Camper Van Beethoven
Encyclopedia
Camper Van Beethoven is an American
alternative rock
group formed in Redlands
, California
in 1983.
An eclectic band, Camper Van Beethoven mixes elements of pop
, ska
, punk rock
, folk
and alternative country
, as well as various types of world music. Their aggressive musical pluralism created a multi-disciplinary sound that has rapidly evolved from record to record. The band initially polarized audiences within the hardcore punk
scene of California's Inland Empire
that birthed them before finding wider acceptance in their new home of Santa Cruz
and, eventually, an international audience. Their strong iconoclasm and emphasis on Do It Yourself
values proved to be influential to the burgeoning indie rock
movement.
Released within an 18 month period, the band's first three, independent records enjoyed critical success, each placing in The Village Voice's
1986 Pazz and Jop Top 100 Albums list. Their debut single, "Take the Skinheads Bowling", remains a college rock radio staple. The group signed to Virgin Records
in 1987, released two lauded albums and enjoyed chart success with their 1989 cover of Status Quo's "Pictures of Matchstick Men
", a number one hit on Billboard Magazines Modern Rock Tracks
. They disbanded the following year, however, due to internal tensions. Individual members found greater success thereafter, with lead singer David Lowery
forming Cracker
, multi-instrumentalist David Immerglück
joining the Counting Crows
, and several other members playing in Monks of Doom
. Beginning in 1999, the former members resumed their collaboration, resulting in a full-fledged reunion and several new releases.
. They grew out of several related garage bands, including Sitting Duck, and the Estonian Gauchos (the latter featuring future Cracker
guitarist Johnny Hickman
). These bands all included future CVB members bassist
and vocalist
David Lowery
, guitarist
/multi-instrumentalist
Chris Molla, and often drummer
Bill McDonald as well. A late incarnation of Sitting Duck also included another key future CVB member, bassist
Victor Krummenacher
, whose joining allowed Lowery to switch to rhythm guitar
.
Meanwhile, Lowery, Molla and Krummenacher were students in Santa Cruz, California
. Lowery and Molla also played in the Santa Cruz-based Box O' Laffs, which also included at various times, future Camper Van Beethoven members Richie West, Anthony Guess, and Chris Pedersen
.
While on summer break in 1983, Lowery and Molla returned to Redlands and formed a new band. Initially called Camper Van Beethoven and the Border Patrol, the group featured Lowery, Molla, Krummenacher and McDonald, along with several other musicians at various points, including guitarist David McDaniel, harmonica player Mike Zorn and violinist Daniel Blume.
When Lowery, Molla and Krummenacher returned to college in Santa Cruz, Lowery and Molla resumed playing with Box O' Laffs. However, after meeting violin
ist, keyboardist
and guitarist Jonathan Segel
, they decided to reform Camper Van Beethoven and the Border Patrol in Santa Cruz, with drummer Richie West replacing McDonald.
. The record featured their first successful single, "Take the Skinheads Bowling", the lesser hit "The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon", and an experimental country-influenced cover version
of Black Flag's
"Wasted". The album featured a mix of folk-punk-pop ditties with humorous lyrics, often simultaneously celebrating and mocking 80's counterculture, and instrumental tracks featuring ska-beats and Eastern European, Mexican or Spaghetti-Western influenced guitar or violin lines.
Shortly after this record was released, lead guitarist Greg Lisher
joined the group. The band recorded a set of songs with an expanded version of the lineup that recorded the debut, with Lisher playing lead on some songs. Guess departed shortly thereafter, leaving Lowery and Molla to briefly take turns swapping drumming duties. This incarnation recorded a second set of songs. At the end of the sessions, in 1986, long-term drummer Chris Pedersen
was added.
The band's second album, II & III
, was culled from both recording sessions. With increased eclecticism, the album boasted the influences of country, bluegrass, psychedelia, and Middle-Eastern and Indian music. The band also expanded its instrumental range, with Segel playing mandolin
and sitar
in addition to violin, and Molla playing pedal steel guitar on some tracks. There were fewer instrumentals, and many of the ethnic elements formerly contained in the instrumentals had started showing up in the actual songs. Notably, while many of the lyrics were still humorous, songs like "Chain of Circumstance" and the country-influenced "Sad Lovers Waltz" showed a more serious and melancholy side of Lowery and Segel's lyrics.
Released later that year, their self-titled third album
featured guest membership from experimental banjo
and guitar player Eugene Chadbourne
on their cover of Pink Floyd
's "Interstellar Overdrive" and several other tracks. The record marked a further step into experimentation, with heavy psychedelic influence and the use of slowed-down, sped-up and backwards tape tracks, as well as some of the Middle Eastern or South Asian sound that had first appeared in the previous record. The album also featured some satirical political commentary on songs like "Good Guys and Bad Guys" and "Jo Stalin's Cadillac," the former which enjoyed some underground college radio play.
Molla left after touring for the third album, reducing the band to a five-piece with Lowery, Krummenacher, Segel, Lisher, and Pedersen — the longest-standing lineup in their initial career. Released in November 1987, the EP
Vampire Can Mating Oven
preceded a major label bidding war. The EP foreshadowed the band's step away from psychedelia, with Lisher's lead guitar becoming a major factor in the band's sound along with Segel's violin.
. They released Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart
, which enjoyed greater record sales and MTV
attention. The band's sound had become much more streamlined, with producer Dennis Herring
omitting much of the band's experimentation and focusing on Lowery's melodic vocal lines, while still utilizing many of the ethnic music elements that the earlier albums had featured, with ska, country, Eastern European music, Middle-Eastern music, and psychedelia and folk all making appearances. The production was also considerably more polished, with a fairly heavy use of reverb contrasting sharply with the dry sound of their earlier records. However, the smaller lineup and updated production values also helped focus on the band's playing: Segel's shrieking violin, Lisher's increasingly powerful lead guitar playing, Lowery's often ska-influenced rhythm guitar playing, Krummenacher's melodic bass lines, and Petersen's quirky yet powerful drumming. The "Eye of Fatima" single was a minor MTV hit.
This was followed by extensive touring. However, due to internal tensions, Segel left the band during rehearsals for their fifth full-length record. Written mostly as a four-piece, the resultant LP, Key Lime Pie, featured the violin playing of Don Lax before the more permanent replacement of violinist Morgan Fichter (of the Bay Area band Harm Farm) was found. Despite the absence of Segel, the emphasis on violin and Lisher's guitar, along with the powerful Lowery/Krummenacher/Peterson rhythm section preserved the band's instrumental sound. The album was heavily influenced by Americana, with strong country and folk presence and some pedal steel guitar played by session musicians, but also featured several tracks with a lush and orchestrated update of the band's earlier psychedelic sound. Lyrically, the album was dark and serious to an unprecedented degree, with introspective tracks like "All Her Favorite Fruit" and "Come On Darkness," although the lyrics were not devoid of satire. They scored a minor hit with a cover of the Status Quo song "Pictures of Matchstick Men
", their highest-charting single.
Steel guitar
ist, guitarist and mandolin player David Immerglück
(of the Ophelias) joined in 1990 for touring behind the record, playing some of the departed Molla and Segel's instrumental parts. However, internal tensions had increased, and they broke up in April 1990 after a show in Örebro
, Sweden
.
, an album's worth of outtakes, demos and rarities (including the whole of the Vampire Can Mating Oven EP), was compiled by several members and released in 1993.
After disbanding, Lowery and Hickman formed Cracker with bassist Davey Faragher
. Krummenacher, Lisher, Immerglück and Pedersen intensified their activities in Monks of Doom
, a side project that had begun in 1986. These members also collaborated with Chadbourne on a number of records under the name Camper Van Chadbourne. Immerglück later joined Counting Crows
. Segel played with Dieselhed
, Sparklehorse
, and fronted his own bands Hieronymus Firebrain and Jack & Jill, later playing under his own name. He has also more recently been involved in experimental and electronic music
, including collaborations with Fred Frith
and Joelle Leandre
, and an electro-acoustic duo with Dina Emerson called Chaos Butterfly.) Krummenacher began a solo career, making several solo albums with guests such as Dave Alvin
. Krummenacher and Segel also ran their own record label, the currently extant Magnetic Motorworks. Pedersen moved to Australia in 1998.
, which also contained some newly recorded material. Segel and Krummenacher, along with Greg Lisher, also joined Cracker for a tour, featuring set lists fortified with Camper Van Beethoven material.
In 2002, the group played its first proper live shows in twelve years. With Lowery, Segel, Krummenacher and Lisher forming the core of the reunited lineup, two New York dates also featured Immerglück and two members of Cracker, drummer Frank Funaro
and keyboardist Kenny Margolis. Three California dates omitted these latter three musicians and saw Pedersen return to the kit. Also in 2002, they released the double-CD Tusk, a re-recording of the entire Fleetwood Mac
album of the same name
. Although allegedly a rediscovery of 1987 demos, the album was in fact recorded in 2001 by Lowery, Segel, Krummenacher and Lisher as an experiment to see if the members could now work together peacefully. Extensive touring (mostly with Margolis and Funaro) followed.
The group next released Cigarettes & Carrot Juice: The Santa Cruz Years, a five-disc box set compiling their first three (pre-Virgin) albums, Camper Vantiquities, and a live recording from 1990 they called Greatest Hits Played Faster. The latter recording featured live versions of several unreleased songs. Shortly thereafter, the band released "director's cut
" versions of the first three records and Camper Vantiquities, whose deviations from the original versions included remastering, re-sequencing and additional demo and B-side tracks.
, their first studio album of original material in 15 years. A concept album
, the record detailed the rise and fall of an idealistic Texan whose disenchantment following a stint with the American military redirected him towards organized terrorism. The album featured contributions by many Camper Van Beethoven associates, including Pedersen, Immerglück, Molla, and Hickman, and contained diverse music that reflected this spread of input.
A limited-edition live concert disc was also released, In the Mouth of the Crocodile - Live in Seattle
, capturing a performance in Seattle. Segments of a 2004 performance in Chicago
were released the following year as Discotheque CVB: Live in Chicago
. This same year, the group began consistently performing as a five-piece with Funaro on drums, although Pedersen, Immerglück and even Molla occasionally reappear as guests.
The band frequently tours with Cracker (whom Krummenacher even joined for a time), and in 2005 the two groups started an annual three-night "Campout" at Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace in Pioneertown, California
. The Campout has seen appearances by Built to Spill
, Neko Case
, Magnolia Electric Company, and John Doe
, as well as sets from the individual members of the band.
A compilation of greatest hits
, Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty, was released by Cooking Vinyl Records in June 2008. As band relations with Virgin Records were poor, they were not granted access to any material from the two Virgin LPs for this compilation. Thus, the band re-recorded five songs from these albums to include on the collection. These were the first Camper Van Beethoven studio tracks to include Funaro.
In 2011, the band began playing a series of shows that featured the Key Lime Pie album in its entirety. On June 12 of that year, they played at the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur. In an interview with the Monterey County Weekly newspaper, published June 2, Jonathan Segel had announced that a week after that show, Camper Van Beethoven would begin working on a follow-up album to New Roman Times.
'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 SKAndalous All-Stars
and the Manic Street Preachers
(released as a B-side to their 1996 single Australia and later re-recorded for the B-sides album Lipstick Traces). Tempe alt-rock band Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers have covered both "Take the Skinheads Bowling" and "Eye of Fatima."
Philadelphia garage rock band Mondo Topless
covered "(We're A) Bad Trip" on their 2010 CD Freaking Out.
Part-time members:
Former members
EPs
Live albums and compilations
Various artist compilations
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
group formed in Redlands
Redlands, California
Redlands is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 68,747, up from 63,591 at the 2000 census. The city is located east of downtown San Bernardino.- History :...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1983.
An eclectic band, Camper Van Beethoven mixes elements of pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and alternative country
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
, as well as various types of world music. Their aggressive musical pluralism created a multi-disciplinary sound that has rapidly evolved from record to record. The band initially polarized audiences within the hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
scene of California's Inland Empire
Inland Empire (California)
The Inland Empire is a region in Southern California. The region sits directly east of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Inland Empire most commonly is used in reference to the U.S. Census Bureau's federally-defined Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area, which covers more than...
that birthed them before finding wider acceptance in their new home of Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
and, eventually, an international audience. Their strong iconoclasm and emphasis on Do It Yourself
DIY ethic
The DIY ethic refers to the ethic of self-sufficiency through completing tasks oneself as opposed to having others who are more experienced or able complete them for one's behalf. It promotes the idea that an ordinary person can learn to do more than he or she thought was possible...
values proved to be influential to the burgeoning indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
movement.
Released within an 18 month period, the band's first three, independent records enjoyed critical success, each placing in The Village Voice's
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
1986 Pazz and Jop Top 100 Albums list. Their debut single, "Take the Skinheads Bowling", remains a college rock radio staple. The group signed to Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
in 1987, released two lauded albums and enjoyed chart success with their 1989 cover of Status Quo's "Pictures of Matchstick Men
Pictures of Matchstick Men
"Pictures of Matchstick Men" is the first hit single by Status Quo, released in November 1967. It reached number seven in the British charts, number eight in Canada, and number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming their only hit single in the United States...
", a number one hit on Billboard Magazines Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
. They disbanded the following year, however, due to internal tensions. Individual members found greater success thereafter, with lead singer David Lowery
David Lowery
David Lowery is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter; he is the founder of alternative rock band, Camper Van Beethoven, and co-founder of the more traditional rock band, Cracker...
forming Cracker
Cracker (band)
Cracker is an American alternative rock band featuring founders/songwriters singer David Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hickman. They are best known for their platinum-selling 1993 album, Kerosene Hat, featuring the hit songs "Low", "Euro-Trash Girl", and "Get Off This".Founders Lowery and Hickman...
, multi-instrumentalist David Immerglück
David Immerglück
David Immerglück is an American multi-instrumentalist who is best known as a guitarist in the alternative rock bands Counting Crows, Camper Van Beethoven and the Monks of Doom...
joining the Counting Crows
Counting Crows
Counting Crows is an American rock band originating from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1991, the group gained popularity following the release of its debut album in 1993, August and Everything After, which featured the hit single "Mr. Jones"...
, and several other members playing in Monks of Doom
Monks of Doom
The Monks of Doom are an American alternative rock band, formed in California in 1986. Working within the indie rock aesthetic framework , the band's music drew from post-punk, progressive rock and folk rock traditions...
. Beginning in 1999, the former members resumed their collaboration, resulting in a full-fledged reunion and several new releases.
Early years (1983–1985)
Camper Van Beethoven formed in 1983 in Redlands, CaliforniaRedlands, California
Redlands is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 68,747, up from 63,591 at the 2000 census. The city is located east of downtown San Bernardino.- History :...
. They grew out of several related garage bands, including Sitting Duck, and the Estonian Gauchos (the latter featuring future Cracker
Cracker (band)
Cracker is an American alternative rock band featuring founders/songwriters singer David Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hickman. They are best known for their platinum-selling 1993 album, Kerosene Hat, featuring the hit songs "Low", "Euro-Trash Girl", and "Get Off This".Founders Lowery and Hickman...
guitarist Johnny Hickman
Johnny Hickman
Johnny Hickman is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist in the rock band Cracker.Hickman is a native of Redlands in San Bernardino County in California's Inland Empire. Prior to his tenure in Cracker, Hickman had stints in various California bands including The Unforgiven and The...
). These bands all included future CVB members bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and vocalist
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
David Lowery
David Lowery
David Lowery is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter; he is the founder of alternative rock band, Camper Van Beethoven, and co-founder of the more traditional rock band, Cracker...
, guitarist
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
/multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
Chris Molla, and often drummer
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Bill McDonald as well. A late incarnation of Sitting Duck also included another key future CVB member, bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Victor Krummenacher
Victor Krummenacher
Victor Krummenacher is an American musician and bass guitarist who is a founding member of alternative rock band Camper Van Beethoven. He also helped form CVB offshoots Monks of Doom and Camper Van Chadbourne and has pursued a solo career as a singer-songwriter...
, whose joining allowed Lowery to switch to rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
.
Meanwhile, Lowery, Molla and Krummenacher were students in Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
. Lowery and Molla also played in the Santa Cruz-based Box O' Laffs, which also included at various times, future Camper Van Beethoven members Richie West, Anthony Guess, and Chris Pedersen
Chris Pedersen (musician)
Chris Pedersen is an American-born musician, best known as the drummer of the groups Camper Van Beethoven and Monks of Doom. He currently resides in Australia.-Musical career:...
.
While on summer break in 1983, Lowery and Molla returned to Redlands and formed a new band. Initially called Camper Van Beethoven and the Border Patrol, the group featured Lowery, Molla, Krummenacher and McDonald, along with several other musicians at various points, including guitarist David McDaniel, harmonica player Mike Zorn and violinist Daniel Blume.
When Lowery, Molla and Krummenacher returned to college in Santa Cruz, Lowery and Molla resumed playing with Box O' Laffs. However, after meeting violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist, keyboardist
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
and guitarist Jonathan Segel
Jonathan Segel
Jonathan Segel is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He has played with Camper Van Beethoven, Sparklehorse, Eugene Chadbourne, and Dieselhed.-Biography:...
, they decided to reform Camper Van Beethoven and the Border Patrol in Santa Cruz, with drummer Richie West replacing McDonald.
First three albums (1985–1987)
In 1985, the band reduced its name to Camper Van Beethoven, replaced West with Anthony Guess, and recorded their debut album, Telephone Free Landslide VictoryTelephone Free Landslide Victory
Telephone Free Landslide Victory is a 1985 album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released on Independent Projects. It featured the band's best known song, "Take the Skinheads Bowling".-About:...
. The record featured their first successful single, "Take the Skinheads Bowling", the lesser hit "The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon", and an experimental country-influenced cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Black Flag's
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
"Wasted". The album featured a mix of folk-punk-pop ditties with humorous lyrics, often simultaneously celebrating and mocking 80's counterculture, and instrumental tracks featuring ska-beats and Eastern European, Mexican or Spaghetti-Western influenced guitar or violin lines.
Shortly after this record was released, lead guitarist Greg Lisher
Greg Lisher
Greg Lisher is the lead guitar player for Camper Van Beethoven, from 1986 until 1990, and again from 2000 to present.He was the lead guitarist for the Monks of Doom, from 1986 until 1993, and again from 2003 to present....
joined the group. The band recorded a set of songs with an expanded version of the lineup that recorded the debut, with Lisher playing lead on some songs. Guess departed shortly thereafter, leaving Lowery and Molla to briefly take turns swapping drumming duties. This incarnation recorded a second set of songs. At the end of the sessions, in 1986, long-term drummer Chris Pedersen
Chris Pedersen (musician)
Chris Pedersen is an American-born musician, best known as the drummer of the groups Camper Van Beethoven and Monks of Doom. He currently resides in Australia.-Musical career:...
was added.
The band's second album, II & III
II & III
II & III is a 1986 album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released on Pitch-a-Tent and Rough Trade. It was the band's second album.After releasing their debut album, original drummer Anthony Guess left the band, and guitarist Greg Lisher joined...
, was culled from both recording sessions. With increased eclecticism, the album boasted the influences of country, bluegrass, psychedelia, and Middle-Eastern and Indian music. The band also expanded its instrumental range, with Segel playing mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
and sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
in addition to violin, and Molla playing pedal steel guitar on some tracks. There were fewer instrumentals, and many of the ethnic elements formerly contained in the instrumentals had started showing up in the actual songs. Notably, while many of the lyrics were still humorous, songs like "Chain of Circumstance" and the country-influenced "Sad Lovers Waltz" showed a more serious and melancholy side of Lowery and Segel's lyrics.
Released later that year, their self-titled third album
Camper Van Beethoven (album)
Camper Van Beethoven is a 1986 album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released on Pitch-A-Tent. With the six then CVB members joined in the studio by acid-folk eccentric Eugene Chadbourne, the album is arguably the zenith of the band's musical experimentation, with surreal lyrics, backwards,...
featured guest membership from experimental banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
and guitar player Eugene Chadbourne
Eugene Chadbourne
Eugene Chadbourne is an American improvisor, guitarist and banjoist. Highly eclectic and unconventional, Chadbourne's most formative influence is free jazz. He has also been a reviewer for Allmusic and a contributor to Maximum RocknRoll.Chadbourne started out playing rock and roll guitar, but...
on their cover of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's "Interstellar Overdrive" and several other tracks. The record marked a further step into experimentation, with heavy psychedelic influence and the use of slowed-down, sped-up and backwards tape tracks, as well as some of the Middle Eastern or South Asian sound that had first appeared in the previous record. The album also featured some satirical political commentary on songs like "Good Guys and Bad Guys" and "Jo Stalin's Cadillac," the former which enjoyed some underground college radio play.
Molla left after touring for the third album, reducing the band to a five-piece with Lowery, Krummenacher, Segel, Lisher, and Pedersen — the longest-standing lineup in their initial career. Released in November 1987, the EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Vampire Can Mating Oven
Vampire Can Mating Oven
Vampire Can Mating Oven is an EP released in 1987 by the alternative rock band Camper Van Beethoven. The EP includes satirical liner notes relating false stories behind the songs...
preceded a major label bidding war. The EP foreshadowed the band's step away from psychedelia, with Lisher's lead guitar becoming a major factor in the band's sound along with Segel's violin.
Virgin Records years (1987–1990)
In 1987, the band relocated to San Francisco, California, and signed to Virgin RecordsVirgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
. They released Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart
Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart
Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart is a 1988 album by Camper Van Beethoven, released on Virgin Records. It was the band's first major-label album, and was produced by Dennis Herring, the first time the band had used an outside producer....
, which enjoyed greater record sales and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
attention. The band's sound had become much more streamlined, with producer Dennis Herring
Dennis Herring
Dennis Herring is an American record producer, engineer, mixer, and musician. Herring has produced for The Hives, Elvis Costello, Counting Crows, Modest Mouse, Camper Van Beethoven, and Jars of Clay. Herring owns a 24-track recording studio, Sweet Tea Studios, which is located in Oxford, Mississippi...
omitting much of the band's experimentation and focusing on Lowery's melodic vocal lines, while still utilizing many of the ethnic music elements that the earlier albums had featured, with ska, country, Eastern European music, Middle-Eastern music, and psychedelia and folk all making appearances. The production was also considerably more polished, with a fairly heavy use of reverb contrasting sharply with the dry sound of their earlier records. However, the smaller lineup and updated production values also helped focus on the band's playing: Segel's shrieking violin, Lisher's increasingly powerful lead guitar playing, Lowery's often ska-influenced rhythm guitar playing, Krummenacher's melodic bass lines, and Petersen's quirky yet powerful drumming. The "Eye of Fatima" single was a minor MTV hit.
This was followed by extensive touring. However, due to internal tensions, Segel left the band during rehearsals for their fifth full-length record. Written mostly as a four-piece, the resultant LP, Key Lime Pie, featured the violin playing of Don Lax before the more permanent replacement of violinist Morgan Fichter (of the Bay Area band Harm Farm) was found. Despite the absence of Segel, the emphasis on violin and Lisher's guitar, along with the powerful Lowery/Krummenacher/Peterson rhythm section preserved the band's instrumental sound. The album was heavily influenced by Americana, with strong country and folk presence and some pedal steel guitar played by session musicians, but also featured several tracks with a lush and orchestrated update of the band's earlier psychedelic sound. Lyrically, the album was dark and serious to an unprecedented degree, with introspective tracks like "All Her Favorite Fruit" and "Come On Darkness," although the lyrics were not devoid of satire. They scored a minor hit with a cover of the Status Quo song "Pictures of Matchstick Men
Pictures of Matchstick Men
"Pictures of Matchstick Men" is the first hit single by Status Quo, released in November 1967. It reached number seven in the British charts, number eight in Canada, and number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming their only hit single in the United States...
", their highest-charting single.
Steel guitar
Steel guitar
Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
ist, guitarist and mandolin player David Immerglück
David Immerglück
David Immerglück is an American multi-instrumentalist who is best known as a guitarist in the alternative rock bands Counting Crows, Camper Van Beethoven and the Monks of Doom...
(of the Ophelias) joined in 1990 for touring behind the record, playing some of the departed Molla and Segel's instrumental parts. However, internal tensions had increased, and they broke up in April 1990 after a show in Örebro
Örebro
-Sites of interest:Örebro's old town Wadköping is located on the banks of Svartån . It contains many 18th and 19th century wooden houses, along with museums and exhibitions....
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
Period of inactivity (1990–1999)
Camper VantiquitiesCamper Vantiquities
Camper Vantiquities is a 1993 rarities compilation album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released on I.R.S. It included the earlier EP Vampire Can Mating Oven and a number of other unreleased tracks, compiled by bassist Victor Krummenacher a few years after the band split up...
, an album's worth of outtakes, demos and rarities (including the whole of the Vampire Can Mating Oven EP), was compiled by several members and released in 1993.
After disbanding, Lowery and Hickman formed Cracker with bassist Davey Faragher
Davey Faragher
Davey Faragher is an American bass guitarist from Redlands, California. Faragher's career took off and received critical notice as a founding member of the nineties band, Cracker, and his following work with The Imposters, the backing band for Elvis Costello since 2001.Faragher is an accomplished...
. Krummenacher, Lisher, Immerglück and Pedersen intensified their activities in Monks of Doom
Monks of Doom
The Monks of Doom are an American alternative rock band, formed in California in 1986. Working within the indie rock aesthetic framework , the band's music drew from post-punk, progressive rock and folk rock traditions...
, a side project that had begun in 1986. These members also collaborated with Chadbourne on a number of records under the name Camper Van Chadbourne. Immerglück later joined Counting Crows
Counting Crows
Counting Crows is an American rock band originating from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1991, the group gained popularity following the release of its debut album in 1993, August and Everything After, which featured the hit single "Mr. Jones"...
. Segel played with Dieselhed
Dieselhed
Dieselhed was a San Francisco-based band, originally from Arcata, California.-Early career:Dieselhed formed in 1989 in the San Francisco Bay Area playing a blend of country, punk, and pseudo-classic rock. Drummer Heifetz spread his time between Dieselhed and the genre-bending experimentalists Mr....
, Sparklehorse
Sparklehorse
Sparklehorse was an American indie rock band led by the singer and multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous.-History:Sparklehorse's first album, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot featuring Bob Rupe of the Silos and Cracker, was a modest college radio success...
, and fronted his own bands Hieronymus Firebrain and Jack & Jill, later playing under his own name. He has also more recently been involved in experimental and electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, including collaborations with Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
and Joelle Leandre
Joëlle Léandre
Joëlle Léandre is a double bassist, vocalist, and composer active in new music and free improvisation....
, and an electro-acoustic duo with Dina Emerson called Chaos Butterfly.) Krummenacher began a solo career, making several solo albums with guests such as Dave Alvin
Dave Alvin
Dave Alvin , is a guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has been one of the leading proponents of 'roots' or 'American' music, bringing together elements of rock-and-roll, blues, rural and tejano music....
. Krummenacher and Segel also ran their own record label, the currently extant Magnetic Motorworks. Pedersen moved to Australia in 1998.
Reunion; Tusk (1999–2004)
In 1999, Lowery, Segel, and Krummenacher regrouped in the studio to assemble the experimental rarity set Camper Van Beethoven Is Dead. Long Live Camper Van BeethovenCamper Van Beethoven Is Dead. Long Live Camper Van Beethoven
Camper Van Beethoven Is Dead. Long Live Camper Van Beethoven is a 2000 rarities compilation album by Camper Van Beethoven, released on Pitch-A-Tent Records. This album stands as the first product of the members of CVB beginning to collaborate again...
, which also contained some newly recorded material. Segel and Krummenacher, along with Greg Lisher, also joined Cracker for a tour, featuring set lists fortified with Camper Van Beethoven material.
In 2002, the group played its first proper live shows in twelve years. With Lowery, Segel, Krummenacher and Lisher forming the core of the reunited lineup, two New York dates also featured Immerglück and two members of Cracker, drummer Frank Funaro
Frank Funaro
Frank Funaro is an American drummer who has played with Del Lords, The Brandos, Camper Van Beethoven, Joey Ramone, The Dictators, and Cracker....
and keyboardist Kenny Margolis. Three California dates omitted these latter three musicians and saw Pedersen return to the kit. Also in 2002, they released the double-CD Tusk, a re-recording of the entire Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
album of the same name
Tusk (album)
Tusk is the 12th album by the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac. Released in 1979, it is considered experimental, primarily due to Lindsey Buckingham's sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of punk rock and New Wave on his production techniques...
. Although allegedly a rediscovery of 1987 demos, the album was in fact recorded in 2001 by Lowery, Segel, Krummenacher and Lisher as an experiment to see if the members could now work together peacefully. Extensive touring (mostly with Margolis and Funaro) followed.
The group next released Cigarettes & Carrot Juice: The Santa Cruz Years, a five-disc box set compiling their first three (pre-Virgin) albums, Camper Vantiquities, and a live recording from 1990 they called Greatest Hits Played Faster. The latter recording featured live versions of several unreleased songs. Shortly thereafter, the band released "director's cut
Director's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
" versions of the first three records and Camper Vantiquities, whose deviations from the original versions included remastering, re-sequencing and additional demo and B-side tracks.
New Roman Times; subsequent activity (2004–present)
In 2004, the band released New Roman TimesNew Roman Times
New Roman Times is an album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released October 12, 2004 on Pitch-A-Tent Records. It is the band's first studio album of new material since they released Key Lime Pie in 1989 before dissolving in 1990....
, their first studio album of original material in 15 years. A concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
, the record detailed the rise and fall of an idealistic Texan whose disenchantment following a stint with the American military redirected him towards organized terrorism. The album featured contributions by many Camper Van Beethoven associates, including Pedersen, Immerglück, Molla, and Hickman, and contained diverse music that reflected this spread of input.
A limited-edition live concert disc was also released, In the Mouth of the Crocodile - Live in Seattle
In the Mouth of the Crocodile - Live in Seattle
In The Mouth of the Crocodile - Live In Seattle is a 2004 live album by Camper Van Beethoven, released on Pitch-A-Tent Records. It captures a performance by the group at the Crocodile Cafe, February 16, 2004.-Track listing:...
, capturing a performance in Seattle. Segments of a 2004 performance in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
were released the following year as Discotheque CVB: Live in Chicago
Discotheque CVB: Live In Chicago
Discotheque CVB: Live In Chicago is a 2004 live album by Camper Van Beethoven recorded at Metro Chicago on October 29, 2004. A selection of other tracks from this concert was released as an Internet-only download entitled Seven Hillbilly Punk Ska Classics.-Track listing:#"Eye of Fatima "#"Eye of...
. This same year, the group began consistently performing as a five-piece with Funaro on drums, although Pedersen, Immerglück and even Molla occasionally reappear as guests.
The band frequently tours with Cracker (whom Krummenacher even joined for a time), and in 2005 the two groups started an annual three-night "Campout" at Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace in Pioneertown, California
Pioneertown, California
Pioneertown, California is an unincorporated village in the Morongo Basin region of Southern California's Inland Empire Metropolitan Area. It is located approximately 56 miles east of San Bernardino.-History:...
. The Campout has seen appearances by Built to Spill
Built to Spill
Built to Spill is an American indie rock band based in Boise, Idaho. The band has released seven full-length albums. Their most recent album, There Is No Enemy, was released on October 6, 2009.-History:...
, Neko Case
Neko Case
Neko Case is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers....
, Magnolia Electric Company, and John Doe
John Doe (musician)
John Doe is an American singer, songwriter, actor, poet and bass player. Doe founded the much-praised L.A. punk band X, of which he is still an active member. His musical performances and compositions span the rock, country and folk music genres...
, as well as sets from the individual members of the band.
A compilation of greatest hits
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
, Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty, was released by Cooking Vinyl Records in June 2008. As band relations with Virgin Records were poor, they were not granted access to any material from the two Virgin LPs for this compilation. Thus, the band re-recorded five songs from these albums to include on the collection. These were the first Camper Van Beethoven studio tracks to include Funaro.
In 2011, the band began playing a series of shows that featured the Key Lime Pie album in its entirety. On June 12 of that year, they played at the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur. In an interview with the Monterey County Weekly newspaper, published June 2, Jonathan Segel had announced that a week after that show, Camper Van Beethoven would begin working on a follow-up album to New Roman Times.
Cover versions
In 1993, the band SublimeSublime (band)
Sublime was an American ska punk band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band's line-up, unchanged until their breakup, consisted of Bradley Nowell , Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh . Michael "Miguel" Happoldt also contributed on a few Sublime songs, such as "New Thrash." Lou Dog, Nowell's...
's singer and songwriter Bradley Nowell
Bradley Nowell
Bradley James Nowell was an American musician who served as lead singer and guitarist of the Californian band Sublime. He died at the age of 28 from a heroin overdose shortly before the release of Sublime's self-titled major label debut.Raised in Long Beach, California, Nowell developed an...
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
Look at All the Love We Found
Look at All the Love We Found is a tribute album by various artists dedicated to Sublime, released on June 21, 2005 . The title comes from a lyric in the song "S.T.P." on Sublime's Robbin' the Hood album.-Track listing:...
.
Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub are an alternative rock band from Bellshill, Scotland. The band is composed of Norman Blake , Raymond McGinley , Gerard Love and Francis MacDonald , with songwriting duties shared equally among Blake, McGinley and Love...
's cover of Camper Van Beethoven's 1985 staple "Take the Skinheads Bowling" was used as the title track for the 2002 Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
film Bowling for Columbine
Bowling for Columbine
Bowling for Columbine is a 2002 documentary film written, directed, produced, and narrated by Michael Moore. The film explores what Michael Moore suggests are the causes for the Columbine High School massacre and other acts of violence with guns...
. 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 SKAndalous All-Stars
SKAndalous All-Stars
The SKAndalous All-Stars are a ska band, composed of members of The Slackers, the Skatalites, Mephiskapheles, the Stubborn All-Stars, Agent 99, Ruder Than You, Sic & Mad, The Excalibur, Cocktaillica, The Hurtin' Buckaroos, Living Colour, PErFect ThYroID, the Cycle Sluts From Hell, and the...
and the Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...
(released as a B-side to their 1996 single Australia and later re-recorded for the B-sides album Lipstick Traces). Tempe alt-rock band Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers have covered both "Take the Skinheads Bowling" and "Eye of Fatima."
Philadelphia garage rock band Mondo Topless
Mondo Topless (band)
-History:Mondo Topless formed in 1992 in Philadelphia, and take their name from the 1966 film of the same name. The group's Stooges-inspired garage rock is distinguished by their use of a Vox Continental electric organ. Their debut single was the 1995 7" release, "I Want You To" b/w "Real Gone...
covered "(We're A) Bad Trip" on their 2010 CD Freaking Out.
Band members
Current members- David LoweryDavid LoweryDavid Lowery is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter; he is the founder of alternative rock band, Camper Van Beethoven, and co-founder of the more traditional rock band, Cracker...
– lead vocals, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(1983–1990, 1999–present) - Victor KrummenacherVictor KrummenacherVictor Krummenacher is an American musician and bass guitarist who is a founding member of alternative rock band Camper Van Beethoven. He also helped form CVB offshoots Monks of Doom and Camper Van Chadbourne and has pursued a solo career as a singer-songwriter...
– bass, guitar, vocals (1983–1990, 1999–present) - Jonathan SegelJonathan SegelJonathan Segel is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He has played with Camper Van Beethoven, Sparklehorse, Eugene Chadbourne, and Dieselhed.-Biography:...
– violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, guitar, keyboards, sitarSitarThe 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, vocals (1984–1989, 1999–present) - Greg LisherGreg LisherGreg Lisher is the lead guitar player for Camper Van Beethoven, from 1986 until 1990, and again from 2000 to present.He was the lead guitarist for the Monks of Doom, from 1986 until 1993, and again from 2003 to present....
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, backup vocals (1985–1990, 1999–present) - Frank FunaroFrank FunaroFrank Funaro is an American drummer who has played with Del Lords, The Brandos, Camper Van Beethoven, Joey Ramone, The Dictators, and Cracker....
– drums, backup vocals (2000–2004 as guest, 2004–present)
Part-time members:
- Chris Molla – guitar, vocals, keyboards, drums (1983–1986; 2002–present part-time)
- Chris PedersenChris Pedersen (musician)Chris Pedersen is an American-born musician, best known as the drummer of the groups Camper Van Beethoven and Monks of Doom. He currently resides in Australia.-Musical career:...
– drums (1986–1990, 2004; 2002–present part-time) - David ImmerglückDavid ImmerglückDavid Immerglück is an American multi-instrumentalist who is best known as a guitarist in the alternative rock bands Counting Crows, Camper Van Beethoven and the Monks of Doom...
– guitar, lap steel guitarLap steel guitarThe lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
, mandolin, backup vocals (1990; 2000–present part-time)
Former members
- David McDaniel – guitar (1983–1984)
- Bill McDonald – drums (1983–1984)
- Mike Zorn – harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
(1983–1984) - Daniel Blume – violin (1983–1984)
- Richie West – drums (1984)
- Anthony GuessKevtoneKevtone is an American musician, percussionist, and songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Performing live and in studio, his rhythm style may best be described as improvisational, melodic, progressive, and bluesy, over a wide variety of styles; reflecting influences from many genres of music.He is...
– drums (1985) - Eugene ChadbourneEugene ChadbourneEugene Chadbourne is an American improvisor, guitarist and banjoist. Highly eclectic and unconventional, Chadbourne's most formative influence is free jazz. He has also been a reviewer for Allmusic and a contributor to Maximum RocknRoll.Chadbourne started out playing rock and roll guitar, but...
– guitar, banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
(1986, studio sessions only) - Don Lax – violin (1989)
- Morgan Fichter – violin, vocals (1989–1990)
- Kenny Margolis – keyboards, accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
(2000–2006 as guest)
Discography
Studio albums- Telephone Free Landslide VictoryTelephone Free Landslide VictoryTelephone Free Landslide Victory is a 1985 album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released on Independent Projects. It featured the band's best known song, "Take the Skinheads Bowling".-About:...
(1985) - II & IIIII & IIIII & III is a 1986 album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released on Pitch-a-Tent and Rough Trade. It was the band's second album.After releasing their debut album, original drummer Anthony Guess left the band, and guitarist Greg Lisher joined...
(1986) - Camper Van BeethovenCamper Van Beethoven (album)Camper Van Beethoven is a 1986 album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released on Pitch-A-Tent. With the six then CVB members joined in the studio by acid-folk eccentric Eugene Chadbourne, the album is arguably the zenith of the band's musical experimentation, with surreal lyrics, backwards,...
(1986) - Our Beloved Revolutionary SweetheartOur Beloved Revolutionary SweetheartOur Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart is a 1988 album by Camper Van Beethoven, released on Virgin Records. It was the band's first major-label album, and was produced by Dennis Herring, the first time the band had used an outside producer....
(1988) - Key Lime Pie (1989)
- Tusk (2002)
- New Roman TimesNew Roman TimesNew Roman Times is an album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released October 12, 2004 on Pitch-A-Tent Records. It is the band's first studio album of new material since they released Key Lime Pie in 1989 before dissolving in 1990....
(2004)
EPs
- Take The Skinheads Bowling (1986)
- Vampire Can Mating OvenVampire Can Mating OvenVampire Can Mating Oven is an EP released in 1987 by the alternative rock band Camper Van Beethoven. The EP includes satirical liner notes relating false stories behind the songs...
(1987) - Turquoise Jewelry (1988)
- Pictures of Matchstick Men (1990)
- The History of Utah (live) (2004) – split single with Calexico
Live albums and compilations
- Camper VantiquitiesCamper VantiquitiesCamper Vantiquities is a 1993 rarities compilation album by musical group Camper Van Beethoven, released on I.R.S. It included the earlier EP Vampire Can Mating Oven and a number of other unreleased tracks, compiled by bassist Victor Krummenacher a few years after the band split up...
(1993) – rarities compilation - Camper Van Beethoven Is Dead. Long Live Camper Van BeethovenCamper Van Beethoven Is Dead. Long Live Camper Van BeethovenCamper Van Beethoven Is Dead. Long Live Camper Van Beethoven is a 2000 rarities compilation album by Camper Van Beethoven, released on Pitch-A-Tent Records. This album stands as the first product of the members of CVB beginning to collaborate again...
(2000) – rarities compilation - Cigarettes & Carrot Juice: The Santa Cruz Years (2002) – box set
- In the Mouth of the Crocodile - Live in SeattleIn the Mouth of the Crocodile - Live in SeattleIn The Mouth of the Crocodile - Live In Seattle is a 2004 live album by Camper Van Beethoven, released on Pitch-A-Tent Records. It captures a performance by the group at the Crocodile Cafe, February 16, 2004.-Track listing:...
(2004) – live album - Discotheque CVB: Live In ChicagoDiscotheque CVB: Live In ChicagoDiscotheque CVB: Live In Chicago is a 2004 live album by Camper Van Beethoven recorded at Metro Chicago on October 29, 2004. A selection of other tracks from this concert was released as an Internet-only download entitled Seven Hillbilly Punk Ska Classics.-Track listing:#"Eye of Fatima "#"Eye of...
(2005) – live ep - Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty (2008) – greatest hits compilation
Various artist compilations
- Look at All the Love We FoundLook at All the Love We FoundLook at All the Love We Found is a tribute album by various artists dedicated to Sublime, released on June 21, 2005 . The title comes from a lyric in the song "S.T.P." on Sublime's Robbin' the Hood album.-Track listing:...
(2005) – SublimeSublime (band)Sublime was an American ska punk band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band's line-up, unchanged until their breakup, consisted of Bradley Nowell , Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh . Michael "Miguel" Happoldt also contributed on a few Sublime songs, such as "New Thrash." Lou Dog, Nowell's...
tribute album
External links
- Official web page
- David Lowery's "300 Songs" Blog
- Camper Van Beethoven collection on the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
's live music archive - Krummenacher and Segel's label, Magnetic
- Interview with Crawdaddy!Crawdaddy!Crawdaddy! was the first U.S. magazine of rock and roll music criticism. Created in 1966 by college student Paul Williams in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music, Crawdaddy! was self-described as "the first magazine to take rock and roll...