ROCK HALL INDUCTIONS: THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

The current lineup w/ ex-drummers Jack Irons & Cliff Martinez
photo courtesy of WNCX in Cleveland 

I was fortunate enough to have attended this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.  See my full report for CBS Local Digital here.

One of the highlights for me was the induction of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, a band I've been a fan of for more than two decades.

I was curious which members of the band would be inducted, and who would show up.  There are basically two classic lineups: first, Anthony Kiedis, Flea, drummer Jack Irons and the late Hillel Slovak on guitar. And second, the most popular lineup, Anthony, Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante, who quit the band for the second time a few years back. All six of those guys got in.

But I was wondering about the lineup from their first album: Anthony, Flea, drummer Cliff Martinez (who recently scored the film Drive) and guitarist Jack Sherman. Plus, guitarist Dave Navarro, who replaced Frusciante the first time he left, and Josh Klinghoffer, who is in the band now. Oddly, Martinez was inducted but Sherman wasn't.  If their 1984 self-titled debut is considered to be such a milestone in the band's career, why wouldn't everyone from the album be inducted?  I think the answer lies in that Martinez left under good terms, while Sherman was fired, and I think he later sued the band. The thing is, management shouldn't be deciding who is included, they shouldn't be able to re-write that history.

THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - A BEGINNER'S GUIDE

I was really excited to hear that The Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the artists being inducted into the Rock and Roll of Fame in 2012. I've been a fan for over twenty years: I was turned on to them in about 1989 when they released Mother's Milk. I have gotten every album since on release day (if not earlier), and I picked up all of their earlier albums too. The band has been though so much -- death, addiction, near implosion -- but somehow their music makes me feel good to be alive.

In the next few weeks, I hope to have a guest blogger write a real life testimonial about the band.  But I thought I'd give a quick primer on the group.  I'm curious which members will be part of the induction. Obviously singer Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea.  I'm sure the guys from their most successful lineup, drummer Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante. And I kind of figure that original members -- the late guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons (who later joined Pearl Jam) - may get in. But I wonder if Dave Navarro, who was in the band for one album (1995's well titled One Hot Minute) will be included. Or their newest member, guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who is on their new album, I'm With You. (The Chili Peppers are managed by the same company that manages Metallica -- and when Metallica were inducted, bassist Robert Trujilio was included, even though he had only played on one album, Death Magnetic). Anyway, if you're just looking to get into the band, here are my recommendations:

The Compilations: the band's career took off when they signed to Warner Brothers Records for their 1991 LP, Bloodsugarsexmagik. 2003's Greatest Hits covers the WB era, which is mainly the Kiedis/Flea/Smith/Frusciante lineup. It has their most well known material. But if you're interested in their early stuff, which they recorded for EMI, check out 1992's What Hits!?, which mostly features the Kiedis/Flea/Irons/Slovak lineup (as well as some tunes from Mother's Milk, which was Smith and Frusciante's first album with the band).   They have yet to release any kind of career spanning collection, nor do they have any box sets.

The Classic Album(s): 1991's Bloodsugarsexmagik. I'm going to do a "#20yrslater" post on that album soon, it is such an incredible record. I'm sure the guys in the band think it is their best, it's certainly the album that made them stars, and it also made people take them more seriously.  I think the aforementioned What Hits!? does a great job of covering the Slovak/Irons era, but the best single LP from that time is 1987's Uplift Mofo Party Plan. Another classic is the group's reunion album with Frusciante, 1999's Californication.

But honestly, I have a hard time not liking anything by them. I also love Freaky Styley, Mother's Milk, By The Way and even the album with Navarro, One Hot Minute.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - "I'M WITH YOU"

I read that Flea had been listening to a lot of Rolling Stones records while working on the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album, I'm With You (and Rolling Stone's review cited this fact also).  I would think that this was equal parts musical inspiration and "how did they do it?"

In other words: Mick and Keith have pretty much led the band since they took over the reigns from Brian Jones. But losing Jones was still a big deal, a big transition, for the band. After that, losing Mick Taylor was a big deal too.  But of course, The Rolling Stones have endured a number of key member changes.  So the question for the Red Hot Chili Peppers is: is new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer their Ron Wood -- the guy born to be a member of the group -- or is he their next Dave Navarro (i.e. guy who just isn't the right fit)?

(By the way, NO disrespect to Navarro, the album he did with RHCP, One Hot Minute, had some good songs, but it didn't quite work).

I've been listening to this album for a while, and I'm still having a hard time deciding.  I think it's a stronger album than say, One Hot Minute, but I'm not sure how many songs people will want to hear from this album when the Peppers are on tour in two or three years from now.  "Monarchy Of Roses" is a great opener, and would have been a way better first single than "The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie" which just sounds too much like past Chili ballads.  I do think Josh Klinghoffer fits in pretty well.  He's definitely different from John Frusciante - he's less guitar hero guy and more about textures (which is kind of what he added as an extra touring member of the band a few years ago).

A ballad that sounds different from prior mellow tunes is "Brendan's Death Song," about a late friend of the band.  I think it's pretty powerful, Anthony Kiedis sounds like he's haunted by memories of people he's lost. It's not mellow depression, but real sadness, and it's soulful.  I also like the more upbeat, piano-driven "Happiness Loves Company."  Frusciante added keyboards to the mix, but he was definitely a guitar guy first.  I get the feeling that Josh Klinghoffer is ok playing anything, as long as it fits the song.

I guess I just wish that the songs here were more memorable.  I'm surprised that some of these got past Rick Rubin, who usually won't let a band hit the studio until the songs are tight enough.

But the Chili Peppers is one of my favorite bands ever, and I'm loyal.  I'll look at I'm With You as Josh Klinghoffer's Mother's Milk - his intro to the group, and hopefully they have something like a Bloodsugarsexmagik or Californication left in them... or at least another By The Way. For now, I'm looking forward to seeing this version of the band live, and seeing how the new songs hold up to the classics in concert.  I think maybe the band would have benefitted from actually doing some shows with Josh before making the record.

THE NEW RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS GUITARIST

Supposedly, former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro recently tweeted that he is not, in fact, working with the Peppers again (of course, he is part of the reunited Jane's Addiction, who played Aspen on New Year's Eve). But he did supposedly confirm that Josh Klinghoffer has replaced John Frusciante (who quit over a year ago, but just confirmed that bit of news) in the band (Josh and John both pictured here). The reason I say "supposedly" is because I couldn't find Navarro's tweet, maybe because he tweets so often, but more likely is that the Chili Peppers' people asked him to delete the post because they haven't announced anything yet. This is according to an unofficial Chili Peppers site, Stadium Arcadium (which is much better than their official one).

Josh Klinghoffer seems to be a great choice: he has toured with the Chili Peppers as an extra guitarist, he collaborated with Frusciante on one of John's many solo projects, and has also worked with Gnarls Barkley, PJ Harvey and Beck. Hopefully this works out better than the last time they had to replace Frusciante. Anyway, I guess some people will see the new version of the band later this month: they are scheduled to perform at the MusicCares Person Of The Year concert, which pays tribute to Neil Young.

JOHN FRUSCIANTE LEFT THE CHILI PEPPERS

Earlier this week, I wrote about reports from NME that John Frusciante quit The Red Hot Chili Peppers. It turns out it was true, unfortunately.  John wrote about his reasons on his myspace page. He says that he actually quit a year ago, and the band were supportive. He just wasn't into it anymore, and needed to go his own way.  Totally a bummer, but I respect him for not hanging around for the bucks. Hopefully the band will go on with Josh Klinghoffer as the NME suggested.

BAD NEWS: NME REPORTS FRUSCIANTE QUIT RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

Few posts in the history of No Expiration have bummed me out as much as this one: NME reports that John Frusciante has quit The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Again. The first time was in 1992, after the release of the band's all-time classic, BloodSugarSexMagik as they were about to headline the second Lollapalooza tour. They did that tour with a guitarist named Arik Marshall who didn't last past the tour (he went on to play in Macy Gray's band). After that, they got a guy named Jesse Tobias, who didn't last long at all (no shows, no released recordings) (he went on to play for Alanis Morissette and Morrissey). After that was former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, who they actually recorded an album (1995's One Hot Minute, not a bad album but it paled in comparassion to the Frusciante-era albums). Navarro wasn't into the band, and quit, and it looked like that was it for the band. During that time, Frusciante was a huge drug addict and this has been well documented. But he got healthy and rejoined the Chili Peppers rejuvinating everyone involved, and they put out the classic 1999 album Californication, the really good 2002 By The Way and the still good 2006 double album Stadium Arcadium.

Frusciante wasn't the band's original guitarist - he replaced the late Hillel Slovak - but I think they made their best music with him (with all due respect). NME reports that Frusciante is being replaced by Josh Klinghoffer, who collaborated with Frusciante on lots of his solo projects, and even toured as an extra musician with the Chili Peppers on their last tour. So, at least he is a friend of the band, it seems more organic than their process last time. Josh has also played with PJ Harvey, Beck and Gnarls Barkley, among others.

I wonder when the band will start working on their next record: that's going to be a tough one for sure.

BEST OF '09: N.A.S.A.'s SPIRIT OF APOLLO

I don't know what's up with the cover of N.A.S.A.'s Spirit Of Apollo album, or what they are trying to say. But don't let the Klan clown trick you, this is a very one-world album. The guest list includes: David Byrne, Chali 2na (formerly of Jurassic 5), Chuck D, Method Man, The RZA, John Frusciante of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, KRS-One, Karen O of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ol' Dirty Bastard (the album has been in the works for a long time), Tom Waits, Kool Keith, Kanye West, Santigold, Lykke Li, George Clinton, M.I.A., Del The Funkee Homosapien, Ghostface Killah and the late DJ AM. N.A.S.A. features DJ Zegon and Squeak E. Clean (aka Sam Speigel aka Spike Jonze's brother, which explains some of the guest list). It is a great, fun album that not enough people know about it. Check it out, have a great time, thank me later. It's hard to explain.

Other Best of '09 albums: Bob Dylan's Together Through Life , The Cocktail Slippers' Saint Valentine's Day Massacre , Rancid's Let The Dominoes Fall, Willie Nelson & Asleep At The Wheel's Willie & The Wheel

ISN'T IT ABOUT TIME JOHN FRUSCIANTE RELEASED A NEW SOLO ALBUM?

John Frusciante released six solo albums in less than a year during his time off between The Red Hot Chili Peppers' By The Way and Stadium Arcadium albums. But nothing since, which sort of made me worry about the guy. From all accounts, he really doesn't do anything other than make music, and when he's not doing that, it means trouble. But he's just announced that he has a new record on the way, The Empryean, due out on January 20. According to Billboard, Flea will be guesting on it, as will Johnny Marr of The Smiths and Modest Mouse. I don't love all of John's solo work - some of it is barely listenable (but he's admitted as much about some of his early solo records) but I'm glad that he's still working, and I'll definitely check it out.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS ON HIATUS

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, festival curator Anthony Kiedis says that at the end of thier last tour, The Red Hot Chili Peppers decided to take a year off.

Since guitarist John Frusciante rejoined in 1997, they've released three excellent albums, Californication, By The Way and the double album Stadium Arcadium. If they need some time apart before working together again, cool.

John put out like six solo albums between By The Way and Stadium Arcadium, so I imagine he'll do a bunch of solo stuff again. I know the second (and final) album by one of his other projects, Ataxia (featuring Joe Lally of Fugazi) comes out May 29.