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Ben Folds Five

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For this group's self-titled album, see Ben Folds Five (album).
Ben Folds Five
Ben Folds Five at their reunion concert on September 18, 2008 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Ben Folds Five at their reunion concert on September 18, 2008 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Background information
OriginChapel Hill, North Carolina
GenresAlternative rock, power pop, piano rock
Years active1993–2000, 2008, 2011–2013 (hiatus)
LabelsPassenger, Caroline, 550
Members
Websitewww.benfoldsfive.com
Ben Folds performing, Knoxville, Tennessee, 2006

Ben Folds Five are an American alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group's members are Ben Folds (lead vocals, piano, keyboards, melodica, principal songwriting), Robert Sledge (bass, contrabass, synthesizer, backing vocals), and Darren Jessee (drums, percussion, backing vocals, songwriter). The group achieved mainstream success in the alternative, indie and pop music scenes. Their single "Brick" from the 1997 album Whatever and Ever Amen gained airplay on many mainstream radio stations. During their first seven years together, the band released three proper studio records, one retrospective album of B-sides and outtakes, and eight singles. They also contributed to a number of soundtracks and compilations. Ben Folds Five disbanded in October 2000. They reunited in 2011 and released their fourth album The Sound of the Life of the Mind in 2012.

History

1993–2000

Ben Folds Five was formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill by Ben Folds. They were, in fact, a trio in spite of their name, and the primary motivation behind the name, apart from the band's well-known use of humor, was simple preference, according to Ben: "I think it sounds better than Ben Folds Three."[1] Folds once described their music as "punk rock for sissies," a reaction to the angst prevalent in '90s rock.[2]

Their first radio single was "Underground" from their self-titled debut album, released in 1995 on Caroline Records. The band's biggest success was the single "Brick" from their second album, Whatever and Ever Amen, released in 1997. It was followed by the more somber and jazz-based 1999 album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. The group contributed an outtake from the Reinhold Messner sessions, titled "Leather Jacket", to the 1999 benefit album, No Boundaries: A Benefit for the Kosovar Refugees.

The band's final released recording was a cover of Steely Dan's "Barrytown" for the Me, Myself & Irene soundtrack. The band had begun work on a fourth studio album, but following the worldwide tour in support of The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, the band "amicably" broke up in October 2000. Tracks from the sessions would later emerge on subsequent solo projects.[3]

After the break-up

Folds went on to pursue a successful solo career, releasing Rockin' the Suburbs in 2001, Songs for Silverman in 2005, Way to Normal in 2008, Lonely Avenue in collaboration with novelist Nick Hornby in 2010, and So There in collaboration with the chamber group yMusic in 2015. He produced and arranged actor William Shatner's second album, Has Been, as well as co-wrote the majority of the songs with Shatner. Folds also contributed songs to the soundtracks for the animated movies Hoodwinked! and Over the Hedge. Darren Jessee formed the acclaimed indie band Hotel Lights, with his songs featured in television and film. Jessee released three studio albums for Bar/None Records including Hotel Lights in 2005, Goodnightgoodmorning in 2006, Firecracker People in 2008, and Girl Graffiti in 2011. Robert Sledge soon after took up singing, sharing song-writing and bass playing duties with International Orange, but the group disbanded in 2005. He subsequently formed The Bob Sledge Band, which plays locally in North Carolina.

2008 reunion

Ben Folds Five made a one-off concert appearance in September 2008 at the UNC Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill as part of the MySpace "Front to Back" series, in which artists play an entire album live. The band played its final album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, and were briefly joined on stage by Ben's father, Dean Folds, who read a transcript of his voice mail message that is used in the album song "Your Most Valuable Possession", encoring with some of the songs from their first two albums.[4]

2011–2013: The Sound of the Life of the Mind, Live and hiatus

In 2011, Ben Folds Five reunited to record three tracks for Ben Folds' The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective. Sarah Rodman of the Boston Globe also reported that Ben Folds Five would be reconvened in December 2011 to record a new album.

For the 2012 Mountain Jam festival, Ben Folds Five was announced as one of the main headliners. It was at Mountain Jam where Ben Folds Five reunited for their first live performance together in years.[5] They were also announced in the 2012 Bonnaroo and Summerfest lineups. The band announced an August release of their new album, followed by a full American tour in September and October. They then travelled to Ireland and the UK for a tour in November and December 2012. These dates eventually formed The Sound of the Life of the Mind Tour.

On May 7, 2012, Ben Folds Five launched an interactive pre-sale campaign for the release of their new album on PledgeMusic. The campaign shot to 200% in its first week of being live. Folds has said that they have enough material for at least two more records.[6]

During a June 28, 2012, Ben Folds Five performance at Summerfest, Folds announced the album had been completed.

On September 17, 2012, Nerdist posted the video for "Do It Anyway", the first single off the album The Sound of the Life of the Mind, featuring Anna Kendrick, Rob Corddry, Chris Hardwick and the cast of Fraggle Rock.[7] The day afterward, The Sound of the Life of the Mind was released.

On June 4, 2013, the trio released their first live album, simply titled Live.[8] During the summer of 2013, Ben Folds Five toured with the Barenaked Ladies and Guster.[9] Following the tour, Ben Folds Five entered a hiatus; with Folds primarily returning to his solo work.

Discography

Ben Folds Five discography
Studio albums4
Live albums1
Compilation albums2
Singles9
Video albums1

Studio albums

Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
US
[10] 		AU
[11] 		CA
[12] 		JP
[13] 		SC
[14] 		UK
[15]
Ben Folds Five — 37 — 72 — —
Whatever and Ever Amen
  • Released: March 18, 1997
  • Label: 550
 42 8 48 6 38 30
The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner
  • Released: April 27, 1999
  • Label: 550
 35 5 35 17 32 22
The Sound of the Life of the Mind
  • Released: September 18, 2012
  • Label: ImaVeePee
 10 24 — 72 48 40

Live albums

  • Live (2013) - ImaVeePee

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
US
[10] 		US Mod
[10] 		AUS
[11] 		CAN
[20] 		JPN
[10] 		SCO
[21] 		UK
[15]
1996 "Underground" — — — — — 46 37 Ben Folds Five
"Where's Summer B.?" — — — — — — 76
1997 "Battle of Who Could Care Less" — 22 149 — — — 26 Whatever and Ever Amen
"One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces" — — 134 — — — —
"Kate" — — — — — — 39
1998 "Brick" 19 6 13 12 — 15 26
"Song for the Dumped" — 23 73 — — — —
1999 "Army" — 17 65 — — 25 28 The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner
"Don't Change Your Plans" — — — — — — —
2012 "Do It Anyway" — — — — 88 — — The Sound of the Life of the Mind
"—" denotes singles that did not chart.

DVDs

Soundtracks and compilations

References

  1. ^ Hofmann, Pieter (1997-03-10). "Waist Deep in Pianos and Buses". Drop-D Magazine. Retrieved 2006-09-02.
  2. ^ Thomas, Sarah (2006-08-25). "Ben Folds with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  3. ^ "Ben with the Breeze". Melbourne: The Breeze. 2005-04-01. Retrieved 2006-11-27.
  4. ^ "Ben Folds Five delights in reunion" Archived September 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Catch Ben Folds Five's First Reunion Performance Tomorrow! | The Official Ben Folds Site". Benfolds.com. 2012-06-01. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  6. ^ Folds, Ben (2012-05-15). "Ben Folds Audio Interview - New Ben Folds Five Record". Blogger. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  7. ^ Folds, Ben (2012-09-17). "EXCLUSIVE!: Ben Folds Five and the Fraggles Sing "Do It Anyway"". Nerdist. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  8. ^ Ben Folds Five First Official Live Album To Be Released June 4 | The Official Ben Folds Site, 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2013-06-10.
  9. ^ "Ben Folds Tour". Benfolds.com. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  10. ^ a b c d Ben Folds Five : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards at AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-02-18.
  11. ^ a b Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
  12. ^ Peak chart positions for albums in Canada:
  13. ^ Peak chart positions for albums in Japan:
  14. ^ Peak positions for singles in Scotland:
  15. ^ a b "Official Charts > Ben Folds Five". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  16. ^ "RIAJ > The Record > May 1997 > Certified Awards (March 1997)" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-02-02.
  17. ^ "American album certifications – Ben Folds Five – Whatever and Ever Amen". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  18. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1998 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  19. ^ "RIAJ > The Record > June 1997 > Certified Awards (April 1997)" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  20. ^ Peak chart positions for singles in Canada:
  21. ^ Peak positions for singles in Scotland:
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