Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the funk metal band Primus. His playing style on the bass is well known for mixing tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.
Claypool has been a lifelong fan of The Residents, particularly their fifth studio album, Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen. He's covered several songs from said album, was interviewed for the Theory of Obscurity documentary film, and wrote the foreword for the coffee table book A Sight for Sore Eyes, Vol. 1. Claypool is also briefly mentioned in the Charles Bobuck memoir THIS is for Readers. In January 2023, Claypool appeared as a guest vocalist with the group for their 50th Anniversary secret show at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Due to The Residents' notable influence on his music, some have suspected that Claypool himself is a member of The Residents.
Biography[]
On September 29, 1963, Les Claypool was born in Richmond, California, and was raised in El Sobrante. At 14, Claypool had decided to become a bass player.
At the age of 19, in 1982, Claypool was introduced to The Residents by his friend's mother, who played Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen for him. His friend's mother found this amusing, as did his girlfriend, who would mimic the vocalist to scare Les, especially in bed. Claypool hated the music at first and announced that it was the music they were playing in Hell. Les began to explore other Ralph Records bands, such as Snakefinger and Yello, but always gravitated back towards The Residents.
In January of 1987, Les saw The Residents live for the first time, as they brought their 13th Anniversary Tour to a close with a one-off show in San Francisco.[1] By that point, he'd already formed Primus and would record his first album with them, Suck on This, in 1989.
Shortly afterward, Primus released covers of "Hello Skinny" and "Constantinople" on the various artists' compilation On The Nineties Tip.... In 1991, Claypool appeared in the movie Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey wearing the iconic Classic Eyeball shirt. The following year the group released a cover of "Sinister Exaggerator".
Collaborations with The Residents[]
A masked Claypool performs "Hello Skinny" with The Residents at the 50th Anniversary secret show, January 14th 2023; photo by Chris Bertetta
On January 9th, 1996, The Residents briefly joined Primus on stage to perform "Hello Skinny"; this was at a loose party at Bimbo's 365 designed to promote the release of Primus' Tales From The Punchbowl CD-ROM. As The Residents had recently released their Bad Day on the Midway CD-ROM game, Les invited them to partake in the event, where they reportedly handed out copies of the game to members of the audience.
Fourteen years later, The Residents and Primus shared a stage again when The Residents opened for Primus at The Fox Theater on December 30th 2010.
Claypool regularly performs Residents covers in concert. In 2015 Claypool was featured in The Theory of Obscurity, a documentary on The Residents. A year later, Claypool was mentioned in THIS is for Readers, an eBook written by Hardy Fox from the perspective of his Residents persona Charles Bobuck, loosely based around Fox's own life.
In 2022, he wrote the introduction for the coffee table art book A Sight for Sore Eyes, Vol. 1. On January 14th 2023, Claypool appeared as an unannounced guest vocalist with The Residents during their 50th Anniversary secret show, performing "Hello Skinny".
Residents Songs Covered[]
The Singing Resident on stage with Primus
- Hello Skinny / Constantinople (1990)
- On 'On The Nineties Tip...', 'Eyesore: A Stab At The Residents', 'Videoplasty', 'Frizzle Fry' & 'Blame It On The Fish'
- Sinister Exaggerator (1992)
- On 'Miscellaneous Debris' & 'Making Plans For Nigel - Cheesy EP 2
- ↑ A Sight For Sore Eyes intro