D. Boon and Friends
Encyclopedia
D. Boon and Friends is a music CD compiling various jam session and live recordings featuring the late Minutemen guitarist and frontman D. Boon
. The album is the inaugural release of the Hermosa Beach, California
-based label Box-O-Plenty Records
, started by Boon's one-time roommate Richard Derrick
. Most of the tracks are living-room jam sessions (on guitars, bass and cheap keyboards) done by Boon, Derrick, and Crane
, who had previously contributed backing vocals and trumpet parts to the Minutemen's Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat
and Project: Mersh 12-inch EP
's.
Also heard on the album are live recordings of a one-time project band featuring Boon and three percussionists under the band name Hammerdown, a rare D. Boon acoustic solo show, a tape of a noontime Minutemen gig with Derrick substituting for drummer George Hurley
(who couldn't get time off work to participate in the show), and an experimental demo recording featuring D. Boon overdubbing three different lead guitar parts over a rhythm guitar track.
The cover art of D. Boon And Friends is derived from a Christmas card Boon had given Derrick in 1984.
Mike Watt
, as curator of the Minutemen legacy, gave the project his blessing, as did D. Boon's late father. Watt, former Meat Puppets
drummer Derrick Bostrom
, Crane, and Richard Derrick all contributed liner notes.
In keeping with a Minutemen crediting tradition, Boon and many of the other participants are credited with "singing" instead of "vocals."
The first pressing of the CD had a purple cover. Current pressings have the front cover printed with an off-yellow background. Customers who order the CD directly from the label also receive a bonus 23-minute CD-R of other Boon/Crane/Derrick jam sessions and solo live tracks that didn't fit into the original track sequence.
All of the songs were recorded on compact audio cassette using a boombox
's condensor microphones
, except for tracks 3, 8, and 15 which were recorded on stereo open reel and track 33 which was recorded on four-track open reel.
D. Boon
d. Boon born Dennes Dale Boon, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Active between 1978, when he joined The Reactionaries, and 1985, when he was killed in a van accident, Boon was best known as the guitarist and vocalist of the Californian punk rock trio Minutemen.-Youth:Dennes Boon...
. The album is the inaugural release of the Hermosa Beach, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
-based label Box-O-Plenty Records
Box-O-Plenty Records
Box-O-Plenty Records is a record label, started by Richard Derrick, a musician based in San Pedro, California. Between 2003 and 2011, the label released the following:...
, started by Boon's one-time roommate Richard Derrick
Richard Derrick
Richard Derrick was born in Torrance, California in 1961, and is a lifelong resident of nearby San Pedro. He began playing music at an early age, starting with piano at age four, guitar at age ten, then learning both drums and bass guitar at 15...
. Most of the tracks are living-room jam sessions (on guitars, bass and cheap keyboards) done by Boon, Derrick, and Crane
Crane (musician)
Crane is a pseudonym of Richard Alan Krieger . He is a trumpeter and vocalist that has played and recorded with Minutemen on their albums Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat and Project: Mersh, and with that group's D...
, who had previously contributed backing vocals and trumpet parts to the Minutemen's Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat
Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat
Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat is the sixth overall release from American hardcore punk band Minutemen.-History of the EP:...
and Project: Mersh 12-inch EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
's.
Also heard on the album are live recordings of a one-time project band featuring Boon and three percussionists under the band name Hammerdown, a rare D. Boon acoustic solo show, a tape of a noontime Minutemen gig with Derrick substituting for drummer George Hurley
George Hurley
George Hurley is a drummer noted for his work with The Minutemen and fIREHOSE.Even though he went to the same high school as D. Boon and Mike Watt he did not meet them until around 1978. That same year, Hurley formed The Reactionaries with Boon, Watt, and Martin Tamburovich...
(who couldn't get time off work to participate in the show), and an experimental demo recording featuring D. Boon overdubbing three different lead guitar parts over a rhythm guitar track.
The cover art of D. Boon And Friends is derived from a Christmas card Boon had given Derrick in 1984.
Mike Watt
Mike Watt
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
, as curator of the Minutemen legacy, gave the project his blessing, as did D. Boon's late father. Watt, former Meat Puppets
Meat Puppets
The Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980, in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood , his brother Cris Kirkwood , and Derrick Bostrom . The Kirkwood brothers met Bostrom while attending Brophy Prep High School in Phoenix...
drummer Derrick Bostrom
Derrick Bostrom
Derrick Bostrom is an American musician. He was the original drummer of the band Meat Puppets, which he founded together with the Kirkwood brothers, Cris and Curt, in 1980....
, Crane, and Richard Derrick all contributed liner notes.
In keeping with a Minutemen crediting tradition, Boon and many of the other participants are credited with "singing" instead of "vocals."
The first pressing of the CD had a purple cover. Current pressings have the front cover printed with an off-yellow background. Customers who order the CD directly from the label also receive a bonus 23-minute CD-R of other Boon/Crane/Derrick jam sessions and solo live tracks that didn't fit into the original track sequence.
Track listing
- "Everyone Was There" (Boon/Crane/Derrick)
- "Fifth Gear" (Boon/Crane/Derrick)
- "Deadline" (Boon/Crane/Derrick)
- "The Waiting Stage" (Derrick)
- "Indecision" (Boon/Derrick)
- "Theme From Empty Box" (Brian Wells)
- "The Long Road Home" (Boon/Derrick)
- "Take You There" (Boon/Crane/Derrick)
- "Freedom Forever" (Boon)
- "Jam #6" (Boon/Crane/Derrick)
- "Binky's Round"-Up (Boon/Crane/Derrick)
- "Too Much Fun" (Boon/Crane/Derrick)
- "All Over The Place" (Boon/Crane/Derrick)
- "The Viking Song" (Boon/Crane/Derrick)
- "Just Around The Corner" (Boon/Crane/Derrick)
- "As Long As" (Parts 1 & 2) (Boon/Crane/Derrick)
- "Hammerdown I" (Boon/Holzman/Tambourvich/Vandenberg)
- "This Land Is Your Land" (Woody GuthrieWoody GuthrieWoodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
) - "Hammerdown II" (Boon/Holzman/Tambourvich/Vandenberg)
- "Our New Industrial Direction" (Boon/Crane/Derrick)
- "That's All There Is" (Boon/Crane/Derrick)
- "My Part" (Boon)
- "Don't Look Now" (John FogertyJohn FogertyJohn Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...
) - "Plight" (Boon/Watt)
- "Corona" (Boon)
- "But First..." (Boon/Watt/Derrick)
- "I Felt Like A Gringo" (Watt)
- "God Bows To Math" (Watt)
- "Themselves" (Watt)
- "Self"-Referenced (Watt)
- "#1 Hit Song" (Boon/Hurley)
- "History Lesson" - Part II (Watt)
- "Many as One" (Boon)
Musical personnel
- On Tracks 1-3, 8, 10-16, 20-21:
- D. BoonD. Boond. Boon born Dennes Dale Boon, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Active between 1978, when he joined The Reactionaries, and 1985, when he was killed in a van accident, Boon was best known as the guitarist and vocalist of the Californian punk rock trio Minutemen.-Youth:Dennes Boon...
- guitar, keyboard, vocals - CraneCrane (musician)Crane is a pseudonym of Richard Alan Krieger . He is a trumpeter and vocalist that has played and recorded with Minutemen on their albums Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat and Project: Mersh, and with that group's D...
- bass, vocals, keyboard - Richard DerrickRichard DerrickRichard Derrick was born in Torrance, California in 1961, and is a lifelong resident of nearby San Pedro. He began playing music at an early age, starting with piano at age four, guitar at age ten, then learning both drums and bass guitar at 15...
- drums, keyboard, bass, acoustic guitar
- D. Boon
- On Tracks 4-7:
- D. Boon - bass
- Richard Derrick - acoustic guitar
- On Track 9:
- D. Boon - solo guitar
- On Tracks 17-19:
- D. Boon - guitar, vocals
- Rob Holzman - percussion
- Martin TamburovichMartin TamburovichMartin Tamburovich was the co-founder of New Alliance Records and vocalist for the short-lived Punk/New Wave band The Reactionaries. Tamburovich, along with his San Pedro High School classmates D. Boon, Mike Watt, and George Hurley, formed the band in 1978; they disbanded a year later...
- percussion - Dirk Vandenberg - percussion
- On Tracks 22-25:
- D. Boon - acoustic guitar, vocals
- On Tracks 26-32:
- The Minutemen with guest substitute drummer Richard Derrick
- On Track 33:
- D. Boon: four multi-tracked guitar parts
Recording details
- Tracks 1-16, 20-21 recorded at various living room and party jams between November 1984 and June 1985.
- Tracks 17-19 recorded live at The Music Machine, Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, April 5, 1984 - Tracks 22-25 recorded live at The Lhasa Club, West Hollywood, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, June 27, 1984 - Tracks 26-32 recorded live at University Of CaliforniaUniversity of CaliforniaThe University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, January 30, 1985 - Track 33 recorded at D. Boon and Richard Derrick's home, May 1985, edited and mixed October 2002.
All of the songs were recorded on compact audio cassette using a boombox
Boombox
Boombox is a colloquial expression for a portable cassette or CD player. Other terms known are ghetto blaster, jambox, or radio-cassette. It is a device capable of receiving radio stations and playing recorded music , usually at relatively high volume...
's condensor microphones
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
, except for tracks 3, 8, and 15 which were recorded on stereo open reel and track 33 which was recorded on four-track open reel.
Other album credits
- Richard Derrick - editing and mixing
- Mike Watt - invaluable assistance, liner notes
- Crane - invaluable assistance, liner notes
- Derrick Bostrom - liner notes
- David Guererro - additional post-production
- Kevin Keller - additional post-production
- Paul Sanolan - additional post-production
- Joe Steiner - mastering
- D. Boon - artwork (from a 1984 Christmas card given to Richard Derrick)
- Nanette Roeland - design and layout
- Dirk Vandenberg - photography
- Special thanks: Dennes & Patricia Boon, the Derrick and Sanchez family, Mike Watt, George Hurley, Harvey Kubernik, Derrick Bostrom, Leland Jessop, Chris Benson, Tom Pachal, Stew, Juliana Roeland, Bruce Siart, Tod Van Valkenburgh, Jim Mills, and Cleo.