Mother's Milk
Encyclopedia
Mother's Milk is the fourth studio album by American rock
band Red Hot Chili Peppers
, released on August 16, 1989, on EMI America Records
. It was the first album to feature the band's most well-known lineup. After the death of founding guitarist Hillel Slovak
and subsequent departure of drummer Jack Irons
, vocalist Anthony Kiedis
and bassist Flea
regrouped with the addition of guitarist John Frusciante
and drummer Chad Smith
. Frusciante's influence altered the band's sound by placing more emphasis on melody
than rhythm
, which had dominated the band's previous material. Returning producer Michael Beinhorn
favored heavy metal
guitar riffs as well as excessive overdubbing
, and as a result Beinhorn and Frusciante constantly fought over the album's guitar sound.
The record was a greater commercial success than any of the Chili Peppers' three previous studio albums. Mother's Milk peaked at number 52 on the Billboard 200
and received widespread recognition for singles "Knock Me Down
", the Stevie Wonder
cover "Higher Ground" and "Taste the Pain
". The album became their first gold record
in early 1990, and was the first step for the band in achieving international success. Although the record was not met with the same positive critical reception that its predecessor The Uplift Mofo Party Plan
(1987) had garnered, Mother's Milk, according to Amy Hanson of Allmusic, "turned the tide and transformed the band from underground funk-rocking rappers to mainstream bad boys with seemingly very little effort". Mother's Milk would eventually go platinum.
in 1983, the group established themselves as a prominent funk rock
band with their 1984 debut album The Red Hot Chili Peppers
. Disappointed with the results of the production, vocalist Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea replaced guitarist Jack Sherman with founding member Hillel Slovak
, who had quit his band several weeks before. The group's George Clinton
-produced second album, Freaky Styley
(1985), was Slovak's first effort with the band. The Uplift Mofo Party Plan
, which was released in 1987, saw original drummer Jack Irons
return after he too left. The record, a critical success that peaked at number 148 on the Billboard 200
, is the only Red Hot Chili Peppers album the original members recorded together. Shortly following the ensuing tour, Slovak died of a heroin overdose and left the rest of the group in complete shock; Irons, citing an inability to cope with the death, quit. Kiedis and Flea, similarly devastated, were determined to persevere despite the loss of two key members. They chose DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight, a friend of Clinton's and former member of the funk band Parliament
, to replace Slovak on guitar; D. H. Peligro
of the punk rock
outfit Dead Kennedys
replaced Irons. Neither band member ended up working out with the band's long term plans so both were fired. McKnight took the firing harder than expected while the Anthony and Flea admit that firing Peligro was one of the hardest things they had to do because he was such a close friend.
Kiedis and Flea found a replacement for McKnight in guitarist John Frusciante. Flea had originally directed Frusciante to audition for the band Thelonious Monster
. An avid Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, Frusciante was, according to Flea, "a really talented and knowledgeable musician. He [Frusciante] knows all the shit I don't know. I basically know nothing about music theory and he's studied it to death, inside and out. He's a very disciplined musician—all he cares about are his guitar and his cigarettes." Flea and Kiedis had jammed with Frusciante twice before hiring McKnight and Peligro. It was only after McKnight and Peligro were fired that the bassist and vocalist invited Frusciante to the Chili Peppers. He accepted instantly, but Frusciante was not familiar with the funk genre: "I wasn't really a funk player before I joined the band. I learned everything I needed to know about how to sound good with Flea by studying Hillel [Slovak's] playing and I just took it sideways from there." Although they now had a new guitarist, the Chili Peppers remained without a drummer and were forced to hold open auditions. The last to audition, Chad Smith, was a six-foot three-inch tall drummer who, according to Flea, "lit a fire under our asses". Smith was a hard-hitting musician the Chili Peppers believed they would create a strong relationship with. Kiedis later said the audition with Smith left "[the band] in a state of frenzied laughter that we couldn't shake out of for a half an hour".
; songs like "Knock Me Down" were formed from jam session
s without any input from returning producer Michael Beinhorn
. According to Flea, the Hully Gully sessions bore fruit: "We played hard and fast more than [at] any other time in our career, I think. A lot of chops were going down [...] we played constantly, got to know each other, and came up with a record." Kiedis and Flea recognized that Frusciante's presence had become a significant influence on the band's new material as the Hully Gully sessions were proving to be extremely productive; Flea recalled that "[Frusciante] was an immense new element to the sound of our band and a big opening up for us."
In April 1989, the Chili Peppers embarked on a short tour to familiarize Smith and Frusciante with how the band managed live performances. The "Positive Mental Octopus tour" saw the band play small venues throughout the United States, including several concerts on the East and West Coast. During this period, Frusciante began to assert more energy and his ego "got a little swollen", according to Flea, "He was running around being rude to girls and getting them pissed off. But that's to be expected, I mean, shit, you're 18 years old and you want to get laid really bad and all of a sudden you're in a band, the girls want to fuck. You're bound to go crazy." Another incident, following a performance at the George Mason University
in Fairfax
, Virginia, caused legal repercussions; a student accused Kiedis of engaging in sexual misconduct and indecent exposure. The vocalist was subsequently arrested and released on bail pending a trial that was to be set for a later date.
Following the brief "Positive Mental Octopus tour", Red Hot Chili Peppers entered the Ocean Way Recording
studio in Hollywood
to record Mother's Milk. "It was weird when I first joined the band because we recorded the album after I'd been in the band for just a few months and Chad had actually been in for just two weeks", Frusciante recalled. "I was still a little bit confused about my position and we were just like four individuals. Music is all about welding people into a unit and with all the touring we've been doing we're now like an eight armed cosmic octopus!" Beinhorn pushed the Chili Peppers to produce the best possible takes for each of the record's thirteen tracks with the intent of the band obtaining a hit record.
Although there had been stress and conflict during the recording of other Chili Peppers albums, the Mother's Milk sessions were especially uncomfortable due to Beinhorn's incessant desire to create a hit. He recalled that he and the band were at odds: "Suffice to say that I had a very intense personal relationship [with the band] and somewhere along the line I fell out with [them]." Beinhorn constantly clashed with Frusciante over guitar effects. According to Kiedis, "[Beinhorn] wanted John to have a big, crunching, almost metal-sounding guitar tone whereas before we always had some interesting acid-rock guitar tones as well as a lot of slinky, sexy, funky guitar tones." Frusciante was frustrated with the producer's attitude and ultimately resented his playing on the record, feeling it was too "macho". Kiedis recalled that, in the end, "I couldn't tolerate his direction any longer. He was trying to squeeze something out of me that I wasn't feeling, and we got in a fight and I knew that I was done with him."
Mother's Milk features an array of musical styles in its thirteen tracks. Among the songs that surfaced from the Hully Gully sessions in early 1989, "Knock Me Down
" became one of the most radical shifts in style for the band. The introspective lyrics, which analyze the death of Hillel Slovak and the devastating effect drugs can have on life, were a new approach for Kiedis, who primarily wrote of sexual intercourse and a hedonistic
lifestyle. The vocalist did not, however, want the track to be associated with "anti-drug" sentiments, claiming, "[the song] is about letting your friends know that you need help and then being willing to accept the help of others when you need it, whether it's from drugs, or from a number of other personal problems." Kiedis, who had a history of heroin and cocaine
use, became sober following Slovak's death; the track serves as an allusion to this. According to music journalist Jeff Apter, the song "Knock Me Down" was "clearly the most important track the band had ever laid down; it proved that these Peppers were more than knuckleheads with socks hanging off their cocks." Musically, the track integrates the Chili Peppers' typical punk influences, but asserts heavier emphasis on melody and harmonics that lead into more alternative
territory. "Knock Me Down" was originally recorded to be a duet between Kiedis and Frusciante, but the song was remixed before being released as a single; the new mix accidentally highlighted the guitarist's voice instead of Kiedis'.
"Higher Ground" became another song that helped the band achieve international success. Originally written and recorded in 1973 by R&B singer Stevie Wonder
, the track was, according to Flea, a perfect cover for the band: "[...] the lyrics are great. Especially as far as the situation that the band has been in, as far as state of mind, for the past few months. That song is really about raising and uplifting yourself spiritually." The bassist affirmed that the reason the band covered the song was to pay homage to Wonder and the important role he played in popular music. The cover begins with a funk bass-line, followed by multi-layered heavy metal guitar progressions and effects-treated vocals. "Higher Ground"'s chorus features backing vocals from an array of friends and engineers who worked on the record; the individuals' competence in singing was irrelevant to the band because they sought to achieve a sense of unity. Mother's Milk was composed of a variety of songs that expanded the Chili Peppers' repertoire. The instrumental "Pretty Little Ditty" was one of the few songs that featured no guitar layering; Apter notes that the song is "a dreamy, sweetly stoned instrumental featured deft picking and strumming from Frusciante, intertwined with blasts of trumpet from Flea." The eclectic track was originally intended to be over three minutes long, but was cut to just under 2 minutes before the album's release. "Taste the Pain
" reflects a more meditative and melodic theme, similar to "Knock Me Down". Frusciante introduces psychedelic guitar progressions in the verse, while the lyrics touch on themes of love and loss. Other tracks such as "Stone Cold Bush" presented topics of prostitution while "Punk Rock Classic" was, in retrospect, an emulation of typical punk rock
songs by Black Flag
and The Germs—bands that were influential to the Chili Peppers.
and the other being model Alaine Dawn; the latter was ultimately chosen. Controversy arose, however, when Dawn claimed the band did not notify her that she was the one chosen to be on the cover of Mother's Milk. Furthermore, several national chains refused to sell the record because they believed the female subject displayed too much nudity. A more strictly censored version was manufactured for some retailers that featured the band members in far larger proportion than the original. The cover of the record was influenced by a promotional poster Kiedis had from the 1960s of Sly and the Family Stone, in which frontman Sly Stone
held a miniaturized band in his palm. When Kiedis was finding shots of the band to use on the cover, Frusciante initially refused every photograph the vocalist showed him but settled on one of him sitting down laughing. Mother's Milk was affixed with an "explicit language" warning sticker that, according to Kiedis, "[D]oesn't bother me. Our lyrics are very explicit, whether it's about sex or friendship or love for life in general." The cover booklet of the record features a painting by Hillel Slovak. Following the album's release, a limited number of promotional posters were issued with the model's breasts exposed. Dawn had no knowledge of the pressing and sued the band, winning a $50,000 settlement.
The singles for Mother's Milk followed a similar artistic theme. The cover of "Knock Me Down" featured the band shirtless, in front of a photograph of an elephant in an African setting. "Higher Ground" was similar in that all four members—photographs of which were taken from the music video—were printed in front of a large image of Kiedis' face. "Taste the Pain" featured the band together with a red and yellow background with the Chili Peppers' asterisk adjacent to the typeface.
as the Chili Peppers dance around him; however, Wonder declined to be in the video. Kiedis gave full creative license to Carolan on the condition that he "make us [the band] look like the Gods of Funk." While the video for "Higher Ground" was intended to be upbeat and exuberant, "Knock Me Down" was filmed to be more poignant; Carolan recalls, "It was a very special track for the band and it needed to be treated with the utmost care and respect. Anthony and Flea just wanted it to be real soulful with a sense of urgency." The videos took a day each to complete and were filmed with relatively small budgets, but the outcome, as Jeff Apter notes, "[B]ecame key elements of [the album's] success." After production was complete, MTV
introduced "Knock Me Down" and "Higher Ground" into their daily rotation, highlighting the band as up-and-coming and "one to watch".
Released on August 16, 1989, Mother's Milk peaked at number 52 on the U.S. Billboard 200
The record failed to chart in the United Kingdom and Europe, but climbed to number 33 in Australia. "Knock Me Down" reached number six on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks
whereas "Higher Ground" charted at number eleven; the latter of the two ultimately proved to be more successful, however, by influencing foreign charts at number fifty-four in the UK and forty-five in Australia and France. While "Taste the Pain" did not chart in the U.S., the single reached number twenty-six in the UK—the group's first Top 40 single in the region. The success the Red Hot Chili Peppers achieved with Mother's Milk was something the group had been working towards since the release of their debut album; Apter notes, "After five hard years, several departures, sackings and one tragic death, the Peppers were now much more than a hometown sensation." The band had played numerous concerts before the album's release and aired new songs weekly to generate interest in it. Mother's Milk was certified gold
by the Recording Industry Association of America
in late March 1990—it is now certified platinum—and was the first Chili Peppers album to ship in excess of 500,000 units. In 2003 the album was re-released through EMI; all tracks were completely remastered and an additional six songs were included as well as hand written liner notes from Flea.
', Mother's Milk was everything the band had hoped for, and a little more besides." Steve Morse of The Boston Globe
called it a "high-octane fusion of metal, funk and rap—sort of Prince meets Jimi Hendrix in the Twilight Zone," while noting that "Knock Me Down" combined "electrifying musicianship". The Toronto Star commented that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were "the Mothers of Invention
for the 1990s."
While Carly Darlin of The Orange County Register
found the record to be "an energetic and fun restatement of the RHCP whiplash funk attitude", she believed that "with the exception of the dreamy instrumental 'Pretty Little Ditty', it doesn't break any new ground." She continued by saying that, if anything "Mother's Milk is a slight step away from the party-funk grooves of the last two albums and a return to the band's punk-rock roots. They even reprise the cover of Jimi Hendrix's 'Fire', which they did as a B-side for their 'Fight Like A Brave' 12-inch two years ago." Furthermore, Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post
said "the polite term for albums like 'Milk' is 'eclectic', but it really sounds as if the band is unraveling [...] Considering the circumstances, it's not especially surprising that the album seems to be looking for someone to give it directions." However, Jenkins did believe Frusciante possessed "solid metal chops and means to show them off." Music critic Robert Christgau
, who gave the record a rating of C+, mocked the band's ability to promote empathy and found the guitar layering in Mother's Milk to have been done improperly: "punks who loved Hendrix and P-Funk way way back, they're finally cashing in on their good taste, and though unbelievers dis their sincerity, execution's the problem. They didn't have the chops to bring it off then, and by pushing the guitar up front they sound even cruder now. But they're perfectly nice fellas, really—mention 'compassion' in the very first verse."
tour. The album's official launch, however, was held in New York City
at a club called Tramps; following this, Red Hot Chili Peppers embarked on an introductory European tour which included a free show in Amsterdam's Dam Square
that attracted over 10,000 attendees. On September 8, 1989 the band commenced their North American leg in Seattle. The leg saw an overwhelmingly positive response from critics across the country; following a concert in Portland
, journalist John Foyston of The Oregonian
noted the "Hollywood-based quartet fomented an audience reaction that had to be seen to be believed. The stage-divers started rushing the stage from the moment the band walked on. Once on stage, it was an issue of luck and chutzpah." Todd Caudle of the Colorado Springs
newspaper The Gazette
said the Chili Peppers' performance at the Colorado Indoor Sports Complex was "the kind of place where kids could be kids, and no one cared if soft drinks stuck to the floor and the rafters shook with a stunning barrage of decibels. People in the audience, steeped in sweat and pressing against the barricade in front of the stage, threw their arms up in unison and barked out approval of one fast, furiously-played song after another."
By the end of the leg, the band members were having trouble adjusting to their new found fame as virtually every concert on the tour was sold out and Mother's Milk approached 500,000 units sold. Spin
reported that following a show in Atlanta, Flea invited a woman to his hotel room for sexual intercourse, but locked himself in the bathroom upon arriving because all he could think of were his wife and daughter. Kiedis ended a two-year long relationship with actress Ione Skye
, and Frusciante, looking back on the tour years later, admitted, "I was totally abusing the situation [...] partying and screwing a bunch of girls. At 19, I might have looked like a stud but I was a weakling inside. I wasn't proud of who I was then." Shortly before the end of the North American leg, the band filmed a performance at the Long Beach Arena
, which was released as Psychedelic Sexfunk Live from Heaven
in 1990. A concert at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium
on New Year's Eve 1989 attracted over 10,000 attendees and was considered by band photographer Tony Woolliscroft to be "the biggest [concert] I had seen them play at that point. It gave me a handle on how hard the band had worked in the USA in the years prior to this." The tour continued in the United Kingdom, where the band was receiving less attention; Kiedis complained after several shows there, "We're huge in the States and it's sort of frustrating and confusing that no one knows who we are here." It was not until after their return from the UK that "Taste the Pain" was released as a single and subsequently charted at number twenty-nine there. In March 1990, the band was asked to perform on MTV
's coverage of Spring break
in Florida. At the event, Flea and Smith attempted to engage the audience by jumping from the stage; the situation got out of hand, and the two were alleged to have sexually assaulted and verbally abused a female audience member. They were arrested several days later on charges of battery, disorderly conduct and solicitation to commit a lascivious act, but released on $2,000 bail. Smith and Flea's arrest worsened Kiedis' impending charge in Virginia from the "Positive Mental Octopus" tour, for which the vocalist was ultimately convicted of sexual battery and indecent exposure and sentenced to pay a fine of $1,000 per charge.
The Chili Peppers wound up the Mother's Milk tour with a variety of performances that included the 1990 Pinkpop Festival
and several other large-scale concerts. Once complete, the band rested, and Frusciante and Flea organized a short-lived side project called H.A.T.E. along with bassist John Norwood Fisher
and vocalist Angelo Moore
of Fishbone
. EMI capitalized on the recent interest in the Chili Peppers by releasing a music video compilation VHS called Positive Mental Octopus
, which was named after the tour, in 1990. In 1990, Show Me Your Soul
, a b'side from the Knock Me Down
single was featured in the hit movie, Pretty Woman
. The band also recorded one new track, a cover of the Bachman–Turner Overdrive song "Takin' Care of Business
" although it would remain unreleased.
Additional musicians
Recording personnel
Additional personnel
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
, released on August 16, 1989, on EMI America Records
EMI America Records
EMI America Records was started in 1978 by EMI as a second US label next to Capitol Records. It absorbed Liberty Records in 1984. In the late 1980s EMI America was consolidated with Manhattan Records to form EMI Manhattan Records, which later became known simply as EMI in 1990, then part of EMI...
. It was the first album to feature the band's most well-known lineup. After the death of founding guitarist Hillel Slovak
Hillel Slovak
Hillel Slovak was an Israeli-American musician best known as the original guitarist and founding member of the Los Angeles rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers...
and subsequent departure of drummer Jack Irons
Jack Irons
Jack Steven Irons is an American musician who is best known as the original drummer of the American rock band The Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as the former drummer for Eleven and Pearl Jam. He has also worked with Joe Strummer and The Latino Rockabilly War, Redd Kross, Raging Slab, Spinnerette...
, vocalist Anthony Kiedis
Anthony Kiedis
Anthony Kiedis is an American vocalist/lyricist, and occasional actor best known as the lead vocalist of the Grammy-winning American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis spent his youth in Grand Rapids, Michigan with his mother before moving, shortly before his 12th birthday, to Hollywood,...
and bassist Flea
Flea (musician)
Michael Peter Balzary , better known by his stage name Flea, is an Australian-American musician and occasional actor. He is best known as the bassist, co-founding member, and one of the composers of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers...
regrouped with the addition of guitarist John Frusciante
John Frusciante
John Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums...
and drummer Chad Smith
Chad Smith
Chad Smith is an American musician, best known as the longtime and current drummer of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Smith is also the drummer of the hard rock supergroup Chickenfoot which includes Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, and Michael Anthony, former Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes' backing band and...
. Frusciante's influence altered the band's sound by placing more emphasis on melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
than rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
, which had dominated the band's previous material. Returning producer Michael Beinhorn
Michael Beinhorn
Michael Beinhorn is an American musician and record producer.Beinhorn started his professional career as a musician, playing keyboards in Bill Laswell's Material during the 1980s...
favored heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
guitar riffs as well as excessive overdubbing
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
, and as a result Beinhorn and Frusciante constantly fought over the album's guitar sound.
The record was a greater commercial success than any of the Chili Peppers' three previous studio albums. Mother's Milk peaked at number 52 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and received widespread recognition for singles "Knock Me Down
Knock Me Down
"Knock Me Down" is a song by the funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers from their fourth studio album, Mother's Milk . The track was released as the album's first single and depicts a negativity towards the stereotypically egotistic lifestyle of a typical rock-star and was considered to be...
", the Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
cover "Higher Ground" and "Taste the Pain
Taste the Pain
"Taste the Pain" is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from the album Mother's Milk, and was the third and final single from that album. The music video was filmed with the band playing in an art room, where artists are in the middle of painting a mural artwork, directed by Tom Stern and Alex Winter...
". The album became their first gold record
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
in early 1990, and was the first step for the band in achieving international success. Although the record was not met with the same positive critical reception that its predecessor The Uplift Mofo Party Plan
The Uplift Mofo Party Plan
The Uplift Mofo Party Plan is the third studio album by American funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on September 29, 1987 on EMI America Records...
(1987) had garnered, Mother's Milk, according to Amy Hanson of Allmusic, "turned the tide and transformed the band from underground funk-rocking rappers to mainstream bad boys with seemingly very little effort". Mother's Milk would eventually go platinum.
Background
After Red Hot Chili Peppers received a record deal with EMIEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
in 1983, the group established themselves as a prominent funk rock
Funk rock
Funk rock is a music genre that fuses funk and rock elements. Its earliest incarnation was heard in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s by acts such as the Jimi Hendrix Experience , Eric Burdon and War, Trapeze, Parliament-Funkadelic, Betty Davis and Mother's Finest. The 1990s were known for acts...
band with their 1984 debut album The Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers (album)
The Red Hot Chili Peppers is the debut studio album by American funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on August 10, 1984 on EMI America Records. The album was produced by Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill, and is the only album to feature guitarist Jack Sherman.-Background and recording:Red...
. Disappointed with the results of the production, vocalist Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea replaced guitarist Jack Sherman with founding member Hillel Slovak
Hillel Slovak
Hillel Slovak was an Israeli-American musician best known as the original guitarist and founding member of the Los Angeles rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers...
, who had quit his band several weeks before. The group's George Clinton
George Clinton (musician)
George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...
-produced second album, Freaky Styley
Freaky Styley
Freaky Styley is the second studio album by American funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on August 16, 1985 on EMI America. The album name holds its origins in a commonly used phrase in the 80's to describe anything as being "freaky styley". Freaky Styley marks founding guitarist Hillel...
(1985), was Slovak's first effort with the band. The Uplift Mofo Party Plan
The Uplift Mofo Party Plan
The Uplift Mofo Party Plan is the third studio album by American funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on September 29, 1987 on EMI America Records...
, which was released in 1987, saw original drummer Jack Irons
Jack Irons
Jack Steven Irons is an American musician who is best known as the original drummer of the American rock band The Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as the former drummer for Eleven and Pearl Jam. He has also worked with Joe Strummer and The Latino Rockabilly War, Redd Kross, Raging Slab, Spinnerette...
return after he too left. The record, a critical success that peaked at number 148 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, is the only Red Hot Chili Peppers album the original members recorded together. Shortly following the ensuing tour, Slovak died of a heroin overdose and left the rest of the group in complete shock; Irons, citing an inability to cope with the death, quit. Kiedis and Flea, similarly devastated, were determined to persevere despite the loss of two key members. They chose DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight, a friend of Clinton's and former member of the funk band Parliament
Parliament (band)
Parliament was a funk band most prominent during the 1970s. It and its sister act Funkadelic, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...
, to replace Slovak on guitar; D. H. Peligro
D. H. Peligro
D.H. Peligro was the third drummer for the hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys from February 1981 until their breakup in December 1986...
of the punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
outfit Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....
replaced Irons. Neither band member ended up working out with the band's long term plans so both were fired. McKnight took the firing harder than expected while the Anthony and Flea admit that firing Peligro was one of the hardest things they had to do because he was such a close friend.
Kiedis and Flea found a replacement for McKnight in guitarist John Frusciante. Flea had originally directed Frusciante to audition for the band Thelonious Monster
Thelonious Monster
Thelonious Monster is a post-punk rock band from Los Angeles, led by singer-songwriter Bob Forrest. Active from 1983 to 1994, and again since 2004, the band has released five original studio albums...
. An avid Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, Frusciante was, according to Flea, "a really talented and knowledgeable musician. He [Frusciante] knows all the shit I don't know. I basically know nothing about music theory and he's studied it to death, inside and out. He's a very disciplined musician—all he cares about are his guitar and his cigarettes." Flea and Kiedis had jammed with Frusciante twice before hiring McKnight and Peligro. It was only after McKnight and Peligro were fired that the bassist and vocalist invited Frusciante to the Chili Peppers. He accepted instantly, but Frusciante was not familiar with the funk genre: "I wasn't really a funk player before I joined the band. I learned everything I needed to know about how to sound good with Flea by studying Hillel [Slovak's] playing and I just took it sideways from there." Although they now had a new guitarist, the Chili Peppers remained without a drummer and were forced to hold open auditions. The last to audition, Chad Smith, was a six-foot three-inch tall drummer who, according to Flea, "lit a fire under our asses". Smith was a hard-hitting musician the Chili Peppers believed they would create a strong relationship with. Kiedis later said the audition with Smith left "[the band] in a state of frenzied laughter that we couldn't shake out of for a half an hour".
Recording and production
Unlike the stop-start sessions for The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, where Kiedis would frequently disappear to seek drugs, pre-production for Mother's Milk went smoothly. The band recorded basic tracks during March and early April 1989 at Hully Gully studios in Silver LakeSilver Lake, Los Angeles, California
Silver Lake is a hilly neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California east of Hollywood and northwest of Downtown Los Angeles. Silver Lake is inhabited by a wide variety of ethnic and socioeconomic groups, but it is best known as an eclectic gathering of hipsters and the creative class.The...
; songs like "Knock Me Down" were formed from jam session
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
s without any input from returning producer Michael Beinhorn
Michael Beinhorn
Michael Beinhorn is an American musician and record producer.Beinhorn started his professional career as a musician, playing keyboards in Bill Laswell's Material during the 1980s...
. According to Flea, the Hully Gully sessions bore fruit: "We played hard and fast more than [at] any other time in our career, I think. A lot of chops were going down [...] we played constantly, got to know each other, and came up with a record." Kiedis and Flea recognized that Frusciante's presence had become a significant influence on the band's new material as the Hully Gully sessions were proving to be extremely productive; Flea recalled that "[Frusciante] was an immense new element to the sound of our band and a big opening up for us."
In April 1989, the Chili Peppers embarked on a short tour to familiarize Smith and Frusciante with how the band managed live performances. The "Positive Mental Octopus tour" saw the band play small venues throughout the United States, including several concerts on the East and West Coast. During this period, Frusciante began to assert more energy and his ego "got a little swollen", according to Flea, "He was running around being rude to girls and getting them pissed off. But that's to be expected, I mean, shit, you're 18 years old and you want to get laid really bad and all of a sudden you're in a band, the girls want to fuck. You're bound to go crazy." Another incident, following a performance at the George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
in Fairfax
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....
, Virginia, caused legal repercussions; a student accused Kiedis of engaging in sexual misconduct and indecent exposure. The vocalist was subsequently arrested and released on bail pending a trial that was to be set for a later date.
Following the brief "Positive Mental Octopus tour", Red Hot Chili Peppers entered the Ocean Way Recording
Ocean Way Recording
Ocean Way Recording is the name of a series of recording studios in Hollywood, California and Nashville, Tennessee. Ocean Way Studios is well known in the recording industry due to the award-winning albums that were produced there....
studio in Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
to record Mother's Milk. "It was weird when I first joined the band because we recorded the album after I'd been in the band for just a few months and Chad had actually been in for just two weeks", Frusciante recalled. "I was still a little bit confused about my position and we were just like four individuals. Music is all about welding people into a unit and with all the touring we've been doing we're now like an eight armed cosmic octopus!" Beinhorn pushed the Chili Peppers to produce the best possible takes for each of the record's thirteen tracks with the intent of the band obtaining a hit record.
Although there had been stress and conflict during the recording of other Chili Peppers albums, the Mother's Milk sessions were especially uncomfortable due to Beinhorn's incessant desire to create a hit. He recalled that he and the band were at odds: "Suffice to say that I had a very intense personal relationship [with the band] and somewhere along the line I fell out with [them]." Beinhorn constantly clashed with Frusciante over guitar effects. According to Kiedis, "[Beinhorn] wanted John to have a big, crunching, almost metal-sounding guitar tone whereas before we always had some interesting acid-rock guitar tones as well as a lot of slinky, sexy, funky guitar tones." Frusciante was frustrated with the producer's attitude and ultimately resented his playing on the record, feeling it was too "macho". Kiedis recalled that, in the end, "I couldn't tolerate his direction any longer. He was trying to squeeze something out of me that I wasn't feeling, and we got in a fight and I knew that I was done with him."
Composition
The band's style of music developed with the arrival of Frusciante; producer Michael Beinhorn observed, "It was apparent early on that John was the perfect guitarist for the band—he brought the elements of songwriting and composition to the band which they'd never truly had prior to his involvement. I believe that John is a pivotal figure in the Chili Peppers, being that he is such a distinctive songwriter." Frusciante altered the band's sound by introducing melodies, harmonies and more complex song structures. In contrast to the group's previous albums, which featured groove and rhythm-based songs, Mother's Milk contained melodic compositions that reflected the new guitarist's influence. Most of the record, due to Beinhorn's presence, is composed of heavy metal guitar riffs and excessive layering.Mother's Milk features an array of musical styles in its thirteen tracks. Among the songs that surfaced from the Hully Gully sessions in early 1989, "Knock Me Down
Knock Me Down
"Knock Me Down" is a song by the funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers from their fourth studio album, Mother's Milk . The track was released as the album's first single and depicts a negativity towards the stereotypically egotistic lifestyle of a typical rock-star and was considered to be...
" became one of the most radical shifts in style for the band. The introspective lyrics, which analyze the death of Hillel Slovak and the devastating effect drugs can have on life, were a new approach for Kiedis, who primarily wrote of sexual intercourse and a hedonistic
Hedonism
Hedonism is a school of thought which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure .-Etymology:The name derives from the Greek word for "delight" ....
lifestyle. The vocalist did not, however, want the track to be associated with "anti-drug" sentiments, claiming, "[the song] is about letting your friends know that you need help and then being willing to accept the help of others when you need it, whether it's from drugs, or from a number of other personal problems." Kiedis, who had a history of heroin and cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
use, became sober following Slovak's death; the track serves as an allusion to this. According to music journalist Jeff Apter, the song "Knock Me Down" was "clearly the most important track the band had ever laid down; it proved that these Peppers were more than knuckleheads with socks hanging off their cocks." Musically, the track integrates the Chili Peppers' typical punk influences, but asserts heavier emphasis on melody and harmonics that lead into more alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
territory. "Knock Me Down" was originally recorded to be a duet between Kiedis and Frusciante, but the song was remixed before being released as a single; the new mix accidentally highlighted the guitarist's voice instead of Kiedis'.
"Higher Ground" became another song that helped the band achieve international success. Originally written and recorded in 1973 by R&B singer Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, the track was, according to Flea, a perfect cover for the band: "[...] the lyrics are great. Especially as far as the situation that the band has been in, as far as state of mind, for the past few months. That song is really about raising and uplifting yourself spiritually." The bassist affirmed that the reason the band covered the song was to pay homage to Wonder and the important role he played in popular music. The cover begins with a funk bass-line, followed by multi-layered heavy metal guitar progressions and effects-treated vocals. "Higher Ground"'s chorus features backing vocals from an array of friends and engineers who worked on the record; the individuals' competence in singing was irrelevant to the band because they sought to achieve a sense of unity. Mother's Milk was composed of a variety of songs that expanded the Chili Peppers' repertoire. The instrumental "Pretty Little Ditty" was one of the few songs that featured no guitar layering; Apter notes that the song is "a dreamy, sweetly stoned instrumental featured deft picking and strumming from Frusciante, intertwined with blasts of trumpet from Flea." The eclectic track was originally intended to be over three minutes long, but was cut to just under 2 minutes before the album's release. "Taste the Pain
Taste the Pain
"Taste the Pain" is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from the album Mother's Milk, and was the third and final single from that album. The music video was filmed with the band playing in an art room, where artists are in the middle of painting a mural artwork, directed by Tom Stern and Alex Winter...
" reflects a more meditative and melodic theme, similar to "Knock Me Down". Frusciante introduces psychedelic guitar progressions in the verse, while the lyrics touch on themes of love and loss. Other tracks such as "Stone Cold Bush" presented topics of prostitution while "Punk Rock Classic" was, in retrospect, an emulation of typical punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
songs by Black Flag
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
and The Germs—bands that were influential to the Chili Peppers.
Artwork
Mother's Milk features a black and white photograph of the band sprawled across the arms of a proportionately larger naked woman. A rose conceals one of her nipples while Kiedis' standing body conceals the other. There were originally two women whose photographs were planned to be used, one being Kiedis' girlfriend Ione SkyeIone Skye
Ione Skye Lee is an English-born American actress, who became a teen idol after the 1989 movie Say Anything.... In 2006 VH1 placed her at number 84 in the "100 Greatest Teen Stars" list.-Early life:...
and the other being model Alaine Dawn; the latter was ultimately chosen. Controversy arose, however, when Dawn claimed the band did not notify her that she was the one chosen to be on the cover of Mother's Milk. Furthermore, several national chains refused to sell the record because they believed the female subject displayed too much nudity. A more strictly censored version was manufactured for some retailers that featured the band members in far larger proportion than the original. The cover of the record was influenced by a promotional poster Kiedis had from the 1960s of Sly and the Family Stone, in which frontman Sly Stone
Sly Stone
Sly Stone is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most famous for his role as frontman for Sly & the Family Stone, a band which played a critical role in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1993, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of...
held a miniaturized band in his palm. When Kiedis was finding shots of the band to use on the cover, Frusciante initially refused every photograph the vocalist showed him but settled on one of him sitting down laughing. Mother's Milk was affixed with an "explicit language" warning sticker that, according to Kiedis, "[D]oesn't bother me. Our lyrics are very explicit, whether it's about sex or friendship or love for life in general." The cover booklet of the record features a painting by Hillel Slovak. Following the album's release, a limited number of promotional posters were issued with the model's breasts exposed. Dawn had no knowledge of the pressing and sued the band, winning a $50,000 settlement.
The singles for Mother's Milk followed a similar artistic theme. The cover of "Knock Me Down" featured the band shirtless, in front of a photograph of an elephant in an African setting. "Higher Ground" was similar in that all four members—photographs of which were taken from the music video—were printed in front of a large image of Kiedis' face. "Taste the Pain" featured the band together with a red and yellow background with the Chili Peppers' asterisk adjacent to the typeface.
Promotion, release and reception
Director Drew Carolan was hired to film music videos for "Higher Ground" and "Knock Me Down" before the release of Mother's Milk. The initial premise for "Higher Ground" was to have the song's original writer, Stevie Wonder, sit in the lotus positionLotus position
The Lotus Position is a cross-legged sitting posture originating in meditative practices of ancient India, in which the feet are placed on the opposing thighs. It is an established posture, commonly used for meditation, in the Hindu Yoga and Buddhist contemplative traditions...
as the Chili Peppers dance around him; however, Wonder declined to be in the video. Kiedis gave full creative license to Carolan on the condition that he "make us [the band] look like the Gods of Funk." While the video for "Higher Ground" was intended to be upbeat and exuberant, "Knock Me Down" was filmed to be more poignant; Carolan recalls, "It was a very special track for the band and it needed to be treated with the utmost care and respect. Anthony and Flea just wanted it to be real soulful with a sense of urgency." The videos took a day each to complete and were filmed with relatively small budgets, but the outcome, as Jeff Apter notes, "[B]ecame key elements of [the album's] success." After production was complete, MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
introduced "Knock Me Down" and "Higher Ground" into their daily rotation, highlighting the band as up-and-coming and "one to watch".
Released on August 16, 1989, Mother's Milk peaked at number 52 on the U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
The record failed to chart in the United Kingdom and Europe, but climbed to number 33 in Australia. "Knock Me Down" reached number six on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
whereas "Higher Ground" charted at number eleven; the latter of the two ultimately proved to be more successful, however, by influencing foreign charts at number fifty-four in the UK and forty-five in Australia and France. While "Taste the Pain" did not chart in the U.S., the single reached number twenty-six in the UK—the group's first Top 40 single in the region. The success the Red Hot Chili Peppers achieved with Mother's Milk was something the group had been working towards since the release of their debut album; Apter notes, "After five hard years, several departures, sackings and one tragic death, the Peppers were now much more than a hometown sensation." The band had played numerous concerts before the album's release and aired new songs weekly to generate interest in it. Mother's Milk was certified gold
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
in late March 1990—it is now certified platinum—and was the first Chili Peppers album to ship in excess of 500,000 units. In 2003 the album was re-released through EMI; all tracks were completely remastered and an additional six songs were included as well as hand written liner notes from Flea.
Critical reception
Although more commercially successful than the band's previous albums, Mother's Milk received mixed reviews from critics who were unimpressed with the excessive distortion found throughout the record. However, it was praised as well; Amy Hanson of Allmusic called it "a pivotal album for the Red Hot Chili Peppers," and believed that "if anyone doubted the pulsating power that leapt from the blistering opener, 'Good Time Boys', it took only a few bars of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' outrageous, and brilliant, interpretation of the Stevie Wonder classic 'Higher Ground' to prove that this new lineup was onto something special. Wrapping up with the aptly titled and truly punked-out 'Punk Rock Classic' and the band's own punched-up tribute to 'Magic JohnsonMagic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...
', Mother's Milk was everything the band had hoped for, and a little more besides." Steve Morse of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
called it a "high-octane fusion of metal, funk and rap—sort of Prince meets Jimi Hendrix in the Twilight Zone," while noting that "Knock Me Down" combined "electrifying musicianship". The Toronto Star commented that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were "the Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention were an American band active from 1964 to 1969, and again from 1970 to 1975.They mainly performed works by, and were the original recording group of, US composer and guitarist Frank Zappa , although other members have had the occasional writing credit...
for the 1990s."
While Carly Darlin of The Orange County Register
The Orange County Register
The Orange County Register is a daily newspaper published in Santa Ana, California. The Register is the flagship publication of Freedom Communications, Inc., which publishes 28 daily newspapers, 23 weekly newspapers, Coast magazine, and several related Internet sites.The Register is notable for its...
found the record to be "an energetic and fun restatement of the RHCP whiplash funk attitude", she believed that "with the exception of the dreamy instrumental 'Pretty Little Ditty', it doesn't break any new ground." She continued by saying that, if anything "Mother's Milk is a slight step away from the party-funk grooves of the last two albums and a return to the band's punk-rock roots. They even reprise the cover of Jimi Hendrix's 'Fire', which they did as a B-side for their 'Fight Like A Brave' 12-inch two years ago." Furthermore, Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
said "the polite term for albums like 'Milk' is 'eclectic', but it really sounds as if the band is unraveling [...] Considering the circumstances, it's not especially surprising that the album seems to be looking for someone to give it directions." However, Jenkins did believe Frusciante possessed "solid metal chops and means to show them off." Music critic Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
, who gave the record a rating of C+, mocked the band's ability to promote empathy and found the guitar layering in Mother's Milk to have been done improperly: "punks who loved Hendrix and P-Funk way way back, they're finally cashing in on their good taste, and though unbelievers dis their sincerity, execution's the problem. They didn't have the chops to bring it off then, and by pushing the guitar up front they sound even cruder now. But they're perfectly nice fellas, really—mention 'compassion' in the very first verse."
Mother's Milk tour and aftermath
Mother's Milk instantly garnered more attention than the band's previous records and, as such, the venues the band performed in were able to accommodate far larger crowds. For the first time the band also upgraded to a full-fleged tour bus and added backup musicians and singers. Longtime friend, Keith "Tree" Barry was added to play horns and backup singers Kristen Vigard and Vickie Calhoun (who appeared in the video for "Knock Me Down") also joined the tour. When the band hit England, roadie Robbie Allen (nicknamed Rob Rule) would open for the band providing a comedy performance in which he would pretend to cut off his own penis. Allen would later become one of the band's backup singers on the One Hot MinuteOne Hot Minute
One Hot Minute is the sixth studio album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on September 12, 1995, on Warner Bros. Records...
tour. The album's official launch, however, was held in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at a club called Tramps; following this, Red Hot Chili Peppers embarked on an introductory European tour which included a free show in Amsterdam's Dam Square
Dam Square
Dam Square, or simply the Dam is a town square in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the most well-known and important locations in the city.- Location and description :...
that attracted over 10,000 attendees. On September 8, 1989 the band commenced their North American leg in Seattle. The leg saw an overwhelmingly positive response from critics across the country; following a concert in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, journalist John Foyston of The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
noted the "Hollywood-based quartet fomented an audience reaction that had to be seen to be believed. The stage-divers started rushing the stage from the moment the band walked on. Once on stage, it was an issue of luck and chutzpah." Todd Caudle of the Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...
newspaper The Gazette
The Gazette (Colorado Springs)
The Gazette is a newspaper based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. It is published daily by Irvine, California-based Freedom Communications...
said the Chili Peppers' performance at the Colorado Indoor Sports Complex was "the kind of place where kids could be kids, and no one cared if soft drinks stuck to the floor and the rafters shook with a stunning barrage of decibels. People in the audience, steeped in sweat and pressing against the barricade in front of the stage, threw their arms up in unison and barked out approval of one fast, furiously-played song after another."
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
reported that following a show in Atlanta, Flea invited a woman to his hotel room for sexual intercourse, but locked himself in the bathroom upon arriving because all he could think of were his wife and daughter. Kiedis ended a two-year long relationship with actress Ione Skye
Ione Skye
Ione Skye Lee is an English-born American actress, who became a teen idol after the 1989 movie Say Anything.... In 2006 VH1 placed her at number 84 in the "100 Greatest Teen Stars" list.-Early life:...
, and Frusciante, looking back on the tour years later, admitted, "I was totally abusing the situation [...] partying and screwing a bunch of girls. At 19, I might have looked like a stud but I was a weakling inside. I wasn't proud of who I was then." Shortly before the end of the North American leg, the band filmed a performance at the Long Beach Arena
Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center
The Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center is a convention center located in Long Beach, California. It was built on the site of the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium beginning in 1962. The primary venues of the complex include:-Long Beach Arena:...
, which was released as Psychedelic Sexfunk Live from Heaven
Psychedelic Sexfunk Live from Heaven
Psychedelic Sexfunk Live from Heaven is a video album filmed in concert at Long Beach Arena, California on December 30, 1989 and released in 1990 on VHS...
in 1990. A concert at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium
Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium is a multi-purpose arena in San Francisco, California, currently named after promoter Bill Graham...
on New Year's Eve 1989 attracted over 10,000 attendees and was considered by band photographer Tony Woolliscroft to be "the biggest [concert] I had seen them play at that point. It gave me a handle on how hard the band had worked in the USA in the years prior to this." The tour continued in the United Kingdom, where the band was receiving less attention; Kiedis complained after several shows there, "We're huge in the States and it's sort of frustrating and confusing that no one knows who we are here." It was not until after their return from the UK that "Taste the Pain" was released as a single and subsequently charted at number twenty-nine there. In March 1990, the band was asked to perform on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's coverage of Spring break
Spring break
Spring break – also known as March break, Study week or Reading week in the United Kingdom and some parts of Canada – is a recess in early spring at universities and schools in the United States, Canada, mainland China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the United...
in Florida. At the event, Flea and Smith attempted to engage the audience by jumping from the stage; the situation got out of hand, and the two were alleged to have sexually assaulted and verbally abused a female audience member. They were arrested several days later on charges of battery, disorderly conduct and solicitation to commit a lascivious act, but released on $2,000 bail. Smith and Flea's arrest worsened Kiedis' impending charge in Virginia from the "Positive Mental Octopus" tour, for which the vocalist was ultimately convicted of sexual battery and indecent exposure and sentenced to pay a fine of $1,000 per charge.
The Chili Peppers wound up the Mother's Milk tour with a variety of performances that included the 1990 Pinkpop Festival
Pinkpop
Pinkpop Festival, or Pinkpop for short, is an annual festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is held annually on the Pentecost weekend...
and several other large-scale concerts. Once complete, the band rested, and Frusciante and Flea organized a short-lived side project called H.A.T.E. along with bassist John Norwood Fisher
John Norwood Fisher
John Norwood Fisher is the bass player and founder for the band Fishbone. Fisher has played bass in the band throughout its history, even as other members have departed and returned...
and vocalist Angelo Moore
Angelo Moore
Angelo Christoper Moore is an American musician, best known for his work as the founding member, lead singer and saxophonist for the Los Angeles alternative rock band Fishbone. Moore also performs and records spoken word poetry under the stage name of Dr. Madd Vibe.-Biography:In 1993 he released a...
of Fishbone
Fishbone
Fishbone is a U.S. alternative rock band formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California, which plays a fusion of ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock and soul. Critics have noted of the band: "Fishbone was one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s...
. EMI capitalized on the recent interest in the Chili Peppers by releasing a music video compilation VHS called Positive Mental Octopus
Positive Mental Octopus
Positive Mental Octopus is a music video compilation from the alternative rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers and was released in 1990 by EMI. The compilation was only released on VHS and is now out of print though all of the music videos were released two years later on the What Hits!? compilation.The...
, which was named after the tour, in 1990. In 1990, Show Me Your Soul
Show Me Your Soul
"Show Me Your Soul" is a song by the funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers that was originally written and recorded in for the band's 1989 album Mother's Milk although it was left off the album. "Show Me Your Soul" first appeared on the "Knock Me Down" and "Taste the Pain" singles as a B-side, and...
, a b'side from the Knock Me Down
Knock Me Down
"Knock Me Down" is a song by the funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers from their fourth studio album, Mother's Milk . The track was released as the album's first single and depicts a negativity towards the stereotypically egotistic lifestyle of a typical rock-star and was considered to be...
single was featured in the hit movie, Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman is a 1990 romantic comedy film set in Los Angeles, California. Written by J.F. Lawton and directed by Garry Marshall, this motion picture features Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and also Hector Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, and Jason Alexander in supporting roles. Roberts played the only...
. The band also recorded one new track, a cover of the Bachman–Turner Overdrive song "Takin' Care of Business
Takin' Care of Business
"Takin' Care of Business" is a song written by Randy Bachman and first recorded by Canadian rock group Bachman–Turner Overdrive for their 1973 album Bachman–Turner Overdrive II.-Development:...
" although it would remain unreleased.
Track listing
Personnel
Red Hot Chili Peppers- FleaFlea (musician)Michael Peter Balzary , better known by his stage name Flea, is an Australian-American musician and occasional actor. He is best known as the bassist, co-founding member, and one of the composers of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(all), trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
(tracks 3, 7, 10), backing vocals - John FruscianteJohn FruscianteJohn Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums...
– guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
(tracks 1-8, 10-13), backing vocals - Jack IronsJack IronsJack Steven Irons is an American musician who is best known as the original drummer of the American rock band The Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as the former drummer for Eleven and Pearl Jam. He has also worked with Joe Strummer and The Latino Rockabilly War, Redd Kross, Raging Slab, Spinnerette...
– drums (track 9) - Anthony KiedisAnthony KiedisAnthony Kiedis is an American vocalist/lyricist, and occasional actor best known as the lead vocalist of the Grammy-winning American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis spent his youth in Grand Rapids, Michigan with his mother before moving, shortly before his 12th birthday, to Hollywood,...
– lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
(all), art conceptCover artCover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e... - Hillel SlovakHillel SlovakHillel Slovak was an Israeli-American musician best known as the original guitarist and founding member of the Los Angeles rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers...
– guitar (track 9) - Chad SmithChad SmithChad Smith is an American musician, best known as the longtime and current drummer of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Smith is also the drummer of the hard rock supergroup Chickenfoot which includes Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, and Michael Anthony, former Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes' backing band and...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(tracks 1-6, 8, 10-13), percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
Additional musicians
- Philip "Fish" Fisher – drums (track 7)
- Keith "Tree" Barry – tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
(tracks 3, 12) - Patrick English – trumpet (track 3)
- Lon – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
(track 3) - Dave Coleman – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
(track 7)
- Vicki Calhoun – backing vocals (1, 2, 6, 13)
- Wag – backing vocals (1, 2)
- Randy Ruff – backing vocals (1, 2)
- Aklia Chinn – backing vocals (1, 2, 13)
- Jack Sherman – backing vocals (1, 2)
- Joel Virgel Viergel – backing vocals (1, 2)
- Iris Parker – backing vocals (1, 2)
- Julie Ritter – backing vocals (1, 2)
- Gretchen Seager – backing vocals (1, 2)
- Laure Spinosa – backing vocals (1, 2)
- Sir Babs – backing vocals (1, 2)
- Merill Ward – backing vocals (1, 2)
- Bruno Deron – backing vocals (1, 2)
- Kristen Vigard – backing vocals (1, 2, 13)
Recording personnel
- Michael BeinhornMichael BeinhornMichael Beinhorn is an American musician and record producer.Beinhorn started his professional career as a musician, playing keyboards in Bill Laswell's Material during the 1980s...
– producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including... - Eddie DeLena – engineer
- Sean Demey – engineer
- Dave JerdenDave JerdenDave Jerden is an American record producer, engineer and mixer who mostly works with artists in the alternative rock, punk rock and metal genres....
– mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Felix Pappalardi – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
- Garth RichardsonGarth RichardsonGarth "GGGarth" Richardson is a Canadian music producer and engineer. He is the son of renowned Canadian music producer Jack Richardson . Jack was a pioneer of the music recording industry in the 60's and 70's...
– engineer - Howie WeinbergHowie WeinbergHowie Weinberg is a music mastering engineer who has worked with numerous bands.- Career :He has worked at Masterdisk, New York City, since 1977...
– mastering engineer
Additional personnel
- Nels Israelson – photography