Hairway to Steven
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hairway to Steven | ||
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| Studio album by Butthole Surfers | ||
| Released | April 11, 1988 (US) 1988 (UK) (AUS) |
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| Recorded | January 1988 Dallas, Texas |
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| Genre | Punk | |
| Length | 41:22 | |
| Label | Touch and Go (US) Blast First (UK) Au Go Go (AUS) |
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| Producer(s) | Butthole Surfers Co-Produced and Mixed by Ric Wallace |
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| Professional reviews | ||
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| Butthole Surfers chronology | ||
| Locust Abortion Technician (1987) |
Hairway to Steven (1988) |
Double Live (1989) |
| Back cover | ||
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| Inner sleeve 1 | ||
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| Inner sleeve 2 | ||
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| Song title cartoons | ||
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Hairway to Steven is the fourth full-length studio album by American punk band Butthole Surfers, released in February 1988. All songs were written by the Butthole Surfers, co-produced by the Surfers and Ric Wallace, and mixed by Wallace.
The album was originally released on Touch and Go, and was reissued on Latino Buggerveil in 1999.
Hairway to Steven's title is an obvious parody of (or perhaps tribute to) Led Zeppelin's exceedingly popular classic rock hit, "Stairway to Heaven." Some of its tracks also make allusions to other famous musicians, such as the commonly acknowledged titles for "Jimi," referencing Jimi Hendrix, and "Julio Iglesias."
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[edit] Music
The last full-length Surfers album of the 1980s marked a midway point in the band's career, straddling their punk rock roots and the more accessible recordings that would follow. Like the Surfers' previous releases, Hairway to Steven uses non-traditional instrumentation, extensive tape editing, and sound modulation. Unlike its predecessors, which relied almost exclusively on a foundation of electric guitar, bass, and dual drummers, it makes equally heavy use of the acoustic guitar.
This was drummer Teresa Nervosa's final studio recording with the Surfers.
Live performances of all the album's songs, with the exception of "Julio Iglesias," were included on 1989's Double Live. "John E. Smoke" continues to be a regular feature of their concerts.
[edit] Song titles
This album used no actual song titles when originally released; each song was represented by an absurdist, often scatological cartoon printed on the vinyl record's label and in the CD's packaging. In the years since, fans have extrapolated the songs' actual names by cross-referencing this album with official and bootleg recordings of the Surfers' live performances, particularly 1989's Double Live. Many online music services use these widely accepted titles (see "Track listing").
[edit] Background
Hairway to Steven was recorded at one studio in a relatively short period of time. According to bassist Jeff Pinkus, the band had been performing most of these songs for years before recording them for this album. Many of the band's previous releases had been piecework affairs, recorded over several months in numerous studios, and their songs underwent far more in-studio development.
The Surfers opted to follow this album's blueprint on future recordings, entering the studio with more fully formed songs than they had in the past. Pinkus has expressed the opinion that these better-organized recording sessions stifled much of the spontaneous creativity that had propelled the group's previous albums.[1]
[edit] Track listing
All songs written and co-produced by the Butthole Surfers. The following titles were extrapolated by matching the songs to those found on 1989's Double Live, with the exception of "Julio Iglesias," which is inferred from the song's oft-repeated mention of the singer's name. The cartoons originally used to represent the songs are pictured as well.
[edit] Side 1
- "Jimi" – 12:38
- "Ricky" – 2:36
- "I Saw an X-Ray of a Girl Passing Gas" – 4:56
[edit] Side 2
- "John E. Smoke" – 6:40
- "Rocky" – 3:45
- "Julio Iglesias" – 3:05
- "Backass" – 6:07
- "Fast" (a.k.a. "Fart Song") – 1:35
[edit] Personnel
- Gibby Haynes – lead vocals
- Paul Leary – guitar
- Jeff Pinkus – bass
- King Coffey – drums
- Teresa Nervosa – drums
[edit] References
| Butthole Surfers |
| Gibby Haynes | Paul Leary | King Coffey | Nathan Calhoun |
| Jeff Pinkus | Teresa Nervosa | Trevor Malcolm | Terence Smart | Bill Jolly | Quinn Matthews | Scott Matthews | Andrew Mullins Scott Stevens | Jason Morales | Josh Klinghoffer | Kyle Ellison | Owen McMahon | Kathleen Lynch | Cabbage Mark Kramer | Juan Molina |
| Discography |
|---|
| Studio Albums: Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac | Rembrandt Pussyhorse Locust Abortion Technician | Hairway to Steven | piouhgd | Independent Worm Saloon | Electriclarryland After the Astronaut | Weird Revolution |
| EPs: Butthole Surfers | Cream Corn from the Socket of Davis | Widowermaker The Hurdy Gurdy Man |
| Live albums: Live PCPPEP | Double Live |
| Compilations: The Hole Truth... and Nothing Butt | Humpty Dumpty LSD | Butthole Surfers/Live PCPPEP |
| Related Articles |
| The Jackofficers | P | Latino Buggerveil | The History of Dogs | Bar-B-Que Movie |
