The Marble Index

The Marble Index was recorded in September 1968 at Elektra in Los Angeles on a $10,000 budget and a four-day schedule, with John Haeny engineering and Jac Holzman supervising. Frazier Mohawk is the credited producer; Cale is described as the de facto one. Cale found her harmonium badly out of tune, so the arrangements kept her voice and the instrument apart, and the two clashed often during the sessions. Eight of the twelve songs recorded made the album. Mohawk told Julian Cope that he and Haeny just stood back and tried to document a wonderful little event.

Rolling Stone's Anne Marie Micklo called the second side a really worthwhile venture into musical infinity, and NME's Anthony Thornton called it an artistic triumph; Robert Christgau was harshly negative. Domino reissued it on March 29, 2024, with a bonus 7-inch of Roses in the Snow and Nibelungen. Date sources differ: Wikipedia says November 1968 and MusicBrainz September 19, 1968.