Whatever and Ever Amen

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Whatever and Ever Amen
Studio album by Ben Folds Five
Released	March 18, 1997
Recorded	September-October 1996, Chapel Hill, NC
Genre	Alternative Rock, Piano rock
Length	49:20
Label	550
Producer	Ben Folds, Caleb Southern
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Pitchfork Media (7.6/10) link Rolling Stone link
Ben Folds Five chronology
Ben Folds Five (1995) Whatever and Ever Amen (1997) Naked Baby Photos (1998)
Alternate cover
Cover for remastered version (2005)

Whatever and Ever Amen is the second album by Ben Folds Five, released in 1997. A remaster was made available on March 22, 2005. All of the extra tracks had been previously released (as b-sides, soundtrack contributions, etc.) except for "Video Killed the Radio Star", a Buggles cover song and live staple of Ben Folds Five. The secret track, previously 5m28s into Evaporated on the original Whatever and Ever Amen album, exists in the negative space of track 1 on the Digitally Remastered version.

The album, recorded in Folds' rented house in Chapel Hill, has several lo-fi occurrences. A phone ring can be heard at approximately 2:54 in "Steven's Last Night in Town"; Ben Folds has said the ring was a friend calling from Minnesota, but it came at such a perfect timing, the band decided to leave it in the song. Robert can be heard laughing slightly after it rings as well. Crickets can also be heard in the background of "Cigarette".

The track "Steven's Last Night in Town" was written about Ben Folds' friend Stephen Short, a Grammy-Award winning record producer and manager.

The album's title comes from a line in the song "Battle of Who Could Care Less". Helped by a comedic video, "Battle of Who Could Care Less" helped the band break through in the UK in early 1997.

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 Original release 1.2 Remastered version 2 Personnel 2.1 The band 2.2 Additional musicians 2.3 Production 3 Charts 4 Miscellanea 5 See also

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Original release

All songs written by Ben Folds except as indicated.

1. "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces"
2. "Fair"
3. "Brick" (Ben Folds/Darren Jessee)
4. "Song for the Dumped" (Ben Folds/Darren Jessee)
5. "Selfless, Cold and Composed"
6. "Kate" (Ben Folds/Darren Jessee/Anna Goodman)
7. "Smoke" (Ben Folds/Anna Goodman)
8. "Cigarette"
9. "Steven's Last Night in Town"
10. "Battle of Who Could Care Less"
11. "Missing the War"
12. "Evaporated"

[edit] Remastered version

1. "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces"
2. "Fair"
3. "Brick"
4. "Song for the Dumped"
5. "Selfless, Cold and Composed"
6. "Kate"
7. "Smoke"
8. "Cigarette"
9. "Steven's Last Night in Town"
10. "Battle of Who Could Care Less"
11. "Missing the War"
12. "Evaporated"
13. "Video Killed the Radio Star"
14. "For All the Pretty People"
15. "Mitchell Lane"
16. "Theme From Dr. Pyser"
17. "Air"
18. "She Don't Use Jelly"
19. "Song for the Dumped (Japanese version)"

[edit] Personnel

[edit] The band

• Ben Folds - Piano, Lead vocals, Melodica
• Darren Jessee - Drums, Backing vocals
• Robert Sledge - Bass Guitar, Double Bass, Backing Vocals

[edit] Additional musicians

• John Catchings - Cello
• Alicia Svigals - Violin
• Matt Darriau - Clarinet
• Frank London - Trumpet
• Caleb Southern - Hammond organ

[edit] Production

• Caleb Southern - Producer, Engineer
• Ben Folds - Producer, Engineer
• Andy Wallace - Mixing
• Steve Sisco - Mixing Assistant
• Howie Weinberg - Mastering
• John Mark Painter - String arrangements
• Leigh Smiler - Cover Design
• Chris Stamey - Pro-Tools
• The Klezmatics - Special Contributor

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1997	The Billboard 200	42

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1997	"Battle of Who Could Care Less"	Modern Rock Tracks	22
1997	"Brick"	Modern Rock Tracks	6
1998	"Brick"	Adult Top 40	11
1998	"Brick"	Top 40 Mainstream	17
1998	"Song for the Dumped"	Modern Rock Tracks	23

[edit] Miscellanea

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

1. The lyrics for "Cigarette" were inspired by a newspaper article about a man who sought a divorce from his wife after finding out she had a brain tumour, on the basis that she was not the same person he had married. The "sequel" track, "Fred Jones Part Two", is on Folds' first solo album, Rockin' the Suburbs.
2. On the final track ("Evaporated"), a voice shouts "Look, man, I got your hidden track right here, pal! Right here! Listen! Ben Folds is a fuckin' asshole!" some time after the actual song fades out. This is ostensibly a parody of "hidden tracks," which were somewhat common in the mid-1990's.
3. The first track ("One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces") has been covered and recorded by singer-songwriter VanVelzen, and also by pop rock band De Poema's (in a translated version, with the title changed to "Groot en Belangrijk"; "Big and Important"), both Dutch acts.
4. Interestingly, the original cut of the album did not contain a Parental Advisory sticker, yet the Remastered version does.
5. Nick Hornby writes one of his essays in the book 31 Songs about "Smoke".
6. A telephone ring can be heard in the background of the ninth track "Steven's Last Night in Town" at about 2:54, due to band members forgetting to turn off a telephone while recording at the home of Ben Folds. [1]

[edit] See also

• 1997 in music

v • d • e Ben Folds Five Ben Folds • Darren Jessee • Robert Sledge Studio albums Ben Folds Five • Whatever and Ever Amen • Naked Baby Photos • The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner Singles "Underground" • "Battle of Who Could Care Less" • "Kate" • "One Angry Dwarf & 200 Solemn Faces" • "Brick" • "Song for the Dumped" • "Army" • Videos Ben Folds Five - Live at Sessions at West 54th Related articles Fear of Pop • Fleming and John • Hotel Lights • Frank London • Caleb Southern