Ben Folds is celebrating 31 years of his trio Ben Folds Five‘s self-titled debut LP by giving it an expanded reissue. Ben Folds Five (30th Annivesary) is due out on September 4 via Capitol/UMe. It’s been newly remastered and also includes the previously unreleased Shelved First Attempt of the album, which was produced by Dave “Stiff” Johnson. See the cover art and tracklist below, and pre-order it on vinyl and CD in the BV shop.
“Here’s my 59-year-old self’s take on the album we made when I was 28: Overall, it’s good!,” Ben writes in the liner notes of the anniversary edition. “It’s NOT the kind of record you’d hear produced these days. It’s pretty rough and tumble, mostly in a good way. And it’s emphatically unique. It’s from an era when you could still identify a band by the instrumentalists, before you’d even hear the vocalist. I don’t think that’s been a thing since computers allowed us to get things just right.”
“This first Ben Folds Five record doesn’t even TRY to do the things most might aspire to, with or without the technology, and that’s one of the first things I hear while listening,” Ben continues. “Many indie rockers of the 90s claimed to be raw and not care. We actually lived that, though it’s just not obvious because it’s based around piano and complex songs, which was an odd combo. For better or worse – wow. I’m hearing a record that really just puts it out there, and I’m glad we did all of that. It also probably stunted the potential for the record in terms of commercial appeal. Who knows? But I’m all for it, at least for this first album… The ‘and all’ that, along with the warts, means it’s a real snapshot of a time period. That’s rare, so I give this album a thumbs up, and now I’ll go back to not listening to my own music.”
About the Shelved First Attempt, Ben says, “The budget from Caroline Records, as I recall, was about $14k, all-in. We spent all of that in a proper three-week session in Philadelphia with a proper producer who had a few hits under his belt and who gave us a great deal. This version of the album was shelved and never saw the light of day. We had taken the time we needed and the advice of the very competent producer, but it resulted in an album that didn’t feel like us. I only recently happened to have found a cassette of this shelved album. It’s not bad, though I recall it being hideous… It’s just not crazy like the album we all know.” He’s shared the Shelved First Attempt version of “Underground,” which you can hear below.
Ben Folds Five’s original lineup, of Robert Sledge (bass) and Darren Jessee (drums) with Folds, will also reunite (again) for their first shows in 13 years. Details on that are still to be revealed; stay tuned.
BEN FOLDS FIVE – BEN FOLDS FIVE (REMASTERED) VINYL TRACKLIST
Side A
1. Jackson Cannery
2. Philosophy
3. Julianne
4. Where’s Summer B.?
5. Alice Childress
6. Underground
Side B
7. Sports & Wine
8. Uncle Walter
9. Best Imitation of Myself
10. Video
11. The Last Polka
12. Boxing
BEN FOLDS FIVE – BEN FOLDS FIVE (SHELVED FIRST ATTEMPT) VINYL TRACKLIST
Side C
1. Underground
2. Julianne
3. Uncle Walter
4. Alice Childress
5. Evaporated
Side D
6. Dick Holster
7. Philosophy
8. Boxing
8. Emaline
10. The Last Polka
11. Eddie Walker