That the name L. Ron Hubbard has come to mean so much in a field he is not immediately associated with is not surprising when one considers the greater scope of his life and achievements. As founder of Dianetics and Scientology, there is probably no human pursuit his work has not touched, and the arts, in particular, were long a subject of special concern owing to what the artist provides: “The creation of all the beauty and glory on which any culture depends.” Then, too, the arts long represented a deeply personal interest, for when we speak of L. Ron Hubbard, we are speaking not only of the founder of Dianetics and Scientology, but of an award-winning photographer, a ground-breaking filmmaker, a world-acclaimed author and, for nearly half a century, a man who deeply loved making music.

What went into that music was a background of considerable scope spanning many cultures, many musical forms and, indeed, many decades. In that regard, LRH’s musical journey very nearly parallels his greater life’s journey and is certainly just as rich. In all, he analyzed over a dozen musical forms -- from Far Eastern to country western, from high Baroque to low Amazonian -- to develop a truly international musical vocabulary. He was also admirably proficient on at least as many instruments -- from his Montana banjo to a Guamian billibutugun, fashioned from a coconut and played on the abdomen. Then, there was his famously expressive baritone with which he once entertained listeners in a radio slot that launched Arthur Godfrey, and his wonderfully perceptive ear with which he plumbed the essence of music right down to the last decibel.

Like all other art forms, Ron once remarked, music is designed to tell a story, and the story of his own musical legacy is a vast one. That it properly begins in the American West of his youth is to be expected; after all, his music was a life-long pursuit. But that his legacy encompasses not merely composition, performance or arranging, but the entirety of this evocative universal language -- that is uniquely L. Ron Hubbard.

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TRUE PROFESSIONAL MAY DO THINGS PRETTY EASILY FROM ALL APPEARANCES, BUT HE IS ACTUALLY TAKING CARE WITH EACH LITTLE BIT THAT IT IS JUST RIGHT.

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