The Presidents of the United States of America were an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1993. The three-piece group's initial lineup consisted of vocalist and bassist Chris Ballew, drummer Jason Finn, and guitarist Dave Dederer. The band became popular in the mid-1990s for their hits "Lump" and "Peaches"—released in 1995 and 1996, respectively—which helped their self-titled debut album go triple Platinum.
Geoffrey Arnold Beck was an English guitarist. He rose to prominence as a member of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to an instrumental style with focus on an innovative sound, and his releases spanned genres and styles ranging from blues rock, hard rock, jazz fusion and a blend of guitar-rock and electronica.
"Yesterday" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was first released on the album Help! in August 1965, except in the United States, where it was issued as a single in September. The song reached number one on the US charts. It subsequently appeared on the UK EP Yesterday in March 1966 and made its US album debut on Yesterday and Today, in June 1966.
The Presidents of the United States of America is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band The Presidents of the United States of America, released on March 10, 1995, via PopLlama Records. Columbia Records signed the band shortly after its release to handle increased distribution for the album.
13 Other Dimensions is an album by the American band the Giraffes. It was released through the Seattle label My Own Planet, on CD and vinyl in 1998. It is essentially a solo effort by Chris Ballew, recorded in Ballew's basement. The album was published as being a work by a fictional band composed of Ballew's childhood stuffed animals. Ballew's name appears nowhere on the album.
One Foot in the Grave is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock musician Beck, released in June 1994 on K Records, an independent label. It was recorded prior to the release of Mellow Gold, but was not released until after that album had met critical and commercial success. One Foot in the Grave shows a strong lo-fi and folk influence, and features several songs that are interpolations or covers of songs popularized by artists like Skip James and The Carter Family.
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in San Francisco in 1995. The band's lineup consists of Spike Slawson, CJ Ramone, Joey Cape, Pinch and John Reis. Dave Raun, Chris Shiflett, and Fat Mike are former members.
Love Everybody is the fourth studio album by American rock band the Presidents of the United States of America. It was released on August 17, 2004, on the band's own label, PUSA Inc. It was the group's final album with Dave Dederer. The band returned to their standard musical style on this album.
The Days Are Filled with Years was released by The Giraffes in 2000 on Orange Recordings. It is the second album as The Giraffes by The Presidents of the United States of America's Chris Ballew. Cover art features a picture of Ballew's infant son, Augie Ballew, at the piano.
II is the second studio album by the American rock band The Presidents of the United States of America. It was released via Columbia Records on November 5, 1996, coinciding with the United States presidential election.
"Peaches" is a song by American alternative rock band the Presidents of the United States of America. It was included on their album The Presidents of the United States of America and released as a single in February 1996. The track was produced by Conrad Uno. The band members have acknowledged that "Peaches" borrows riffs from Bad Company's 1975 song "Feel Like Makin' Love".
"Lump" is a song by alternative rock band the Presidents of the United States of America. It was released in August 1995 by Columbia Records and included on their album The Presidents of the United States of America (1995). The song reached number one on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart the same year. Composer Chris Ballew said that the lyrics combined his own history of having a benign tumor in the head with a vision he had of a woman in a swamp, while employing the word "lump" because Ballew was fond of it. The musical part was described by Ballew as him "trying to write a Buzzcocks song". Ballew considers it his favorite composition. The music video for the song was directed by Roman Coppola. "Lump" has been covered or remade by several artists, including the Johnstones and "Weird Al" Yankovic.
Mark Sandman was an American singer, songwriter, musical instrument inventor, multi-instrumentalist and comic writer. Sandman possessed a distinctive, deep bass-baritone voice and a mysterious demeanour. He was an indie rock icon and longtime fixture in the Boston/Cambridge music scene, best known as the lead singer and slide bass player of the band Morphine. Sandman was also a member of the blues-rock band Treat Her Right and founder of Hi-n-Dry, a recording studio and independent record label.
Kyoji Yamamoto is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer who is the leader of the hard rock/heavy metal bands Bow Wow and Wild Flag. He is known for his skillful guitar playing, with former bandmate Neil Murray calling him one of the top Japanese guitarists, and was one of the first hard rock guitarist to use the tapping technique. Yamamoto often uses 24-fret Yamaha HR guitars.
"Heart Full of Soul" is a song recorded by the English rock group the Yardbirds in 1965. Written by Graham Gouldman, it was the Yardbirds' first single after Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton as lead guitarist. Released only three months after "For Your Love", "Heart Full of Soul" reached the Top 10 on the singles charts in the UK, US, and several other countries.
"The Bells of Rhymney" is a song by the folk singer Pete Seeger, which consists of Seeger's own music accompanying words written by the Welsh poet Idris Davies. Seeger first released a recording of the song on a live album in 1958, but it is the American folk rock band the Byrds' 1965 recording that is the best known version of the song.
Todd McHatton is an American singer, songwriter, musician, performer, artist, and puppeteer. He gained notoriety with his hit kids song, “I Think I’m a Bunny.”
Kudos to You! is the sixth and final studio album by The Presidents of the United States of America. It was released on February 14, 2014.
Andy Babiuk is an American musician, author, consultant, and owner of Andy Babiuk's Fab Gear in Fairport, New York. He is a founding member and bassist of the supergroup The Empty Hearts and is also a longtime member and current frontman of The Chesterfield Kings. Babiuk is the author of Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments from Stage to Studio (2001), The Story of Paul Bigsby (2009), Rolling Stones Gear (2014) and Beatles Gear – The Ultimate Edition (2015). He is a staff consultant to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as to auction houses in New York, London and Los Angeles. Andy also owns and operates the guitar shop Andy Babiuk's Fab Gear which is located in Rochester New York.
Beatles Baby! is the tenth studio album by American children's musician Caspar Babypants, aka Chris Ballew, formerly the lead singer of the Presidents of the United States of America.
