Eels (band)
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- For other uses, see Eel (disambiguation).
| Eels
<tr style="text-align: center;"><td colspan="3">Image:E Eels.jpg E </td></tr>
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| Background information
<tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">California, USA</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Alternative</td></tr><tr><td>Years active</td><td colspan="2">1995–present</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-right: 1em;">Label(s)</td><td colspan="2">Dreamworks |
Eels (also sometimes eels or EELS, depending on the album) are an American rock band formed by singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, better known as Mr. E or simply E. He is the frontman of the band, calling Eels a vessel for his music. Other members rotate frequently, both in the studio and on stage. Eels' live shows include new material, interpretations of older songs, and usually some well-known cover versions.
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[edit] History
[edit] E solo records
Everett released a little-known record in 1985 called Bad Dude in Love. Not much is known about the LP; all information found is located here [1]. In 1992, Polydor released the much more popular A Man Called E under the name E. The single "Hello Cruel World" was a minor success. Touring to support the album, he opened for Tori Amos. A Man Called E was followed by Broken Toy Shop in 1993; that year also marked the beginning of Everett's collaboration with drummer Jonathan "Butch" Norton. After Broken Toy Shop, E was released from his record deal with Polydor.
[edit] Beautiful Freak
When Butch and E met Tommy Walter, they founded Eels. E chose the name so that the band's records would be next to his solo records in an alphabetical ordering; it was only later that they realised Eagles would fall in between. Eels became one of the first groups to sign a record deal with Dreamworks. In 1996 the band released their debut album Beautiful Freak, a melancholy pop record with tormented lyrics from Everett. Musically, it demonstrated a wide range of influences, including grunge and hip hop. The singles "Novocaine for the Soul" and "Susan's House" achieved modest international success.
Eels toured extensively to support the album in 1996 and 1997, playing at many festivals and building their name as a live act in the United States and Europe. In September 1997, Walter quit the band (or was fired, according to some accounts).
[edit] Electro-Shock Blues
After Beautiful Freak, E experienced a very difficult personal life. Some of his friends were dying, his sister committed suicide, and his mother was diagnosed with cancer. He was fast becoming the only living member of his family. These events inspired him to write Electro-Shock Blues, released in 1998. The lyrics deal with subjects like suicide, death, and cancer. Although it is a very dark album, and not nearly as big a commercial success as its predecessor, Electro-Shock Blues is still many fans' favourite. Contributions to the album were made by Jon Brion, Dust Brother Michael Simpson, and T-Bone Burnett. "Last Stop: This Town" was a minor success as a single; the second single "Cancer for the Cure" was used on the soundtrack for the film American Beauty. Still a three-piece band on stage, Tommy Walter was replaced by Adam Siegel, formerly of Suicidal Tendencies. A large part of the American leg of the tour was cancelled after the death of E's mother. They returned to Europe later in the year, to open for Pulp. After the tour, Siegel left the band to focus on his own project, My Head.
[edit] Daisies of the Galaxy
In 2000 Eels released Daisies of the Galaxy, a more upbeat work than its predecessor. As Everett has noted, "if Electro-Shock Blues was the phone call in the middle of the night that the world doesn't want to answer, then Daisies of the Galaxy is the hotel wake-up call that says your lovely breakfast is ready". The album was almost entirely recorded in E's basement. He was joined in the studio by Michael Simpson (Dust Brothers), Grant-Lee Phillips (Grant Lee Buffalo), and Peter Buck (R.E.M.). On the tracks "It's a Motherfucker" and "Selective Memory", E plays the same piano that Neil Young used on his classic album After the Goldrush.
The first single, "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues", was co-written by Simpson and features the sound of his pager at the start. The song was not intended to be on the album, but the record company insisted on its inclusion. Therefore it is not featured on the track listing but listed as a "bonus track", separated from the rest of the album by 20 seconds of silence. The song also appeared on the Road Trip soundtrack and some prominent members of the cast from that film feature in the music video. Additionally, it was also featured in the opening credits of the film A Guy Thing; because of the use of swear words on "It's a Motherfucker" and "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" ("Goddamn right, it's a beautiful day") a censored version was released. "It's a Motherfucker" was renamed to "It's a Monstertrucker"; instances of the 'f-word' were removed by E singing over them in a distorted voice. To promote Daisies of the Galaxy another tour took place across the United States and Europe. This time Eels were transformed into an 6-piece orchestra, including Lisa Germano. E also played some solo shows, opening for Fiona Apple.
[edit] Souljacker
In 2001 Souljacker was released, an album with a darker feel than Daisies of the Galaxy. John Parish, previously in PJ Harvey's band, co-wrote most of the songs and also played guitar on the album and first part of the tour. Koool G Murder played bass and keyboards and joined Eels on tour, jokingly introduced by E as "the other guy." Wim Wenders directed the video for the first single, "Souljacker part I". After Parish became a father, he was replaced with Joe Gore for the American leg of the Bus Driving, Band Rocking Tour.
The song "That's Not Really Funny" was used as the theme for the BBC comedy series Monkey Dust, while Souljacker Part I is set to be included in the forthcoming Simon Pegg film Hot Fuzz.
[edit] Shootenanny! and Butch's controversial departure
2003 marked the release of the album Shootenanny!. E now refers to the album as a break from recording the following Blinking Lights album. It was recorded live in the studio in only ten days. "Saturday Morning" was released as a single.
Fans were shocked later that year when Butch left the group. The official reason given by the band was that he had amicably left to play drums for Tracy Chapman. However, in an interview given to Rhythm Magazine, Butch stated that he was leaving the band over monetary concerns: "We were coming through Europe on the second tour for Souljacker, and I had to apply for bankruptcy." After asking their management for a retainer in exchange for giving up his part of their legal partnership, he claims that he "got a call from E's accountant who said, 'E doesn't want to change the structure', so, no retainer...I'm still very hurt. That's how it goes with relationships. I would hope that the door would be open for me to return and work with E one day because that's what I enjoy." Butch would go on to work with Tracy Bonham and Rufus Wainwright.
Butch was replaced on drums by Puddin'. In 2003 Eels did another big tour, the Tour of Duty. The live band consisted of E, Shon 'Golden Boy' Sullivan (guitar), Koool G Murder (bass) and Puddin (drums). Sullivan soon left to work on his own project, Goldenboy, and was replaced with Chet Atkins III. Later that year, E composed the score for the film Levity.
[edit] Blinking Lights and Other Revelations / Live with Strings
Eels' next album, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations, was released on April 26, 2005; it was the band's first release for new label Vagrant Records. It is an epic 33-track double album. Contributions were made by Tom Waits, Peter Buck and John Sebastian (The Lovin' Spoonful). A hand-written lyric-sheet to "In the Yard, Behind the Church", a song from the new album, was sold on eBay for charity. The winning bidder paid $544 for it.
The first tour in support of this album, billed as Eels With Strings, featured primarily acoustic guitar-, organ- and piano-based performances by E backed by Alan 'Big Al' Hunter on piano and upright bass; Chet Lyster (also known as Chet Atkins III or 'The Chet') on guitar, mandolin, pedal steel, musical saw and drums; and the string quartet of violinists Paloma Udovic and Julie Carpenter, violist Heather Lockie and cellist Ana Lenchantin.</br>
The tour resulted in a live album, Eels with Strings: Live at Town Hall, recorded in New York City. The performance includes tracks from all of their albums, and was released on CD and DVD on February 21, 2006.
[edit] Bobby, Jr.
Everett's dog, Bobby Jr., was a homeless dog that roamed the streets of Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California until the Los Angeles Animal Control captured him and took him to a dog pound, from where Everett eventually "adopted" him. Because he has the body of a German Shepherd and the legs of a Basset Hound (one of which is deformed), he has trouble walking and getting around. Bobby Jr. lent his 'vocals' to the song "Last Time We Spoke" on the album Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. He can also be seen on various Eels merchandise, the official Eels website, and the video for "Hey Man! (Now You're Really Living)", and he even has his own MySpace account. Bobby Jr. is named after Bobby, a toy robot dog Everett bought as a trial before buying a real dog.
[edit] Fanscene
Eels have a huge fan community. Their several world tours took them to Europe, Australia, Japan and USA. The band is probably most successful in the UK and in Central and Northern Europe. In past interviews, E has said that Dreamworks encouraged the group to tour mainly in Europe, as their American tours were not typically as profitable. However, since the group signed to Vagrant Records, it seems that they tour the United States with a higher frequency.
There have been a few collaborations between the band and the fans. In 2001, for example a song called Hidden Track (ironically, not released as a hidden track, but as a b-side) was recorded, a song with lyrics pieced together by E entirely from fans' text messages and sung by Butch.
The relatively large community is active on its own. In 1999 a tribute album was made, organized by the Fansite The Galaxy (now part of the Behind the Church community site), and another was completed in mid-2006.
The first ever Eels karaoke contest was recently held on the Austrian fansite Rocking Eels.
[edit] Discography
[edit] External links
- EelsTheBand.com – Official site
- Eels at MySpace
- Behind The Church.com – Fansite
- Eels.nl – the online guide to live Eels – Fansite with tour archive
- EELS Italia – Italian fansite
- [3] – Email from Butch, confirming him leaving the band
- EelsTheDiscography.co.uk – Collectors and fansite.
- The Galaxy – Database of all eels tracks
- Rocking Eels – Austrian fansite
- Eels on Last Fm – Last.fm link
- Eels at MusicBrainz
- Lazy-i Interview: July 2003
- Concert photos by Laurent Orseau (Black Session)
[edit] References
- ↑ Eels Get Tangled In Strings On Live CD/DVD. Retrieved on 2005-12-15.
| Mark Oliver Everett (E) |
| Discography |
|---|
| Studio albums: Beautiful Freak | Electro-Shock Blues | Daisies of the Galaxy | Souljacker | Shootenanny! | Blinking Lights and Other Revelations |
| E solo albums: A Man Called E | Broken Toy Shop | Levity | I Am the Messiah |
| Compilations & live albums: Oh, What a Beautiful Morning | Electro-Shock Blues Show | Sixteen Tons (Ten Songs) | B-Sides & Rarities | Eels with Strings: Live at Town Hall |
| Singles: "Novocaine for the Soul" | "Susan's House" | "Your Lucky Day in Hell" | "Last Stop: This Town" | "Cancer for the Cure" | "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" | "Flyswatter" | "Souljacker part I" | "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)" |
| Related articles |
| MC Honky | Hugh Everett III |
