Spotify’s algorithms are unreliable and strange, seemingly willing to conjure new genresout of the mist and disjointed adjectives. It was through this I discovered the work of WilburnBurchette (1939-2024), an obscure artist appearing on a playlist described as “outsider”,“magical”, and “psychedelic rock”. I first the opening to his second album, 1972’s Opens theSeven Gates of Transcendental Consciousness, and was immediately struck by the album cover,a red star with a single giant eye, as much as by the music itself. While well described byadjectives Spotify had provided, the music itself also reminded me of a spaced out, surf-rock ifit was delivered by the Spaceman 3.
Recently released by Numero Group, a label that specializes in the long out-of-print,Master Wilburn Burchette’s albums were originally released by mail-order to the discerningreaders of Fate Magazine, Beyond Reality, and Gnostica News, who noticed his advertisements.Each album was not merely a collection of songs, but a religious experience based on sometheory of vibrations being able to transcend time and existence through his hand-built ImproGuitar. Religious mysticism in song was certainly not new at the time of his first album, 1970’sOccult Concert. Overtly religious rock music had emerged on the scene with the Jesus freaks ofthe ’60s, and quite a few literal cult records exist of the time, including infamous records by theManson family. Unlike these, Master Wilburn Burchette was no cult leader, isn’t electrifying oldgospel songs, nor does he sing hymns to a modern messiah claimant. His early music is purelyinstrumental guitar rock with some occasional white noise mixed in for your transcendentalstudies, with instructions, and paintings illustrating concepts like the Gates of Consciousness.It’s slow and meditative, a weird joining of the psychedelic scene and New Age music, and it’scertainly not spa music. It’s also produced and released almost entirely in-house, with all but hisfirst two albums, released on the Burchette Brothers label which he ran with his brother.
All in all, he released 7 albums between 1971 and 1977, with the post-1973 albumsadding synth to his work. This succeeds sometimes in producing noisy albums that really dosound like Spiritualized and the Spaceman 3, such as 1975’s Music of the Godhead forSupernatural Meditation. Other times the guitar is entirely absent. His last album, 1977’sMindstorm, seemingly uses loud wind sounds, synthesized beats, a synth lead, and maybe windchimes. Then he burned everything related to his music career though he did offer propheciesunder the name Will Loy in the form of a bulletin advertised—this time—in the back pages oftabloids such as Weekly World News. Mostly refusing to discuss his work to preserve themystery, he did a single interview in 2018 with Numero Uno’s Periodical Numerical Volume 2:The New Age Issue in which he offers the following advice, “You’re a witch if you know it or not.You are also a mathematician if you want to learn it. You have the power to learn that; youcan’t teach it to a bunny rabbit.”
William Burdette (84) and his brother Kenneth (76) were found dead in their Californiahome in January of 2023.