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Put on the Featherhead

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Tracks remastered and reissued on the Put on the Featherhead / Long Ride on a Slow Horse compact disc.

Release Info
Cover Art
Band Memoirs

Release Info

Tracks

Put on the Featherhead
Love Love Love Love Love
Peace on Earth
Fatta Like a Pig
Green Drink (Waltz of Death)
Rumpelstiltskin
Two Years Ago
Jim-Bob
Lovely Memories

Kar: vocals, synthesizer, and drums
Mr. Ed: guitar and drums
Ran: bass and drums
Spike: drums

Produced by Warren Ballard and The Blanks. All songs written by The Blanks.
Recorded and mixed by Warren Ballard at Drum Room Studios, Houston, Texas, January 1989.
2006 reissue mastered by Kar at Lopwood Studios, Cypress, Texas, February 2006.
Reissue cover art taken from “The Blanks - Live at the Axiom, January 12, 1989” concert flyer by Ran. Reissue package design by Kar.
©1989 The Blanks.

1989: First issue, cassette, Blanks Enterprises
2006: Reissue, compact disc (with Long Ride on a Slow Horse), Blanks Enterprises.

Cover Art

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Put on the Featherhead reissue cover

Featherhead / Long Ride CD cover

Featherhead / Long Ride CD liner notes

Featherhead / Long Ride CD label

1989 Axiom concert flyer

Band Memoirs

This album doesn't and can't get enough attention. It's an important album in that we worked with a producer, Warren B., on this one. That was something new for us, and I like the results. In most ways it wasn't as high-tech of a recording as Bean Monster Rituals, but the music was definitely moving on to a new stage.

It was pretty much straightforward rock songs, with some songs that allowed us to be a little more unconventional, at least for us. We added some effects to the bass or guitar that came out nicely, and “Rumplestiltskin” was a song with different members of the band playing a variety of drum parts and Kar adding some quality Moog and the Rumplestiltskin chant. I think we also started straying from the one hook = one song theory we had been using since A Turn and a Halt. “Peace on Earth” was a big hit, as was the controversial “Fatta Like a Pig.” Of course “Lovely Memories” was something new, pleasant, and while still definitely in the mood of a Blanks' song, different than anything that came before. While the music may not be that complicated compared to later work, for the time we really had to work to get those songs the way they were. I remember “Green Drink” being a tough one. I guess that's only fitting for a song paying tribute to former band member Mark Miller.

I can't remember but I think that the name Put on the Featherhead was something that Mr. Ed shouted in a dream I had. Either that or Mr. Ed shouted that out in his sleep one night. Though I think the episode of Ed shouting something out in his sleep was the line from “The Boat” – 'To the left, left, of the boat, go.' Anyway, whichever way it was, the song and the album came together nicely.

– Spike

While we had pioneered Trash Rock and done our fair share of rock and punk, this was our first head-on rock album. Though this was Mr. Ed's third album with the band, it was the first release that was written entirely by the new line-up of Ed, Ran, Spike and me. Mr. Ed's first two consisted of a live set heavy on classic material and a studio album with a mix of old and new work. The true chemistry of the new band shows itself here in a beautiful way. The results speak for themselves.

Students of The Blanks have always enjoyed Put on the Featherhead, but the album didn't achieve major acclaim at the time. It's funny because a few songs were extremely popular, “Love Love Love Love Love,” “Two Years Ago,” and “Lovely Memories.” “Fatta Like a Pig” also got a lot of attention. Some people loved it as a pro-vegetarian anthem while others hated it as a sexist song against heavy-set women. It was neither.

Despite lackluster album sales, the supporting concert at the Axiom in Houston, Texas was a smashing success. Most people agree that The Blanks ended the “are they really the greatest rock band of all time?” question that night. There were many oddities that evening. We encored with “Phuong Nam's,” though for some reason we decided not to include it on the original set list. Also, none of us really knew the club's location or the neighborhood very well, we were heading over there together in three separate cars and got split up going in different directions, but we somehow got there in time for the show.

I remember going over to Drum Room Studios during the making of this album and Ed telling us how he woke himself up screaming, “put on the featherhead.” That was the perfect title. That was a great time for The Blanks.

– Kar