Camper Van Beethoven-- Classic or dud?

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In 1993, the band Sublime's singer and songwriter Bradley Nowell covered the Camper Van Beethoven song entitled "Eye of Fatima." The chord progression of this song was also used in the Sublime song entitled "What Happened." Sublime frequently covered other Camper Van Beethoven songs live, and Camper Van Beethoven eventually returned the favor by covering the Sublime song "Garden Grove" for the 2005 Sublime tribute album Look at All the Love We Found.

Teenage Fanclub's cover of Camper Van Beethoven's 1985 staple "Take the Skinheads Bowling" was used as the title track for the 2002 Michael Moore film Bowling for Columbine. A portion of the original Camper Van Beethoven recording can be heard as an introduction to the DVD release of the film. The song has also been covered by the Manic Street Preachers, and can be found on their B-sides album Lipstick Traces.

♪♫(●̲̲̅̅̅̅=̲̲̅̅̅̅●̲̅̅)♪♫ (Steve Shasta), Saturday, 24 October 2009 06:37 (fourteen years ago) link

[I <3 "Eye of Fatima" btw]

♪♫(●̲̲̅̅̅̅=̲̲̅̅̅̅●̲̅̅)♪♫ (Steve Shasta), Saturday, 24 October 2009 06:37 (fourteen years ago) link

We had a pretty good thread about Key Lime Pie here earlier this year.

Euler, Saturday, 24 October 2009 07:02 (fourteen years ago) link

two months pass...

Is it my imagination or is their catalogue in a serious state of disrepair?

Those Virgin albums really need a remaster/rerelease (preferably with the era B-sides, becuz I'm having a hell of a time finding me the Turquoise Jewelry + 3 EP and I don't think that was ever released except on vinyl anyroad - someone prove me wrong).

Did you say you were going to mangle the light? (staggerlee), Sunday, 10 January 2010 09:02 (fourteen years ago) link

Second this, but I'm pretty sure that Lowery's relationship with Virgin is in a serious state of disrepair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMrUHJx0bEU

no i am not seXy for wanyone else but myself. (kingkongvsgodzilla), Sunday, 10 January 2010 10:57 (fourteen years ago) link

there are no B-sides on that, it was a promo-only 12" (xp)

http://www.discogs.com/Camper-Van-Beethoven-Eye-Of-Fatima-Turquoise-Jewelry/release/1086892

I would also love to see nice reissue packages for the 2 Virgin LPs.

sleeve, Sunday, 10 January 2010 16:52 (fourteen years ago) link

A serious state? Nah. If anything the Pitch-A-Tent stuff has been reissued too much (with different bonus tracks and confusing running orders to boot) . The Virgin stuff - my CDs sound fine, I think, and various esoteric tracks and alt-versions have appeared on comps. Though with this band, it's always hard to tell what material was contemporaneous and what was recorded recently or re-recorded. I mean, "Tusk" was presented as a "lost" album but was (and is clearly) relatively recent in vintage. Those other odds and sods collections and round-ups are equally mysterious in provenance.

Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 10 January 2010 18:30 (fourteen years ago) link

Josh, your post illustrates exactly what I mean. The stuff is very ill-curated. I know the band thrives on creating a "fun" sense of mystery and confusion around itself, which is all part of their whole aesthetic, but I do think they'd be well served by a set that issued all the available music (including comp tracks) in one uniform set.

I realize the Virgin relationship is shattered - even worse than XTC's. But what doth it profit a Branson to sit on OOP records? Key Lime Pie still sounds pretty good, I agree, but OBRS has always sounded like ass on CD and really needs a beefing-up.

***

Xpost sleeve I was talking about this one:
http://www.the-van.com/discog/result.php?detail=tracks&id=37
Camper Van Beethoven: Turquoise Jewelry

Format: EP
First released: 1988 (USA)
Media: 12in. vinyl
Label(s): Virgin Records (PR2471)
Performing artists: Chris Pedersen, David Lowery, Greg Lisher, Jonathan Segel, Victor Krummenacher

Notes:
Promotional release

1. Turquoise Jewelry
2. Waka
3. Love Is A Weed
4. Harmony In My Head
5. Wade In The Water

***

I saw it once in a record store circa its release - don't know why I didn't buy it, same reason I didn't buy the "Take the Skinheads Bowling" EP - a bang-for-buck issue I think. The "Skinheads" B-sides eventually resurfaced on the Pitch-a-Tent reissues as bonus tracks (though they really would have been better as a new rarities comp along with the rest of the bonus tracks - this is what the digital age is good for; nobody had to buy the reissues with "lost" tracks interpolated, just the single cuts).

BUT

Where is CVB is Dead"New Roman Times? Again: those stellar Virgin albums have been out of print so long it seems like they never existed. And the Virgin-era B-sides! It's tough to spread the gospel when all you've got is half a stone tablet.

Did you say you were going to mangle the light? (staggerlee), Sunday, 10 January 2010 19:47 (fourteen years ago) link

oh yeah, I had totally forgotten about that Buzzcocks cover! now I remember...

sleeve, Sunday, 10 January 2010 20:00 (fourteen years ago) link

That is so weird. Why is "CVB is Dead" OOP? Or "New Roman Times?" Strange. "OBRS" and "Key Lime Pie" are both in print, though.

http://www.amazon.com/Beloved-Revolutionary-Sweetheart-Camper-Beethoven/dp/B000000WGD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1263160065&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Key-Lime-Pie-Camper-Beethoven/dp/B000000WGZ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1263160045&sr=1-1

Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 10 January 2010 21:48 (fourteen years ago) link

Oh, waow. I didn't realize. That's kind of cool. They're not available thru iTunes - is this a Virgin thing, I wonder? *lies on his side, eating grapes, too lazy to check*

Did you say you were going to mangle the light? (staggerlee), Sunday, 10 January 2010 21:56 (fourteen years ago) link

one year passes...

this band takes me to a good place

bien-pensant vibe (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 8 February 2011 22:10 (thirteen years ago) link

a few years ago I chatted at the SF Eagle with Victor Krummenacher, now a handsome gray-haired gay guy.

kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 8 February 2011 22:13 (thirteen years ago) link

yeah he's the one who works for the Guardian, iirc?

bien-pensant vibe (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 8 February 2011 22:21 (thirteen years ago) link

this band takes me to a good place

I sold a pile of crap back to the record store two weeks ago and got enough credit to pick up a used copy of Cigarettes & Carrot Juice. Most of it I'd had on vinyl or old tapes so I've been rocking these discs in the car, also putting me in a good place.

Also: did not realize until this morning that there are some 200+ live shows of theirs on the Live Music Archive on archive.org. You can pretty much follow their II+III tour all the way through.

city worker, Tuesday, 8 February 2011 22:21 (thirteen years ago) link

I'll skip over the stuff everybody knows and say that "New Roman Times" (the song, not the whole album) is great. I didn't even realize they'd made an album in the '00s until I found it at a dollar store a few months ago.

clemenza, Wednesday, 9 February 2011 02:20 (thirteen years ago) link

Got really excited about that archive.org thing, but the show I saw them do in '87 (I think) wasn't there. Rats. I recall a bunch of Zeppelin covers, and it was probably one of the top 10 shows I've seen. II+III was one of a handful of albums I've run into in my life where I pretty much locked myself in a room and played it nonstop for about a week...

dlp9001, Wednesday, 9 February 2011 02:58 (thirteen years ago) link

I once told David Lowery that Camper Van Beethoven is so good I had everything they ever did on my iPod. "Even 'Tusk'" he asked, incredulously. No, I conceded. Not "Tusk."

Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 9 February 2011 03:09 (thirteen years ago) link

the show I saw them do in '87 (I think) wasn't there. Rats. I recall a bunch of Zeppelin covers, and it was probably one of the top 10 shows I've seen.

I saw them in November '87 and yeah it was top ten material. I have a decent soundboard cassette boot that I still haven't gotten around to ripping. The Led Zep action can be found on the Camper Vantiquities CD as 'SP 37957 Medley".

sleeve, Wednesday, 9 February 2011 04:28 (thirteen years ago) link

five months pass...

I saw em on the reunion tour in Philly and just as they started Tusk Lowery complained that someone from the crowd had sprayed mace in his face (?!). They left and didn't come back...

broom air, Monday, 11 July 2011 13:33 (twelve years ago) link

Lowery's letter regarding the incident: http://pwblogger.com/articles/5098/columns--letters

David Allah Coal (sexyDancer), Monday, 11 July 2011 13:50 (twelve years ago) link

I missed that -- thanks!

broom air, Monday, 11 July 2011 17:18 (twelve years ago) link

one year passes...

New CVB coming! "La Costa Perdida." First listen reveals it to me as perhaps the dope-iest, most psych-y thing they've done since the self-titled third disc.

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 10 November 2012 17:36 (eleven years ago) link

two months pass...

Artists that just touch you so many times over the course of your life.

timellison, Thursday, 24 January 2013 05:18 (eleven years ago) link

Interesting! I'll have to check this out. I couldn't get into the last one, but hey! It's been eight years. Could be an anything. They were my absolute favorite band when I was in high school which was after they had broken up and the albums were a real passion in the ass to track down.

how's life, Thursday, 24 January 2013 11:09 (eleven years ago) link

pain in the ass

how's life, Thursday, 24 January 2013 11:09 (eleven years ago) link

New one's really not so hot .Not terrible, but the last one I'd ever reach for, I think. Pretty casual affair.

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 24 January 2013 14:09 (eleven years ago) link

I think Ronald Reagan was the "12th man" of this team.

how's life, Thursday, 24 January 2013 14:18 (eleven years ago) link

"Sad Lovers Waltz" is a great song.

to each his own but (Eazy), Thursday, 24 January 2013 14:32 (eleven years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8tJF6VEi9o

to each his own but (Eazy), Thursday, 24 January 2013 14:35 (eleven years ago) link

one year passes...

Got the new "My Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart" and "Key Lime Pie" reissues today. Packed with bonus stuff, and the liner notes are absolutely ace.

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 24 January 2014 22:16 (ten years ago) link

ooh what are the Key Lime Pie extras? love that album so much

Ayn Rand Akbar (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 24 January 2014 22:27 (ten years ago) link

CD version
1. “Opening Theme”
2. “Jack Ruby”
3. “Sweethearts”
4. “When I Win The Lottery”
5. “(I Was Born In A) Laundromat”
6. “Borderline”
7. “The Light From A Cake”
8. “June”
9. “All Her Favorite Fruit”
10. “Interlude”
11. “Flowers”
12. “The Humid Press Of Days”
13. “Pictures Of Matchstick Men”
14. “Come On Darkness”
Bonus tracks:
15. “Closing Theme (aka Guitar Hero)”
16. “(I Was Born In A) Laundromat” (Edit)
17. “Country 2″ (Demo)
18. “Good Guys & Bad Guys” (Live)
19. “Wasted” (Live)
20. “Take The Skinheads Bowling” (Live)
21. “Before I Met You” (Live)
22. “L’aguardiente” (Soho Natural Session)
23. “(I Don’t Wanna Go To The) Lincoln Shrine” (Soho Natural Session)

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 24 January 2014 22:46 (ten years ago) link

nice

sleeve, Friday, 24 January 2014 22:55 (ten years ago) link

crispy derson

CANONICAL artists, etc., etc. (contenderizer), Friday, 24 January 2014 22:56 (ten years ago) link

Original liners are pretty funny

Ayn Rand Akbar (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 24 January 2014 23:13 (ten years ago) link

New ones not funny, but pretty solid, anyway. Also, they reprint the original liners, too.

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 25 January 2014 00:53 (ten years ago) link

two years pass...

OK, seeing them tomorrow night. When they tour in tandem with Cracker, who generally goes on first?

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 6 January 2017 17:33 (seven years ago) link

I just saw them, Cracker closed. boardid=41&threadid=102871

Bee OK, Friday, 6 January 2017 17:38 (seven years ago) link

The Camper Van Beethoven Albums Poll

Bee OK, Friday, 6 January 2017 17:40 (seven years ago) link

I like this thread better, dammit! Anyway, thanks, allows me to enjoy CVB and consider bailing on Cracker in real time.

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 6 January 2017 17:41 (seven years ago) link

there's some good stuff on Cracker's first album (Dr. Berenice felt like a Key Lime Pie b-side). I stopped paying attention after that.

Οὖτις, Friday, 6 January 2017 17:43 (seven years ago) link

Kerosene Hat was huge for me. I was disenchanted by "I Hate My Generation" but listened to it again recently and think I could give Golden Age another chance someday. I dipped back in with their Countrysides album, which in retrospect didn't sound so good, but introduced me to Terry Allen.

how's life, Friday, 6 January 2017 17:47 (seven years ago) link

I recall liking Golden Age a lot. And I heard their new double album is really good.

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 6 January 2017 17:57 (seven years ago) link

Some of the Cracker stuff on the most recent double disc thing was actually very good

Wimmels, Friday, 6 January 2017 17:59 (seven years ago) link

I saw one of Cracker's very first (maybe even the first?) shows in Santa Cruz and the most entertaining part of the show was when they broke into a Massive Attack cover, which Lowery seemed to think no one in the crowd recognized

Οὖτις, Friday, 6 January 2017 18:07 (seven years ago) link

https://archive.org/details/cracker1991-11-10-flac

how's life, Friday, 6 January 2017 18:19 (seven years ago) link

haha wow yup that's it

Οὖτις, Friday, 6 January 2017 18:39 (seven years ago) link

i dont' know how it is that I've never seen CVB live. I miss these shows with cracker every year for some reason or another.

akm, Friday, 6 January 2017 19:54 (seven years ago) link


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