This one has been re-issued by Caroline Records CAR 93398 in 2007, so if you like it, go buy it. The original LP is on wonderfully pee-colored yellow vinyl.
P was a short-lived band formed in early 1993 by Butthole Surfers frontman Gibby Haynes - vocals, actor Johnny Depp - guitar & bass, actor Sal Jenco - percussion, & songwriter Bill Carter - guitar & bass. Additional musicians: Ruth Ellsworth Carter - keyboards, Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) - bass, Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) - guitar, Chuck E. Weiss - washboard, & Andrew Weiss - Mellotron & bass. The band performed their first show at the Austin Music Awards in 1993 & released their eponymous album on November 21, 1995 on Capitol Records. They played the odd gig at The Viper Room, of which Depp used to be co-owner. One of these gigs was played on October 30, 1993, where the lineup included Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Haynes, along with other members of the line-up that night, was a good friend of actor River Phoenix. While the band were in the middle of their song Michael Stipe, which includes the lines "I'm glad I met old Michael Stipe, I didn't get to see his car. Him & River Phoenix were leaving on the road tomorrow" & "but we didn't have a part, not a piece of our heart, not Michael, River Phoenix or Flea or me." Phoenix (unbeknownst to the band at the time) was outside the venue having seizures on the sidewalk. Phoenix died in the early hours of October 31 of heart failure brought on by an overdose of cocaine & heroin.
Although the original idea was that of a Texas roots-rock boogie band, P is everything the Butthole Surfers should be: sick & twisted, dayglo, vulgar, ugly & funny, mean-spirited & self-abusive, out of control & shameless. Gibby is in top form, describing a funhouse ride of vocal hysterics; he even whips out an impressive scrawling noise-guitar solo. Beyond the nearly sincere cover of ABBA's "Dancing Queen" & a full-frontal clambake (complete with electric sitar) of Daniel Johnston's queasy "I Save Cigarette Butts", the group's own inventions are richly absurd, whether taking friendly pop aim at "Michael Stipe," exploring the depths of dub in "Jon Glenn (Mega Mix)" or wailing out a rugged twelve-bar, "White Man Sings the Blues."
Side 1 -Zing Splash
Michael Stipe
Oklahoma
Dancing Queen (ABBA)
Jon Glenn [Mega Mix]
Side 2 -White Man Sings The Blues
Die Anne
Scrapings From Ring
The Deal
Enjoy while you can, it may not last...
NØ
Ha, I bought that album for a quarter at a close-out sale in New York City. Also got Renaissance by the Village People, Word of Mouth by Toni Basil, and Hard Volume by the Rollins Band. What a haul, eh?
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I went to school in Gainesville, FL, which was about 20 miles from the Phoenix family home. River's sister, Rain, hated me for eating McDonald's (and I hated her for being a cunt) and I used to watch a very young Joaquin (then known as Leaf) run around tripping on acid down at the local punk rock venue.
What a small world.
Hey brekinapez
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. It is indeed a small world.
I lived about 20 miles from Phoenix near the Joaquin River. It used to rain all the time so I tripped around on acid with the local punks.
Thanks dood, I couldnt find this album for the longest time. Now I dont have to look anymore.
ReplyDeleteI never lived near to anything except some rain... It came down 20 miles at a time but punked out on the local acid kids. That'll happen, ya dig?
ReplyDeleteBut Nathan, seriously... Thanks for the opportunity for listening to this. I'd, of course, heard about it but've never actually gotten my ears on it... In my imaginary brain, where all the rock stars and actors know each other, I will now think of this whenever I hear The Rentals song 'Friends Of P'...
Erm... yeah.
Thanx for posting this, a very cool overlooked album. I bought this disc years ago and still dig it. From a time when Depp did cool things like this and John Waters movies.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy while you can, it may not last...
ReplyDeleteunfortunately it didn't.
When I was a DJ in our local music cafe in a small town in Austria I used to play "Dancing Queen" quite often.
MEGA decryption code
ReplyDeleteWeXbwxygKoO3TS_jje0sPEYhVURIca9euI5PYpgkWDk
Many thanks!
ReplyDelete