Buckaroo Blues is a limited edition CD by The Residents,[Note 1] collecting studio material recorded between March and October 1988. It was issued exclusively through The Residents' official fan club UWEB in January 1989.
The CD showcases three lengthy recordings, all of which relate to live performance projects The Residents were developing at the time; "Buckaroo Blues" (which would become the opening suite in the 1989-1990 tour Cube-E) and an unproduced live adaptation of their album God In Three Persons.
History[]
The Residents at the Boudisque 20th Anniversary Party, November 26th 1988
In late 1987, inspired by the western folk music of Hank Williams they had been indulging in the previous year, The Residents purchased a collection of cowboy poems and medleys, containing such famous works as "Bury Me Not" and others. Inspired by the material, the group began to compose a suite, "Buckaroo Blues", derived from the poems.
After finishing their God In Three Persons album in February 1988, the group further developed the "Buckaroo Blues" material in the studio, concurrently with a planned live adaptation of God In Three Persons. Both projects relied heavily on the use of MIDI technology, with which The Residents had been familiarizing themselves with since July 1987. The Residents worked on both projects throughout much of 1988, but by summer, had shelved the live adaptation of God In Three Persons, declaring the project to be "over".
Around this time, The Residents' European label Torso invited the group to perform at the 20th Anniversary Party of Dutch record store Boudisque Records in Amsterdam in November 1988. Seeing as "Buckaroo Blues" was easy enough to perform, the group agreed to appear, adding their new arrangement of "Land of 1000 Dances" and "Double Shot" (recently released as a single) to the setlist, as well as a new version of "Santa Dog".
Release[]
The studio recording of "Buckaroo Blues" was released through The Residents' official fan club UWEB in January 1989 as a limited edition CD, also featuring the "Double Shot" single and the overture for the cancelled God In Three Persons live show as bonus tracks.
The first pressing of the CD featured disc art with an orange and yellow color scheme; the CD was reprinted shortly afterwards with the disc's color scheme changed to yellow and green.
Legacy[]
Several months after the release of the UWEB CD, "Buckaroo Blues" became part of The Residents' live show Cube-E, where it was followed by two additional suites, "Black Barry" and "The Baby King", with the three "E-Z pieces" together creating an impressionistic history of American music.
The Buckaroo Blues CD is highly regarded among fans, but (to date) has never been reissued following the dissolution of UWEB in 1993, although excerpts of the studio "Buckaroo Blues" (as well as "God In Three Person's Over") were included on the limited edition compilation Land of Mystery in 1999.
The studio version of "Buckaroo Blues" was absent from the 2020 pREServed Cube-E Box, apparently because The Residents were "conscious of repetition" (as the set features two complete live recordings of the suite from the Cube-E tour, and a previously unreleased instrumental studio recording).[1]
Track listing[]
- Buckaroo Blues (19:46)
- Land of 1000 Dances / Double Shot (13:09)
- God In Three Person's Over (9:56)
Liner notes[]
buckaroo blues[]
The [Residents] seem to be endlessly puttering with ideas. When a book was discovered that contained a collection of authentic cowboy poems and songs, they started a process of distillation which produced an odd assortment of uneven chunks of music based, or at least inspired, by the rogues of the old West. Several of these chunks were strung together and performed for the first time November 26, 1988, for the Boudisque Anniversary bash in Amsterdam. Buckaroo Blues continues to evolve and is currently becoming a major addition to the band's repertory.
land of 1000 dances · double shot[]
Double Shot spins out of God in Three Persons. Somehow it got attached to this new rhythm based version of Land of 1000 Dances and the whole thing ended up being performed at the Boudisque party.
god in three person's over[]
This odd and awkward title is easily explained. God in Three Persons was being planned as a live stage presentation. One of the new pieces for the show that was almost completed when the decision was made not to perform G3P, was its "overture". The small step from "overture" to an announcement of G3P's being "over" provided the title. Fortunately, is also gave us this final squirt of God in Three Persons.
Credits[]
- (P) + (C): Cryptic Corporation
- Manufactured By: UWEB
See also[]
Notes[]
- ↑ There has been some debate among fans (and particularly within The Mysterious Spanish Ladies) as to whether Buckaroo Blues should be considered a studio album (due to its length), a compilation, or an EP (due to the release containing only a twenty minute suite with two otherwise unrelated tracks). The entries for Buckaroo Blues on the defunct website RZWeb and The Residents' official Historical page both indicate that the release could be considered an EP with two bonus tracks.
External links and references[]
- Buckaroo Blues at The Residents Historical
- Buckaroo Blues at RZWeb (archived via archive.org)
- Buckaroo Blues at Discogs
- ↑ "From memory, I think they were just conscious of repetition." Richard Anderson, comment in The Residents unofficial Facebook group, February 6th 2024
