"More cowbell" is an American pop culture catchphrase originally derived from an April 8, 2000, Saturday Night Live comedy sketch which fictionalized the recording of the song "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult. The sketch featured guest host Christopher Walken as music producer "The Bruce Dickinson" and regular cast member Will Ferrell, who wrote the sketch, as fictional cowbell player Gene Frenkle. In the television special Saturday Night Live: 101 Most Unforgettable Moments, this sketch is moment number five.
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The sketch is presented as an episode of VH1's Behind the Music documenting the band Blue Öyster Cult. It begins with what is said to be film from the 1976 recording session that produced the band's biggest hit, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". The producer (played by Christopher Walken) introduces himself as "The Bruce Dickinson" and tells the band they have "what appears to be a dynamite sound."
The first take of the session begins soon after. The recording seems to be going well but the band stops playing after a few moments because the cowbell part is rather loud and distracting. Dickinson, to the surprise of most of the band, asks for "a little more cowbell" and suggests that the cowbell player, Gene Frenkle (Will Ferrell), "really explore the studio space this time."
Frenkle's exuberance in following this advice causes him to bump into his bandmates as he dances around the cramped studio, thrusting his pelvis wildly in all directions, and the band aborts another take. Dickinson enters the studio exasperated at wasting "two good tracks" and that the second one "was even better than the first." Frenkle sheepishly agrees to tone down his performance in the spirit of cooperation. Dickinson warns Frenkle not to tone it down too much, as they're "gonna want the cowbell on this track." However, Frenkle passive-aggressively plays the cowbell very close to Eric Bloom (Chris Parnell)'s ear and fails to keep time with the rest of the band. Frenkle suddenly knocks over Bloom's microphone stand, ending the take prematurely. The rest of the band expresses frustration with Frenkle but Dickinson remains focused only on getting more cowbell onto the track.
Frenkle then makes an impromptu speech to the rest of the band. He declares that Dickinson's stature lends a great deal of weight to his opinion about the cowbell part and that the last time Frenkle checked, they didn't have "a whole lot of songs that feature the cowbell" and therefore he would be "doing himself a disservice, and every member of the band" if he "didn't perform the hell out of this." At the climax of the sketch, Dickinson exclaims: "Guess what?! I got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell!" The band agrees to let Frenkle play the cowbell part his way. As the band begins another take, the sketch ends with a freeze frame on Frenkle with the superimposed message: "In Memoriam: Gene Frenkle: 1950–2000."
The actors who appeared in the sketch had trouble keeping straight faces. They found Ferrell's acting, along with Walken's performance, so funny that they were all on the verge of breaking up laughing and ruining the sketch several times. On "Take Two", Walken can be seen through the booth glass, laughing, as Ferrell's shirt comes up, while he is dancing and playing the cowbell.
The song "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult indeed features a cowbell, but it is overshadowed by the main instruments playing throughout the song. The sketch takes liberty with the actual events surrounding the recording.
On May 14, 2005, on an episode that Will Ferrell hosted, the Gene Frenkle character made a reappearance on the set of Saturday Night Live as musical guest Queens of the Stone Age played their first song of the night, "Little Sister" – which features a jam block, an instrument similar to a cowbell. In his Gene Frenkle costume, Ferrell played the song's jam block part using a large cowbell along with the band, drawing much applause.
Promos for the April 5, 2008 Christopher Walken/Panic! At the Disco episode of Saturday Night Live referenced the "More Cowbell" sketch. The cowbell did not appear during the actual episode.
At the end of the May 16, 2009 Will Ferrell/Green Day episode, Green Day performed "East Jesus Nowhere" with Will Ferrell on the cowbell.
Will Ferrell 2007: "The cowbell sketch, I'd written it early in the first half of the year...it just didn't get picked for whatever reason."[10]
Jimmy Fallon 2007: "The cowbell sketch in dress (rehearsal) wasn't as funny. And then Will changed his shirt, he wore a smaller shirt."[10]
Christopher Walken 2004: "I hear about it everywhere I go. It's been YEARS, and all anybody brings up is 'COW-bell.' I guess you never know what's gonna click."[11]
Christopher Walken 2007: "I was eating in a restaurant in Singapore, and an Asian couple was at the next table, and the guy turned to me and he said, 'Chris, you know what this salad needs?' I said, 'What?' He said, 'More cowbell.' Recently a guy asked me if I would say 'More cowbell' on his answering machine. And I did."[12]
Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, Blue Öyster Cult co-founder, lead guitarist and songwriter of "Don't Fear The Reaper," 2005: "We didn't know it was coming. We all thought it was phenomenal. We're huge Christopher Walken fans. I've probably seen it 20 times and I'm still not tired of it."[1]
Eric Bloom, Blue Öyster Cult lead singer 2001: "I even have it on tape, and it still pretty much blows me away. Buck (Dharma) has it on MP3 and we listened to it in his car one day. It's almost as funny to listen to it as watching it."[2]
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