| Prawn Song Records | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1989 (1989) |
| Founder | Les Claypool |
| Distributor | The Orchard |
| Genre | Pop, rock |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Location | San Francisco, California |
| Official website | www |
Prawn Song Records is an independentrecord label owned byLes Claypool ofPrimus. The name and logo are a parody ofLed Zeppelin's labelSwan Song Records.[1]
Prawn Song is based in San Francisco, California, and distribution is handled byThe Orchard in the United States[2][3] andCooking Vinyl in Europe.[4]
The label was created in1989 for the initial limited release of the Primuslive albumSuck On This. The band borrowed $3,000 from Claypool's father to fund the release and pressed 1,000 vinyl copies of the record.[5][6] They then used the profits from those sales to keep pressing the album, one thousand copies at a time, and signed a distribution deal withRough Trade Records.[7] The album was later licensed to be reissued byindependent record labelCaroline Records in 1990, the same label that released theFrizzle Fry album the same year.[6] Primus then signed toInterscope Records, who released the band's third albumSailing the Seas of Cheese in 1991 and all of their subsequent records for the next twenty years.[6]
Prawn Song was resurrected in 1993 as a subsidiary of Interscope (at the time 50% owned byAtlantic Records, the parent company of the original Swan Song label) for the use of Claypool'sside projects:Sausage andThe Holy Mackerel.[8][9] At this point, Prawn Song was also made a sister label to the Atlantic imprintMammoth Records, working together with them to launch the musical projects of many of Claypool's friends and former bandmates, includingM.I.R.V. (featuringMark "Mirv" Haggard),[10] theCharlie Hunter Trio (featuringJay Lane),[11]Alphabet Soup (also featuring Lane),[12]Porch (featuringTodd Huth),[13] andLaundry (featuringTim Alexander).[14] During this time, Primus' albums were released in CD and tape formats by Interscope, with double-LP pressings of the albums issued on Prawn Song.[citation needed]
In 1998 and 1999, Primus started utilising the Prawn Song imprint to release the EPRhinoplasty and the albumAntipop, respectively.[15][16] By 2001, Prawn Song had dropped its association with Mammoth and branched out from Interscope to become a fully independent label,[2] while also co-operating with Interscope for the release of the Primus EP/DVDAnimals Should Not Try to Act like People in 2003.[17] The 2006compilation albumThey Can't All Be Zingers was released only by Interscope, separate from Prawn Song.[18] Claypool alleged in 2018 that Mammoth severed ties with Prawn Song as a result of their refusal to release an album by his side projectBeanpole, which he worked on withLarry LaLonde,Adam Gates and Mark Greenberg among others.[19] The album was later released by Prawn Song andSean Lennon's imprint, Chimera Music in 2018.[citation needed]
As an independent label, Prawn Song reissued the early,out-of-print, pre-Interscope Primus albums,[6] as well as DVDs of some of their recent live tours. The label also released material from Claypool's more recent side projectsColonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade andColonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains,[2][4][20] his solo albums,[21][22] andGabby La La's debutBe Careful What You Wish For..., on which Claypoolproduces and provides therhythm section.[23] TheOysterhead albumThe Grand Pecking Order, however, was released byElektra Records.[24]
In 2011, Prawn Song partnered withATO Records for a joint release of the Primus albumGreen Naugahyde,[3] and together they subsequently released the band's 2014 albumPrimus & the Chocolate Factory with the Fungi Ensemble,[25] and theDuo de Twang albumFour Foot Shack.[26]
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| Singles | |
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| Related articles | |
