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Primus
Les Claypool (left), Larry LaLonde (right), and Tim Alexander (far left), at the 2008 Ottawa Bluesfest in Ontario, Canada.
Background information
Origin	El Sobrante, California, USA
Genres	Funk metal, progressive rock, alternative rock, funk rock, experimental rock, alternative metal
Years active	1984–2000, 2003–present
Labels	Caroline, Interscope, Prawn Song
Associated acts	Sausage, Holy Mackerel, Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains, Les Claypool's Frog Brigade, Oysterhead, Blind Illusion
Website	primusville.com
Members
Les Claypool Larry "Ler" LaLonde Jay Lane
Past members
Tim "Herb" Alexander Robbie Bean Todd Huth Peter Libby Bryan "Brain" Mantia Vince "Perm" Parker Tim "Curveball" Wright

Primus is an American rock band formed in 1984, currently composed of guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde, vocalist and bassist Les Claypool, and drummer Jay Lane. Primus originally formed with Claypool, Todd Huth and Lane, with the latter two departing the band before Primus's debut release Suck on This, being replaced by drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander and Larry LaLonde. During this lineup, the band released four studio albums: Frizzle Fry, featuring "John the Fisherman", Sailing the Seas of Cheese, featuring "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" and "Tommy the Cat", Pork Soda featuring "My Name Is Mud" and Tales from the Punchbowl, featuring their most commercially successful single, "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver". In 1996, Alexander left Primus and was replaced by Bryan "Brain" Mantia, with whom they would later release Brown Album and Antipop before placing Primus on hiatus in 2000. They were also known for creating the original theme for "South Park" in 1997.

In 2003, Claypool and LaLonde reunited with Tim Alexander and released a DVD/EP, Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People, before touring from 2003 through 2004. In 2010, it was announced that one of the band's earliest drummers Jay Lane had rejoined the band for a cross-country tour, and they later digitally released the free June 2010 Rehearsal EP. An eighth album, titled Green Naugahyde, is due for release on on September 12, 2011 in Europe,^[1] and September 13 in the United States.^[2]

Primus are characterized by their irreverent and often non-serious approach to music. They have released some of their records on Claypool's Prawn Song Records label, the title of which is a parody of Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label.

Contents 1 Band history 1.1 The early years and Frizzle Fry (1984–1990) 1.2 Sailing the Seas of Cheese, Pork Soda and Tales from the Punchbowl (1991–1996) 1.3 Brown Album, Rhinoplasty, Antipop and hiatus (1997–2002) 1.4 Reformation (2003–2009) 1.5 Reformation with Jay Lane and Green Naugahyde (2010–present) 2 Musical style and influences 3 Band members 3.1 Timeline 4 Discography 4.1 Videography 5 Tours 6 Awards 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Band history

[edit] The early years and Frizzle Fry (1984–1990)

Primus began as Primate in El Sobrante, California in 1984 with singer and bassist Les Claypool, guitarist Todd Huth, and a LinnDrum drum machine. The duo initially had trouble finding a drummer, until Claypool's friend Vince "Perm" Parker returned home from a stint in the army, and together the three of them recorded their first demo, financed by Claypool selling his car.^[3][4] Primate changed their name to Primus after "about a month" when they were approached by a group called The Primates threatening legal action due to the similarity of their names.^[4] Parker was soon replaced by the band's second drummer, Peter Libby, who was himself replaced by Robbie Bean, before the band eventually settled on Tim "Curveball" Wright in 1986.^[5] After rising to local music scene stardom with their brand of funk metal fusion, reaching the point where they were "selling out Berkeley Square", Wright left Primus in the summer of 1988 to be replaced by Jay Lane, drummer with the Freaky Executives, who were "getting dicked around by their record company".^[4]

After recording another demo, titled Sausage, Lane left Primus at the end of 1988 due to scheduling conflicts the Freaky Executives,^[6] shortly followed by Huth, who wished to dedicate more time to his family.^[4] Primus was put on hold briefly and Claypool rejoined his former band, Blind Illusion, who at the time also featured one-time Joe Satriani student and ex-Possessed guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde.^[7] Claypool recruited LaLonde to reform Primus together with Tim "Herb" Alexander, drummer with the Arizona-based group Major Lingo, and a month later,^[4][8] the trio recorded their first album: Suck On This, a live recording culled from two of their Berkeley concerts, funded by a loan from Claypool's father.^[9]

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.

[edit] Sailing the Seas of Cheese, Pork Soda and Tales from the Punchbowl (1991–1996)

Primus' major label debut was the album Sailing the Seas of Cheese. The album was supported by the singles "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" and "Tommy the Cat", 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 a Beavis & Butthead tribute album with a song entitled Poetry and Prose. 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.

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" receiving enough airplay to reach #30 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.^[10]

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 sombre mood. "My Name Is Mud", "DMV", and "Mr. Krinkle" were singles, the latter made into 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. Claypool said he put his "heart and soul" into the video, but it received next to no airtime on MTV. In an interview with Guitar World magazine, Claypool disparaged the channel's unwillingness to air the video, saying "it got played like six times."

Pork Soda was recorded at the bands rehearsal space in San Rafael. The band would subsequently record all of their albums at Les Claypool's home studio called Rancho Relaxo.

In 1993 Primus headlined the alternative rock festival Lollapalooza. They also made an appearance at the Woodstock '94 Music Festival. They were pelted with mud while they performed "My Name is Mud" (Claypool claims to still have mud in his speakers). About a minute into the song the band stopped playing, and Claypool said, "Well I opened a big-ass can of worms with that one, didn't I? The song is called 'My Name is Mud', but keep the mud to yourselves you son-of-a-bitch."

The band produced 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 early Primus lineup consisting of Claypool, Huth, and Lane reunited to record Riddles Are Abound Tonight under the band name Sausage, named after the demo they had recorded together in 1988. Among the songs they recorded is an early version of "The Toys Go Winding Down", retitled "Toyz 1988". The video for the title track "Riddles Are Abound Tonight" featured the band in blue leotards performing on stationary bicycles.

In 1995 Primus released their fourth album, Tales from the Punchbowl. It contained Primus's most successful single to date, the Grammy-nominated "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver". The song was accompanied by a video with the band members dressed up in cartoonish plastic cowboy costumes (similar to the suits worn in the then current Duracell battery commercials). The band was invited to perform on David Letterman and Conan O'Brien's shows. On the David Letterman show Primus appeared dressed in penguin tuxedos. Two other less successful singles, "Mrs. Blaileen" and "Southbound Pachyderm" (the latter of which featured a claymation video that received only minimal airplay on MTV) were also released.

In 1996 Claypool self-produced his first solo album entitled Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel Presents Highball with the Devil. On this album many of the songs are done solely by Claypool himself. Claypool also employs the help of a number of other musicians. Experimental Bay Area guitarist M.I.R.V. joined Claypool and others. Performances include a spoken word piece from Henry Rollins on the song "Delicate Tendrils". This album was recorded at Claypool's home recording studio, Rancho Relaxo.

[edit] Brown Album, Rhinoplasty, Antipop and hiatus (1997–2002)

Disturbed by their sudden fame, Primus gradually began to disown "Wynona".^{[citation needed]} It would not be long before Claypool stated that they would stop playing it altogether. Nonetheless, Alexander left the band in 1996. Rumored replacements for Alexander included Mike Bordin of Faith No More,^{[citation needed]} but in the end 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 because of a foot injury.^{[citation needed]}

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 confessed to being big fans. (Les Claypool was an early supporter of their Spirit of Christmas video postcard/demo^{[citation needed]}). Primus also contributed to the Chef Aid album with the song "Mephisto and Kevin".

Brown Album was released in 1997 and supported by the singles "Shake Hands With Beef" and "Over The Falls". In 1998, the band headlined the inaugural Sno-Core tour with The Aquabats, Long Beach Dub Allstars and Blink 182. Claypool broke his foot on this tour while snowboarding in Salt Lake City, UT. he also aired video of South Park at the Sno-Coreshows Primus released an EP called Rhinoplasty, featuring covers of acts like XTC, The Police and Peter Gabriel. The EP also includes two live recordings of Primus, as well as bonus content accessed through a CD-ROM portion of the CD.

Antipop was released in 1999, and was the first album to feature heavy input from outside musicians and producers^{[citation needed]} such as James Hetfield from Metallica, Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine and Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit. The band toured in support of Antipop with Ozzfest and Family Values Tour. The band released a music video for the album's only single, "Lacquer Head", which was banned from MTV because of references to and depictions of drug use, despite the song's anti-drug message.

In 2000 Primus performed a cover of Black Sabbath's song "N.I.B." featuring vocals by Ozzy Osbourne. The track originally appeared on the album Nativity in Black II: A Tribute to Black Sabbath. The single hit number two on the Billboard Modern Rock tracks, the band's highest charting single in nearly a decade.^{[citation needed]} The track was also released as part of Ozzy's 2005 Prince of Darkness box set.

After touring to promote Antipop throughout 2000, Primus went on indefinite hiatus in 2001, citing studio mismanagement and general dissatisfaction.^{[citation needed]} In 2011, Claypool elaborated on the band's decision to take a break, saying that:

"The end of the Nineties was an unhappy Primus camp. I hit a creative stagnation that wasn't helping us forward, and the personal elements, it just was time to stop. And I had been asked for many years, "How long can Primus go on?" And I always said, "I'll do it until it's not fun anymore." And it just wasn't fun anymore on many different levels."^[8]

During this 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 friend Trey Anastasio of Phish and Stewart Copeland of The Police) and his own Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade (featuring both Huth and Lane). He also collaborated with Brain, Buckethead and Bernie Worrell in the group 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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Reformation (2003–2009)

In late 2003, Primus reunited with Tim Alexander on drums to record a five track EP. Released alongside a DVD containing the band's music videos and clips from live performances, the resulting package was titled Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People, which Claypool described as the first DVD with supplementary music, as opposed to the contrary.^{[citation needed]} The band staged a two month tour performing two sets per show, the second consisting of their 1991 release Sailing the Seas of Cheese in its entirety. 2004 saw them continue touring, this time performing their 1990 release Frizzle Fry in its entirety. For these two tours, the band sold recordings directly recorded from the sound-board online. The performance in Chicago was videotaped and released as a DVD titled Hallucino-Genetics: Live 2004.

In 2005 the band performed at Lollapalooza and Vegoose. Between Primus shows, Claypool created a new solo project called Les Claypool's Fancy Band which, like other projects, occasionally used Primus songs.

A May 10, 2006 article in IGN revealed that Primus had signed on with RedOctane to allow the master recording of John the Fisherman to be used in Guitar Hero 2, a game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360.^[11]

Primus performed on July 29, 2006 at the first annual Hedgpeth Festival in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.

On October 17, 2006, Primus released both their first greatest hits CD They Can't All Be Zingers, as well as their third DVD Blame It on the Fish: an Abstract Look at the 2003 Primus Tour de Fromage. Containing live footage from the band's 2003 Tour de Fromage, interview segments and behind the scenes footage, the DVD includes a seventy minute feature film and ninety minutes of bonus material, including a thirty minute mockumentary about the band in the year 2065. Blame it on the Fish was directed by Matthew J. Powers. They Can't All Be Zingers: The Best of Primus includes 16 digitally remastered songs that span the band's career.

In November 2006, Primus commenced another tour which concluded the following month. They played at a few festivals in 2008, including the Rothbury Festival (in Michigan), the Ottawa Blues Fest, the Quebec City Summer Fest, and the Outside Lands Festival (in San Francisco), followed by their first annual Oddity Faire tour in March, 2009.^[12] On November 24, 2009, Prawn Song re-released the band's first studio album, Frizzle Fry, on vinyl record, along with some of Claypool's solo albums.

It was revealed in 2011 that Alexander lacked interest in continuing Primus, despite enthusiasm from LaLonde and Claypool.^[8] Claypool hinted that the band could have recorded with Alexander, but that "when we did readdress Primus in '03 and '06, it was more of a nostalgic thing. It was great at the time, but it just didn't have that creative spark as far as moving forward",^[8] and thus the reformation instead focused on touring.

[edit] Reformation with Jay Lane and Green Naugahyde (2010–present)

On March 18, 2010 it was announced by Phil Lesh on his official message board that former Primus drummer Jay Lane would be leaving his previous band Furthur to rejoin Primus.^[13] On May 3, 2010 Primus announced a new tour with Gogol Bordello, Wolfmother, and The Dead Kenny G's.^[14][15] The press release for the tour revealed that the band were looking to "refine their chops before heading into the studio to record their first album of brand new music since 1999's Antipop."^[16] Correlating with this announcement, the Primus website was updated with an animation of an elevator with its twelfth floor featuring a stylized question mark, and a sign reading "Primus will be with you shortly", alluding to future plans. In 2011, Claypool elaborated on the band's decision to record an album, stating that "(Lane) coming back has just breathed life back into the project. We did some touring, and we decided, "Let's go make a record," because we were creating things on the road."^[8]

On August 5, 2010, Primus released June 2010 Rehearsal, a free four-track rehearsal EP available for download on their official website. The EP consists of new recordings of previously-released Primus songs featuring Jay Lane on drums.

Primus began their second annual Oddity Faire tour on September 14, 2010 with opening acts Portugal. The Man, Split Lip Rayfield, Mariachi El Bronx, The New Orleans Bingo! Show, Mucca Pazza and Gogol Bordello. The Squidling Brothers Circus Sideshow performers also entertained the crowd between bands on select dates. To promote this tour, Primus appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September. The Oddity Faire tour did not include dates in Primus' hometown, the San Francisco Bay Area, because for promotional purposes it was too near to the planned New Year's dates December 30 and 31 in Oakland.^[17]

Their song "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" is included in the video game Rock Band 3, which was released October 26, 2010.^[18]

In interviews conducted backstage at the Soundwave Festival in March 2011, Claypool said of the new Primus album "we've recorded it, we just need to polish it", and that the release date "should be around May or so".^[19] He also described the new material as being "very reminiscent of Frizzle Fry".^[20] In May, it was revealed that the album was complete and had been named Green Naugahyde, though the release date was pushed back to July to avoid the holidays.^[21] On June 6, a press release was issued announcing that the album would be released by ATO Records and Prawn Song on September 13, 2011.^[2] A second press release was later issued announcing that the album would be released in Europe on September 12.^[1]

Primus continue to tour throughout 2011, playing a number of dates in North America in May and June, including the Bonnaroo Music Festival,^[22] followed by a tour of Europe from late June to mid July. They then return to America to play a few more music festivals leading into early August, including a show at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver, Colorado with The Flaming Lips, before embarking on a "major fall tour" in support of the new album.^[2]

[edit] Musical style and influences

Primus' musical style is difficult to define. Primus has been called everything from "thrash-funk meets Don Knotts, Jr."^[23] to "the Freak Brothers set to music",^[24] and has been variously termed alternative rock,^[25] alternative metal,^[26] funk metal,^[25] and progressive metal.^[27] MTV suggests that Primus is "a post-punk Rush spiked with the sensibility and humor of Frank Zappa".^[28] Les Claypool himself once described their music as "psychedelic polka."^[29] Primus is the only band with its own ID3 genre tag, as extended by Winamp.^[30] Primus' influences include Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd,^[31] The Residents, Mr. Bungle, King Crimson, and Rush. Bands that have cited Primus as an influence include Deftones, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, Incubus and Muse.

[edit] Band members

Current members Les Claypool – lead vocals, bass (1984–2000, 2003–present) Larry "Ler" LaLonde – guitar, backing vocals (1989–2000, 2003–present) Jay Lane – drums (1988, 2010–present)

Former members Todd Huth – guitar (1984–1989) Vince "Perm" Parker – drums (1984) Peter Libby – drums (1984–1985) Robbie Bean – drums (1985–1986) Tim "Curveball" Wright – drums (1986–1988) Tim "Herb" Alexander – drums (1989–1996, 2003–2010) Bryan "Brain" Mantia – drums (1996–2000)

[edit] Timeline

[edit] Discography

Main article: Primus discography Suck on This (1989) Frizzle Fry (1990) Sailing the Seas of Cheese (1991) Pork Soda (1993) Tales from the Punchbowl (1995) Brown Album (1997) Antipop (1999) Green Naugahyde (2011)

[edit] Videography Cheesy Home Video (1992) Horrible Swill: A Tawdry Look at Primus on the Road in 1998 (1998) Videoplasty (1998) Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People (2003) Hallucino-Genetics: Live 2004 (2004) Blame It on the Fish: An Abstract Look at the 2003 Primus Tour de Fromage (2006)

[edit] Tours

• Roll the Bones Tour (1992)
• Zoo TV Tour (1992)
• Lollapalooza (1993)
• Liquid Pig Tour (1993)
• Counterparts Tour (1994)
• Punchbowl Tour (1995)
• Southbound Pachyderm Tour (1996)
• Brown Tour (1997)
• H.O.R.D.E. Tour (1997)
• SnoCore Tour (1998)
• Ozzfest (1999)
• Family Values Tour (1999)
• Antipop Tour (1999–2000)
• Tour de Fromage (2003–2004)
• Hallucino-Genetics Tour (2004)
• unnamed 2006 tour
• The Oddity Faire: A Mutated Mini-Fest (2009)
• unnamed summer 2010 tour
• The Oddity Faire Tour (2010)
• Primus World Tour (2011)
• Guinea Pig Tour (2011)

[edit] Awards

Album	Year	Award
Sailing the Seas of Cheese	1991	Platinum Album
Pork Soda	1993	Platinum Album
Tales from the Punchbowl	1995	Gold Album

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Primus

• Primus official website
• Primus discography at MusicBrainz

v · d · ePrimus Les Claypool · Larry LaLonde · Jay Lane Bryan Mantia · Todd Huth · Tim Alexander Studio albums Frizzle Fry · Sailing the Seas of Cheese · Pork Soda · Tales from the Punchbowl · Brown Album · Antipop  · Green Naugahyde Live albums Suck on This Compilations They Can't All Be Zingers EPs Miscellaneous Debris · Rhinoplasty · Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People · June 2010 Rehearsal Videos Cheesy Home Video · Videoplasty · Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People · Hallucino-Genetics · Blame It on the Fish Related articles Discography · Sausage · Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade · Oysterhead · Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains · Les Claypool's Fancy Band · Blind Illusion · Possessed · Guns N' Roses · Prawn Song Records · Lance Montoya Book:Primus  · Category:Primus  · Portal:Alternative music

v · d · e Primus singles discography Frizzle Fry "John the Fisherman" · "Too Many Puppies" · " Mr. Knowitall" Sailing the Seas of Cheese "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" · "Tommy the Cat" · "Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers" Miscellaneous Debris " Making Plans For Nigel" Pork Soda "My Name Is Mud" · " DMV" · " Mr. Krinkle" Tales from the Punchbowl "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" · "Mrs. Blaileen" · "Southbound Pachyderm" Brown Album "Shake Hands with Beef" · " Over the Falls" Rhinoplasty "Behind My Camel" Antipop "Lacquer Head" · "Electric Uncle Sam"   "Me Llamo Mud" Collaborations "N.I.B."

v · d · eLes Claypool Studio albums Highball with the Devil · Of Whales and Woe · Of Fungi and Foe Filmography 5 Gallons of Diesel · Fancy · Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo · Pig Hunt Novels South of the Pumphouse Primus Studio albums Frizzle Fry · Sailing the Seas of Cheese · Pork Soda · Tales from the Punchbowl · Brown Album · Antipop Extended plays Miscellaneous Debris · Rhinoplasty · Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People · June 2010 Rehearsal Other albums Suck on This · Riddles Are Abound Tonight · They Can't All Be Zingers Videography Cheesy Home Video · Miscellaneous Debris · Videoplasty · Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People · Hallucino-Genetics · Blame It on the Fish Oysterhead The Grand Pecking Order Blind Illusion The Sane Asylum C2B3 The Big Eyeball in the Sky Bands Blind Illusion · Primus · Sausage · Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel · Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade · Oysterhead · Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains · Les Claypool's Fancy Band · Electric Apricot Related articles Buckethead · Claypool Cellars · Gov't Mule · Mushroom Men · Gabby La La · Prawn Song Records · Robot Chicken · South Park