about eight times—there are meetings twice a week, and you just go and talk to the people who have been in the latihan. It’s a process of being opened; you open yourself up to God, or whatever name you give it. Subud makes you aware that there is something much greater, you let yourself be a channel, another manifestation of God’s will.”
~Brian Wilson quoted in TEEN SET (1966)

A fun end note about The Association.  Their breakthrough song was Along Comes Mary…one of my published articles says the band members “tested” with the Subud LA helpers to chose that name.  Many Subud musicians quit but not Terry Kirkman, who wrote the beautiful ballad Cherish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hysdyVGpsE     Terry was active in Subud LA, even chairman, until a few years ago…I believe Luqman Katz may still keep in touch with him.

Matthew M. Clark, Of Counsel

(Editor’s note. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile_(Beach_Boys_album) and
http://www.ignaciodarnaude.com/espiritualismo/Subud%20Bibliography,Matthew%20Clark.pdf)