May 27, 2025 • 46 mins
Les Claypool's ode to his wife, Chaney, starts side two of Of Whales and Woe, and there's certainly no woe to be found in this joyous track, which reflects the irrational emotional highs of fulfilled love, through the Claypool lens. Josh, a native Iowan, sheds some light on the lyrical references and discusses agricultural exports, because that's all Iowans talk about aside from the weather.
We also play an excerpt from Les's book tour in Iowa City. That evening was captured by the radio program Live At Prairie Lights and is archived here: https://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/node/797265
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We also play an excerpt from Les's book tour in Iowa City. That evening was captured by the radio program Live At Prairie Lights and is archived here: https://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/node/797265
Get involved
Burn your money
Get involved
Burn your money
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Josh freaky. What a couple of dump shits. Hello, Primates,
(00:21):
you've found Primus Tracks. Congratulations. There are many places to
find Primus Tracks, including at Primus Tracks on Instagram and threads.
Primus Tracks Pod at gmail dot com is the email address.
There's also Facebook page. It's called Primus Tracks. I give
us on Facebook. Love please. The voice you just heard
(00:41):
interrupting me is that of Frankie beristein coming to you
all the way from the thirty ninth floor of Primus
Tracks Towers. I'm Josh, by the way, I'm an Iowan guy,
but Frankie, you're a Maego to Fa guy exactly.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I was going to ask you how many times you've
been called Iowa in your life.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
I think I told you about Freddie Barone who called
me Iowa. Nice to meet you, Iowa, although I have
also I've been addressed as Iowa in multiple other situations.
In those icebreaker moments when you are asked those kinds
of questions, I answer, I'm from Iowa, and everybody else
is from a place that isn't Iowa. So it's unique
(01:21):
to me, and so they call me Iowa as opposed
to my name, which is fine. I would rather remain
anonymous in those situations and hope they never remember me. Frankie,
we have miscellaneous debris, and it is of the utmost importance.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
We forgot to mention in our Phantom Patriot episode that
there is a animated video for Phantom Patriot, A Keen
to the One Better animation that's also available on YouTube,
and it's really fun to watch. It does not represent
the song lyrically or the actual Phantom Patriots character. It
(02:06):
goes in a completely different direction. It's actually quite family friendly.
It's actually a nice little video, and it's still up
there on YouTube. In case you haven't watched it, or
if you haven't watched it in a long time, this
might be a great opportunity to remind yourself what the
Phantom Patriot video looks like.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
It had been so long since I'd seen it, Frankie,
I forgot that it existed. This was posted in two
thousand and eight and it is still available. The username
is a designer's perspective. You can also just search Phantom
Patriot Les Claypool on YouTube and it will appear as
though it was made for you to watch. The video
(02:48):
features a guy in a quasi European navy outfit on
an old ship, and he is spotting what I assume
is an enemy in the distance. And then he starts
playing around with with cannonballs that are alive, anthropomorphic cannonballs. Frankie,
(03:11):
I think let's with approve of the video. I think
it fits today. We are talking about Iowa and Gal,
which is the impetus I suppose for all this Iowa talk.
We are working our way. We're back into the saddle
of Wales and Woe after a slight detour into current
primus events. This marks the back half of Wales and Woe.
(03:36):
This track checks in at three minutes and twenty nine seconds.
And here are your credits, Frankie. Let's Claypool, bass, banjo, vocals, percussion.
That's Joe right, not much else. Yes, it's the bass Joe,
the bast joejo, the banjo, the low low banjo. You
can call whatever the hell you want. It sounds pretty
(03:58):
cool on this record and on this and of course
this track is called Iowan Gal for a very specific reason.
The subject of this track is a gal who is
near and dear to all of our hearts. Cheney Claypool
and Frankie, I know you have a live history on
this track, and I know you've had a lot of
interactions with one Cheney Claypool over the years, and I'd
(04:21):
be interested to hear about all of those topics.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
There's an interview Chirca nineteen ninety eight ninety seven, but
I think I think it's it's from ninety eight Rhino
plus the Era, and it's an interview with Liz where
he just casually mentions that at that point in his life,
Cheney kept asking when are you going to write a
(04:44):
song about me? And let us keep keep replying gee,
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
So love not a subject that is tackled that frequently
in the Primus world for the Primus catalog, So we
could say that the first Primus love song is Mary
the ice Cube, while the first Less Clippo's solo love
song is Iowen gal an Oth to his wife Cheney Claypool,
(05:15):
whom he married in nineteen ninety five. Catch a glimpse
of some really cool wedding photographs in the Fighter Loss
of Tradition book. I don't think anyone has the coolest
wedding photo then, less than Cheney.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, those photos are fantastic and of course, when Jay
Blakesburg to shoot your wedding, it's going to keep us great.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Let's describe Cheney as his favorite person to tour with
and his best friend. We know that they waited a
long time for Cheney to be able to join the
less during full tours. Prior to that, she was fully
devoted to her children. So when they finally went, when
(05:58):
they finally left home and Cage went to college and
Lena was doing her thing, that's when Cheney joined the
Primus full time. And this is a kind of an
inside comment that I got from Duo, a.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Former keyboard player for Clepland on Delirium.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
He said, Yeah, I like to go out and do
stuff when we're touring, and Sean is always partying, he's
mingling with people. But Less he'll be in the tour boss,
or he'll be at the hotel because he wants to
spend time with his wife. He wants to chill. And
I think it's perfectly understandable. Right, Cheney is his favorite person,
(06:40):
so after years of touring and partying and hanging out
with people, of course, now he wants to spend quality
time with her.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Right, maximize your time with your partner.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Absolutely, Chaney runs Claypol sellers and she still finds time
to share set lists, videos and photos with us, And
she also goes live when they are on tour, and
it's a really invaluable document for us to get her
perspective when she's recording live. All of these insight is
(07:18):
really priceless because it's a first hand, unique insight into
the world of Primus unless Claypool that I think we
wouldn't have had if Cheney hadn't been there to be
the connector between the band and the fan base. Cheney
is incredibly kind and I think her contributions have been
(07:40):
really remarkable over the years. First of all, besides the
live and the photos, she provided insight into how truly
deep the Cliple vault is when she shared archival finds
she had discovered in their storage, such as reels with
alternate takes, unused artwork, alternative track lists too props. I mean,
(08:03):
she knows that this stuff matters and that it's particularly
exciting for hardcorees like us. She also acknowledges the most
dedicated and talented fans, which is something you rarely see
on other bands social media.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
When you follow.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Other acts, it's like, well, you're just one more facing
the crowd, right, But when you stand out and Chaney notices,
she has a way to truly make you feel special.
I have met Cheney several times and she was always
really kind with me. She has received art work that
I have done for this She has asked me questions
(08:44):
about my life, which made me feel that she really
cared about me as a fan. I was one of
the happiest Primus fans ever when Clipple Sellers shared my
artwork for the first time. Jane has also been part
of Primus history in the sense that she has appeared
in the videos for Mister Krinkle and also Riddles are
(09:07):
Abound Tonight. It was only fair that such a key
person in Claypool history had her own song at one point,
and that brings us to Iowen Gal premiered in two
thousand and six in Boulder with a particularly interesting live history.
The song was always performed as a solo encore number
(09:29):
on The Bass Show through two thousand and six, two
thousand and seven, and two thousand and eight with the
Fancy Band. An official Eye performance was released on the
Fancy DVD. It was performed once in two thousand and
seven with the Rad Brigade, one of the rarest less
clapple bands out there. It was performed with the Fungi
Band between two thousand and nine and twenty ten, also
(09:52):
as an encore. It was performed We Do the Twang
throughout twenty twelve, twenty thirteen and twenty fourteen. But Let's
played it on the Dobro and he has also performed
the song at the you Who Family Rock Show sponsored
by my Music RX for children with cancer. As I understand,
(10:13):
he performed the song on Dobora again backed by two
dancing owls he encouraged to break dance during the performance.
The last two performances today it were twenty fifteen in Nevada.
This was a Primus concert from the Chocolate Factory tour
and Let's perform the song solo as an encore for
(10:33):
Chanees's birthday, and he did the same in twenty twenty
one at Houston. He performed the song for Cheney because
it was her birthday. So if Primus is on tour
and it's Chaney's birthday, you bet les will perform Iowa
Gal for her. A really fantastic moment I must say, now,
if we tackle the song from a musical perspective, I
(10:57):
think it's really interesting. I think it's in the so
it's in the deliverance territory at least at least the outro. Right,
it's crazy, crazy complex.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
That's that's quite a parallel to draw, Frankie. Yeah, I
wasn't going to go in that direction. No, what I mean,
I mean the complexity of the song. I think it's yeah, yeah,
it's kind of kind of got that happy time Hodown
idea to it. And and why wouldn't you write a
(11:28):
song that makes you want to dance when you're singing
about your spouse who has made you the happiest person
on earth? So like the lyrics of the music certainly
come together there for me. Yeah, you said a couple
of things in your elongated commentary there that jumped out
of me. One is Cheney. When you've interacted with her,
(11:51):
she's asked you questions about your life. When I've interacted
with her, she knows I'm from Iowa. So I feel
like we don't don't have to you don't have to talk,
we don't have to ask each for the questions. I
already know the backstory is already filled in. Like fellow.
When fellow Iowan's meet one another outside of Iowa, there's
(12:12):
the knowing glance. Uh, and you're just they're simpatico automatically.
You don't have to make any small talk, but I
will echo your sentiments. And she's an incredibly kind person,
impatient and willing to talk to fans. And she's certainly
is just a great ambassador of course for the band.
(12:34):
But what a great person.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Yeah, I mean she has a secured set lists for me.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
She has held on to them for me during the show,
so they are.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Neatly folded as opposed to wrinkled up and thrown into
the crowd. I'll never forget how in twenty twenty two
when I went to see my lone date of Tribute
to King, I got learned to sign my CDs, and
then Cheney took my sock on this album backstage, and
(13:06):
I also got Less and Herbs signatures on it, which
would have been otherwise impossible if it hadn't been for Cheney.
So I have a ton of things to be grateful
about with Cheney, she has always been nothing but extraordinary
with me.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Yeah, what a great person. There's a little more background
that we can shed on this, Frankie, I'm going to
play about a minute and a half of footage from
a program called Live from Prairie Lights. This was a
radio program from Iowa City, Iowa, Cheney's hometown. Less on
(13:47):
his book tour for South of the Pumphouse in two
thousand and seven, visited Prairie Lights Bookstore and read portions
of the book and then took audience questions. Prairie Light's
bookstore was right around the corner from the last place
I lived in Iowa City. I moved a year before
this took place, and I of course recall being annoyed
(14:09):
that it took place after I'd moved away. It's it's
not true historic and behavior. What is. What's more convenient
than being able to walk thirty seven seconds from your
apartment to a bookstore to see one of your favorite
musicians read from his novel and possibly ask him a question.
I was shut out of that because of a life
(14:30):
decision I made. However, knowing about Life from Prairie Lights,
because I had been to many readings at Prairie Lights
in the prior years before moving away, that this would
be broadcast and archived, and I will put the link
to this in the show notes. It's about forty three
minutes of the program. It does cut off at the
(14:51):
end before the conclusion. However, this is a really nice
piece of history here, and I want to to play
this portion. He's in Iowa City, and let's give some
background on how he and Chaney got together.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
I did not meet my wife here in Iowa City,
but I was the one that talked her into moving
from Iowa City to Berkeley to go to school, where
she subsequently dumped me and I had to endure her
going out with a friend of mine for two years
before we finally came back together.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Well, there's a story.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
My next and you can read it in the next novel.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
How did you stverty? Violent?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
You liked that question, didn't you?
Speaker 1 (15:43):
How did you meet your wife?
Speaker 5 (15:44):
Then?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
I mean from Iowa to California and.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
A big rock star drunk, a friend of a friend
of mine was going out with her older sister, and
another friend of mine was going out loosely going out
with her twin sister. And I just became very good
friends with her family. And actually when we would tour three,
(16:10):
I'd stay with my who became my in laws, and
we subsequently crashed our motor home one time into the
side of our garage. I didn't my soundman ripped a
big hole in the side of the motor home on
the side of their garage. So good times. We're just
building up. So we decided we should get together.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
You know, I have heard that story about the two years,
but I didn't want to mention it. Well, we let
Less mention it. This actually coincides with another find of
mine out there in the world of the internet that
Primus actually played Iowa City at Gabes, which is a
small dive, in nineteen eighty nine, and so Primus unless
(16:53):
have a pretty rich history going back that far. And
the blog entry I found that also had an image
of the show flyer for that performance at gabs in
eighty nine also mentioned that when Primus returned to Iowa
City in nineteen ninety three, when they played the university campus,
(17:15):
at times throughout the show, Less would just go up
to the microphone and yell Gabes because that's the one
venue in town. He probably knew before returning, so he's
been and of course now that they've been married for decades,
and have been back to Iowa numerous times. I'm sure
(17:36):
he knows the city pretty well. I lived there for
quite some time. I did my undergraduate years at the
University of Iowa and Iowa City, lived there for a
few years afterwards.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
When you were when you were running down the hall screaming,
are you still floating?
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Yes, that is on that timeline. Yes, so great. There
was a lot of questionable behavior in those years. And
that's a mild example one I'm allowed to share. But
I did read an interview long ago. I cannot find
it for the life of me. I looked for a
good portion of time. I interviews disappear all the time,
as they do, and this one was about less visiting
(18:18):
Iowa City with Cheney after they were married, and he
said he said a few things that resonated with me,
being a person who had lived in Iowa City for
some time. He said, Oh, yeah, Cheney's taken me to
all the local landmarks. So we've eaten at the Hamburg In,
which is a famous diner in Iowa City. And it's
particularly famous, Frankie, because for many many years presidential candidates
(18:44):
they go to Iowa first, because Iowa is the first
state to hold primary elections, or in Iowa they call
it a caucus. So presidential candidates who are running for
major party elections always go to Iowa, and it became
a tradition for them to go dine at Hamburg in
and so there's photos of Bill Clinton and Ronnie Ronnie
(19:04):
Reagan and all these different presidents and presidential candidates dining there.
He also said, oh, and she took me to the
Black Angel. It's a bronze statue that's been oxidized over
the years, so it turned a really dark color. And
it's it's an angel standing over a headstone in a
cemetery in Iowa City, and it's a popular place for
(19:25):
undergrads and high school students to go, mostly to make out.
But and I certainly visited the Black Angel a time
or two. So he mentioned some important landmarks, so I
know he knows that town pretty well. And of course
it was pretty cool because then I was able to
make that personal connection as well. I've always I've always
(19:47):
meant to ask Cheney, but I guess I keep.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Forgetting what she what she felt, or what she thought
about Iowa gal the very first time she heard it,
that must have been something right, right.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Yeah, you know you mentioned that it took Less a
while to write the song. For I would imagine if
I were to, well, first of all, I were to
write a song for my wife, it would be god
awful and nobody should ever hear it, include especially her. However,
for I think part of the reason Less probably took
a while to do this was he wanted to get
(20:22):
it right. You don't want to bungle that's that's there's
a lot of pressure. And so you know, when he
when he finally settled on a musical idea and an
approach and some lyrics that came together, and this is
what we're hearing on track seven of Wales and Woe.
So he, you know, he was satisfied enough with it
that he was comfortable to show it to her and
(20:42):
then put it on a record. So I do wonder
what her reaction was, and considering it made it to
the record, I'm guessing it was positive.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
Yeah, you don't want to you don't want to come
up with a Ramona Flowers, right. So when they're at
his apartment, he tells her, hey, I wrote a song
about you, and he pulls out his acoustic guitar and
then he plays the song and she's like, well, so far,
so good, it'll be great when it's finished.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
That's just like, yeah, it is finished. Oh man, yes,
you don't want that, so it would be it would
be interesting to hear her take on that.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Musically, something that pops up about I went out for
me is that it kind of follows a structure that
you can find on several songs in the primus anless
Clipul catalog, and I mean songs where you have a
(21:49):
riff that defines the main structure of the song, and
you have a verse, you have a chorus pot for
the coda or for the outro. The song switches gears,
it takes you by surprise, goes in a different direction,
and usually let's goes nuts. And I think that happens
here in Iowan Gal. Other examples that come to mind, well,
(22:11):
of course the catharsis of FRITZL. Fry American Life, and
in his other works you can find something like this
in Captain Lariot, for example. So with Iwan Gal, you
may have an idea of what the song is going
to be like, but then the tempo speeds up and
it gets really crazy. Oh you know what, They used
(22:34):
to do something like that during the live performances of
Birthday Boys with Oyster Hads So's It's a format that
Less likes to to approach with his music, and I
think it's quite compelling. It makes the songs, it makes
you look forward to something when you listen to the songs.
(22:56):
And I think that if you were to witness a
live performance of Iowan, your eyes would be glued on
List's fingers during the coda because he goes nuts on
the track and it's something really amazing to watch. An
example would be the Fancy DVD where you get a
close up of what he's doing on the bass show. So,
(23:17):
I've heard it from reliable sources that it is a
difficult song to play. So what impression do you get
from the song Musically?
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah, it's pretty acrobatic, kind of He kind of stays
in a box for the main lick, a lot of
open strings and hammer ons to fill space because it
is essentially a solo song with one guy, so he's
he's doing all those little things that you do to
fill space. But it's pretty acrobatic, especially in that second
(23:49):
half when the jig really kicks in, like on the
studio version with the percussion, and it picks up. I
was surprised that it was three minutes twenty nine seconds.
If you had quizzed me, how long is this track
on the record put it said one minute and fifty
seven seconds. It flies by for me, it kind of
sticks around a bit, but it's so I'm surprised at
the length of it. I wouldn't say it's too long
(24:09):
for what we get, However, it's certainly longer than I
would have expected. Gotta have that jig. I got me
(24:30):
an iron, Gal, I got me an iw and Gal.
I got me in an aw and gal, I got
me an iwan Gal.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
You should see my isw and Goal.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
He's so proud of her. And that's I think part
of the high energy portion of this. And then hey,
this is my gal. Now we're gonna dance. So that's
that's what you get for much of the first part
of the tune, and then near the end here things
really pick up, and it's one of those It reminds
me of like a a young animal that's just so
(25:01):
full of excitement at being alive that it can't help
but just bounce around and you know, kick its feet
in the air and that sort of thing. So there's
that youthful, irrational energy, uh to the to the second
half of this one, which you could also attribute to
being in the throes of love with your significant other.
If if this is how it makes you feel to
(25:23):
be with your betrothed, you're in a good place.
Speaker 6 (25:25):
A ball you should see how and Gal.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
And Gal cut me and Ile and Gouche is the
sweetest thing this side of dement. She cups up Anti
and poor blowing. So how about the train bound a
corking I wind Gal?
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Uh that that percussion sounds like the matt he would
stump on during do of the Twang performances.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Oh, I wonder if it's the same one sounds like that.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
You know, it's interesting that Lis pick this instrument for
for Iwan Gal because although it stands out in the
context of the record, and it kind of stands out
in the whole context of his discovery Featuture, it wasn't
the first time that he approached this instrument or that
he shed some spotlight on this instrument. Well, it wouldn't.
(26:28):
It wouldn't be the last one either, because there were precedents.
We know that Primus did a full banjo performance to
launch Tales from the punch Bowl enhanced. Oh sure, yeah,
and the residents were there and it was legendary. And
there's footage of Liz playing banjo in the Cheesy Home video.
(26:53):
But there were also instances after iwon Gal where I
guess he wanted to explore further what he could do
with it instrument. And for instance, you have the performance
at Bridgeport Gathering of the Vibes two thousand and seven,
and this show was divided in two parts. The second
part was the Radbrigade full band performance, but the first
(27:15):
part of the show was Lesclepol solo with the Bass Show.
He performed American Live up on the Roof, running the Gauntlet,
David Mcallaster Busters of green Hill Ground, Hawk's Day and
iwan Gal all by himself on.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
The Bass Show.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
So yeah, so that really gives me the impression that
at one point he really enjoyed this instrument and he
really enjoyed exploring what he could do with it because
it was also routinary. You had the Bass Show encore
nightly during the Fancy Tour and Iwan Gal was part
(27:53):
of that, of course, plus a Sir Prize song which
could be any of these songs that I just mentioned
as well. And it's interesting that he would switch to
the dough bro And that could come down to him
not carrying the bag show on tour because he would
never use it otherwise. Or maybe he just prefers the
(28:14):
way that the songs come across on the dough brow.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Yeah, or maybe the doughbro is just lighter and more convenient.
It could be neat and you come from easier to play, right,
could be Yeah. That resonator is essentially made a plywood,
so it weighs next to nothing, I imagine.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Can we sample the coda, because that's where things get crazy?
Speaker 1 (29:06):
There you go because really thick. At one point it
did when he went low register.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
But that's just an example because live he would play
around with that. There were some stop and start sections,
sometimes he was hammering. He would do all kinds of
stuff when he performed the song live.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
I'm also getting a vibe of like, hey, honey, look
at me. Look, Look I'm playing real fast. Look, which
I do that to my wife all the time. She
doesn't like it when you're when you're playing guitar, just
when I'm doing anything. Look, look I'm holding the dog. Look,
I'm holding the cat. Look I'm raking the leaves. Really,
bicycle with no hands, riding my bicycle. I can ride
(29:46):
my bike with no handleballs hand mom, uh so camon
ball at the pool. Look, I can jump real high, right, Yeah,
I'm going to make it the biggest splash. Look, honey,
uh yeah, this one's a This is a fun one
and it is quite a It's a nice break in
(30:08):
terms of style throughout the record too. So it does
start side to Remember Sooya told us about that that
Less is always conscious of what n side one starts
side talk and of course closes.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
A record, so he's think, yeah, he's thinking about the
records in terms of vinyl. Yeah, in terms of flipping
side a MB absolutely right.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
So this being that opener to side too is a
is a fun change of pace exactly. Let's take a
look at the lyrics. Absolutely I take umbrage with some
of these lyrics. Frankie, as a native Iowan, I do
appreciate that Less is making corn and pork references, especially
(30:49):
the pork tenderloin. Of course that is an Iowa staple
corn pork, but no mention of soybeans. Frankie Iowa is
a massive exporter of soybeans. Actually, I don't care. I
just thought it'd be funny to be upset about the
lack of soybeans in a song. I did find out, though,
reading up on it, that Iowa is second only to
(31:11):
the gigantic state of California in agricultural exports in all
of the United States. What I do recall, though, is
Iowa exported so much soy to China and still does
that they would send The government of China in the
eighties started sending agricultural delegations to the state to learn
(31:32):
about modernizing farming practices, being more efficient when it came
to agricultural practices, and that continues to this day. I
think the current president of China, Shijiingping, has visited Iowa
a bunch of times and actually has a bunch of
friends in Iowa. That'd be a complicated friendship.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
I think here's an idiom for you. In the show Duckman,
Cornfield is referred to as cornfeed because of his tendency
to be indecized and lack a clear sense of direction.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Oh, that's interesting. I've never heard that application of it.
I've always just associated it with you eat a lot
of corn because it's there and it fills you up.
You know. It's uh, it's just one of those things.
I guess I've never thought of it other outside of
the literal context of eating corn, because it's omnipresent in
(32:23):
the state of Iowa. If you've ever visited, you've seen corn.
No matter where you've been, you've seen the crops. You
can't avoid it. You can do you do? You roll
the corn around your mouth as you bite it. I
eat it typewriter style. It is. It's a lot of fun. Now.
Before we started recording, Frankie, you told me that you
(32:45):
use the little handles and stick them in to each
other little handles. Yeah, it doesn't brings me no pleasure
to tell you this. That is wimp behavior. Really, yeah,
it doesn't. If the it doesn't matter if the corn
comes off the grill or right out of the water pot,
the boiling water pot. You just you grab each end
with your bare hands and you roll it in the
(33:06):
butter and you put the salt and pepper or whatever
it is you're putting on it, and then.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
You just you just go so it's frowned the pond
like when you eat a slice of pizza with fork
and knife.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
It's very much like that in many Iowan homes. Yes,
it's a faux pas. Don't do that in the state
of Iowa. Having told you this, you probably wouldn't be
surprised that so many Iowans have thick calluses on their fingertips.
The corn grabbing, okay, as a result of all the
corn grabbing, so you definitely have to have your big
(33:40):
pad of butter to roll it in. At least, did
you eat corn while you were in Mexico? I don't recall.
So they will.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Grab a large corn, they will impale it on a stick,
and then it will be covered with mayo, lemon and
cheese and chili.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Oh wow, No, I did not experience that, but I've
seen that before. It looks great. Yeah. Yeah, you came
really wrong with decorating corn with just about anything. Yep.
So yeah, let's of course mentions the corn in the pork.
He left out the soy. A couple other staple Iowa foods,
Frankie that you may not have heard of our loose
(34:22):
meat sandwiches, which is essentially just ground beef on a
hamburger bun with whatever you want on it. Usually it's
chopped onions, mustard, so on, and so forth. More recent
ones are this cracks me up every time I get
to talk about it. More recent Iowa staples Frankie are
(34:42):
deep fried butter on a stick and gas station pizza.
Those are two things Iowa is known for in recent years.
Gas pizza, Yes, cases Pizza is strangely delicious and really good.
And Casey's gas stations are all over the state. You
can are the slices rolling on display. No they're not
(35:06):
on the hot dog roller. No you're not, which would
be incredible. Now they're just in a they're just in
a glass, you know, just in a case with the
with the heating element. Okay, and they'll just pull the
slice off and hand it to you. And the deep
fried butter on a stick is mostly at the state Fair.
You already have a stick of butter. They roll it
(35:27):
in this breading that's sugar, cinnamon, flour, whatever, so they
somehow make butter worse for your health, and then they
deep fry it and then it's on a stick and
you just walk around eating it. It's a death wish
on a stick. That is the Iowa way of life.
My friend all right.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
I particularly love the line where he says, she quilled
me up at Kashmere blanket.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
Yeah, she must be quite the seamstress. I don't know
where she got access to Kashmir because that shit's expensive. Yeah,
so good geez, good for you, Chaney Dang. But we
do know she's a style and lady. Absolutely, she's very sophisticated. Indeed,
she always looks classy her especially, I'm always looking at
(36:12):
her hats, because Cheney has some really fetching hats. I
think newly minted Primus drummer John Hoffman could learn a
thing or two from Cheney's hat game, because he's sticking
to the baseball style caps. Not a bad thing, but
he could certainly branch out. I think he'd look great
in a little Newsy cap or something. So yeah. The
lyrics are very loving, of course, which we rarely come
(36:38):
across in the run of this podcast. And I'm glad
you mentioned Mary the ice Cube because I do thematically
link them because they are both about love. But that's
where they diverge, because one is about love lost in
the other is about love fulfilled. It doesn't take much
to read the difference, so there's a lot of repetition.
If I got me an, Iowan Gal, you should see
(36:59):
my eyewingdal. You may try and winter, but you never
will pal my pure bread, cornfed Iowan Gal. Pretty is
a picture happy as a clam. Pinch me and tell
me how lucky I am. That's that's the line right there,
right there's I will say, there's a lot of great
lines in here to you know, as a as a
testament to his adoration for her. Gives the geographic reference
(37:22):
sweetest thing this side of Des Moines, which is the
capital of Iowa, and it's like geographically in the middle
of the state. I will also say spanket and blanket
is a brave rhyming pair. Controversial. You have the brief,
bold choice, and that's all I'll say about that.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
You recall the show from the tribute to Kink's Run
where let's give a serenade to Cheney with the my
name is both my name is mouth bass reps.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
Yes, that video is great. Cheney was taking video and yeah,
that was fantastic. Ambled on over and played the last
few reps just and like holding up the base too,
like check it out. That was a sweet moment for sure. Yeah, wholesome,
wholesome family entertainment is not a descriptor I would normally
(38:13):
have for a Primus show. But there are moments. How
about some live cuts, live cuts, you say, live cuts
from jam vehicle, Live cuts from the Jam vehicle, Live
cuts from what's going on here? And I'll tell you
what's going on here? Disembodied voice of Tim Soyer, it's
(38:34):
live cuts time. We have a couple of live renditions
of Iowa and Gal. First one, Frankie that I have
chosen to play today from the two you have sent
is Whales Live. And that's all it says. Great Whales Live.
(38:55):
No metadata. Once again, please direct all complaints to at
Frankie barrist on Instagram. I run the Primus tracks Instagram,
And when you guys tell me that you are irritated
that you don't have the data on those shows, I
can't help you. Man. Sorry, guys, let's hear Iowa Gal
(39:21):
unknown date and location.
Speaker 4 (39:27):
I told you I gotta tease that out.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Crowd loves it, by the way, but I was rocking
it too. The incredulous reaction of the crowd is that's
(40:32):
a golden moment. But then he uh picks up with
Iowa gallon. We're going to move forward, and here let's
tell him it's sounding good man. I do like that
(41:18):
tone he's got to.
Speaker 6 (41:19):
It's nice and dirty, funky.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
That's a fun way to finish it. Our next live
cut and final live cut of the evening, Frankie is
the afore mentioned you Who Family Rock Show.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
Not to be confused with you Who the Elixir.
Speaker 1 (41:57):
Now, when you saw the title you Who Family Rock Show?
Were you misled? I Yeah. Pavlov's Dogs and Frankie Berestein.
You can watch the video of this performance. It is
his grave YouTube. It's pro shot less. As Frankie mentioned earlier.
(42:19):
Less is flanked by some dancing owls, and there are
a lot of little kids in the audience and a
lot of very excited adults. Kids aren't sure what they're
looking at. I think most of the time in this video,
here's a portion of that.
Speaker 3 (42:54):
I got me an owen gown, I got me an
al and Gal, I got me an Awen Gal.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
You should see my own gal tempo.
Speaker 3 (43:02):
Wait. I got me and I went gan, I got
me and I when gas sweetest thing in the sun,
the moment she put somebody how about airplank and strap
algant supportment.
Speaker 1 (43:10):
I went and Galla. You should see that.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
I when.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Just a little disappointed he didn't tease Master of Puppets
for the kids.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
Yeah, trying to find anything online about you who Family
Rock Show.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
I recall reading that it was in order to responds
for cancer, but I don't know if it's like for
all kinds of medical conditions in general. My music are
x Was it Austin, Texas? That's the locate? Was that
the location? Yeah? Okay, that's all I remember about that performance. Well,
there's your life cuts. Thanks Frankie. I'm so glad you
(43:59):
included the dancing owls sort of. Yes.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
Oh well, I mean even my music on our ex
domain is up for sale. Everything, everything is gone. Oh no,
it was a pyramid scheme.
Speaker 1 (44:14):
Information has vanished. Yeah, it was a pyramid scheme. Oh no.
But they did get a list to perform. Well, we've had,
we've had ourselves a nice little diversion here, Frankie with
Iowan Gal prey track, great number to start side two
of Wales and Woe break up the record a little
bit with some variety. What is Iowan Gal? In the
(44:36):
Anatomy of the Record, This is a great question because
I have never considered it. It can't be the heart
because that's already taken. Man, I wonder if we should
relabel the heart with the Iowa Gal. We have a
lot of we have a lot of body parts available.
(44:56):
It's such a high energy number. And it's so joyous.
What's the most joyous part of the human body? And
don't be gross, Frankie, what do you think? Wow? Great question.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
Let's let's go with the taste buds because of all
the food references.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
I was gonna say, let's go at the round bottom
of Wow. Yeah, great choice. It's the bottom. It's the bottom.
We have the hips of the record that's already been established,
and the hips are gonna move the round bottom. Awesome.
See it's all connected, just like the old song.
Speaker 2 (45:33):
So when you grab these records by the hips, you dance.
When you grab it by the arms, you feel the strength.
Then you spank the bottom, and then you get and
then you get herpes right?
Speaker 1 (45:47):
No, no, what, No, that's not how love works. Maybe
for some people. I'm worried about you now of wales
and woe and iwin gal past the butter and you've
been tracked primates, primatrons, people of all ages, people of Earth.
Thank you so much for listening. Uh, how that last
(46:09):
comment did not unsettle you. Uh, I'm just going by
what the list has described so far. Yeah, but all
these all these people listening now are never going to
look at their of Whales and Woe record the same, Frankie.
They're going to be weirdly turned on, And it's your fault.
And on the breast that that stinks of liquor. I
(46:31):
got drunk and kissed my record later days, Willa Mace,
you should
It's Josh freaky. What a couple of dump shits. Hello, Primates,
(00:21):
you've found Primus Tracks. Congratulations. There are many places to
find Primus Tracks, including at Primus Tracks on Instagram and threads.
Primus Tracks Pod at gmail dot com is the email address.
There's also Facebook page. It's called Primus Tracks. I give
us on Facebook. Love please. The voice you just heard
(00:41):
interrupting me is that of Frankie beristein coming to you
all the way from the thirty ninth floor of Primus
Tracks Towers. I'm Josh, by the way, I'm an Iowan guy,
but Frankie, you're a Maego to Fa guy exactly.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I was going to ask you how many times you've
been called Iowa in your life.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
I think I told you about Freddie Barone who called
me Iowa. Nice to meet you, Iowa, although I have
also I've been addressed as Iowa in multiple other situations.
In those icebreaker moments when you are asked those kinds
of questions, I answer, I'm from Iowa, and everybody else
is from a place that isn't Iowa. So it's unique
(01:21):
to me, and so they call me Iowa as opposed
to my name, which is fine. I would rather remain
anonymous in those situations and hope they never remember me. Frankie,
we have miscellaneous debris, and it is of the utmost importance.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
We forgot to mention in our Phantom Patriot episode that
there is a animated video for Phantom Patriot, A Keen
to the One Better animation that's also available on YouTube,
and it's really fun to watch. It does not represent
the song lyrically or the actual Phantom Patriots character. It
(02:06):
goes in a completely different direction. It's actually quite family friendly.
It's actually a nice little video, and it's still up
there on YouTube. In case you haven't watched it, or
if you haven't watched it in a long time, this
might be a great opportunity to remind yourself what the
Phantom Patriot video looks like.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
It had been so long since I'd seen it, Frankie,
I forgot that it existed. This was posted in two
thousand and eight and it is still available. The username
is a designer's perspective. You can also just search Phantom
Patriot Les Claypool on YouTube and it will appear as
though it was made for you to watch. The video
(02:48):
features a guy in a quasi European navy outfit on
an old ship, and he is spotting what I assume
is an enemy in the distance. And then he starts
playing around with with cannonballs that are alive, anthropomorphic cannonballs. Frankie,
(03:11):
I think let's with approve of the video. I think
it fits today. We are talking about Iowa and Gal,
which is the impetus I suppose for all this Iowa talk.
We are working our way. We're back into the saddle
of Wales and Woe after a slight detour into current
primus events. This marks the back half of Wales and Woe.
(03:36):
This track checks in at three minutes and twenty nine seconds.
And here are your credits, Frankie. Let's Claypool, bass, banjo, vocals, percussion.
That's Joe right, not much else. Yes, it's the bass Joe,
the bast joejo, the banjo, the low low banjo. You
can call whatever the hell you want. It sounds pretty
(03:58):
cool on this record and on this and of course
this track is called Iowan Gal for a very specific reason.
The subject of this track is a gal who is
near and dear to all of our hearts. Cheney Claypool
and Frankie, I know you have a live history on
this track, and I know you've had a lot of
interactions with one Cheney Claypool over the years, and I'd
(04:21):
be interested to hear about all of those topics.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
There's an interview Chirca nineteen ninety eight ninety seven, but
I think I think it's it's from ninety eight Rhino
plus the Era, and it's an interview with Liz where
he just casually mentions that at that point in his life,
Cheney kept asking when are you going to write a
(04:44):
song about me? And let us keep keep replying gee,
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
So love not a subject that is tackled that frequently
in the Primus world for the Primus catalog, So we
could say that the first Primus love song is Mary
the ice Cube, while the first Less Clippo's solo love
song is Iowen gal an Oth to his wife Cheney Claypool,
(05:15):
whom he married in nineteen ninety five. Catch a glimpse
of some really cool wedding photographs in the Fighter Loss
of Tradition book. I don't think anyone has the coolest
wedding photo then, less than Cheney.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, those photos are fantastic and of course, when Jay
Blakesburg to shoot your wedding, it's going to keep us great.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Let's describe Cheney as his favorite person to tour with
and his best friend. We know that they waited a
long time for Cheney to be able to join the
less during full tours. Prior to that, she was fully
devoted to her children. So when they finally went, when
(05:58):
they finally left home and Cage went to college and
Lena was doing her thing, that's when Cheney joined the
Primus full time. And this is a kind of an
inside comment that I got from Duo, a.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Former keyboard player for Clepland on Delirium.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
He said, Yeah, I like to go out and do
stuff when we're touring, and Sean is always partying, he's
mingling with people. But Less he'll be in the tour boss,
or he'll be at the hotel because he wants to
spend time with his wife. He wants to chill. And
I think it's perfectly understandable. Right, Cheney is his favorite person,
(06:40):
so after years of touring and partying and hanging out
with people, of course, now he wants to spend quality
time with her.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Right, maximize your time with your partner.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Absolutely, Chaney runs Claypol sellers and she still finds time
to share set lists, videos and photos with us, And
she also goes live when they are on tour, and
it's a really invaluable document for us to get her
perspective when she's recording live. All of these insight is
(07:18):
really priceless because it's a first hand, unique insight into
the world of Primus unless Claypool that I think we
wouldn't have had if Cheney hadn't been there to be
the connector between the band and the fan base. Cheney
is incredibly kind and I think her contributions have been
(07:40):
really remarkable over the years. First of all, besides the
live and the photos, she provided insight into how truly
deep the Cliple vault is when she shared archival finds
she had discovered in their storage, such as reels with
alternate takes, unused artwork, alternative track lists too props. I mean,
(08:03):
she knows that this stuff matters and that it's particularly
exciting for hardcorees like us. She also acknowledges the most
dedicated and talented fans, which is something you rarely see
on other bands social media.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
When you follow.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Other acts, it's like, well, you're just one more facing
the crowd, right, But when you stand out and Chaney notices,
she has a way to truly make you feel special.
I have met Cheney several times and she was always
really kind with me. She has received art work that
I have done for this She has asked me questions
(08:44):
about my life, which made me feel that she really
cared about me as a fan. I was one of
the happiest Primus fans ever when Clipple Sellers shared my
artwork for the first time. Jane has also been part
of Primus history in the sense that she has appeared
in the videos for Mister Krinkle and also Riddles are
(09:07):
Abound Tonight. It was only fair that such a key
person in Claypool history had her own song at one point,
and that brings us to Iowen Gal premiered in two
thousand and six in Boulder with a particularly interesting live history.
The song was always performed as a solo encore number
(09:29):
on The Bass Show through two thousand and six, two
thousand and seven, and two thousand and eight with the
Fancy Band. An official Eye performance was released on the
Fancy DVD. It was performed once in two thousand and
seven with the Rad Brigade, one of the rarest less
clapple bands out there. It was performed with the Fungi
Band between two thousand and nine and twenty ten, also
(09:52):
as an encore. It was performed We Do the Twang
throughout twenty twelve, twenty thirteen and twenty fourteen. But Let's
played it on the Dobro and he has also performed
the song at the you Who Family Rock Show sponsored
by my Music RX for children with cancer. As I understand,
(10:13):
he performed the song on Dobora again backed by two
dancing owls he encouraged to break dance during the performance.
The last two performances today it were twenty fifteen in Nevada.
This was a Primus concert from the Chocolate Factory tour
and Let's perform the song solo as an encore for
(10:33):
Chanees's birthday, and he did the same in twenty twenty
one at Houston. He performed the song for Cheney because
it was her birthday. So if Primus is on tour
and it's Chaney's birthday, you bet les will perform Iowa
Gal for her. A really fantastic moment I must say, now,
if we tackle the song from a musical perspective, I
(10:57):
think it's really interesting. I think it's in the so
it's in the deliverance territory at least at least the outro. Right,
it's crazy, crazy complex.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
That's that's quite a parallel to draw, Frankie. Yeah, I
wasn't going to go in that direction. No, what I mean,
I mean the complexity of the song. I think it's yeah, yeah,
it's kind of kind of got that happy time Hodown
idea to it. And and why wouldn't you write a
(11:28):
song that makes you want to dance when you're singing
about your spouse who has made you the happiest person
on earth? So like the lyrics of the music certainly
come together there for me. Yeah, you said a couple
of things in your elongated commentary there that jumped out
of me. One is Cheney. When you've interacted with her,
(11:51):
she's asked you questions about your life. When I've interacted
with her, she knows I'm from Iowa. So I feel
like we don't don't have to you don't have to talk,
we don't have to ask each for the questions. I
already know the backstory is already filled in. Like fellow.
When fellow Iowan's meet one another outside of Iowa, there's
(12:12):
the knowing glance. Uh, and you're just they're simpatico automatically.
You don't have to make any small talk, but I
will echo your sentiments. And she's an incredibly kind person,
impatient and willing to talk to fans. And she's certainly
is just a great ambassador of course for the band.
(12:34):
But what a great person.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Yeah, I mean she has a secured set lists for me.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
She has held on to them for me during the show,
so they are.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Neatly folded as opposed to wrinkled up and thrown into
the crowd. I'll never forget how in twenty twenty two
when I went to see my lone date of Tribute
to King, I got learned to sign my CDs, and
then Cheney took my sock on this album backstage, and
(13:06):
I also got Less and Herbs signatures on it, which
would have been otherwise impossible if it hadn't been for Cheney.
So I have a ton of things to be grateful
about with Cheney, she has always been nothing but extraordinary
with me.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Yeah, what a great person. There's a little more background
that we can shed on this, Frankie, I'm going to
play about a minute and a half of footage from
a program called Live from Prairie Lights. This was a
radio program from Iowa City, Iowa, Cheney's hometown. Less on
(13:47):
his book tour for South of the Pumphouse in two
thousand and seven, visited Prairie Lights Bookstore and read portions
of the book and then took audience questions. Prairie Light's
bookstore was right around the corner from the last place
I lived in Iowa City. I moved a year before
this took place, and I of course recall being annoyed
(14:09):
that it took place after I'd moved away. It's it's
not true historic and behavior. What is. What's more convenient
than being able to walk thirty seven seconds from your
apartment to a bookstore to see one of your favorite
musicians read from his novel and possibly ask him a question.
I was shut out of that because of a life
(14:30):
decision I made. However, knowing about Life from Prairie Lights,
because I had been to many readings at Prairie Lights
in the prior years before moving away, that this would
be broadcast and archived, and I will put the link
to this in the show notes. It's about forty three
minutes of the program. It does cut off at the
(14:51):
end before the conclusion. However, this is a really nice
piece of history here, and I want to to play
this portion. He's in Iowa City, and let's give some
background on how he and Chaney got together.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
I did not meet my wife here in Iowa City,
but I was the one that talked her into moving
from Iowa City to Berkeley to go to school, where
she subsequently dumped me and I had to endure her
going out with a friend of mine for two years
before we finally came back together.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Well, there's a story.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
My next and you can read it in the next novel.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
How did you stverty? Violent?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
You liked that question, didn't you?
Speaker 1 (15:43):
How did you meet your wife?
Speaker 5 (15:44):
Then?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
I mean from Iowa to California and.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
A big rock star drunk, a friend of a friend
of mine was going out with her older sister, and
another friend of mine was going out loosely going out
with her twin sister. And I just became very good
friends with her family. And actually when we would tour three,
(16:10):
I'd stay with my who became my in laws, and
we subsequently crashed our motor home one time into the
side of our garage. I didn't my soundman ripped a
big hole in the side of the motor home on
the side of their garage. So good times. We're just
building up. So we decided we should get together.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
You know, I have heard that story about the two years,
but I didn't want to mention it. Well, we let
Less mention it. This actually coincides with another find of
mine out there in the world of the internet that
Primus actually played Iowa City at Gabes, which is a
small dive, in nineteen eighty nine, and so Primus unless
(16:53):
have a pretty rich history going back that far. And
the blog entry I found that also had an image
of the show flyer for that performance at gabs in
eighty nine also mentioned that when Primus returned to Iowa
City in nineteen ninety three, when they played the university campus,
(17:15):
at times throughout the show, Less would just go up
to the microphone and yell Gabes because that's the one
venue in town. He probably knew before returning, so he's
been and of course now that they've been married for decades,
and have been back to Iowa numerous times. I'm sure
(17:36):
he knows the city pretty well. I lived there for
quite some time. I did my undergraduate years at the
University of Iowa and Iowa City, lived there for a
few years afterwards.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
When you were when you were running down the hall screaming,
are you still floating?
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Yes, that is on that timeline. Yes, so great. There
was a lot of questionable behavior in those years. And
that's a mild example one I'm allowed to share. But
I did read an interview long ago. I cannot find
it for the life of me. I looked for a
good portion of time. I interviews disappear all the time,
as they do, and this one was about less visiting
(18:18):
Iowa City with Cheney after they were married, and he
said he said a few things that resonated with me,
being a person who had lived in Iowa City for
some time. He said, Oh, yeah, Cheney's taken me to
all the local landmarks. So we've eaten at the Hamburg In,
which is a famous diner in Iowa City. And it's
particularly famous, Frankie, because for many many years presidential candidates
(18:44):
they go to Iowa first, because Iowa is the first
state to hold primary elections, or in Iowa they call
it a caucus. So presidential candidates who are running for
major party elections always go to Iowa, and it became
a tradition for them to go dine at Hamburg in
and so there's photos of Bill Clinton and Ronnie Ronnie
(19:04):
Reagan and all these different presidents and presidential candidates dining there.
He also said, oh, and she took me to the
Black Angel. It's a bronze statue that's been oxidized over
the years, so it turned a really dark color. And
it's it's an angel standing over a headstone in a
cemetery in Iowa City, and it's a popular place for
(19:25):
undergrads and high school students to go, mostly to make out.
But and I certainly visited the Black Angel a time
or two. So he mentioned some important landmarks, so I
know he knows that town pretty well. And of course
it was pretty cool because then I was able to
make that personal connection as well. I've always I've always
(19:47):
meant to ask Cheney, but I guess I keep.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Forgetting what she what she felt, or what she thought
about Iowa gal the very first time she heard it,
that must have been something right, right.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Yeah, you know you mentioned that it took Less a
while to write the song. For I would imagine if
I were to, well, first of all, I were to
write a song for my wife, it would be god
awful and nobody should ever hear it, include especially her. However,
for I think part of the reason Less probably took
a while to do this was he wanted to get
(20:22):
it right. You don't want to bungle that's that's there's
a lot of pressure. And so you know, when he
when he finally settled on a musical idea and an
approach and some lyrics that came together, and this is
what we're hearing on track seven of Wales and Woe.
So he, you know, he was satisfied enough with it
that he was comfortable to show it to her and
(20:42):
then put it on a record. So I do wonder
what her reaction was, and considering it made it to
the record, I'm guessing it was positive.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
Yeah, you don't want to you don't want to come
up with a Ramona Flowers, right. So when they're at
his apartment, he tells her, hey, I wrote a song
about you, and he pulls out his acoustic guitar and
then he plays the song and she's like, well, so far,
so good, it'll be great when it's finished.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
That's just like, yeah, it is finished. Oh man, yes,
you don't want that, so it would be it would
be interesting to hear her take on that.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Musically, something that pops up about I went out for
me is that it kind of follows a structure that
you can find on several songs in the primus anless
Clipul catalog, and I mean songs where you have a
(21:49):
riff that defines the main structure of the song, and
you have a verse, you have a chorus pot for
the coda or for the outro. The song switches gears,
it takes you by surprise, goes in a different direction,
and usually let's goes nuts. And I think that happens
here in Iowan Gal. Other examples that come to mind, well,
(22:11):
of course the catharsis of FRITZL. Fry American Life, and
in his other works you can find something like this
in Captain Lariot, for example. So with Iwan Gal, you
may have an idea of what the song is going
to be like, but then the tempo speeds up and
it gets really crazy. Oh you know what, They used
(22:34):
to do something like that during the live performances of
Birthday Boys with Oyster Hads So's It's a format that
Less likes to to approach with his music, and I
think it's quite compelling. It makes the songs, it makes
you look forward to something when you listen to the songs.
(22:56):
And I think that if you were to witness a
live performance of Iowan, your eyes would be glued on
List's fingers during the coda because he goes nuts on
the track and it's something really amazing to watch. An
example would be the Fancy DVD where you get a
close up of what he's doing on the bass show. So,
(23:17):
I've heard it from reliable sources that it is a
difficult song to play. So what impression do you get
from the song Musically?
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah, it's pretty acrobatic, kind of He kind of stays
in a box for the main lick, a lot of
open strings and hammer ons to fill space because it
is essentially a solo song with one guy, so he's
he's doing all those little things that you do to
fill space. But it's pretty acrobatic, especially in that second
(23:49):
half when the jig really kicks in, like on the
studio version with the percussion, and it picks up. I
was surprised that it was three minutes twenty nine seconds.
If you had quizzed me, how long is this track
on the record put it said one minute and fifty
seven seconds. It flies by for me, it kind of
sticks around a bit, but it's so I'm surprised at
the length of it. I wouldn't say it's too long
(24:09):
for what we get, However, it's certainly longer than I
would have expected. Gotta have that jig. I got me
(24:30):
an iron, Gal, I got me an iw and Gal.
I got me in an aw and gal, I got
me an iwan Gal.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
You should see my isw and Goal.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
He's so proud of her. And that's I think part
of the high energy portion of this. And then hey,
this is my gal. Now we're gonna dance. So that's
that's what you get for much of the first part
of the tune, and then near the end here things
really pick up, and it's one of those It reminds
me of like a a young animal that's just so
(25:01):
full of excitement at being alive that it can't help
but just bounce around and you know, kick its feet
in the air and that sort of thing. So there's
that youthful, irrational energy, uh to the to the second
half of this one, which you could also attribute to
being in the throes of love with your significant other.
If if this is how it makes you feel to
(25:23):
be with your betrothed, you're in a good place.
Speaker 6 (25:25):
A ball you should see how and Gal.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
And Gal cut me and Ile and Gouche is the
sweetest thing this side of dement. She cups up Anti
and poor blowing. So how about the train bound a
corking I wind Gal?
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Uh that that percussion sounds like the matt he would
stump on during do of the Twang performances.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Oh, I wonder if it's the same one sounds like that.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
You know, it's interesting that Lis pick this instrument for
for Iwan Gal because although it stands out in the
context of the record, and it kind of stands out
in the whole context of his discovery Featuture, it wasn't
the first time that he approached this instrument or that
he shed some spotlight on this instrument. Well, it wouldn't.
(26:28):
It wouldn't be the last one either, because there were precedents.
We know that Primus did a full banjo performance to
launch Tales from the punch Bowl enhanced. Oh sure, yeah,
and the residents were there and it was legendary. And
there's footage of Liz playing banjo in the Cheesy Home video.
(26:53):
But there were also instances after iwon Gal where I
guess he wanted to explore further what he could do
with it instrument. And for instance, you have the performance
at Bridgeport Gathering of the Vibes two thousand and seven,
and this show was divided in two parts. The second
part was the Radbrigade full band performance, but the first
(27:15):
part of the show was Lesclepol solo with the Bass Show.
He performed American Live up on the Roof, running the Gauntlet,
David Mcallaster Busters of green Hill Ground, Hawk's Day and
iwan Gal all by himself on.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
The Bass Show.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
So yeah, so that really gives me the impression that
at one point he really enjoyed this instrument and he
really enjoyed exploring what he could do with it because
it was also routinary. You had the Bass Show encore
nightly during the Fancy Tour and Iwan Gal was part
(27:53):
of that, of course, plus a Sir Prize song which
could be any of these songs that I just mentioned
as well. And it's interesting that he would switch to
the dough bro And that could come down to him
not carrying the bag show on tour because he would
never use it otherwise. Or maybe he just prefers the
(28:14):
way that the songs come across on the dough brow.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Yeah, or maybe the doughbro is just lighter and more convenient.
It could be neat and you come from easier to play, right,
could be Yeah. That resonator is essentially made a plywood,
so it weighs next to nothing, I imagine.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Can we sample the coda, because that's where things get crazy?
Speaker 1 (29:06):
There you go because really thick. At one point it
did when he went low register.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
But that's just an example because live he would play
around with that. There were some stop and start sections,
sometimes he was hammering. He would do all kinds of
stuff when he performed the song live.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
I'm also getting a vibe of like, hey, honey, look
at me. Look, Look I'm playing real fast. Look, which
I do that to my wife all the time. She
doesn't like it when you're when you're playing guitar, just
when I'm doing anything. Look, look I'm holding the dog. Look,
I'm holding the cat. Look I'm raking the leaves. Really,
bicycle with no hands, riding my bicycle. I can ride
(29:46):
my bike with no handleballs hand mom, uh so camon
ball at the pool. Look, I can jump real high, right, Yeah,
I'm going to make it the biggest splash. Look, honey,
uh yeah, this one's a This is a fun one
and it is quite a It's a nice break in
(30:08):
terms of style throughout the record too. So it does
start side to Remember Sooya told us about that that
Less is always conscious of what n side one starts
side talk and of course closes.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
A record, so he's think, yeah, he's thinking about the
records in terms of vinyl. Yeah, in terms of flipping
side a MB absolutely right.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
So this being that opener to side too is a
is a fun change of pace exactly. Let's take a
look at the lyrics. Absolutely I take umbrage with some
of these lyrics. Frankie, as a native Iowan, I do
appreciate that Less is making corn and pork references, especially
(30:49):
the pork tenderloin. Of course that is an Iowa staple
corn pork, but no mention of soybeans. Frankie Iowa is
a massive exporter of soybeans. Actually, I don't care. I
just thought it'd be funny to be upset about the
lack of soybeans in a song. I did find out, though,
reading up on it, that Iowa is second only to
(31:11):
the gigantic state of California in agricultural exports in all
of the United States. What I do recall, though, is
Iowa exported so much soy to China and still does
that they would send The government of China in the
eighties started sending agricultural delegations to the state to learn
(31:32):
about modernizing farming practices, being more efficient when it came
to agricultural practices, and that continues to this day. I
think the current president of China, Shijiingping, has visited Iowa
a bunch of times and actually has a bunch of
friends in Iowa. That'd be a complicated friendship.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
I think here's an idiom for you. In the show Duckman,
Cornfield is referred to as cornfeed because of his tendency
to be indecized and lack a clear sense of direction.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Oh, that's interesting. I've never heard that application of it.
I've always just associated it with you eat a lot
of corn because it's there and it fills you up.
You know. It's uh, it's just one of those things.
I guess I've never thought of it other outside of
the literal context of eating corn, because it's omnipresent in
(32:23):
the state of Iowa. If you've ever visited, you've seen corn.
No matter where you've been, you've seen the crops. You
can't avoid it. You can do you do? You roll
the corn around your mouth as you bite it. I
eat it typewriter style. It is. It's a lot of fun. Now.
Before we started recording, Frankie, you told me that you
(32:45):
use the little handles and stick them in to each
other little handles. Yeah, it doesn't brings me no pleasure
to tell you this. That is wimp behavior. Really, yeah,
it doesn't. If the it doesn't matter if the corn
comes off the grill or right out of the water pot,
the boiling water pot. You just you grab each end
with your bare hands and you roll it in the
(33:06):
butter and you put the salt and pepper or whatever
it is you're putting on it, and then.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
You just you just go so it's frowned the pond
like when you eat a slice of pizza with fork
and knife.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
It's very much like that in many Iowan homes. Yes,
it's a faux pas. Don't do that in the state
of Iowa. Having told you this, you probably wouldn't be
surprised that so many Iowans have thick calluses on their fingertips.
The corn grabbing, okay, as a result of all the
corn grabbing, so you definitely have to have your big
(33:40):
pad of butter to roll it in. At least, did
you eat corn while you were in Mexico? I don't recall.
So they will.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Grab a large corn, they will impale it on a stick,
and then it will be covered with mayo, lemon and
cheese and chili.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Oh wow, No, I did not experience that, but I've
seen that before. It looks great. Yeah. Yeah, you came
really wrong with decorating corn with just about anything. Yep.
So yeah, let's of course mentions the corn in the pork.
He left out the soy. A couple other staple Iowa foods,
Frankie that you may not have heard of our loose
(34:22):
meat sandwiches, which is essentially just ground beef on a
hamburger bun with whatever you want on it. Usually it's
chopped onions, mustard, so on, and so forth. More recent
ones are this cracks me up every time I get
to talk about it. More recent Iowa staples Frankie are
(34:42):
deep fried butter on a stick and gas station pizza.
Those are two things Iowa is known for in recent years.
Gas pizza, Yes, cases Pizza is strangely delicious and really good.
And Casey's gas stations are all over the state. You
can are the slices rolling on display. No they're not
(35:06):
on the hot dog roller. No you're not, which would
be incredible. Now they're just in a they're just in
a glass, you know, just in a case with the
with the heating element. Okay, and they'll just pull the
slice off and hand it to you. And the deep
fried butter on a stick is mostly at the state Fair.
You already have a stick of butter. They roll it
(35:27):
in this breading that's sugar, cinnamon, flour, whatever, so they
somehow make butter worse for your health, and then they
deep fry it and then it's on a stick and
you just walk around eating it. It's a death wish
on a stick. That is the Iowa way of life.
My friend all right.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
I particularly love the line where he says, she quilled
me up at Kashmere blanket.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
Yeah, she must be quite the seamstress. I don't know
where she got access to Kashmir because that shit's expensive. Yeah,
so good geez, good for you, Chaney Dang. But we
do know she's a style and lady. Absolutely, she's very sophisticated. Indeed,
she always looks classy her especially, I'm always looking at
(36:12):
her hats, because Cheney has some really fetching hats. I
think newly minted Primus drummer John Hoffman could learn a
thing or two from Cheney's hat game, because he's sticking
to the baseball style caps. Not a bad thing, but
he could certainly branch out. I think he'd look great
in a little Newsy cap or something. So yeah. The
lyrics are very loving, of course, which we rarely come
(36:38):
across in the run of this podcast. And I'm glad
you mentioned Mary the ice Cube because I do thematically
link them because they are both about love. But that's
where they diverge, because one is about love lost in
the other is about love fulfilled. It doesn't take much
to read the difference, so there's a lot of repetition.
If I got me an, Iowan Gal, you should see
(36:59):
my eyewingdal. You may try and winter, but you never
will pal my pure bread, cornfed Iowan Gal. Pretty is
a picture happy as a clam. Pinch me and tell
me how lucky I am. That's that's the line right there,
right there's I will say, there's a lot of great
lines in here to you know, as a as a
testament to his adoration for her. Gives the geographic reference
(37:22):
sweetest thing this side of Des Moines, which is the
capital of Iowa, and it's like geographically in the middle
of the state. I will also say spanket and blanket
is a brave rhyming pair. Controversial. You have the brief,
bold choice, and that's all I'll say about that.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
You recall the show from the tribute to Kink's Run
where let's give a serenade to Cheney with the my
name is both my name is mouth bass reps.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
Yes, that video is great. Cheney was taking video and yeah,
that was fantastic. Ambled on over and played the last
few reps just and like holding up the base too,
like check it out. That was a sweet moment for sure. Yeah, wholesome,
wholesome family entertainment is not a descriptor I would normally
(38:13):
have for a Primus show. But there are moments. How
about some live cuts, live cuts, you say, live cuts
from jam vehicle, Live cuts from the Jam vehicle, Live
cuts from what's going on here? And I'll tell you
what's going on here? Disembodied voice of Tim Soyer, it's
(38:34):
live cuts time. We have a couple of live renditions
of Iowa and Gal. First one, Frankie that I have
chosen to play today from the two you have sent
is Whales Live. And that's all it says. Great Whales Live.
(38:55):
No metadata. Once again, please direct all complaints to at
Frankie barrist on Instagram. I run the Primus tracks Instagram,
And when you guys tell me that you are irritated
that you don't have the data on those shows, I
can't help you. Man. Sorry, guys, let's hear Iowa Gal
(39:21):
unknown date and location.
Speaker 4 (39:27):
I told you I gotta tease that out.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Crowd loves it, by the way, but I was rocking
it too. The incredulous reaction of the crowd is that's
(40:32):
a golden moment. But then he uh picks up with
Iowa gallon. We're going to move forward, and here let's
tell him it's sounding good man. I do like that
(41:18):
tone he's got to.
Speaker 6 (41:19):
It's nice and dirty, funky.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
That's a fun way to finish it. Our next live
cut and final live cut of the evening, Frankie is
the afore mentioned you Who Family Rock Show.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
Not to be confused with you Who the Elixir.
Speaker 1 (41:57):
Now, when you saw the title you Who Family Rock Show?
Were you misled? I Yeah. Pavlov's Dogs and Frankie Berestein.
You can watch the video of this performance. It is
his grave YouTube. It's pro shot less. As Frankie mentioned earlier.
(42:19):
Less is flanked by some dancing owls, and there are
a lot of little kids in the audience and a
lot of very excited adults. Kids aren't sure what they're
looking at. I think most of the time in this video,
here's a portion of that.
Speaker 3 (42:54):
I got me an owen gown, I got me an
al and Gal, I got me an Awen Gal.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
You should see my own gal tempo.
Speaker 3 (43:02):
Wait. I got me and I went gan, I got
me and I when gas sweetest thing in the sun,
the moment she put somebody how about airplank and strap
algant supportment.
Speaker 1 (43:10):
I went and Galla. You should see that.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
I when.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Just a little disappointed he didn't tease Master of Puppets
for the kids.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
Yeah, trying to find anything online about you who Family
Rock Show.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
I recall reading that it was in order to responds
for cancer, but I don't know if it's like for
all kinds of medical conditions in general. My music are
x Was it Austin, Texas? That's the locate? Was that
the location? Yeah? Okay, that's all I remember about that performance. Well,
there's your life cuts. Thanks Frankie. I'm so glad you
(43:59):
included the dancing owls sort of. Yes.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
Oh well, I mean even my music on our ex
domain is up for sale. Everything, everything is gone. Oh no,
it was a pyramid scheme.
Speaker 1 (44:14):
Information has vanished. Yeah, it was a pyramid scheme. Oh no.
But they did get a list to perform. Well, we've had,
we've had ourselves a nice little diversion here, Frankie with
Iowan Gal prey track, great number to start side two
of Wales and Woe break up the record a little
bit with some variety. What is Iowan Gal? In the
(44:36):
Anatomy of the Record, This is a great question because
I have never considered it. It can't be the heart
because that's already taken. Man, I wonder if we should
relabel the heart with the Iowa Gal. We have a
lot of we have a lot of body parts available.
(44:56):
It's such a high energy number. And it's so joyous.
What's the most joyous part of the human body? And
don't be gross, Frankie, what do you think? Wow? Great question.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
Let's let's go with the taste buds because of all
the food references.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
I was gonna say, let's go at the round bottom
of Wow. Yeah, great choice. It's the bottom. It's the bottom.
We have the hips of the record that's already been established,
and the hips are gonna move the round bottom. Awesome.
See it's all connected, just like the old song.
Speaker 2 (45:33):
So when you grab these records by the hips, you dance.
When you grab it by the arms, you feel the strength.
Then you spank the bottom, and then you get and
then you get herpes right?
Speaker 1 (45:47):
No, no, what, No, that's not how love works. Maybe
for some people. I'm worried about you now of wales
and woe and iwin gal past the butter and you've
been tracked primates, primatrons, people of all ages, people of Earth.
Thank you so much for listening. Uh, how that last
(46:09):
comment did not unsettle you. Uh, I'm just going by
what the list has described so far. Yeah, but all
these all these people listening now are never going to
look at their of Whales and Woe record the same, Frankie.
They're going to be weirdly turned on, And it's your fault.
And on the breast that that stinks of liquor. I
(46:31):
got drunk and kissed my record later days, Willa Mace,
you should
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