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Primus (band)

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Primus

Primus is an American rock band formed in California in the mid-1980s. Singer and bassist Les Claypool has been the only constant member. They have had two guitar players, although Larry LaLonde has held onto the role for over 16 years, and several different drummers. Tim Alexander, Bryan "Brain" Mantia and Perm Parker are the only drummers to have recorded with the band.

Their music has proven difficult to define; while usually considered by critics to be funk metal or alternative metal, Primus has been called everything from "thrash-funk meets Don Knotts, Jr."[1] to "alternative rock" to "the Freak Brothers set to music."[2] Les Claypool himself once described their music as "psychedelic polka."[3] Primus is the only band with its own ID3v1 genre tag, as extended by Winamp.[4]

Due to the diversity of their sound, Primus have been able to gain a modest segment of fans from many different rock subgenres. They are characterized by their irreverent approach to music. Primus release their records on Claypool's Prawn Song Records label, a parody of Led Zeppelin's Swan Song. The band's catchphrase is no longer "Primus sucks!" because the band has gotten plain tired of it, although it was a tradition that dated back to their first album. To this day, at concerts, fans can be heard chanting "Primus sucks!" until the band takes the stage.

Currently

File:Primus-blame-it-on-the-fish.jpg
Cover of Primus' DVD Blame it on the Fish.

New releases

In Mid-August of 2006, a DVD release entitled Blame It On The Fish was added to the listings of Amazon and other online shops. Shortly thereafter, the website The PRP reported that a rumor had surfaced implying that the band was quietly planning a North American tour for November/December 2006.[5]

On October 17, 2006, Primus released both their first greatest hits CD They Can't All Be Zingers: The Best of Primus and their third DVD Blame It on The Fish, subtitled An Abstract Look at the 2003 Primus Tour De Fromage.

They Can't All Be Zingers: The Best of Primus includes 16 digitally remastered songs that span their entire career, including a previously unreleased and extended version of "Shake Hands With Beef", the Tom Waits collaboration "Coattails Of A Deadman", and "Mary The Ice Cube" from the 2003 DVD and EP Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People.

Blame It On The Fish: An Abstract Look at the 2003 Primus Tour De Fromage contains live footage from the band's 2003 reunion tour, interview segments and behind the scenes footage. The DVD includes a 70 minute feature film and 90 minutes of bonus material, including a 30 minute mockumentary about the band in 2065. Blame It On The Fish is directed by Matthew J. Powers, who directed Never Been Done, a documentary about Jon Comer.

In November 2006 commenced Primus: The Beat A Dead Horse Tour 2006. It was rumored on Primus' forums that Bob Cock had said in an email that Primus plans to return to the studio after the tour and make a new album.

History

File:All-primus-flyer.jpg
Primus with All circa 1989. Both bands have several songs about fishing.

The early days (1984–1990)

Primus began as Primate in El Sobrante, California during the mid-1980s, with singer and bassist Les Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth. Claypool rounded out the band with a drum machine but drummer Perm Parker was added for the recording of Primate's demo tape.[6] The band would go through many drummers throughout their early history. Although not a thrash metal band, Primus was heavily associated with the Bay Area Thrash scene in their early years. Opening for bands such as Testament and Exodus, whom Claypool almost joined, they picked up a following of fans from the scene as a result. Primus received praise from Testament's Alex Skolnick very early into their career.[7]

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After rising to local music scene stardom with their brand of funk metal fusion, Huth and then drummer Jay Lane left in 1989 to pursue other projects. Claypool then recruited death metal guitarist, and one time Joe Satriani student, Larry "Ler" LaLonde and eclectic drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander.

File:Primus--berksq-89.jpg
Primus at Berkeley circa 1989.

During this time, Primus played a number of shows at Barrington Hall, a notoriously free-wheeling Berkeley student housing co-operative. Barrington Hall is often referenced in the band's music; the song "Frizzle Fry" refers to a Barrington party, and the album Tales from the Punchbowl refers to the LSD-spiked punch that was frequently served at Barrington social events.

Primus continued to gain popularity and in 1989 released their first album, Suck on This, a live recording culled from two of their Berkeley concerts. The album was financed by Les' father.

In 1990 the band released their first studio album, Frizzle Fry, and released singles for "John The Fisherman" and "Too Many Puppies." With a music video featuring Kirk Hammett, a studio album and a tour with Jane's Addiction, Primus' popularity grew to the point where they attracted attention from Interscope Records, who signed them in 1990.

Cheese, Soda and Punch (1991–1996)

File:Primus-bungle-melvins-flyer.jpg
Primus with Mr. Bungle and The Melvins at Bill Graham's New Year's Eve show circa 1992.

Primus' major label debut was the album Sailing the Seas of Cheese supported by singles "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver," and "Tommy the Cat (featuring Tom Waits)," both of which appeared on MTV. A third single, "Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers," was also released but did not feature a video. The band appeared as contestants for the Battle of the Bands in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey and made music for Beavis & Butthead. With a major label behind them, Sailing the Seas of Cheese went gold. The band then toured in support of Rush, U2, Anthrax, and Public Enemy.

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After the release of Sailing the Seas of Cheese, in 1992 Primus released a cover song EP Miscellaneous Debris, with their version of XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel" managing to break airwaves.

In 1993, Primus released Pork Soda, which managed to debut at #7 on the Billboard Top 10. The album was darker than previous Primus efforts, dealing with murder, suicide, and alienation. The band has commented that prior to recording, they had been touring for nearly two solid years and were thus in a somber mood. "My Name Is Mud", "DMV", and "Mr. Krinkle" were hits, the latter inspiring a video featuring Claypool in a pig suit and tuxedo playing upright bass in an abandoned warehouse as a carnival of oddities parades behind him, including Claypool's wife and her twin sister. The band reportedly put their heart and soul into the video, but it received next to no airtime on MTV.

Pork Soda also carries the distinction of being the first full length album recorded at Claypool's house. The band would subsequently record all of their albums in his home studio.

In 1993 Primus headlined the alternative rock festival Lollapalooza. They also made an appearance at the Woodstock '94 Music Festival where they performed "My Name is Mud" with predictable results (Claypool claims to still have mud in his speakers). It was clear that Primus-mania was growing, and the band was churning out material frequently. In the previous four years they had released three albums, an EP, six music videos, and a home video. To top that all off, they toured with Rush, who they consider to be one of their biggest influences.

During a lull in 1994, the original Primus lineup consisting of Claypool, Huth, and Lane reunited to record Riddles are Abound Tonight under the band name Sausage. Among the pre-Primus Primus songs they recorded were "Temporary Phase", "Prelude to Fear", and "Shattering Song." The video to "Riddles are Abound Tonight" featured the band in blue leotards performing on stationary bicycles.

In 1995 Primus released their fifth album, Tales from the Punchbowl. It was very well received and contained Primus's most successful single to date, the Grammy-nominated "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver". The ubiquitous song was accompanied by an equally ubiquitous video with the band members dressed up in cartoonish plastic cowboy costumes (similar to the suits worn in the then current Duracell battery commercials). So great was their popularity that the band was invited to perform on David Letterman and Conan O'Brien's shows. Two other less successful singles, "Mrs. Blaileen" and "Southbound Pachyderm" (the latter of which featured a claymation video that apparently only got played on MTV a small number of times) were also released.

Many falsely believed "Wynona" was about actress Winona Ryder. Claypool has acknowledged several times that the song is not about Ryder, indicating that the song's name is spelled and pronounced differently. While this placated Ryder, her then boyfriend Soul Asylum vocalist David Pirner took offense and renamed one of his songs "Les Claypool's A Big Fucking Asshole" in concert. [1]. Claypool was apparently not even aware of this at the time, although this did cause tension between fans of Primus and Soul Asylum for a brief period.

The Mantia era — Brown Album, Antipop & hiatus (1997–2002)

Disturbed by their sudden fame, Primus gradually began to disown "Wynona." It would not be long before Claypool stated that they would stop playing it altogether. Nonetheless, Alexander left the band in 1996 due to creative differences. Rumored replacements for Alexander included Mike Bordin of Faith No More, but in the end he was replaced by Bryan "Brain" Mantia of Limbomaniacs and Praxis. Mantia was one of the many drummers Claypool auditioned for the original line-up of Primus before settling with Alexander — Mantia bowed out beforehand due to a foot injury.

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With Mantia aboard, Primus was asked in 1996 to compose the theme song to South Park after the show's creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone professed to be big fans. (Les Claypool was an early supporter of their Spirit of Christmas video postcard/demo.) Primus also contributed to the South Park "Chef Aid" album with the song "Mephisto and Kevin", telling the story of Gopherboy. By this time, bands that were influenced by Primus's bottom-heavy rock — such as Tool, KoЯn, and Limp Bizkit — were starting to gain a growing audience in the alternative metal genre which Primus had helped to promote.

Brown Album was released in 1997 with singles "Shake Hands With Beef" and "Over The Falls". The Brown Album was a departure from previous Primus work.

Antipop was released in 1999, and was the first album to feature heavy input from outside musicians and producers. The album was seen as a 'return to form' by most long term Primus fans, featuring harder edge song-writing fans had been craving as well as greatly improved production over the previous album. The band toured with Ozzfest and released a video for "Lacquerhead" that was banned from MTV because of its drug content, even though it was an anti-drug song. After touring to promote the album throughout 2000, citing studio mismanagement and general dissatisfaction, Primus went on indefinite hiatus in 2001.

During the hiatus, Alexander released two albums with the band Laundry and performed with Blue Man Group, A Perfect Circle, and Born Naked, among others. Claypool explored the jam band scene with Oysterhead (featuring his friend Trey Anastasio of Phish as well as Stewart Copeland) and his own Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade. He also collaborated with Mantia in Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains. LaLonde joined Mantia to produce two experimental No Forcefield records, and tried unsuccessfully to start a recording studio.

In 2000 Primus performed a cover of the Black Sabbath classic "N.I.B." with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals. This track appeared originally on the album Nativity in Black II: A Tribute to Black Sabbath. The single hit number 2 on the Billboard Modern Rock tracks, the band's highest charting single in nearly a decade. The track was also released on Ozzy's Prince of Darkness box-set in 2005.

Reformation (2002–Present)

In late 2003 Claypool reunited with LaLonde and, in a surprise move, Tim Alexander to record a DVD/EP called Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People, which Claypool described as the first DVD with supplementary music, as opposed to the contrary. The band staged a two month tour in which they performed two sets per show, the second consisting of their 1991 release Sailing the Seas of Cheese in its entirety. 2004 saw them continue touring, and even performing their 1990 release Frizzle Fry in its entirety. For these two tours, the band sold recordings directly recorded from the sound-board online, following an example of other bands such as Phish. The performance in Chicago was video taped as well, and was released on the 'Hallucino-Genetics' Live DVD. The band's style as of their last EP was based on the jam band style with extended soloing from band members and less focus on lyrics. This follows the musical evolution of Les Claypool's work during the Primus hiatus, it is unknown whether this style was simply temporary or if the band has permanently switched over to it.

In 2005 the band performed at Lollapalooza and Vegoose. Between Primus shows, Les created a new solo project called the Fancy band which, like his other projects did not play any Primus songs and only played Les Claypool's solo work.

An April 26, 2006 billboard.com story reported that Alexander will be the drummer in a reunited Meat Puppets lineup. The band will feature original members Cris Kirkwood and Curt Kirkwood. Alexander will take the place of original drummer Derrick Bostrom who declined an invitation to rejoin the band.

A May 10, 2006 article in IGN[2] revealed that Primus have signed on with RedOctane to allow the master recording of John the Fisherman to be used in the upcoming Guitar Hero 2 game for the Playstation 2 and Xbox 360.

Primus performed on July 29th at the 1st Annual Hedgpeth Festival in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. No new tracks were performed, and no word was given by any of the members regarding the new album.

Etymology

Primus were originally called "Primate" until another group called The Primates threatened legal action. Claypool allegedly selected Primus as the next closest thing to Primate in the dictionary, though he has been known to claim that Primus was the closest thing that rhymed with anus. Primus is Latin for "the first".

Members

Current members

In 2003, Primus announced that Tim Alexander would no longer be referred to as "Herb."

Past members

Notable or frequent contributors

As Primate, the band included Claypool, Huth, and drummers Perm Parker and Peter Libby.

Side projects

To see a more detailed description of each band members' side projects, please refer to their respective articles.

Song Content

Primus is known for most of their lyrical content based around fictional characters or friends with goofy humor. But most of their songs have deeper meanings and political views. Here are some examples.

  • "Too Many Puppies": About the conflict in the Middle East. "Puppy" is a euphemism for "soldier", and also a play on the term 'dogs of war'.
  • "John the Fisherman": The true story of a modern day fisherman whose ship went down at sea, and whose final mayday "Oh my god we're going down" was recorded and broadcast on the news.
  • "Pudding Time": About materialism and consumerism in the face of the depletion of the natural environment.
  • "Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers": About the heavy use of methamphetamine by some blue collar workers. As the song itself states, "the flame that burns twice as bright burns only half as long..."
  • "American Life": An ironic story about immigrants and veterans in the land of the free living on the streets.
  • "Bob": About a hypothetical friend that committed suicide.
  • "Southbound Pachyderm": Primarily about viewing a solar eclipse, but possibly alludes to overhunting of endangered animals ("Southbound" is symbolic for "going down" as in "not doing well").

Politics

Many of Primus's songs have political undertones, and their true politics are thought by most to be liberal. A quote by Larry LaLonde jokes that "we pretty much go along with anything Bob Dole says", which was a sarcastic response to Primus's well known liberal politics. Les Claypool is shown on Primus's Hallucino-Genetics DVD stating support for Michael Moore's controversial Fahrenheit 9/11 documentary, a move which alienated some of Primus's more conservative fans who disagree with Moore. Claypool has also made anti-Bush and anti-war statements at many of his shows.

Discography

Main article: Primus discography

Albums

Independent/EP/DVD

Music videos

File:Primus-devil-georgia.jpg
Screencap from "Devil Went Down To Georgia", directed by Mike Johnson

Primus hire many of their friends from the Bay Area to be in the stage crew, and many of them appear in Primus's videos and home videos.

Song Director Released Notes
"John the Fisherman" 1990 Kirk Hammett appears in the video.
"Too Many Puppies" 1990
"Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" 1991 Bob Cock appears in the beginning clip.
"Tommy the Cat" 1991 Shot entirely in black and white, with clips of black and white animation.
"My Name Is Mud" Mark Kohr 1993 Bob Cock appears throughout the video.
"DMV" 1993 The band was told to make the video.
"Mr. Krinkle" Les Claypool 1993 The camera does not move during the entire video.
"Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" 1995 Shot at Rancho Relaxo, Claypool's home.
"Southbound Pachyderm" 1995 Entirely claymated, except for the band appearing on a TV.
"Devil Went Down to Georgia" Mike Johnson 1996 Entirely claymated.
"Shake Hands With Beef" Les Claypool 1997
"Over the Falls" 1997 Shot entirely in black and white.
"Lacquer Head" 1999 Blends claymation and real video.

Radio singles for which no official music videos were made include: "Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers," "Mrs. Blaileen" and "Mr. Knowitall."

Trivia

  • Primus was ranked at number 97 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
  • Primus is also ranked at number 22 on Blender's "50 Worst Artists in Music History" list [3]
  • Les Claypool auditioned for the bass position for Metallica to replace Cliff Burton after his untimely death in 1986.
  • The song 'Welcome To This World' also appeared on the Brainscan soundtrack.
  • The song 'Wounded Knee' is sampled throughout the song 'Bad Mutha' by Cee-lo Green off the album Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections
  • Les Claypool has done Led Zeppelin's Kashmir live during concerts in '92, using the upright bass. He has also covered the infamous Jaws Theme during the '95 Punchbowl Tours.
  • Primus has also done live covers of many songs, a few are Have a Cigar, Smoke on the Water, Crazy Train, The Willy Wonka Song, YYZ, Angel of Death and more. One of their more popular unreleased covers is a version of Master of Puppets with Les playing the lead guitar as a bassline.
  • In the movie Idle Hands, when Anton is seen climbing into Pnub's house, a Primus poster can be seen.
  • In the movie "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey", the band performing before Wyld Stallyns at the battle of the bands is Primus.

Notes

  1. ^ "New Rage: The Funky". Guitar Player via ram.org. 1991. Retrieved 2006-09-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  2. ^ "High Fryers". Metal Forces #54 via ram.org. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  3. ^ "Say "Cheese"!". Kerrang! #343 via ram.org. June 1, 1991. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  4. ^ "Informal standard" (TXT). Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  5. ^ "Those Damn Blue Collared Tours". Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  6. ^ a b Karl Coryat. "Les Claypool gets a Taste of the Big Time". Bass Player Magazine via ram.org. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  7. ^ "Interview with Alex Skolnick of Testament when they played Vancouver with Judas Priest and Megadeth on Halloween night". Retrieved 2006-09-24.
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