Les Claypool has both joined and led a staggering number of different, stylistically varied projects over the years, with an equally long an impressive list of collaborators. Primus, Oysterhead, Colonel Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, The Duo de Twang, The Claypool Lennon Delirium…bass work for Metallica, Tom Waits, & Death Grips…The list goes on and on.
There are supergroups, and then there are super groups. Though it may have been short lived, another one of Claypool’s many collaborative projects, Colonel Claypool’s Bucket Of Bernie Brains, has to be one of the greatest musical congregations ever formed. From 2002-2004, lucky fans got the opportunity to see Les Claypool play bass along with guitarist Buckethead, drummer Brain (aka Bryan Mantia) and keyboardist Bernie Worrell join forces for some serious experimental fusion. The band formed at the first-ever Bonnaroo in 2002, meeting backstage and bonding over a festival jam session. The band name features contributions from all four members, and their one-of-a-kind concerts featured neither rehearsals nor planning of any sort. It was improvisation in its purest form.
The group eventually hit the studio in 2004, recording The Big Eyeball in the Sky and promoting it with a fall tour. At the time, Claypool called the tour “a traveling, oversized sock-puppet show spawned by the characters of a Tobe Hooper film and scored by Danny Elfman on bad acid.”
In honor of Claypool’s birthday today, take a listen to this full-show video from Colonel Claypool’s Bucket Of Bernie Brains’ May 3rd, 2003 performance at the State Palace Theater in New Orleans, LA:
Colonel Claypool’s Bucket Of Bernie Brains – State Palace Theater – 5/3/2003
[Video: Whoaduderighteous]
You can keep up with all of Claypool’s many ongoing projects and check out a list of his upcoming tour dates by heading to his website.
Happy Birthday Les! Here’s to many more years of collaboration, creativity, and idiosyncratic Claypool classics.
The post Celebrate Les Claypool’s 55th Birthday By Watching Him, Bernie Worrell, Buckethead, & Brain Jam [Full Show] appeared first on L4LM.
