Captain Pasty

COOKING VINYL

Returning to his Black Francis guise for latest single CAPTAIN PASTY, Pixies frontman Frank Black is on rip roaring form here.

The Black Francis name obviously means this is more ferocious and psychotic than his more laid back country rocking Frank Black outputs, CAPTAIN PASTY is more akin to the Pixies early storming best.  An eruption of angry surf guitar riffs and pounding drums, that familiar vocal howl is definite proof that Frank can still rage and howl like its 1989.

Proof if proof were needed that Black Francis is still an alt-rock force to be reckoned with, CAPTAIN PASTY is a thunderous two and a half minutes of pure indie rock glory.  Now if only he'd get working on that much anticipated new Pixies record.

BIOGRAPHY

After the Pixies formally broke up at the beginning of 1993, frontman Charles Thompson (aka Black Francis) switched identities, becoming Frank Black and swiftly recording a solo album which would bear his new name.

After the record was completed, he wrote about it and how it came to be made :

"In 1991, I was working on an album that would eventually be called Trompe Le Monde and released on 4AD by the Pixies. The sessions were being produced by Liverpudlian Gil Norton, and during them we had some discussions about what would eventually become my first solo record, Frank Black (at that time I was still performing under the Nom de Rock, Black Francis). Trompe Le Monde was then still far from finished, but I told Gil that I was already keen on getting back into a recording session, even though I had no material. So, the concept at that time became an album made up mostly of covers; songs that I had come to know and love over the years, of course. And although this was an unoriginal concept, and one poorly executed by numerous artists, I still felt compelled by this flimsy excuse to get into a studio (here I'll say in passing that I thoroughly enjoyed "Pin Ups" by David Bowie).

So, over a year later, I finally took Gil's advice, and got together with the very talented Eric Drew Feldman, who had previously worked with Captain Beefheart, Snakefinger and Pere Ubu, and who had been helping us on Trompe Le Monde. By that time, I had plenty of tunes and musical scraps, and we would eventually trim down the beloved covers to just one: "Hang On To Your Ego", written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher. (The track had originally appeared on The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds in a different guise, as "I Know There's An Answer"; "Hang On To Your Ego" was finally being released as a bonus on the CD re–issue of that album, and I had already recorded a somewhat inferior version of my own for the John Peel radio show).

Eric and I produced the new record, and the only concept we had was saying "you know, GRAND!" to each other a whole lot. And I think, in the end, it actually did sound pretty grand. Eric played bass and keyboards and I did vocals and guitar, we got wonderful assistance from engineer Al Clay; guitarists Joey Santiago (Pixies), Moris Tepper (Captain Beefheart) and David Sardy (Barkmarket); drummers Nick Vincent (Donny & Marie) and Bob Giusti (Rash Of Stabbings); and saxophonists John Linnell and Kurt Hoffman (They Might Be Giants).

I'll leave you with a word or two about each of the tracks :

"Los Angeles" : not about riots, or L.A. really.

"I Heard Ramona Sing" : love song about, yup, the Ramones.

"Hang On To Your Ego" : ask Brian.

"Fu Manchu" : not the Desmond Dekker song of the same title.

"Places Named After Numbers" : black holes. Very "in".

"Old Black Dawning" : biosphere 2.

"Ten Percenter" : soda jerks, Iggy Pop, and me.

"Brackish Boy" : a story told to me.

"Two Spaces" : Hmmmm....

"Tossed (Instrumental version)" : this isn't about anything.

"Parry The Wind High, Low" : I went to a UFO convention one day...

"Adda Lee" : Adda Lee Every Time I Go Around Here: a love song moving through spacetime

"Don't Ya Rile 'Em" : mass behaviour mod.

And I almost forgot "Czar" : John Denver.

And if we do chat, please, call me Frank."

If the truth be told "Frank Black" was not the runaway success that many had predicted. Notices and sales were respectable - healthy, even - but the record did not immediately rival those of the Pixies in the affections of the band's fans. Charles remained as prolific a songwriter as ever, though, and he quickly set to work on a follow-up release, the sprawling, euphoric and - as has become clearer with the passing of time - very, very good Teenager Of The Year.

Again, Thompson was induced to put pen to paper and write about the genesis of the record, which he did, obliquely :

"Joey Ramone insisted that I perform in the opening slot of their US 'Acid Eaters Tour', and, well, how do I resist the Ramones? And so I am writing this in St. Louis, Missouri, where we are once again building up calluses and ear wax for what is beyond "Acid Eaters". I am joined onstage by the players from the new album, Eric Feldman, Nick Vincent and Lyle Workman (Todd Rundgren, Jellyfish). Lyle is working out well, even mastering those psycho solos from the record that were played by Joey Santiago and Moris Tepper; Feldman is an excellent bassist, and fortunately his keyboards, though missed, are not necessary. We are lucky Vincent has found time away from his grueling schedule with Gloria Loring. So, I am at St. Louis, but this is where I've been...

To a time before the Kong™ video game, that moment of Pong, the first simulated ball in the machine, the end of something and the beginning of something else. I was there with my brother. And under the sea where angry beings think their thoughts. To plains of abstraction, between frames and beyond canvas. And through the layers of California, from pre–Navajo (as the Spaniards said) all the way to a time found somewhere between now and Blade Runner. I almost saw the lost Mars probe of '93, and became lonely when I feared there was only sky. I found the girl who moves through the calendar of light and I wrote one of those sonnets; she soothed my aching head which had counted slowly backward the rings of trees, searching, and raced forward to the time of one tree – searching – stopping finally in the now. I thanked Gene Chandler, Otis Blackwell and Del Shannon; and then I rocked. I rocked in the face of record store advisors, who could not. I plead the case of the Three Stooges in the Culture Court. I saw the probe, long after the last trace of humankind had slowly vanished; it was moving on still, operating perfectly, as its creators intended. And of course, to Los Angeles, when William Mulholland brought the water, and with water still running, Mr Bradbury hoped. I stared into television, and I stared into the desert at something that did not frighten me. The scheming behemoth sought salt and I found my love and she found me and we slept as we had slept throughout eternity. I imitated Bob Dylan, and why not? I sang about the days of Martian terraformation, of 2016 and catapults along the Pacific equator. I sang about Telstar and when they put billboards in orbit. I wondered why the truck drivers wouldn't talk to me, why the Sci–Fi Channel took The Invaders out of its latest rotation. And I declare to all of you to look up and behold that pie in the sky.

Hope you enjoy the record."

Sure enough, Teenager Of The Year was a multicoloured, sci-fi symphony, a double album bold in conception and executed with maverick panache. But sadly it was to be the last record that Charles / Frank would make for 4AD. He continued to record and tour as Frank Black, releasing a string of solo albums through the 1990s and into the 21st Century. The two 4AD solo records remain overshadowed by the Pixes catalogue - but this is an injustice which time is slowly rectifying. If you haven't already, dive in - and discover a strange world of full-blooded, wigged out rock music, made by a man who remains the most distinctive and celebrated songwriter of his generation.

Contrary to popular belief, Frank Black, or rather Black Francis, did not actually exist prior to the Pixies. However, a man often confused for him did: Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV. Charles was “born alive” April 6, 1965 (despite his desire to have been conceived a decade earlier) in Boston. Many years later, he was back again in Boston and the world of music would never be the same.

While attending U-Mass, Charles stayed in a dorm where a computer randomly chose his roommates. 1984: Charles’ roommate, as determined by a bunch of sand and refined metals was none other than Joseph Alberto Santiago – or Joey. Soon, the pair put an ad in the newspaper seeking someone with Husker Du/Peter, Paul, and Mary influences, and Black Francis appeared from the ether.

Four albums and an EP later, the year was 1993. The clear beverage craze gave us all a reason to live, and the domestication of the dog continued unabated. The Pixies went their separate ways and as quickly as Black Francis appeared, he faded back to black. Frank Black.

Frank’s solo career has been longer and provided far more diversity, musically speaking, than his career with the Pixies to the point that they’d not even be worth mentioning were they not so influential and inspirational to so many people… and reunited for a world tour in spring of 2004. From Show Me Your Tears, his latest album, all the way back down to the original self-titled “Orange” album, he’s gone from multi-tracked new-wave mayhem to classic rock to a distinctive country twang live to two track. Only one thing has remained consistent: the quality of the work is without a doubt top-notch.

What else has he been up to, you ask? Well, he played at Bowie’s 50th birthday by request, he’s acting in an upcoming moving called “Low Budget Time Machine” (http://www.chud.com/news/may02/may28mutant.php3) , he’s covering “Sugar Daddy” on the upcoming Hedwig & the Angry Inch soundtrack, and now reuniting the Pixies over a decade after they faked their death. For starters. As well as an appearance on the X-Files soundtrack (Man of Steel) and the Powerpuff Girls (Pray for the Girls). And, though you’d have to strain to pick his voice from the rest, he provided background vocals on Alan Merrill’s Merrilly Christmas CD in 2000 (Let’s Think About It).

Black Francis and Frank Black might have been representatives of a past with a large shadow and a future seeking the sun, but there was one final transformation to take place. The resolution of the light and the dark, the man and the myth, the present and the future and past: Frank Black Francis is born. While it is unclear exactly where this will take our hero in future adventures, we are certain of several things. A hotly anticipated Pixies reunion tour (with rumours of a new CD), a solo reworking of several classic Pixies songs with the Two Pale Boys (entitled Frank Black Francis), another solo album recorded with some of the finest musicians Nashville has to offer, a new best-of Pixies CD (Wave of Mutilation), an all new DVD with concerts, videos and some never before seen “On The Road” footage, and more. What of the Catholics? Don’t despair, we’re fairly certain that you will be hearing from them as early as the beginning of 2005.

So, there’s Frank Black, Black Francis, and Frank Black Francis in a rather large nutshell. What about Charles Thompson? As far as personal things go, Frank is now living in Portland, Oregon, living, as he puts it, “the LL – loft lifestyle” though spending most of his time in Los Angeles rehearsing with Kim Deal, Joey Santiago, and David Lovering. And, for what little time he is residing at the end of miles, he’s loving it. He and his long-time wife have gone their separate ways which is very sad indeed – go read the lyrics to Speedy Marie if you don’t agree. “Jean Black” did most of the artwork for Frank’s albums up to Show Me Your Tears, under the name of Inertia. But Frank has shown us his tears, and while they are tears, it seems that they’re also the crucial hydration to the beginnings of the new life. A new bud reaching for the light, or an invigorated young pup “ready to howl at the world.” And perhaps we’ll finally have a Charles V running around. One can hope.

Now if you're wondering about Mr. Black's influences, you needn’t look any farther than the lyrics in songs like “I Want Rock & Roll”. But, to appease you, he’s been known to drop names like Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Pere Ubu, Husker Du, David Bowie, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and The Velvet Underground, to name a few. Or take a look at his b-sides album, Oddballs. Names like Dylan, Springsteen, Daltrey, Strummer will greet you. But mostly, we like it when Frank Black is just “Trying to be Me”.

Frank actually pops by the forum from time to time. Originally under the alias “frankusblackus”, he has more recently returned and even taken questions (!) under the name “frnck blck”. And though he’s perhaps too busy with all his projects lately to post much, rest assured he is here. We are pleased beyond all reason to have him join us in the forums, taking questions, posting trivia, and holding court. What more could you ask for from your favourite musician?

- Dean Katsiris

(12/23/05)

Following the critical success of 2005's "Honeycomb", Pixies icon Frank Black will see the release of his ambitious new double-CD, "Fastman/Raiderman", on Monday 19th June. 

Paired again with producer Jon Tiven, the 27-song CD was recorded over a two-year period at studios in Nashville and Los Angeles, and slams a bit harder than the laid-back "Honeycomb".

"Fastman/Raiderman" features some of the most celebrated players in music, including Levon Helm from The Band, Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick, Heartbreaker drummer Steve Ferrone, the legendary Al Kooper, honky-tonk hero Marty Brown, songwriting enigma P.F. Sloan, and Simon Kirke from Bad Company and Free, as well as "Honeycomb" 'returnees' Steve Cropper, Reggie Young, Buddy Miller, Spooner Oldman and Chester Thompson, to name just a few.

For Black, the recording of "Fastman/Raiderman" was a bit of a homecoming. "On Honeycomb I was walking on eggshells," he admits about his renowned 'back-up' band. "These guys are still legends, but now that we'd hung around a bit, I was more at ease."

Songs on "Fastman/Raiderman" include the somewhat bizarre 'Kiss My Ring', the almost hallucinogenic 'Dog Sleep', and the overlay of the lyrically obscure and the body-punch, visceral groove of 'In the Time of My Ruin'. 'Highway to Lowdown', 'Sad Man's Song', and 'Where the Wind Is Going' were originally recorded for "Honeycomb" but didn't match that album's laid-back feel so have been in hibernation until now. 'Fitzgerald' and 'Elijah' look back to when Black and the Pixies were just beginning to turn rock music inside out from their home base in Boston, and 'My Terrible Ways' is a true, tragic story of heroism in the devastation in Mississippi from Hurricane Katrina.

One of Black's favorites is the track 'Raiderman' which was recorded one lazy summer night at Tiven's house in Nashville. It boasts an accompaniment from a chorus of cicadas chirping in the backyard and Tiven's dog Sammy, who made himself heard right before the second verse. "That provides a nice backdrop to this tale of a Polish coal miner who lost his legs to the coal train," Black says. "He ends up being a security man after he gets fired by the coal company, chasing the Raiderman away."

As Black is fond of doing, some of the new songs were recorded in a single 24-hour marathon session with musicians coming and going in three shifts and only one two-hour break for some shuteye.

"We gutted it out on sheer adrenaline," Tiven remembers. "By the end things were getting surreal and we were just going with the untamed forces of the universe. If you're halfway between waking and sleeping, you can do things with a song that might not normally seem possible."

Black plans to put together a band that can support the songs on "Fastman/Raiderman" and hit the road later this year. First, he'll join his Pixies' bandmates on a European summer tour.

LINE UP

Black Francis

DISCOGRAPHY

FRANK BLACK (4AD>1993)

Los Angeles

I Heard Ramona Sing

Hang On To Your Ego

Fu Manchu

Places Named After Numbers

Czar

Old Black Dawning

Ten Percenter

Brackish Boy

Two Spaces

Tossed (Instrumental Version)

Parry The Wind High, Low

Adda Lee

Every Time I Go Around Here

Don’t Ya Rile ‘Em

TEENAGER OF THE YEAR (4AD>1994)

What Ever Happened To Pong?

Thalassocracy

(I Want To Live On An) Abstract Plain

Calistan

The Vanishing Spies

Speedy Marie

Headache

Sir Rockaby

Freedom Rock

Two Reelers

Fiddle Riddle

Ole Mulholland

Fazer Eyes

I Could Stay Here Forever

The Hostess With The Mostest

Superabound

Big Red

Space Is Gonna Do Me Good

White Noise Maker

Pure Denizen Of The Citizens Band

Bad, Wicked World

Pie In The Sky

THE CULT OF RAY (Cooking Vinyl>2001)

The Marsist

Men In Black

Punk Rock City

You Ain't Me

Jesus Was Right

I Don't Want To Hurt You (Every Single Time)

Mosh, Don't Pass The Guy

Kicked In The Taco

The Creature Crawling

The Adventure And The Resolution

Dance War

The Cult Of Ray

The Last Stand Of Shazeb Andleeb

FRANK BLACK & THE CATHOLICS (Cooking Vinyl>2003)

All My Ghosts

Back To Rome

Do You Feel Bad About It?

Dog Gone

I Gotta Move

I Need Peace

King & Queen Of Siam

Six-Sixty-Six

Solid Gold

Steak 'n' Sabre

Suffering

The Man Who Was Too Loud

PISTOLERO (Play It Again Sam>1999)

Bad Harmony

I Switched You

Western Star

Tiny Heart

You're Such A Wire

I Love Your Brain

Smoke Up

Billy Radcliffe

So Hard To Make Things Out

85 Weeks

I Think I'm Starting To Lose It

I Want Rock & Roll

Skeleton Man

So. Bay

DOG IN THE SAND (Cooking Vinyl>2001)

Blast Off

I've Seen Your Picture

St. Francis Dam Disaster

Robert Onion

Stupid Me

Bullet

The Swimmer

Hermaphroditos

I'll Be Blue

Llano Del Rio

If It Takes All Night

Dog In The Sand

BLACK LETTER DAYS (Cooking Vinyl>2002)

The Black Rider

California Bound

Chip Away Boy

Cold Heart Of Stone

Black Letter Day

Valentine And Garuda

How You Went So Far

End Of Miles

1826

The Farewell Bend

Southbound Bevy

I Will Run After You

True Blue

Jane The Queen Of Love

Jet Black River

21 Reasons

Whispering Weeds

The Black Rider

DEVIL'S WORKSHOP (Cooking Vinyl>2003)

Velvety

Out Of State

His Kingly Cave

San Antonio TX

Bartholomew

Modern Age

Are You Headed My Way?

Heloise

The Scene

Whiskey In Your Shoes

Fields Of Marigold

SHOW ME YOUR TEARS (Cooking Vinyl>2004)

Nadine

Everything Is New

My Favorite Kiss

Jaina Blues

New House Of The Pope

Horrible Day

Massif Centrale

When Will Happiness Find Me Again?

Goodbye Lorraine

This Old Heartache

The Snake

Coastline

Manitoba

FRANK BLACK FRANCIS (Cooking Vinyl>2005)

Disc 1

The Holiday Song (Demo)

I'm Amazed (Demo)

Rock A My Soul (Demo)

Isla de Encanta (Demo)

Caribou (Demo)

Broken Face (Demo)

Build High (Demo)

Nimrod's Son (Demo)

Ed Is Dead (Demo)

Subbacultcha (Demo)

Boom Chickaboom (Demo)

I've Been Tired (Demo)

Break My Body (Demo)

Oh My Golly! (Demo)

Vamos (Come on Pilgrim) (Demo)

Disc 2

Caribou

Where Is My Mind?

Cactus

Nimrod's Son

Levitate Me

Wave Of Mutilation

Monkey Gone To Heaven

Velouria

The Holiday Song

Into The White

Is She Weird

Subbacultcha

Planet of Sound

HONEYCOMB (Back Porch>2006)

Selkie Bride

I Burn Today

Lone Child

Another Velvet Nightmare

Dark End Of The Street

Go Find Your Saint

Song Of The Shrimp

Strange Goodbye

Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day

Honeycomb

My Life Is In Storage

Atom In My Heart

Violet

Sing For Joy

Fastman Raiderman (Cooking Vinyl>2005)

Disc 1

If Your Poison Gets You

Johnny Barleycorn

Fast Man

You Can't Crucify Yourself

Dirty Old Town

Wanderlust

Seven Days

Raider Man

End of Summer

Dog Sleep

When the Paint Grows Darker Still

I'm Not Dead (I'm in Pittsburgh)

Golden Shore

Disc 2

In The Time of My Ruin

Down To You

Highway To Lowdown

Kiss My Ring

My Terrible Ways

Fitzgerald

Elijah

It's Just Not Your Moment

The Real El Rey

Where The Wind Is Going

Holland Town

Sad Old World

Don't Cry That Way

Fare Thee Well

FRANK BLACK 93-03 (Cooking Vinyl>2007)

Los Angeles (Frank Black, 1993)

Ten Percenter (Frank Black, 1993)

Czar (Frank Black, 1993)

Old Black Dawning (Frank Black, 1993)

Abstract Plain (Teenager of the Year, 1994)

Calistan (Teenager of the Year, 1994)

Speedy Marie (Teenager of the Year, 1994)

Headache (Teenager of the Year, 1994)

Freedom Rock (Teenager of the Year, 1994)

Men In Black (The Cult of Ray, 1996)

You Ain’t Me (The Cult of Ray, 1996)

I Don’t Want to Hurt You (The Cult of Ray, 1996)

All My Ghosts (Frank Black and The Catholics, 1998)

I Gotta Move (Frank Black and The Catholics, 1998)

Bad Harmony (Pistolero, 1999)

Western Star (Pistolero, 1999)

Robert Onion (Dog In The Sand, 2001)

Hermaphroditos (Dog In The Sand, 2001)

Velvety (Devil’s Workshop, 2002)

California Bound (Black Letter Days, 2002)

Massif Centrale (Show Me Your Tears, 2003)

Manitoba (Show Me Your Tears, 2003)

Europe

Bullet

Nadine

Re-Make/Re-Model

Living On Soul

Burnt Out Rock ‘n’ Roll

Been All Around the World

Six Sixty Six

Horrible Day

(Do What You Want) Gyaneshwar

CAPTAIN PASTY (Cooking Vinyl>2007)

Captain Pasty

LINKS

Frank Black>www.blackfrancis.net

FURTHER LISTENING

The Pixies

The Breeders

The Martinis