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Butthole Surfers | ||||
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EP by | ||||
Released | July 1983 | |||
Recorded | 1982–1983 San Antonio, Texas | |||
Studio | BOSS Studios | |||
Genre | Punk rock | |||
Length | 18:36 | |||
Label | Alternative Tentacles | |||
Producer | Butthole Surfers, Mike Taylor | |||
Butthole Surfers chronology | ||||
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Back cover | ||||
Alternative cover | ||||
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
The Austin Chronicle | [2] |
Pitchfork Media | 6.2/10 [3] |
Robert Christgau | A− [4] |
Rolling Stone | [5] |
Sputnikmusic | [6] |
Trouser Press | favorable [7] |
Butthole Surfers is the debut studio EP by American rock band Butthole Surfers,released in July 1983. It is also known as Brown Reason to Live and Pee Pee the Sailor (see "Title controversy"). All songs were written and produced by Butthole Surfers.
The album was originally released on Alternative Tentacles. The center label on vinyl printings invited listeners to play the record at 69 RPM,a joke referencing the famous sex position. The album's back cover features a mildly distorted image of famed Mexican luchador Santo. Kurt Cobain listed the EP in his top fifty albums of all time. [8] [9]
The album consists of seven songs that mostly feature heavily distorted guitar with largely nonsensical,barely intelligible lyrics,alternately sung by lead vocalist Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary. Haynes also plays saxophone and drums on some tracks. Unlike later Butthole Surfers albums,no electronic instrumentation is present.
Having parted ways with their original drummer,Scott Matthews,shortly before entering the studio,Butthole Surfers used a number of different percussionists on this album. The last of them,King Coffey,is still with the band to this day. Bassist Bill Jolly was also a relatively new addition,joining after original bass player Quinn Matthews quit at the same time as his brother,Scott. [10] Jolly would also play on the Surfers' first official live release, Live PCPPEP ,and their first full-length album, Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac .
Though this EP is also known as Brown Reason to Live,Butthole Surfers is its official title. Firstly,"Butthole Surfers" were the only words to appear on the front cover of its original release. Furthermore,Latino Buggerveil's 2003 reissue of the EP,together with 1984's Live PCPPEP on a single CD,is titled Butthole Surfers/Live PCPPEP . Perhaps most importantly,it is listed as Butthole Surfers in the "Discography" section of the band's official website. [11]
That said,Brown Reason to Live has a strong claim to title rights,and many fans refer to it by that name. The 12-inch vinyl edition was,and still is,sold as Brown Reason to Live through original label Alternative Tentacles,but it is unclear if it was initially released as such. Also,though the words "Brown Reason to Live" did not appear on the original album's packaging,'A BROWN REASON FOR LIVING' was etched into the run-out grooves of early pressings of this release and 'Brown Reason To Live' was included below the band's name on later Alternative Tentacles printings (see image). [12] Finally,Latino Buggerveil's reissue of this album was listed as Brown Reason to Live (together with Live PCPPEP) on iTunes,but this was later adjusted to say Butthole Surfers + PCPpep in early 2022.
The sessions for Butthole Surfers were made possible by an earlier Butthole Surfers concert at Los Angeles,California's Whisky a Go Go,where they had opened for Dead Kennedys and T.S.O.L. The band gained an early admirer in Dead Kennedys' lead vocalist Jello Biafra,who also ran Dead Kennedys' Alternative Tentacles record label. Biafra told the band that,if they got someone to loan them studio time,Alternative Tentacles would reimburse the studio once the album was complete.
According to guitarist Paul Leary,the band then talked Bob O'Neill,owner of San Antonio,Texas' BOSS Studios,(a.k.a. Bob O'Neill's Sound Studio,a.k.a. the Boss),into loaning them the required time. [10] Joe Pugliese,a San Antonio music promoter,recalled that lead singer Gibby Haynes slept at the studio during these sessions. Mike Taylor,an engineer at BOSS Studios,assisted with the EP's production. Taylor would later record and assemble the contents of 1984's Live PCPPEP . [13]
All songs written and produced by Butthole Surfers.
Chart (1984) | Peak position |
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UK Indie Chart [15] | 21 |
Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio,Texas,by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes,but its core lineup of Haynes,Leary,and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second drummer from 1983 to 1985,1986 to 1989,and 2009. The band has also employed a variety of bass players,most notably Jeff Pinkus.
Locust Abortion Technician is the third full-length studio album by American rock band Butthole Surfers,released in March 1987. The album was originally released on both vinyl and CD on Touch and Go,and was remastered on CD on the band's label,Latino Buggerveil,in 1999.
Hairway to Steven is the fourth full-length studio album by American experimental rock band Butthole Surfers,released in April 1988. All songs were written by Butthole Surfers,co-produced by Butthole Surfers and Ric Wallace,and mixed by Wallace. The album was recorded at January Sound Studio in Dallas.
Gibson Jerome Haynes is an American musician,radio personality,painter,author and the lead singer of the band Butthole Surfers.
Latino Buggerveil is an independent record label and publishing company that was founded by psychedelic noise-punk band the Butthole Surfers.
Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac is the first full-length studio album by American rock band Butthole Surfers,released in December 1984 by Touch and Go Records in America and Fundamental Records in England. All songs were written and produced by the Butthole Surfers.
Live PCPPEP is a live EP and first official live album by American punk band Butthole Surfers,released in September 1984. All songs were written by the Butthole Surfers,and recorded live at The Meridian in San Antonio,Texas,on March 25,1984.
piouhgd is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Butthole Surfers,released in 1991 on Rough Trade Records. The album was reissued on Capitol Records in 1992,due to the album being out-of-print following the American branch of Rough Trade closing its doors the previous year. Capitol had bought the rights to the album after its initial release,in order to lure the Butthole Surfers away from other labels. The album was reissued yet again in October 2007 by Butthole Surfers' own label,Latino Buggerveil,and included the four songs from their 1989 EP Widowermaker as bonus tracks.
Independent Worm Saloon is the sixth album by alternative rock band Butthole Surfers,released in 1993 on Capitol Records. The band chose to follow a heavier orientation for most of the record,following the hiring of producer John Paul Jones,formerly of Led Zeppelin.
Widowermaker is the third studio EP by American punk band Butthole Surfers,released in September 1989. All songs were written by Butthole Surfers.
Weird Revolution is the eighth studio album by the alternative rock band Butthole Surfers,released in 2001 on Surfdog Records and Hollywood Records. It is in large part a rerecorded version of an earlier album,tentatively entitled After the Astronaut,that was abandoned in 1998.
The discography of American rock band Butthole Surfers consists of eight studio albums,four extended plays (EP),two live albums,three compilation albums,one video album,and eight singles. Formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio,Texas,the group signed with the Alternative Tentacles label in 1981. Butthole Surfers' eponymous debut EP was released two years later. The band added drummers King Coffey and Teresa Nervosa in 1983,moved to the Touch and Go label the following year,and released their debut full-length album,Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac.
Cream Corn from the Socket of Davis is the second studio EP by American punk band Butthole Surfers,released in October 1985. All songs were written and produced by Butthole Surfers.
Teresa Taylor,also known as Teresa Nervosa,was an American musician and actress. She was best known as a drummer for the American experimental rock band Butthole Surfers.
Rembrandt Pussyhorse is the second full-length studio album by American experimental rock band Butthole Surfers,released in April 1986. All songs were written and produced by Butthole Surfers,except "American Woman"—which was written by Randy Bachman,Burton Cummings,Jim Kale,and Garry Peterson of The Guess Who—and "Perry",which borrows the theme music to the Perry Mason TV show starring Raymond Burr.
The Hurdy Gurdy Man is a studio EP by American alternative rock band Butthole Surfers,released in 1990.
The Hole Truth... and Nothing Butt is the first compilation album by American punk band Butthole Surfers,officially released in March 1995. All songs were written by Butthole Surfers,except for "Come Together" and "Hurdy Gurdy Man".
Humpty Dumpty LSD is the second compilation album by American experimental rock band Butthole Surfers,released in July 2002. All songs were written by Butthole Surfers,except for "Earthquake," which is a cover version of the 13th Floor Elevators song.
Butthole Surfers/Live PCPPEP is the third compilation album by American punk band Butthole Surfers,released in January 2003. All songs were written by Butthole Surfers.
Blind Eye Sees All is a concert video by Butthole Surfers,which was released on VHS tape in 1985 through Touch and Go Video. The package included a 5" clear vinyl single-sided record with a different mix of their cover of The Guess Who song "American Woman". The single bore no label,titles,or credits,and came packaged between the paper insert of the clamshell case and the plastic sleeve for holding cover artwork,in such a way that the disc itself can be seen as the cornea of the eye featured on the original artwork.