Centaur

AKA: Kentaur, Κένταυρος, Centaurus
A bronze statue of a centaur, after the Furietti Centaurs.
Mythology	Greek
Grouping	Legendary creature
Sub-grouping	Hybrid
Region	Greece
Habitat	Land
Similar creatures	Minotaur, satyr, harpy

In Greek mythology, a centaur (from Ancient Greek: Κένταυροι, Kéntauroi) or hippocentaur^[1][2][3] is a member of a composite race of creatures, part human and part horse. In early Attic and Boeotian vase-paintings (see below), they are depicted with the hindquarters of a horse attached to them; in later renderings centaurs are given the torso of a human joined at the waist to the horse's withers, where the horse's neck would be.

This half-human and half-animal composition has led many writers to treat them as liminal beings, caught between the two natures, embodied in contrasted myths, both as the embodiment of untamed nature, as in their battle with the Lapiths, or conversely as teachers, like Chiron.

The centaurs were usually said to have been born of Ixion and Nephele (the cloud made in the image of Hera). Another version, however, makes them children of a certain Centaurus, who mated with the Magnesian mares. This Centaurus was either himself the son of Ixion and Nephele (inserting an additional generation) or of Apollo and Stilbe, daughter of the river god Peneus. In the later version of the story his twin brother was Lapithus, ancestor of the Lapiths, thus making the two warring peoples cousins.

Centaurs were said to have inhabited the region of Magnesia and Mount Pelion in Thessaly, the Foloi oak forest in Elis, and the Malean peninsula in southern Laconia.

Centaurs continued to figure in literary forms of Roman mythology. A pair of them draw the chariot of Constantine the Great and his family in the Great Cameo of Constantine (c314-16), which embodies wholly pagan imagery.^[4]

Centauromachy[link]

Centauromachy, tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix, ca. 480 BC

The Centaurs are best known for their fight with the Lapiths, caused by their attempt to carry off Hippodamia and the rest of the Lapith women, on the day of her marriage to Pirithous, king of the Lapithae, himself the son of Ixion. The strife among these cousins is a metaphor for the conflict between the lower appetites and civilized behavior in humankind. Theseus, a hero and founder of cities, who happened to be present, threw the balance in favour of the right order of things, and assisted Pirithous. The Centaurs were driven off or destroyed.^[5][6][7] Another Lapith hero, Caeneus, who was invulnerable to weapons, was beaten into the earth by Centaurs wielding rocks and the branches of trees. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as wild as untamed horses. Like the Titanomachy, the defeat of the Titans by the Olympian gods, the contests with the Centaurs typify the struggle between civilization and barbarism.

The Centauromachy is most famously portrayed in the Parthenon metopes by Phidias and in a Renaissance-era sculpture by Michelangelo.

Earliest representations[link]

Boeotian kantharos, Late Geometric period

The tentative identification of two fragmentary Mycenaean terracotta figures as centaurs, among the extensive Mycenaean pottery found at Ugarit, suggests a Bronze Age origin for these creatures of myth.^[8] A painted terracotta centaur was found in the "Hero's tomb" at Lefkandi, and by the Geometric period, centaurs figure among the first representational figures painted on Greek pottery. An often-published Geometric period bronze of a warrior face-to-face with a centaur is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.^[9]

Theories of origin[link]

The most common theory holds that the idea of centaurs came from the first reaction of a non-riding culture, as in the Minoan Aegean world, to nomads who were mounted on horses. The theory suggests that such riders would appear as half-man, half-animal (Bernal Díaz del Castillo reported that the Aztecs had this misapprehension about Spanish cavalrymen).^[10] Horse taming and horseback culture arose first in the southern steppe grasslands of Central Asia, perhaps approximately in modern Kazakhstan.

The Lapith tribe of Thessaly, who were the kinsmen of the Centaurs in myth, were described as the inventors of horse-back riding by Greek writers. The Thessalian tribes also claimed their horse breeds were descended from the centaurs.

Centaur carrying off a nymph (1892) by Laurent Marqueste (Tuileries Garden, Paris)

Of the various Classical Greek authors who mentioned centaurs, Pindar was the first who describes undoubtedly a combined monster.^[11] Previous authors (Homer) only use words such as pheres (cf. theres, "beasts")^[12] that could also mean ordinary savage men riding ordinary horses. However, contemporaneous representations of hybrid centaurs can be found in archaic Greek art.

Lucretius in his first century BC philosophical poem On the Nature of Things denied the existence of centaurs based on their differing rate of growth. He states that at three years old horses are in the prime of their life while at three humans are still little more than babies, making hybrid animals impossible.^[13]

Robert Graves (relying on the work of Georges Dumezil^[14] argued for tracing the centaurs back to the Indian gandharva), speculated that the centaurs were a dimly remembered, pre-Hellenic fraternal earth cult who had the horse as a totem.^[15] A similar theory was incorporated into Mary Renault's The Bull from the Sea. Kinnaras, another half-man half-horse mythical creature from the Indian mythology, appeared in various ancient texts, arts as well as sculptures from all around India. It is shown as a horse with the torso of a man in place of where the horse's head has to be, that is similar to a Greek centaur.^[16][17]

The Greek word kentauros is generally regarded as of obscure origin.^[18] The etymology from ken – tauros, "piercing bull-stickers" was a Euhemerist suggestion in Palaephatus' rationalizing text on Greek mythology, On Incredible Tales (Περὶ ἀπίστων): mounted archers from a village called Nephele eliminating a herd of bulls that were the scourge of Ixion's kingdom.^[19] Another possible related etymology can be "bull-slayer".^[20] Some^[who?] say that the Greeks took the constellation of Centaurus, and also its name "piercing bull", from Mesopotamia, where it symbolized the god Baal who represents rain and fertility, fighting with and piercing with his horns the demon Mot who represents the summer drought. In Greece, the constellation of Centaurus was noted by Eudoxus of Cnidus in the fourth century BC and by Aratus in the third century.

Female centaurs[link]

Female centaurs flanking Venus (Mosaic from Roman Tunisia, 2nd century AD)

Though female centaurs, called Kentaurides, are not mentioned in early Greek literature and art, they do appear occasionally in later antiquity. A Macedonian mosaic of the 4th century BC^[21] is one of the earliest examples of the Centauress in art. Ovid^[22] also mentions a centauress named Hylonome who committed suicide when her husband Cyllarus was killed in the war with the Lapiths.

In a description of a painting in Neapolis, the Greek rhetorician Philostratus the Elder describes them as sisters and wives of the male centaurs who live on Mount Pelion with their children.

"How beautiful the Centaurides are, even where they are horses; for some grow out of white mares, others are attached to chestnut mares, and the coats of others are dappled, but they glisten like those of horses that are well cared for. There is also a white female Centaur that grows out of a black mare, and the very opposition of the colours helps to produce the united beauty of the whole."^[23]

The idea, or possibility, of female centaurs was certainly known in early modern times, as evidenced by Shakespeare's King Lear, Act IV, Scene vi, ln.124–125: "Down from the waist they're centaurs, / Though women all above"

In the Disney animated film Fantasia, during the Pastoral Symphony, some of the main characters are female centaurs. However, the Disney studio called them "Centaurettes" instead of Kentaurides.

Persistence in the medieval world[link]

Centaurs harvest grapes on a 12th-century capital from the Mozac Abbey in the Auvergne

Centaurs preserved a Dionysian connection in the 12th century Romanesque carved capitals of Mozac Abbey in the Auvergne, where other capitals depict harvesters, boys riding goats (a further Dionysiac theme) and griffins guarding the chalice that held the wine.

Centaurs are shown on a number of Pictish carved stones from north-east Scotland, erected in the 8th–9th centuries AD (e.g., at Meigle, Perthshire). Though outside the limits of the Roman Empire, these depictions appear to be derived from Classical prototypes.

Jerome's version of the Life of St Anthony the Great, the hermit monk of Egypt, written by Athanasius of Alexandria, was widely disseminated in the Middle Ages; it relates Anthony's encounter with a centaur, who challenged the saint but was forced to admit that the old gods had been overthrown. The episode was often depicted; notably, in the The Meeting of St Anthony Abbot and St Paul the Hermit by Stefano di Giovanni called "Sassetta",^[24] of two episodic depictions in a single panel of the hermit Anthony's travel to greet the hermit Paul, one is his encounter along the pathway with the demonic figure of a centaur in a wood.

A centaur-like half-human half-equine creature called Polkan appeared in Russian folk art, and lubok prints of the 17th–19th centuries. Polkan is originally based on Pulicane, a half-dog from Andrea da Barberino's poem I Reali di Francia, which was once popular in the Slavonic world in prosaic translations.

Modern day[link]

Centaur skeleton of human and equine bone, on display at the International Wildlife Museum in Tucson, part of an art installation by sculptor Bill Willers. Built by Skulls Unlimited International, Inc.

The John C. Hodges library at The University of Tennessee hosts a permanent exhibit of a "Centaur from Volos", in its library. The exhibit, made by sculptor Bill Willers, by combining a study human skeleton with the skeleton of a Shetland pony is entitled "Do you believe in Centaurs?" and was meant to mislead students in order to make them more critically aware, according to the exhibitors.^[25]

Another exhibit by Willers is now on long term display at the International Wildlife Museum in Tucson, Arizona. The full-mount skeleton of a Centaur, built by Skulls Unlimited International, is on display, along with several other fabled creatures, including the Cyclops, Unicorn and Griffin.

A centaur is one of the symbols associated with both the Iota Phi Theta and the Delta Lambda Phi fraternities. Whereas centaurs in Greek mythology were generally symbolic of chaos and unbridled passions, Delta Lambda Phi's centaur is modeled after Chiron and represents honor, moderation and tempered masculinity.

Similarly, C.S. Lewis' centaurs from his popular The Chronicles of Narnia series are depicted as wisest and noblest of creatures. They are gifted at stargazing, prophecy, healing, and warfare, a fierce and valiant race always faithful to the High King Aslan the Lion. Lewis generally used the species to inspire awe in his readers (see Narnian Centaurs). In J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, centaurs live in the Forbidden Forest close to Hogwarts. Although different from those seen in Narnia, they live in societies called herds and are skilled at archery, healing and astrology. Although film depictions include very animalistic facial features, the reaction of the Hogwarts girls to Firenze suggests a more classical appearance.

Philip Jose Farmer's World of Tiers series (1965) includes centaurs, called Half-Horses or Hoi Kentauroi. His creations address several of the metabolic problems of such creatures—how could the human mouth and nose intake sufficient air to sustain both itself and the horse body and, similarly, how could the human ingest sufficient food to sustain both parts.

Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series features Centaurs that live in an area called Grunhold. The Centaurs are portrayed as a proud, elitist group of beings that consider themselves superior to all other creatures. The fourth book also has a variation on the species called an Alcetaur, which is part man, part moose.

Gallery[link]

• 

  Diosphos Painter, white-ground lekythos (500 BC)

• 

  Botticelli, Pallas and Centaur (1482-83)

• 

  Antonio Canova, Theseus Defeats the Centaur (1805-1819)

• 

  Prince Bova fights Polkan, Russian lubok (1860)

See also[link]

Greek mythology portal

Painting by Sebastiano Ricci, of centaurs at the marriage of Pirithous, king of the Lapithae

Other hybrid creatures appear in Greek mythology, always with some liminal connection that links Hellenic culture with archaic or non-Hellenic cultures:

• Chiron
• Furietti Centaurs
• Hippocamp
• Hybrid (mythology)
• Legendary creature
• List of legendary creatures
• Minotaur
• Onocentaur
• Sagittarius
• Satyr

Also,

• Egyptian deities, including Anubis, Horus and Thoth
• Indian Gandharvas
• Indian Kinnara which are half-horse and half-man creature.
• Philippine Tikbalang
• Roman Faun
• Scottish Each uisge
• Welsh Ceffyl Dŵr

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• M. Grant and J. Hazel. Who's Who in Greek Mythology. David McKay & Co Inc, 1979.
• Rose, Carol (2001). Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth. New York, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.. p. 72. ISBN 0-393-32211-4. 
• Harry Potter, books 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.
• The Chronicles of Narnia, book 2.
• The Lightning Thief, book 1.
• Frédérick S. Parker. Finding the Kingdom of the Centaurs.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Centaurs

• Theoi Project on Centaurs in literature
• Centaurides on female centaurs
• MythWeb article on centaurs
• Harry Potter Lexicon article on centaurs in the Harry Potter universe
• Erich Kissing's centaurs contemporary art

Winsor McCay
Born	(1869-09-26)September 26, 1869 Spring Lake, Michigan
Died	July 26, 1934(1934-07-26) (aged 64) Brooklyn, New York
Occupation	Animator, cartoonist
Parents	Robert McKay and Janet Murray McKay

Winsor McCay (September 26, 1869 – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator.

A prolific artist, McCay's pioneering early animated films far outshone the work of his contemporaries, and set a standard followed by Walt Disney and others in later decades. His two best-known creations are the newspaper comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland, which ran from 1905–1914 and 1924–1927, and the animated cartoon Gertie the Dinosaur, which he created in 1914.

His comic strip work has influenced generations of artists, including creators such as William Joyce, André LeBlanc, Moebius, Maurice Sendak, Chris Ware and Bill Watterson.

Early life[link]

Little Sammy Sneeze

McCay was the son of Robert McKay (later changed to McCay) and Janet Murray McKay; Robert at various times worked as a teamster, a grocer, and a real estate agent. Winsor's exact place and year of birth are uncertain — he claimed to have been born in Spring Lake, Michigan in 1871, but his gravestone says 1869, and census reports state that he was born in Canada in 1867. He was originally named Zenas Winsor McKay, in honor of his father's employer, Zenas G. Winsor. He later dropped the name Zenas.

In 1886, McCay's parents sent him to Cleary's Business College in Ypsilanti, Michigan to learn to be a businessman. While in Ypsilanti, he also received his only formal art training, from John Goodison of Michigan State Normal College (now known as Eastern Michigan University). Goodison taught him the strict application of the fundamentals of perspective, which he put to significant use later in his career. Goodison, formerly a glass stainer, also influenced McCay's bold use of color.

Career[link]

In 1889, McCay moved to Chicago, intending to study at the Art Institute of Chicago, but due to lack of money had to find employment instead. He worked for the National Printing and Engraving Company, producing woodcuts for circus and theatrical posters. Two years later, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and went to work as an artist for Kohl and Middleton's Vine Street Dime Museum. While in Cincinnati he married Maude Leonore Dufour. McCay began doing vaudeville chalk talks in 1906.^[1] In his The Seven Ages of Man vaudeville act, he drew two faces and progressively aged them.^[2]

McCay's first major comic strip series was A Tale of the Jungle Imps by Felix Fiddle with 43 installments published from January to November 1903 in the Cincinnati Enquirer. The strip was based on poems by George Randolph Chester, then a reporter and editor at the Enquirer. The stories concerned jungle creatures and the ways that they adapted to a hostile world, with individual titles such as How the Elephant Got His Trunk and How the Ostrich Got So Tall.

His strips Little Nemo and Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend, published under the pseudonym "Silas",^[3] were both set in the dreams of their characters and featured fantasy art that attempted to capture the look and feel of dreams. McCay's cartoons were never overwhelmingly popular, but always had a strong following because of his expressive graphic style. Newspaper pages were physically much larger in that time and McCay usually had a half a page to work with. For fantasy art in comics, his only rival was Lyonel Feininger, who went on to have a career in the fine arts after his comics days were over.

McCay also created a number of animated short films, in which every single frame of each cartoon (with each film requiring thousands of frames) was hand-drawn by McCay and occasionally his assistants. McCay went on vaudeville tours with his films. He presented lectures and did drawings; then he interacted with his animated films, performing such tricks as holding his hand out to "pet" his animated creations.

Gertie the Dinosaur

The star of McCay's groundbreaking animated film Gertie the Dinosaur is classified by film and animation historians as the first cartoon character created especially for film to display a unique, realistic personality. In the film, Gertie causes trouble and cries when she is scolded, and finally she gives McCay himself a ride on her back as he steps into the movie picture.

In addition to a series of cartoons based on his popular "rarebit" gags, McCay also created The Sinking of the Lusitania, a depiction of the attack on the maritime ship. The propaganda cartoon contained a message that was meant to inspire America to enter World War I.

Death and legacy[link]

McCay died in 1934 and was buried at the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn.

In 1966 Woody Gelman discovered many of the original Little Nemo strips at a cartoon studio where Bob McCay, Winsor's son, had worked.^[4] Many of the original drawings that Gelman recovered were displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art under the direction of curator A. Hyatt Mayor. In 1973, Gelman would publish a collection of Little Nemo strips in Italy.^[4]

Comic strips[link]

• A Tale of the Jungle Imps by Felix Fiddle (1903)
• Little Sammy Sneeze (1904 to 1906)
• Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (1904–13)
• The Story of Hungry Henrietta (1905)
• A Pilgrim's Progress (1905 to 1910)
• Little Nemo in Slumberland (1905 to 1914, 1924–1927) (1911-1914 under the title In the Land of Wonderful Dreams)
• Poor Jake (1909 to 1911)

Filmography[link]

Actors Benefit for Crippled Children, Winsor McCay sketching, 1908

• Little Nemo (1911) also titled Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics
• How a Mosquito Operates (1912) also titled The Story Of A Mosquito
• Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)
• The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918)
• Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: Bug Vaudeville (1921)
• Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: The Pet (1921)
• Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: The Flying House (1921)
• The Centaurs (1921)
• Gertie on Tour (1921)
• Flip's Circus (1921)
• The Barnyard Performance (1922-27?) also titled Performing Animals and A Midsummer's Nightmare

Books and collections[link]

Winsor McCay's World War I poster urging Americans to buy Liberty Bonds

• Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend Dover, ISBN 0-486-21347-1
• Little Nemo in the Palace of Ice and Further Adventures Dover, ISBN 0-486-23234-4
• The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. I: 1905-1907 Fantagraphics ISBN 0-930193-63-6
• The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. II: 1907-1908 Fantagraphics ISBN 0-930193-64-4
• The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. III: 1908-1910 Fantagraphics ISBN 1-56097-025-1
• The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. IV: 1910-1911 Fantagraphics ISBN 1-56097-045-6
• The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. V: In the Land of Wonderful Dreams, Part 1: 1911-12 Fantagraphics ISBN 0-924359-35-8
• The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland, Vol. VI: In the Land of Wonderful Dreams, Part 2: 1913-14 Fantagraphics ISBN 1-56097-130-4
• Little Nemo 1905-1914 Taschen, ISBN 3-8228-6300-9
• The Best of Little Nemo in Slumberland Stewart, Tabori, & Chang, ISBN 1-55670-647-2
• Little Nemo in Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays Sunday Press ISBN 0-9768885-0-5
• Little Nemo in Slumberland: Many More Splendid Sundays Sunday Press ISBN 0-9768885-5-6
• Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 1 Checker, ISBN 0-9741664-0-5 (“Tales of the Rarebit Fiend” and “Little Sammy Sneeze”)
• Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 2 Checker, ISBN 0-9741664-7-2 (More “Tales of the Rarebit Fiend” and “Little Sammy Sneeze,” “Centaurs,” “Hungry Henrietta,” and editorial illustrations.)
• Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 3 Checker, ISBN 0-9741664-9-9 (More “Tales of the Rarebit Fiend” (1907), “Little Sammy Sneeze,” “A Pilgrim’s Progress,” (1907) and editorial illustrations from New York period.)
• Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 4 Checker, ISBN 0-9753808-1-8 (more Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (early 1908), A Pilgrim’s Progress (early 1908), various Little Sammy Sneezes, and New York American editorial cartoons.)
• Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 5 Checker, ISBN 0-9753808-2-6 (Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (late 1908), A Pilgrim’s Progress (late 1908), Phoolish Phillip (all), Hungry Henrietta (all), and New York American editorial cartoons.)
• Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 6 Checker, ISBN 1-933160-05-5 (“Mr Goodenough”, Dream of the Rarebit Fiend (late 1908), A Pilgrim’s Progress (late 1908), and New York American editorial cartoons.)
• Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 7 Checker, ISBN 1-933160-05-5 (illustrations from New York editorial period, and collection of comic strips.)
• Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 8 Checker, ISBN 1-933160-06-3
• Winsor McCay: Early Works, Vol. 9 Checker, ISBN 978-1-933160-07-8
• Daydreams and Nightmares Fantagraphics, ISBN 1-56097-569-5
• Little Sammy Sneeze Sunday Press ISBN 0-9768885-4-8

References[link]

Sources[link]

• John Canemaker (2005). Winsor McCay: His Life and Art. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0-8109-5941-0. 
• Ohio State University (1 June 2006). "Cartoon Library Acquires McCay Collection" (PDF). University Libraries New Notes. http://www.lib.ohio-state.edu/sites/staff/Newsnotes/nn060601.pdf. 
• Leonard Maltin (1987). Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons; Revised and Updated. Plume Books. ISBN 0-452-25993-2. 
• "The Cartoonist Group: Background About Winsor McCay;". http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/properties/daydream/about.php/. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Winsor McCay

• Spring Lake District Library "The Talented Winsor McCay"
• The Fales Library of NYU's guide to the David C. Bohnett Collection of Winsor McCay Drawings
• Meeting McCay
• Winsor McCay at the Internet Movie Database on Internet Movie Database
• (French) Little Nemo in Slumberland Anniversary Special
• Winsor McCay's The Centaurs.
• Comic Strip Library has a complete collection of out-of-copyright Little Nemo pages

v t e Little Nemo Author Winsor McCay Media Adventures in Slumberland The Dream Master Characters Flip The Imp Nemo King Morpheus

Buck 65
Buck 65 in concert, July 2006.
Background information
Birth name	Richard Terfry
Born	(1972-03-04) March 4, 1972 (age 40)
Origin	Mt. Uniacke, Nova Scotia, Canada
Genres	Alternative hip hop Experimental music Country Blues[1]
Occupations	DJ, MC
Instruments	Vocals, turntables
Years active	1993 to present
Labels	No, Hand'Solo Records, anticon., Warner Music Canada, Strange Famous Records, Murderecords
Associated acts	Sebutones, Bike For Three!, Haltown Projex, 1200 Hobos, Len, Hip Club Groove
Website	http://www.buck65.com/

Richard Terfry (born March 4, 1972), who uses the stage name Buck 65, is a Canadian experimental artist, MC and turntablist. Underpinned by an extensive background in abstract hip hop, his more recent music has extensively incorporated blues, country, rock, folk and avant garde influences.

Terfry is also a radio host, hosting the weekday Radio 2 Drive show on CBC Radio 2 since September 2, 2008.^[2] In addition, he once hosted a weekday program on CBC Radio 3's web radio station.^[3]

Biography[link]

Early career and influences[link]

Terfry was born in 1972 and raised in Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia, a rural community 40 km north of Halifax. He was first exposed to rap music in the mid-1980s while listening to CBC Stereo's late night show Brave New Waves, and then by listening to Halifax campus community radio station CKDU. CKDU then broadcast at only 33 watts, and he had to climb a tree in his yard to hear the station's hip hop show on his radio. Fascinated by hip hop, the young Terfry taught himself how to rap, DJ, and, later, to produce records. His musical influences include MC Shan, David Lynch, Gitche Manitou and Kool Keith.

Using the moniker DJ Critical, he later hosted a hip-hop show on CKDU called The Bassment (later renamed The Treatment Program when he assumed the stage name Jesus Murphy), which aired for several years. This period overlapped with many of his non-major-label releases.

Stage names[link]

Buck 65 in Sweden at Storsjöyran.

Buck 65 has used a number of other stage names including Johnny Rockwell, Stinkin' Rich, Haslam, and Uncle Climax. These pseudonyms typically represent different characters in his raps (as in Uncle Climax, Johnny Rockwell and Stinkin' Rich) or different aspects of Buck's creativity (as noted above, DJ Critical was his DJ name on CKDU.)^{[citation needed]} He explains the origin of his main performance name as follows: "I was born with the name Ricardo Terfry. Where I come from, it's common when a boy is named after his father, for the father to refer to the son as 'Buck'. I don't know where that comes from or when it started. It might be a 'out-in-the-country' thing. Growing up I knew lots of sons who were referred to as 'Buck'. Sometimes even if they weren't juniors. So the joke became, I was one of 65 (a number picked randomly) 'Bucks' in my town."^[4] However when appearing on Andy Kershaw's radio show in the UK on 8 August 2004, he gave a totally different explanation: some of his earliest public performances were with an older blues musician who used to joke that Ricardo's regularity at showing up made him as reliable as a 1965 Buick. The nickname Buick 65 stuck until it was misprinted on a publicity poster as 'Buck 65' which he then adopted as his stage name.

Recently Buck 65 has recorded an EP under the name of Dirk Thornton alongside Irishman DJ Flip, it was scheduled for release early 2007 but the date was not set.

The first release under Dirk Thornton was a 7" single with the tracks "Yesterday's News" and "Catwalk".

He is also involved in an online collaboration with Greetings From Tuskan producer Joëlle Phuong Minh Lê, as Bike for Three!. Their album, More Heart Than Brains, was released on Anticon Records May 26, 2009.^[5]

Early releases[link]

In 1993, he released his first cassette of rap tunes while performing under the alias Stinkin' Rich on the Halifax label No Records. The five song cassette was titled Chin Music, which was a reference to his interest in baseball. The release brought Stinkin' Rich to the attention of members of Halifax alternative rock band Sloan. Sloan signed him to their independent record label Murderecords and released a 7" single and a full length cassette called Game Tight, again featuring a reference to baseball. As Stinkin' Rich, he also appeared on numerous songs by Halifax hip hop band Hip Club Groove.

After a brief break, Terfry returned reconstituted as Buck 65, releasing Language Arts on cassette and the 12" single Wildlife Trilogy, followed by Vertex, which included his popular song "The Centaur." He recorded Sebutonedef (released in 1996 by Funtrip Records) as a collaboration with fellow Halifax artist Sixtoo. Other releases by the duo, known as Sebutones, are Psoriasis and 50/50 Where It Counts. While still far from mainstream success, he received several odd jobs in Canada's entertainment industry, including making soundtrack music and providing narration for a TV commercial for NBA apparel, and song lyrics for the popular children's program Sesame Street. .

Man Overboard, originally released on the anticon. label, was a significant turning point in his career. The record, and the entire anticon. collective (of which Sixtoo was also a part), were considered hallmarks of a new avant-garde movement in underground hip hop. It was at this time that Buck met Cincinnati DJ Mr. Dibbs who inducted him into the 1200 Hobos, a loosely-knit hip-hop collective named for their proficiency in manipulating the Technics 1200 turntable.^[6]

Critical acclaim[link]

Many of his early projects attracted attention after they were re-released, first on the independent Metaforensics label and subsequently by Warner Music Canada.^[7] While Buck 65 has gained critical acclaim and worldwide exposure through his major label deal, commercial success has escaped him.^[8] Although Warner's worldwide affiliates distribute his records, Warner USA does not. After a deal was signed with V2 USA, This Right Here Is Buck 65 was released in the States, a sort of "Best of" that was marketed as an introduction to his work.^{[9][dead link]} However after V2 chose not to release his next effort, Secret House Against the World, the deal was amicably dissolved. Since then Buck 65 was signed onto Sage Francis' Strange Famous Records, from which he has most recently released Situation.

Buck's most recent albums have gradually moved away from his original 'pure' hip-hop sound into territory influenced by folk, blues and electronica, with some even comparing elements of his sound to Tom Waits.^[10] Some of Buck 65's music is used on the Canadian show Trailer Park Boys, frequently in the character Julian's car. He gained additional recognition in 2006 when he appeared at the national Juno Awards with Pamela Anderson.^[11]

Dirty Work[link]

Buck 65 released a 5 song digital EP called "Dirty Work". It was released over a month long campaign, adding one song per week for free download via his MySpace page. All five tracks are still available for download on his official website. The EP comes with artwork drawn by Buck himself, and the tracks are all outtakes from the full length record Situation.

[edit] Situation to present

Buck 65 released the album Situation on October 30, 2007, on Strange Famous Records in the US^[12] and Warner Music worldwide. The album is a concept album based around the year 1957, and is a return to a more 'pure' hip-hop sound than the previous blues, country and avant-garde influences in Secret House Against the World. It was produced by fellow Halifax DJ Skratch Bastid, aimed at making a "classic hip-hop record that pulses with joy and clarity of purpose".^[13]

He was a host of CBC Radio 3's web radio in 2006 and 2007, and recently accepted daily hosting duties on CBC Radio 2's Radio 2 Drive beginning fall 2008.^[14]

In late 2008, Buck 65 released three one-track albums for free download. The three Dirtbike albums featured guest production and verses by, among others, Cadence Weapon, Emily Wells, D-Styles, Skratch Bastid, Serafina Steer, Jorun, Moka Only, Mia Clarke (of Electrelane) and Doseone.^[15] Dirtbike 1/3 signified a return to Buck 65's pre-Talkin' Honky Blues hip-hop roots that was expected in Situation;^{[citation needed]} in Buck 65's own words "it's a lot like the original versions of [1997's] Vertex and [1999's] Man Overboard".^[16]

In 2009, Buck 65 Contributed a cover of "Blood Pt. 2" to the AIDS benefit album, Dark Was the Night, produced by the Red Hot Organization. Buck 65 formed Bike for Three! with Belgian producer Joëlle Phuong Minh Lê (of Greetings from Tuskan), releasing their debut album, More Heart Than Brains, on May 26, 2009.^[17] The album features "sharp lyrical details and storytelling" by Buck 65, combined with Phuong Minh Lê's production creating a "exquisite, shimmering landscape that rarely plays by the rules."^[18]

Partial discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Videos[link]

• "To Mock a Killingbird" (1998), from Sebutone Def 12"
• "Pants on Fire" (2001), from Man Overboard
• "Phil" (2003), from Square
• "Wicked & Weird" (6 October 2003), from Talkin' Honky Blues
• "463" (5 April 2004), from Talkin' Honky Blues
• "One Evening" (2004), from Leslie Feist's album Let it Die
• "Kennedy Killed The Hat" (Summer 2005), from Secret House Against the World
• "Devil's Eyes" (Autumn 2005), from Secret House Against the World
• "Dang" (Spring 2008), from Situation
• "Shutter Buggin'" (Autumn 2008), from Situation
• "Zombie Delight" (Spring 2011), from 20 Odd Years
• "Paper Airplanes" (Spring 2011), from 20 Odd Years

Awards[link]

2003[link]

• Square, Nomination for the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year.

2004[link]

• Talkin' Honky Blues, Winner of the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year.

2005[link]

• Nomination for the Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year.

2006[link]

• Devil's Eyes, Winner of the Juno Award for Video of the Year.

2011[link]

• Nomination for the Genie Award for Achievement in Music - Original Song

"What's Wrong With That?" from the movie Year of the Carnivore.

Collaboration[link]

• In 2009 he appeared in the song "The Superbowl is Over," the closing track on the album "Let the Children Die," by Toronto rapper D-Sisive.
• In 2005, he contributed to the UNICEF benefit song, "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?" along with Feist.
• Appeared in the music video for Feist's "One Evening".
• Raps in the song "The Unthinkable" by Boom Bip, on the album Seed to Sun.
• Raps in the song "When the Angels Make Contact", by Matt Mays, on the album When the Angels Make Contact.
• Appeared in the music video and produced "Got Up This Morning" by Sage Francis.
• Buck also appears on the album Atlantis: Hymns for Disco by Canadian artist k-os, rapping on the track "Ballad for Noah".
• A sample of the track "Jaws of Life" appeared in a 2007 NBA Commercial featuring Seattle Supersonics player Kevin Durant.^[19]
• In 2008, he appeared on the tracks "Gentle" and "Want", by Tanya Tagaq, on the album Auk~Blood.
• DJs on Al Tuck's record The New High Road of Song.
• On April 18, 2008, he played with Symphony Nova Scotia in the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium.^[20]
• Raps in the song "Loonie" by Classified, on the album Self Explanatory
• Contributed to the 2009 Red Hot Organization compilation Dark Was the Night with a song called "Blood Pt. 2", which remixed Sufjan Stevens' take on the song "You Are the Blood", originally by Castanets.^[21]

• Appeared with Laura J Martin on track "Kissbye Goodnight" released on Static Caravan Recordings on the 11th July 2011.^[22]

Notes[link]

In 2004, he appeared on DJ Signify's Sleep No More Album

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Buck 65

• Buck 65
• Buck 65 at Allmusic