Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains

Try as they might, veteran performers tend to mellow with the years -- but Primus's Les Claypool and P-Funk vet Bernie Worrell show few signs of succumbing to this inclination. Along with guitarist Buckethead and occasional Primus drummer Brain, both of whom survived the endless sessions for the alleged Guns...

By Michael Roberts

August 19, 2004

Audio By Carbonatix

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Try as they might, veteran performers tend to mellow with the years -- but Primus's Les Claypool and P-Funk vet Bernie Worrell show few signs of succumbing to this inclination. Along with guitarist Buckethead and occasional Primus drummer Brain, both of whom survived the endless sessions for the alleged Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy and lived to tell about them, they turn The Big Eyeball in the Sky into an aural freakout of significant proportions.

Although Claypool may only know a handful of bass tricks, they're thoroughly enjoyable ones, and they get a boost from his manic energy. The cuts zoom from place to place with loony abandon, yet leave lots of room for Buckethead's string gymnastics, Worrell's happy organ and a pounding Brain. "Junior" supplements these stylings with timely lyrics about George W., who's "gonna drink his oil right out of the can." More typical is "Tyranny of the Hunt," in which "a Petaluma man/Showed his gal a trick/He took a needle full of cocaine/And he shot it in his prick."

No wonder they haven't mellowed.

Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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