Claypool is now known worldwide as an amazing bassist. He's famous for his work in Primus, and also in being one of the frontmen of the 6-string and 6-string Fretless basses. He has a child, Cage Oliver Claypool, and is married to a woman named Chaney. He has co-directed a few movies, and has been a guest on multiple CDs. But how did this eccentric man become so recognized and talented?
Leslie Claypool was born on September 29, 1963 in Richmond, California. Claypool befriended Kirk Hammett, and Hammett got him interested in Rock music (Including Cream, Hendrix, and Led Zepplin). When he was a teenager, Les picked up the bass, influenced quite a bit by Chris Squire of Yes, Geddy Lee of Rush, and Paul McCartney. In high school, he joined a progressive metal band known as "Blind Illusion," and played in Swing and Jazz bands. When he became interested in Stanley Clarke and Larry Graham, he began experimenting with slap.
In 1986, when metal fans mourned the death of Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, Les Claypool was one of the bassists that tried out for the spot. He was denied the spot, as Metallica felt his style would not compliment theirs; Claypool has no grudge, and was known to slap Master of Puppets at Primus concerts in the future.
After graduating high school, he was in a cover band called "Tommy Crank." They specialized in blues, funk, R&B, and rock hits; Claypool and his band played multiple sets a night, often every night of the week. While he was with Tommy Crank, he bought his first Carl Thompson, a piccolo bass; this was in part due to his loving of Stanley Clark. Sometime in the 80s, Claypool began writing his own things. These songs would eventually evolve into the pieces that his future band, Primus, played.
His band, Primus, was originally known as "Primate," and had Todd Huth on guitar and Jay Lane on drums; Claypool played bass, and also "sang." They changed their name to "Primus" when a band known as "The Primates" threatened to sue. In 1989, however, the band was forced to stop when Huth and Lane quit Primus; at this point, Claypool returned to his band Blind Illusion. Later that year, Claypool found Larry "Ler" Lalonde for guitar and Tim Alexander for drums; this is thought by many to be the best Primus lineup. Primus released their first CD, Suck on This.
Claypool released multiple CDs with Primus, though after the release of Antipop, they broke up again. Earlier this year (2004), they released a DVD entitled "Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People." (Great DVD.)
Other projects In 2000, sometime after the release of the CD "Antipop," Primus went on hiatus, and Claypool had more time for sideprojects. He particularly enjoys jam bands. These projects include:
Les's Rainbow Bass and other Carl Thompsons
Claypool owns six Carl Thompson basses, and has helped make Carl Thompson largely recognized.
His first Carl Thompson he still has; it's a 32" scale Piccolo bass. At first, he'd thought it was the ugliest bass he'd ever seen. Eventually, however, he found himself asking his parents for money to pay for it: http://www.ctbasses.com/LES4string.jpg On the head stock, there is a piece of flamed maple; this was signed by one of Les Claypool's heroes, Geddy Lee.
Les has a four-string fretted Maple bodied bass as a back up. He used it on New Years Eve with the Flying Frog brigade. http://www.ctbasses.com/BackupCT2.jpg
Les has a 6-string fretted bass; originally it was fretless, but Carl Thompson put some frets on it before sending it to Claypool. You can see this bass in the DMV music video. http://www.ctbasses.com/LESfretted6.jpg
Most definitely one of the best recognized basses in the world is owned by Les Claypool. This bass was dubbed "The Rainbow Bass," due to the many strips of wood. It's a 6-string fretless, and has strips of walnut, curly maple, padauk, purpleheart, ebony, and cocobolo. http://www.ctbasses.com/lesRain.jpg
The bass that Claypool used on the Antipop tour was a 36" scale fretted 4-string bass. It has a tremolo, as well as an ebony body. http://www.ctbasses.com/newbass.jpg
Apparently, Claypool also owns a fretless 4-string, but I can't find any pics. Sorry.
Discography Timeline
Recommended listening:
Pretty much all of Claypool's work is quite bass heavy. The following Primus tracks are really good to get situated with Claypool's style, and are easy to obtain through the internet.
My Name is Mud
This was one of the hits that got Primus big; at one of their performances of it, Claypool addressed the audience:
Don't throw mud on stage. Throwing things on stage is a sign of small and insignificant genitalia.
Jerry Was A Racecar Driver
Another Primus hit, Claypool taps a line and sings (talks?) about a man named Jerry who (Whoa! Bet you didn't see THIS coming!) was a race car driver. This song was featured in a Tony Hawk game (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater One? Not sure)
Tommy the Cat
Claypool brags in this song. This is one of Primus's most well known songs. In the music video, his grandfather plays the "character" of "Tommy the Cat."
Wynona's Big Brown Beaver
One of Claypool's most eccentric songs, this song discusses the story of Wynona, a girl who owns a beaver. If you like songs about beavers that are really porcupines, you'll love this.
John the Fisherman
Interesting song. Claypool is an avid fisher.
Too Many Puppies
Incredibly symbolic song about war. This song shows that many of the songs that Claypool writes that appear to be goofy do, in fact, have a meaning.
American Life
A bit more political. The bass line is simple but it works extremely well.
Frizzle fry
This 6 minute long bass-drum fest is an amazing show of Claypool’s talent and extreme vocals. A brilliant track.
Miscellaneous gear:
Fun facts
-At one of the first Primus performances, the band was boo'd off of stage. As such, a chant at Primus shows is "Primus sucks! Primus sucks! Primus sucks!"
-Claypool owned a Ric Rickenbacker in honour of Chris Squire. He enjoys slapping it, despite the fact that they're a bit harder to slap on than usual.
-Apparently, at one show, Claypool got ticked off at someone who spit on him. This mp3 can be found on the internet; I got entitled "Les Claypool Pissed Off." What he told the audience: "You know...I haven't been playing bass for...over fifteen years to have some stupid son of a ***** spit on me from the pit. Now look...if you want you're money back...I'd be more than happy to give you your ****in' money back, you ignorant piece of ****. I've been watchin'. One came right there, one came right here, and the other one hit me on the shoulder. So it's the same son of a *****...Do me a favor...go to the guy at the roulette table and spit at the guy and see what happens to ya. Well you ****ed me up. I can't play right now because I don't know where we were. It's a shame, because I enjoyed playing that song. If anyone sees who did that, please sodomize him for me."
I'd like to end this post with a quote from Les Claypool:
"I always wanted to make a living out of something I was good at. There's not much call for masturbation, so I had to fall back on my bass playing abilities."
Thanks for reading!
