Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Lee Van Cleef - Primus

From the time they hit the streets of 1991 with the cutting-edge art-funk of their breakthrough single "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver," it was clear that Les Claypool and Primus were on the alternative fringe of alternative music, much closer in spirit to a young Frank Zappa than, say, Kurt Cobain.
Twenty years later, they've have a new album called "Green Naugahyde," their first full-length release since 1999, with Jay Lane, who drummed for them briefly before they were famous.

Here's Claypool, their bass-playing front man, on how Lane's return paved the way for "Green Naugahyde" and why they're ignoring their previous effort, "Antipop," on this tour.

When asked about the album and the new record "Lee Van Cleef".

Claypool replied, "Good old Lee Van Cleef. I've just always had a soft spot for character actors. That's why (Frank) Capra, the Coen brothers, (Elia) Kazan, all these different directors, I love their work because they tend to have extraordinarily colorful characters throughout their films. And guys like Walter Brennan, Lee Van Cleef, Strother Martin, Slim Pickens and these different people that I see pop up in these films when I'm flipping the channels, it tends to make me stop when I see them because it makes me smile. So Lee Van Cleef, I just had this notion of "Whatever happened to Lee Van Cleef?"

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