John the Fisherman

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“John the Fisherman”
Single by Primus
from the album Frizzle Fry
Released 1990
Genre Alternative rock
Funk metal
Alternative Metal
Length 3:37
Label Caroline Records (1990), Prawn Song Records (2002)
Writer(s) Claypool/Huth
Producer Primus and "Exxon" Matt Winegar
Primus singles chronology
John the Fisherman
1990
Too Many Puppies
1990

"John the Fisherman" is the first single by the alternative rock band Primus, released first live in 1989 on Suck on This, then re-released a year later, this time studio recorded, on Frizzle Fry. It is part of a three-part story called the Fisherman's Chronicles.

Although the band did release the song as a single and filmed a video for it (featuring the band members performing the song on a boat, with a cameo appearance by Kirk Hammett of Metallica), the single had very limited success due to its being released on an indie label, and the band did not receive mainstream attention until their next, "Jerry Was A Race Car Driver", from their 1991 major label debut Sailing the Seas of Cheese. Because of this, many overlook "John the Fisherman" and claim "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" was Primus' first single.

When Frizzle Fry was re-released in 2002, many fans who caught on during the major label days of the band bought the album, and it became a fan favorite. There was a new interest in this song, and it received some radio and MTV airplay.

This song is part one of the Fisherman Chronicles, which continued on in Primus' later albums. Its immediate sequel was "Fish On (Fisherman Chronicles, Chapter II)" on 1991's Sailing the Seas of Cheese, followed by "The Old Diamondback Sturgeon (Fisherman's Chronicles, Pt. 3)" on 1993's Pork Soda.

The live version that appears on Suck on This contains an intro of the Rush song YYZ.

The song is playable in the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 game Guitar Hero II in the Return of the Shred tier. Unlike most of the other songs from established artists that appear in the Guitar Hero games, "John the Fisherman" is Primus' master track instead of a cover version. The song was briefly played on the South Park episode "Guitar Queer-o."

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