The National Gallery - Diana in the Autumn Wind (1968)

Chuck Mangione and Ray Karshner got together in 1967 and released one single under the name Bhagavad-Gita, named after Hindu scriptures. The single was two versions of the same song, “Long Hair Soulful,” featuring one with lyrics and one which was purely instrumental. When the single failed to chart, they gathered studio musicians together to form this band and made one full-length album. Karshner didn’t join the band as a member, but he was responsible for the producing, arranging, and co-writing all of the lyrics (with one song being entirely his). Mangione, on the other hand, joined as a member of the band, playing trumpet, piano, horn, etc., as well as co-writing nine out of the band’s ten songs with Karshner. The other members of the band, all session musicians and singers, were never listed on the group’s sole album, and are therefore anonymous to me. After the band’s album failed to make virtually any impact, the group of session musicians was dissolved. Mangione would go on to great success in the ‘70s, with his most popular song, “Feels So Good,” arriving in 1977.

The National Gallery’s only album was titled Performing Musical Interpretations of the Paintings of Paul Klee. And that’s exactly what the album was. Each track on the album was named after a painting done by the abstract artist known as Paul Klee. Klee, who was of German ancestry but born and raised in Switzerland, had been born in 1879 and passed away in 1940, long before the creation of this 1968 album. The painting, seen above, that the song below was based on was titled Diana in the Autumn Wind. The lyrics and music were interpreted from the painting by Ray Karshner and Chuck Mangione and the resulting track appeared as the second song on The National Gallery’s album. As was the case with Mangione and Karshner's previous collaboration, this song too made no impact on any charts.



The National Gallery - Diana in the Autumn Wind (1968)

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Lyrics:

The leaf that’s green in summer
Will die and fall to ground
The fresh bouquet of yesterday
Today is ugly brown

The happiness of springtime
Is sadness in the fall
The autumn haze makes yesterdays
Much harder to recall

Diana in the autumn wind
Goodbye, goodbye my lover
Diana in the autumn wind
Goodbye my springtime lover
Diana in the autumn wind
Goodbye, goodbye forever

The theater of August
Is silent in the snow
The clown that played the masquerade
Has come to close the show

Diana in the autumn wind
Goodbye, goodbye my lover
Diana in the autumn wind
Goodbye my springtime lover
Diana in the autumn wind
Goodbye, goodbye forever