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*A number of websites have used the phrase: Sports columnist [[Bill Simmons]] uses it as a title for his blog. The name is also used by a [[Minneapolis-St. Paul|Twin Cities]]-based website that catalogs the tour schedules of musical groups.
*A number of websites have used the phrase: Sports columnist [[Bill Simmons]] uses it as a title for his blog. The name is also used by a [[Minneapolis-St. Paul|Twin Cities]]-based website that catalogs the tour schedules of musical groups.


*The joke came full circle when Ferrell hosted ''SNL'' on [[May 14]], [[2005]]. He played cowbell in full Frenkle attire with musical guest [[Queens of the Stone Age]] as they performed "[[Little Sister (song)|Little Sister]]," which features heavy use of a red Latin percussion [[jam block]], rather than a cowbell.


*In the 2005 Broadway musical ''[[Spamalot]]'', the main [[Knights who say Ni|Knight Who Says Ni]] quotes the line.
*In the 2005 Broadway musical ''[[Spamalot]]'', the main [[Knights who say Ni|Knight Who Says Ni]] quotes the line.

Revision as of 10:52, 1 September 2006

File:Cowbell2.jpg
Gene Frenkle (Will Ferrell) plays the cowbell in the "More Cowbell" sketch

"More Cowbell" is a line from a April 8, 2000 Saturday Night Live comedy sketch about the recording of the song "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult. The sketch featured guest host Christopher Walken as music producer Bruce Dickinson and Will Ferrell as fictional cowbell player Gene Frenkle.

Synopsis

File:I'm-Bruce-Dickinson.jpg
Bruce Dickinson (Christopher Walken), right, gold record producer and "cock of the walk", speaks to Gene Frenkle and Blue Öyster Cult during the sketch.
Bruce Dickinson (Christopher Walken) delivering the trademark line: "I could've used a little more cowbell."

The sketch is presented as though it is an episode of VH1's Behind the Music, a hit series in the 1990s and early 2000s that delved into the history of popular artists. It begins with what the audience can assume is film from the 1976 recording session that produced the band's biggest hit, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." The producer introduces himself as "the Bruce Dickinson" (Christopher Walken) and tells the band they have "what appears to be a dynamite sound." The first take of the recording session begins soon after. The recording seems to be going well, but is ended by the band after a few moments because the cowbell part is rather loud and distracting. However, Dickinson feels quite differently and, to the surprise of most of the band, asks for "more cowbell." He goes as far as suggesting that the cowbell player, Gene Frenkle (Will Ferrell), "really explore the studio space."

Frenkle's exuberance causes him to bump into his bandmates in the cramped studio, and the band aborts another take. Dickinson enters the studio exasperated at "wasting two good tracks." Frenkle then sheepishly agrees to tone down his performance in the spirit of cooperation. Instead, he passive-aggressively plays the cowbell very close to Eric Bloom's (Chris Parnell) ear and fails to keep time with the rest of the band. Frenkle then knocks over Bloom's microphone stand, ending the take prematurely. The rest of the band expresses frustration with Frenkle, but Dickinson remains focused only on getting more cowbell onto the track.

Frenkle then makes an impromptu speech to Blue Öyster Cult. He begins with an impassioned declaration: "I'm standing here staring at rock legend Bruce Dickinson!" Dickinson interjects, "The cock of the walk, baby!" Suggesting that Dickinson's stature lends a great deal of weight to his opinion about the cowbell part, Frenkle continues by saying, "I'd be doing myself a disservice and every member of this band if I didn't perform the hell out of this!" At the climax of the sketch, Dickinson exclaims:

"Guess what? I got a fever. And the only prescription...is more cowbell!"

This line, and Gene's humble near-exit of the studio, reunites BÖC, and the bit ends with Frenkle happily banging away. The picture freezes, and a message appears, "In Memoriam: Gene Frenkle: 1950-2000."

During much of Gene's plea for unity, the skit's players exhibit noticeable difficulty staying in character. Jimmy Fallon overtly laughs while delivering a line, and continues to laugh for about 30 seconds, while Ferrell breaks into a conspicuous smile at one point in his delivery. Christopher Walken remains completely serious.

Record industry insiders have been struck by the uncanny resemblance between Walken's character and BÖC's real-life producer, Sandy Pearlman.[citation needed] It is reported that Pearlman talks, walks, and dresses just as Christopher Walken's character does in the skit.[citation needed] A compact disc of BÖC's greatest hits, "On Flame with Rock and Roll" carries the credit "Produced by Bruce Dickinson," but this is in fact a mischaracterization of his role. Dickinson (not to be confused with the lead singer for Iron Maiden of the same name) was a mid-level manager at Columbia Records in the 1990s who supervised the repackaging of the CD release, but never worked with BÖC in the studio. Insiders believe that the writers for SNL probably saw this credit on the compact disc, and thus used the name Bruce Dickinson in the sketch, not realizing that the producer of the actual session was Pearlman. Pearlman and the band have both stated that the incident portrayed in the sketch is entirely fictional, the product of the creative minds of the SNL writers.

On May 14, 2005, on an episode that Will Farell himself hosted, the beloved Gene Frekle made a re-appearance on the set of Saturday Night Live during the musical guest's (Queens Of The Stone Age) first musical performance; "Little Sister". As the song itself has a repeating cowbell beat played in the background, Will Farell donned his Gene Frenkle costume and played the cowbell part of the song on-stage along with the band. The audience replied with an immense applause and the song continued without a hitch for the remainder.

Comedy vs. reality

Obviously, the sketch takes a great deal of liberty with the actual events surrounding the recording of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper":

  • Fans of Blue Öyster Cult have occasionally expressed their sympathies to the band for the death of Gene Frenkle,[citation needed] but he was an entirely fictional character made up for the sketch.
  • According to former band bassist Joe Bouchard, the cowbell line was performed by his brother Albert after the song was recorded. It was dubbed in afterwards, and is much quieter than what was portrayed in the sketch. Eric Bloom, however, states that in fact he played it. [1]
  • Bruce Dickinson was a mid-level manager at Columbia Records in the 1990s who supervised the repackaging of their greatest hits CD release, but never worked with BOC in the studio, and had nothing to do with the recording of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper."[citation needed] The actual producer of "Reaper" was Sandy Pearlman.
  • Another oddity was the placement of lead singer Eric Bloom as the vocalist, but lead guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser actually wrote and sang "(Don't Fear) The Reaper".
  • About a month after the sketch aired, one of its first tributes was the creation of a website called "The Cowbell Project" [2] which was created to catalogue songs using cowbell (and even songs that would supposedly sound better if cowbell was added). Video of the sketch was made available at the site and it quickly circled the Internet. In 2003, a band in Rochester, New York named itself More Cowbell after watching a clip online.
  • Walken's lines in the skit were sampled by Dirty Gringos in "Cowbell" which won URB magazine's Best New Tune at the 2003 Winter Music Conference and was featured in the June 2003 issue.
  • "More cowbell!" has become a popular catch phrase used in bars and other music venues, spawning the creation of t-shirts, mugs, and other items bearing words and images referring to the sketch. While many items are only available online, some brick-and-mortar outlets such as Urban Outfitters and Hot Topic have carried shirts bearing the tagline as well. The catch-phrase is also, naturally, often heard at Blue Öyster Cult's live concerts, and some fans have been known to bring cowbells from home and play along with the band. On some occasions, a roadie will join the group onstage playing the cowbell.
  • On Sirius NFL Radio's program, "Movin' the Chains", Thursdays are known as "Cowbell Thursdays." The audio from the SNL segment is played several times and the callers are invited to play their cowbells over the air.
  • A number of websites have used the phrase: Sports columnist Bill Simmons uses it as a title for his blog. The name is also used by a Twin Cities-based website that catalogs the tour schedules of musical groups.


  • Phish's last festival, Coventry, included an airing of a mixed version of the skit called "Cowbell Jam 2005"[3] on the Bunny FM, a radio station set up during the concert.
  • Audio Adrenaline has done the cowbell routine in concert, including one member saying he has a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell.
  • On Dream Theater's Live at Budokan DVD, the Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci quote the sketch during documentary of the band rehearsing. Petrucci tells Portnoy that they "need more cowbell," to which Portnoy replies (in an imitation of Christopher Walken) "I have a fever...and the only prescription is more cowbell"
  • The MMORPG Guild Wars Factions features a quest entitled "More Cowbell" in which you must search a bed of Blue Oysters for an enchanted cowbell.
  • The popular website Weebls-Stuff contains a cartoon music video (chase me) which has a reference to more cow bell.
  • One of the fake loading messages in the MMORPG Auto Assault is "Adding More Cowbell".
  • When the band Wilco covered "Don't Fear the Reaper" at Madison Square Garden on New Years Eve 2004, they had at least three cowbell players onstage.
  • The Tampa Bay Devil Rays use "More Cowbell" as a rally cry during their ballgames, including playing the SNL clip and having fans ring cowbells. [5] The stadium scoreboard graphics crew have a pre-built graphic that says "More Cowbell!!"
  • Colorado State University students and football fans have borrowed the phrase, "More Cowbell", as a reference to star runningback Kyle Bell and as a way to rally their team. T-shirts with the phrase "More Kowbell" and "More Kyle Bell!", altered to avoid copyright infringement, have been produced as well. [6]
  • In Crash Tag Team Racing, N.gin says "Don't fear the Reaper, I need more cowbell.I DON'T HAVE A COWBELL!!!"
  • Hip hop group Jurassic 5 performed a song live in their 2006 tour in which the rappers demand more cowbell, which is promptly added to the backing beat.
  • In concert, Louisiana rock band Better Than Ezra often play a snippet of "Don't Fear The Reaper" during the bridge section of their song "In The Blood". During many recent concerts, the band brings an audience member onstage to play the important cowbell part.
  • Shai Hulud has a hidden cowbell-filled track and a sample from the sketch follows it.

Sketch performers

See also

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