Boppin 2

Here's part 2 of my cover band essay.

The Residents

            The Residents rank as my co-favorite cover band because, like The Vanilla Fudge, the group really knows how to deconstruct a song and get to the psychological center of it. That, however, is where the similarities between the two groups end, for where The Fudge bursts out with a furious rock beat, The Residents occasionally have no discernable rhythm. Some of their songs sound as if performed by a group of third graders who have ingested LSD and been turned loose on a clown festival in the gymnasium. Others have a simple beauty and touch that is shocking. Then again, when the band wants to be mean, as in (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, the sounds of The Devil himself roar from the speakers.

            The cover of the first Residents album, 1974’s Meet The Residents, was itself, with a few alterations, a cover of The Beatles’, Meet The Beatles! cover. The fun begins with Boots, a cover of the Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazelwood song, These Boots Are Made for Walking. Boots sounds like something composed by Frank Zappa and Moondog and performed by a barbershop quartet and a Salvation Army band. If that’s not enough, the actual 45rpm single of The Human Beinz’s Nobody but Me is mixed into a holiday piece entitled Seasoned Greetings. The remainder of the album exhibited a primitively proficient form of instrumental and vocal prowess that more or less informed the band’s output from then to now. When I first heard the record, in 1979, I’d already heard a goodly amount of progressive music, so I really didn’t think much of it except that it was interesting, though a bit half-baked.

            The follow-up to MTR, the mind blowing The Third Reich n Roll, was fully baked. Presented as two suites, Swastikas On Parade, and Hitler Was a Vegetarian, one per album side, TRR was made up of Residents versions of popular hits from the 60’s and early 70’s. Opening with Let’s Twist Again (sung in German), the band winds its way through such danceable classics as Double Shot, Hanky Panky, The Letter, and Wipe Out. Side Two begins with Judy In Disguise and twists from there, including my favorite, Good Lovin’. The music is all over the place throughout. Light My Fire falls between Rudy Vallee and Satan. Gloria sounds like Bob Dylan singing with an Asian band. The perfect ending to the album is a mash of Hey Jude and Sympathy for the Devil. I bought TRR and several other Residents albums via mail order after reading a Heavy Metal article by the great Lou Stathis, published in 1981, chronicling the history and music of the band.

            In the seven years following 1976, The Residents released eight albums without a single cover song. Some of these, Duck Stab/Buster & Glen, Eskimo, and The Commercial Album, are among my favorites. The songs Birthday Boy, and Sinister Exaggerator changed my mind about everything I had previously thought of music, as did the EP Diskomo.

            The release of George and James in 1984 brought a suite based on George Gershwin, on Side One, followed by a version of James Brown’s Live at the Apollo on Side Two. Subtitled The American Composer Series, several other pieces were planned, and one, Stars and Hank Forever, was actually released. These works, and associated singles Like Hit the Road, Jack and It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World, show The Residents examining the psychological natures of song lyrics and music in ways few others do. Nowhere is there a better example than 1989’s The King & Eye, a psychological study of the life and music of Elvis. Songs like Return to Sender (“I know it ain’t the post office; it’s you…”) and His Latest Flame particularly exemplify just where man is when it comes to women. In short, The Residents reveal the baby in man: his needs, longings, and selfishness.

            Ok, I readily admit that the band is not for everybody, and like any challenging endeavor, the music might not take on first listen. Some songs explore territory I am not interested in, and others are just too bellicose to tolerate. Face it, not a few people object to taking seriously songs that sound like third graders on acid, and though I like many songs that sound like that, thank god there are other pieces to examine. The suite Cube E, featuring two parts, Buckaroo Blues and Black Berry, explores two particular types of American folk music associated with cowboy concerns and those of slaves, all wrapped up in a score that recalls Aaron Copland. It’s difficult to find that sort of combo anywhere.

            There are many things I have failed to mention but figured anyone with a computer can find anything I left out, but trust me, many surprises await you. Many Residents’ songs, and in some cases entire albums, can be freely heard on Grooveshark. So, if you’re tired of everything else, give The Residents a chance.