# "Switched-on Bach" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 7, 2000, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/switched-on-bach/28466 "2000-08-07T20:38:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/switched-on-bach/28466/1 "2000-08-07T20:38:59Z")
In 1970 or 1971 they played on the radio some music by Johann Sebastian Bach, that sounded as if it were being played by a modern rock band, on an album titled “Switched-On Bach” or “Bach Transmogrified.” One of these tunes was Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring,” in which the long melody, in 9/8 meter, was played quite straight on a pipe organ by a rock musician who was obviously an organ virtuoso. But my question is, Who was/were the artist(s?) ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/switched-on-bach/28466/2 "2000-08-07T20:45:34Z")
My father has Switched-On Bach on vinyl. It is staggeringly beautiful. The original (there is a Switched on Bach 2000 album out there) was played on a Moog Organ, designed by Bob Moog. The organist’s name is Walter Carlos. MR ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/switched-on-bach/28466/3 "2000-08-07T20:59:33Z")
…who has been Wendy Carlos since the mid-1970s. So if you’re doing a search for him, try her first. ---
**Author:** ![Baglady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Baglady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baglady)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/switched-on-bach/28466/4 "2000-08-07T21:03:01Z")
The Switched-On Bach album was by Wendy Carlos. It was released back in the late '60s and basically launched that whole classical-music-on-synthesizer-parade trend that went into all the way into the '70s. IIRC she plays a Moog. I also seem to recall it was re-released in CD format some years ago. Good luck finding it. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/switched-on-bach/28466/5 "2000-08-07T21:03:38Z")
I have CDs for _Switched on Bach_, _Switched on Bach 2000_, and the two CD set _Switched on Brandenburgs_. I like them a lot. And it’s _Wendy_ Carlos. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/switched-on-bach/28466/6 "2000-08-07T21:05:42Z")
Curses! Foiled again! This time by two quick-draw posters. (Must…post…faster…) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/switched-on-bach/28466/7 "2000-08-07T21:05:55Z")
Thanks to all. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/switched-on-bach/28466/8 "2000-08-07T21:48:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Baglady \* > \*\*The Switched-On Bach album was by Wendy Carlos. \*\* No, _Switched-On Bach_ was by Walter Carlos. _SOB 2000_ was by Wendy, _neé_ Walter Carlos. I have the original SOB on vinyl and it is great stuff. Gonna have to find the Brandenburgs tho! ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/switched-on-bach/28466/9 "2000-08-07T21:52:22Z")
Okay… Mr/Ms Carlos… which is it? Walter or Wendy? and they aren’t hard to find at all… ---
**Author:** ![alumshubby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@alumshubby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alumshubby)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/switched-on-bach/28466/10 "2000-08-07T23:03:25Z")
The arrangements that Walter/Wendy Carlos is known for generally are faithful to the original pieces’ tempos. But “performed by a rock band” made me think of Apollo 100, whose title track on their _Joy_ album was an extremely up-tempo arrangement of “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” I wonder if that’s what the original poster had in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Baglady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Baglady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baglady)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/switched-on-bach/28466/11 "2000-08-07T23:03:47Z")
**Saint Zero** – Walter _IS_ Wendy. If you go to Wendy Carlos’s official Web site at [http://www.wendycarlos.com/](http://www.wendycarlos.com/), you can see her picture. from everything I’ve been able to gather, it appears that Walter BECAME Wendy sometime in the '70s. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2000, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/switched-on-bach/28466/12 "2000-08-08T04:17:57Z")
…which is what I said. Am I being too subtle? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2000, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/switched-on-bach/28466/13 "2000-08-12T19:13:58Z")
> [@](#): > > The arrangements that Walter/Wendy Carlos is known for generally are faithful to the original pieces’ tempos. But “performed by a rock band” made me think of Apollo 100, whose title track on their _Joy_ album was an extremely up-tempo arrangement of “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” I wonder if that’s what the original poster had in mind. That’s it! 🙂 I went to Wenzel’s Music Town in Lakewood, CA, the other day, and found it there. I took it home and played it, and that’s the one I had heard in the early 70s. Thanks again. 🙂 🙂