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Artists > A - C > Camper Van Beethoven > II & III

 
:: II & III  Ref: COOKCD288
 
 
 
II & III

Price:   £7.99

Buy Now
Monday 29th March 2004 sees the re-issue of four classic Camper Van Beethoven albums - "Telephone Free Landslide Victory"; "II & III"; "Camper Van Beethoven" and "Camper Vantiquities". The re-issues will include extra tracks (both previously unreleased and re-worked versions) and also feature new inner artwork and photos.

Camper Van Beethoven formed in 1983 in Redlands CA a hot and dusty southern California town 80 miles east of Los Angeles. Founded by vocalist David Lowery, guitarist Chris Molla, and bassist Victor Krummenacher, they later moved to the seaside college community of Santa Cruz, CA in 1983, a town that at one point bore the unfortunate title of "the murder capital of America". CVB soon added drummer Anthony Guess (real name!) guitarist Greg Lisher and Jonathan Segel. The addition of Segel on violins, keyboards and mandolin gave the band their unique sound. Drawing together elements of ska, country, tex-mex, 60's psychedelia and folk, the band aptly described themselves as "surrealist absurdist folk', and quickly gained a reputation for their bizarre folk versions of hardcore songs.

In June 1985, their debut album "Telephone Free Landslide Victory" was released though Independent Project Music/Rough Trade. Featuring the classic "Take The Skinheads Bowling" and a cover of Black Flag's "Wasted", the album became a college radio staple and also made the Top 10 in many critic's polls.

"II & III" and "Camper Van Beethoven" were released the following year. "II & III" saw the band producing a proto indie rock sound, with touches of country as evidenced in "Sad Lovers Waltz" and their cover of Sonic Youth's "I Love Her All The Time". "Camper Van Beethoven" continued this vein and featured outstanding tracks, such as "Joe Stalin's Cadillac", and a reverent version of Pink Floyd's 'Interstellar Overdrive". The band also released an EP "Vampire Can Mating Oven", a bizarre (and intended to be not-so-nice) local nickname for the band. Around this time Chris Molla (for the previous year an on again off again member) left in the middle of a tour and was never invited back to perform or record with the band. Chris Pedersen was now the permanent CVB drummer.

Following the third album's critical acclaim, and national tours with bands such as R.E.M. and 10,000 Maniacs, Camper Van Beethoven signed to Virgin Records and released their major label debut, "Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart" (1988) and their final release "Key Lime Pie" (1989). Jonathan Segel, had by this point, left the band and Krummenacher, Pedersen and Lisher left during a 1990 European tour, effectively dissolving the band. In 1993, Krummenacher remastered "Vampire Can Mating Oven" added some demos, b-sides, unreleased tracks and rare mixes, and released them through IRS as "Camper Vantiquities".

In July 2002, CVB reunited for shows in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Ostensibly to promote the release of their "lost" 1987 4-track recording of Tusk. Yes a note for note cover of the Fleetwood Mac record. Their show at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London in February 2003 sold out.

'II & III' tracklisting (COOKCD288)

1 Abundance
2 Cowboys From Hollywood
3 Sad Lover's Waltz
4 Turtlehead
5 I Love Her All The Time
6 No Flies On Us
7 Down And Out
8 No Krugerrands For David
9 Goleta
10 4 Year Plan
11 Devil Song (original version) ***
12 Vampire Club *
13 (We're A) Bad Trip
14 Circles
15 Dustpan
16 Sometimes
17 Chain Of Circumstance **
18 ZZ Top Goes To Egypt
19 Cattle (Reversed)
20 Form Another Stone **
21 Circles Dub **
22 (We're A) Bad Trip (vinyl version) ***
23 No More Bullshit

* Previously unreleased ** different versions of tracks on original version *** original version

"When we made this record, we recorded half of it in the summer of '85 after the release of TFLV, then went back at the end of the year to record more. We were negotiating with Rough Trade to put out our own label, because IPR couldn't handle a release so soon. Chris Molla, the guitarist, drummed on most of the record. It came out in Feb of 86 I think, and soon thereafter we started playing with Chris Pedersen (his first shows with us were opening for the Butthole Surfers, that must have been fun!) so when the first 1000 vinyl LPs of II & III sold out and we had to repress, we rerecorded the "Radio Song", '(We're A) Bad Trip', with our new stronger drummer ... hence the second version, which became the only version."

"Chain of Circumstance" - "This is a better version in that it has Greg on it. Greg makes a rock statement in the choruses. The version that originally came out was austere. That was a tough decision at the time."

"Form Another Stone (replacement version)" - "Several mixes were made due to balances of the reversed reverb and the vocal. I sing like shit so I wanted to obscure the vocal. As it turns out, later, this was a better version."
 


 


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