The Fugs (album)
Encyclopedia
The Fugs is a 1966 album by The Fugs
, described in their All Music
profile as "arguably the first underground
rock
group of all time". The album charted #95 on Billboard's
"Top Pop Albums
" chart. The album was re-released on CD in 1993 as The Fugs Second Album under the Fantasy
label with five additional tracks: two live performances and three tracks recorded for Atlantic
in 1967 for an album that was never released. In its review of the re-release, All Music finds them "very ahead of their time lyrically" and compares them to the punk band Dead Kennedys
, both lyrically and in their shared "weakness for crude humor".
on Folkways Records
, The Fugs signed a contract allowing ESP-Disk
to publish its material in exchange for usage of an Off-Broadway
theater as practice space and what Fugs' frontman Ed Sanders
describes as "one of the lower percentages in the history of western civilization. While finding the contract binding and disadvantageous in many ways, The Fugs were pleased with the opportunity to work with and at the studio of Richard Alderson, who allowed them to experiment with his state-of-the-art equipment. The album was produced over a four week period through January and February of 1966 at the same time that the band was performing weekly at the Astor Place Playhouse and making television appearances with David Susskind
and Les Crane
. The band's controversial lyrics and stage antics allegedly attracted the attention of the FBI and New York City
fire and building inspectors and eventually resulted in their being banned from Astor Place Playhouse. According to Sanders, the FBI's final report of its investigation of the band concluded that "The Fugs is a group of musicians who perform in NYC. They are considered to be beatniks and free thinkers, i.e., free love, free use of narcotics, etc. .... it is recommended that this case be placed in a closed status since the recording is not considered to be obscene." Sanders jokes that "If we'd only known about this, we could have put a disclaimer on the record, 'Ruled NOT obscene by the FBI!'"
The Fugs
The Fugs are a band formed in New York in late 1964 by poets Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg, with Ken Weaver on drums. Soon afterward, they were joined by Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber of the Holy Modal Rounders...
, described in their All Music
All Music
All Music was an Italian free-to-air television station which mainly broadcast music videos and music programs. Originally called Rete A, the name was changed to Rete A - All Music , and for a brief period was affiliated before with MTV Italy and after with VIVA.-History:In late 2004 the former...
profile as "arguably the first underground
Underground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...
rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
group of all time". The album charted #95 on Billboard's
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
"Top Pop Albums
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
" chart. The album was re-released on CD in 1993 as The Fugs Second Album under the Fantasy
Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...
label with five additional tracks: two live performances and three tracks recorded for Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
in 1967 for an album that was never released. In its review of the re-release, All Music finds them "very ahead of their time lyrically" and compares them to the punk band Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....
, both lyrically and in their shared "weakness for crude humor".
History
After the release of their first albumThe Fugs First Album
The Fugs First Album is the 1965 debut album by The Fugs, described in their All Music profile as "arguably the first underground rock group of all time". In 1966, the album charted #142 on Billboard's "Top Pop Albums" chart...
on Folkways Records
Folkways Records
Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
, The Fugs signed a contract allowing ESP-Disk
ESP-Disk
ESP-Disk is a New York-based record label, founded in 1964 by lawyer Bernard Stollman.From the beginning, the label's goal has been to provide its recording artists with complete artistic freedom, unimpeded by any record company interference or commercial expectations—a philosophy summed-up by the...
to publish its material in exchange for usage of an Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
theater as practice space and what Fugs' frontman Ed Sanders
Ed Sanders
Ed Sanders is an American poet, singer, social activist, environmentalist, author and publisher and has been a longtime member of the band The Fugs. He has been called a bridge between the Beat and Hippie generations.-Biography:...
describes as "one of the lower percentages in the history of western civilization. While finding the contract binding and disadvantageous in many ways, The Fugs were pleased with the opportunity to work with and at the studio of Richard Alderson, who allowed them to experiment with his state-of-the-art equipment. The album was produced over a four week period through January and February of 1966 at the same time that the band was performing weekly at the Astor Place Playhouse and making television appearances with David Susskind
David Susskind
David Susskind was a producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and also a pioneer TV talk show host.-Personal:...
and Les Crane
Les Crane
Les Crane , born Lesley Stein, was a radio announcer and television talk show host, a pioneer in interactive broadcasting who also scored a spoken word hit with his 1971 recording of the poem Desiderata, winning a "Best Spoken Word" Grammy.Born in Long Beach, New York , Crane...
. The band's controversial lyrics and stage antics allegedly attracted the attention of the FBI and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
fire and building inspectors and eventually resulted in their being banned from Astor Place Playhouse. According to Sanders, the FBI's final report of its investigation of the band concluded that "The Fugs is a group of musicians who perform in NYC. They are considered to be beatniks and free thinkers, i.e., free love, free use of narcotics, etc. .... it is recommended that this case be placed in a closed status since the recording is not considered to be obscene." Sanders jokes that "If we'd only known about this, we could have put a disclaimer on the record, 'Ruled NOT obscene by the FBI!'"
Track listing
- "Frenzy" (Ed SandersEd SandersEd Sanders is an American poet, singer, social activist, environmentalist, author and publisher and has been a longtime member of the band The Fugs. He has been called a bridge between the Beat and Hippie generations.-Biography:...
) – 2:00 - "I Want to Know" (Charles OlsonCharles OlsonCharles Olson , was a second generation American modernist poet who was a link between earlier figures such as Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and the New American poets, which includes the New York School, the Black Mountain School, the Beat poets, and the San Francisco Renaissance...
, Sanders) – 2:00 - "Skin Flowers" (Pete Kearney, Sanders) – 2:20
- "Group Grope" (Sanders) – 3:40
- "Coming Down" (Sanders) – 3:46
- "Dirty Old Man" (L. Goldbart, Sanders) – 2:49
- "Kill for Peace" (Tuli KupferbergTuli KupferbergNaphtali "Tuli" Kupferberg was an American counterculture poet, author, cartoonist, pacifist anarchist, publisher and co-founder of the band The Fugs.-Biography:...
) – 2:07 - "Morning, Morning" (Kupferberg) – 2:07
- "Doin' All Right" (Richard Alderson, Ted BerriganTed Berrigan-Early life:Berrigan was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 15, 1934. After high school, he spent a year at Providence College before joining the U.S. Army in 1954 to serve in the Korean War. After three years in the Army, he finished his college studies at the University of Tulsa in...
, Lee Crabtree) – 2:37 - "Virgin Forest" (Alderson, Crabtree, Sanders) – 11:17
CD bonus tracks
- "I Want to Know (live)" (Olson, Sanders) – 2:37
- "Mutant Stomp (live)" (Sanders) – 2:58
- "Carpe Diem" (Kupferberg) – 3:39
- "Wide, Wide River" (Goldbart, Ken WeaverKen Weaver (musician)Ken Weaver is an American singer, songwriter and musician. Born on Galveston Island, Texas, he grew up in El Campo and went on to be a Russian translator for the Air Force. A drummer, Weaver joined Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg to form the rock band The Fugs in 1964...
) – 2:51 - "Nameless Voices Crying for Kindness" (Sanders) – 2:52
Performance
- John Anderson – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Lee Crabtree – pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, celesteCelestaThe celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
, bellBell (instrument)A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
s - Pete Kearney – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Betsy Klein – vocals
- Tuli KupferbergTuli KupferbergNaphtali "Tuli" Kupferberg was an American counterculture poet, author, cartoonist, pacifist anarchist, publisher and co-founder of the band The Fugs.-Biography:...
– maracasMaracásMaracás is a town and municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil.-References:...
, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, vocals - Vinny Leary – bass, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Ed SandersEd SandersEd Sanders is an American poet, singer, social activist, environmentalist, author and publisher and has been a longtime member of the band The Fugs. He has been called a bridge between the Beat and Hippie generations.-Biography:...
– vocals - Ken WeaverKen Weaver (musician)Ken Weaver is an American singer, songwriter and musician. Born on Galveston Island, Texas, he grew up in El Campo and went on to be a Russian translator for the Air Force. A drummer, Weaver joined Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg to form the rock band The Fugs in 1964...
– congaCongaThe conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, vocals
Production
- Richard Alderson – engineer
- Bill Beckman – cover design
- Allen GinsbergAllen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
– liner notes - Jim Nelson – photography