"Spotted Pinto Bean" is a composition by The Residents, featured as the closing track of the A-side of their debut album Meet The Residents, released April 1st 1974 on Ralph Records. It features vocals from the group's early collaborator Pamela Zeibak, and piano by Jim Whitaker.
The 1977 stereo mix of the song is more than a minute shorter than the original mono release. A 2014 demo version by the group's composer Charles Bobuck was released on the EP Clank Clank Clank in 2017.
History[]
"Spotted Pinto Bean" originated in a series of jam sessions held by The Residents and their friends on Tuesday afternoons, some of which were later featured on the 2018 Meet The Residents pREServed CD reissue, where it is edited into a medley with the traditional Japanese song "Sokurha".
The more polished version featured on Meet The Residents clocks in at a lengthy six minutes and thirty-seven seconds, making it the second-longest track on the album. It includes guest appearances from notable early collaborators, vocalist Pamela Zeibak, and pianist Jim Whitaker. At the time of the album's release, the song was described by reviewer "Harvey Sox" as "Sun Ra with opera and honky-tonk after-hours piano during a thunderstorm backed by a Motown horn section."
"Spotted Pinto Bean" was first performed live at The Residents' Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! show in Berkeley, California in June 1976. This version features Zeibak performing her operatic vocals live over a backing track of the piano from the album version of song, with drums in place of the album version's horns. To date, this is the only time the song has been performed live.
For the 1977 stereo remix of the album, "Spotted Pinto Bean" is one minute and five seconds shorter than the original mono mix, apparently because The Residents deemed parts of the original recording to be unnecessary. In 1993, an excerpt from the song was included in the short Meet The Residents concentrate featured on the companion CD released with the book Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide to The Residents.
In 2014 artist "Ras G" sampled this song for their track "Foreign Language (Sp 303)".[1]
A new arrangement of "Spotted Pinto Bean" was demoed in 2014 by the group's founding arranger and composer Charles Bobuck, for a planned (but ultimately abandoned) 40th anniversary re-recording of Meet The Residents; this recording was later featured on the EP Clank Clank Clank in 2017.
An apparently related piece titled "Spotted Pinto Queen", possibly recorded during the ill-fated 40th anniversary sessions (or later), was later featured on the pREServed CD reissue of Meet The Residents in 2018.
Lyrics[]
Spotted Pinto Bean is leaving Leaving on a midnight streaming Tears behind him all the way
And all the way arms are folding Handkerchiefs to pockets holding Holding yesterday[2]
List of releases[]
- Meet The Residents (1974) [Version 1]
- Meet The Residents stereo remix (1977) [Version 2]
- Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide to The Residents (1993)
- Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! Can't You See That It's True, What The Beatles Did To Me I Love Lucy Did To You (2010) [Version 3]
- Clank Clank Clank EP by Charles Bobuck (2017) [Version 4]
- Meet The Residents pREServed CD edition (2018) [Version 1] [Version 5]
- The Third Reich 'n Roll pREServed edition (2018) [Version 3] [Version 6]
- Meet The Residents pREServed vinyl edition (2023) [Version 1] [Version 5]
List of versions[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sycamore Street studio recording, February - October 1973 (original mono version, 6:37)
- ↑ Sycamore Street studio recording, February-October 1973 (1977 stereo remix, 5:31)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! live recording, Longbranch Saloon, Berkeley, California, June 7th 1976 (1:15)
- ↑ Charles Bobuck studio recording, 2014 (1:50)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sycamore Street studio demo, 1973 ("Tuesday tapes") intro, 0:38)
- ↑ Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! instrumental backing tape, 1976 (1:45)
See also[]
- Meet The Residents
- Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! (live performance)
- "Spotted Pinto Queen"
Buy Or Die![]
Listen online[]
- "Spotted Pinto Bean" (original mono version) on Spotify
- "Spotted Pinto Bean" (pREServed mono version) on Spotify
- "Spotted Pinto Bean" (pREServed stereo version) on Spotify
- "Spotted Pinto Bean/Tuesday #5" (pREServed) on Spotify
External links and references[]
- Meet The Residents at The Residents Historical
- Meet The Residents at RZWeb (archived via archive.org)
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Meet The Residents (1974) Side A |