| Ben Folds Five | |
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Ben Folds Five at their reunion concert on September 18, 2008 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Genres | Alternative rock, piano rock |
| Years active | 1993–2000, 2008, 2011-Present |
| Labels | Passenger, Caroline, 550 |
| Associated acts | Ben Folds, Fear of Pop, Hotel Lights, International Orange, Caleb Southern, Fleming and John |
| Website | www.benfoldsfive.com |
| Members | |
Ben Folds Five is an alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprises Ben Folds (vocals, piano, and principal songwriting), Robert Sledge (bass guitar, synthesizers, and backing vocals), and Darren Jessee (drums, backing vocals and co-writer for some songs). The group achieved mainstream success in the alternative, indie and pop music scenes. The band is best known for the hit single "Brick" from their 1997 album Whatever and Ever Amen, which gained airplay on many mainstream radio stations.
Much of Ben Folds Five's work was influenced by jazz, evident in frequent improv-styled passages through bridge and/or ending. During their seven years together, the band released three proper studio records, one retrospective album of B-sides and outtakes, and eight singles. They also contributed to a number of soundtracks and compilations. Ben Folds Five disbanded in October 2000, apparently under amicable circumstances.
The group reunited for a one-off concert on September 18, 2008, where they played their final album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, in its entirety.[1] In 2011, Ben Folds Five reunited to record three tracks for Ben Folds' The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective.[2] It has been announced that the group will be reconvening in December 2011 to record a new album.[3]
Contents |
Ben Folds Five was formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill by Ben Folds. They were, in fact, a trio in spite of their name, and the primary motivation behind the name, apart from the band's well-known use of humor, was simple preference, according to Ben: "I think it sounds better than Ben Folds Three."[4] Folds once described their music as "punk rock for sissies," a reaction to the angst prevalent in '90s rock.[5]
Their first radio single was "Underground" from their self-titled debut album, released in 1995 on Caroline Records. The band's biggest success was the single "Brick" from their second album, Whatever and Ever Amen, released in 1997. It was followed by the more somber and jazz-based 1999 album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. The group contributed an outtake from the Reinhold Messner sessions, titled "Leather Jacket", to the 1999 benefit album, No Boundaries: A Benefit for the Kosovar Refugees.
The band's final released recording was a cover of Steely Dan's "Barrytown" for the Me, Myself & Irene soundtrack. The band had begun work on a fourth studio album, however following the worldwide tour in support of The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, the band "amicably" broke up in October 2000. Tracks from the sessions would later emerge on subsequent solo projects.[6]
Folds went on to pursue a successful solo career, releasing Rockin' the Suburbs in 2001, Songs for Silverman in 2005, Way to Normal in 2008, and, in collaboration with novelist-writer Nick Hornby, Lonely Avenue in 2010. He produced and arranged actor William Shatner's second album, Has Been, as well as co-wrote the majority of the songs with Shatner. Folds also contributed songs to the soundtracks for the animated movies Hoodwinked! and Over the Hedge. Darren Jessee formed the acclaimed folk rock indie band Hotel Lights, releasing Hotel Lights in 2005, Goodnightgoodmorning in 2006, Firecracker People in 2008, and Girl Graffiti in 2011. Robert Sledge soon after took up singing, sharing song-writing and bass playing duties with International Orange, but the group disbanded in 2005. He subsequently formed The Bob Sledge Band, which plays locally in North Carolina.
Ben Folds Five made a one-off concert appearance in September 2008 at the UNC Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill[1] as part of the MySpace "Front to Back" series, in which artists play an entire album live. The band played its final album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, and were briefly joined on stage by Ben's father, Dean Folds, who read a transcript of his voice mail message that is used in the album song "Your Most Valuable Possession", encoring with some of the songs from their first two albums.[7]
In 2011, Ben Folds Five reunited to record three tracks for Ben Folds' The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective.[2] Sarah Rodman of the Boston Globe also reported that Ben Folds Five would be reconvened in December 2011 to record a new album.[3]
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Air | US Mod | US AC |
UK[8] | AUS | |||||||||||
| 1996 | "Underground" | — | — | — | 37 | — | Ben Folds Five | ||||||||
| "Where's Summer B.?" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1997 | "Battle of Who Could Care Less" | — | 22 | — | 26 | — | Whatever and Ever Amen | ||||||||
| "Kate" | — | — | — | 39 | — | ||||||||||
| "One Angry Dwarf & 200 Solemn Faces" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1998 | "Brick" | 19 | 6 | 11 | 26 | 13 | |||||||||
| "Song for the Dumped" | — | 23 | — | — | 73 | ||||||||||
| "Army" | — | 17 | — | 28 | 65 | The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner | |||||||||
| 1999 | "Don't Change Your Plans" | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| "—" denotes singles that did not chart. | |||||||||||||||
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