The Fugs
Ad for the Fugs appearance atEagles Auditorium, Seattle, 1968
Background information
Origin	Lower East Side, New York City, U.S.
Genres	Proto-punk[1] rock and roll garage rock folk rock psychedelic rock
Years active	1964–1969 1984–present
Labels	Folkways ESP-Disk Fontana Reprise Transatlantic
Members	Ed Sanders Tuli Kupferberg Ken Weaver Steve Taylor Coby Batty Scott Petito
Website	thefugs.com

The Fugs are an American rock band formed in New York City in late 1964,^[2] by the poetsEd Sanders andTuli Kupferberg, withKen Weaver on drums. Soon afterward, they were joined byPeter Stampfel andSteve Weber ofthe Holy Modal Rounders. Kupferberg named the band from aeuphemism forfuck used inNorman Mailer's novelThe Naked and the Dead.

The band was one of the leaders of theunderground scene of the 1960s and became an important part of the Americancounterculture of that decade.^[3] The group is known for its comedic, even lewd, nature but also earned fame through its persistent anti-Vietnam War sentiment during the 1960s.^[2] A famous song of theirs was "Kill for Peace",^[4] on their 1966 albumThe Fugs.

Some 1969 correspondence, found inside anFBI file on the rock groupthe Doors, called the Fugs the "most vulgar thing the human mind could possibly conceive".^[5] They have been derided for theirscatological lyrics.^[6] But,Tom Robbins wrote of them in 1968, "Incongruously… this trio of hairy gross ginch gropers is the most intellectual, sophisticated and literary ensemble in rock."^[7] The Fugs have been labeledavant-rocknoise music.^[8]

The band's original core members, Ed Sanders, Tuli Kupferberg, and Ken Weaver, were joined at various times in the 1960s by a number of others, some of whom were noted session musicians or members of other bands. These included Weber and Stampfel,^[9] bassist John Anderson, guitarist Vinny Leary, guitarist Peter Kearney, keyboardist Lee Crabtree, guitarist Jon Kalb, guitaristStefan Grossman, singer and guitarist Jake Jacobs, guitaristEric Gale, bassistChuck Rainey, keyboardist Robert Banks, bassist Charles Larkey, guitarist Ken Pine, guitaristDanny Kortchmar, clarinetistPerry Robinson, bassist Bill Wolf, and drummer Bob Mason.^{[citation needed]}

For most of their career, the Fugs were composed of the primary singer-songwriters Sanders and, until his death, Kupferberg; the composer, songwriter, guitarist and long-timeAllen Ginsberg collaborator Steven Taylor; singer-songwriter and percussionist Coby Batty; and Scott Petito, a musician and music producer.^{[citation needed]}

The band signed a record contract withESP-Disk in 1965. The Fugs said that "our royalty rate was less than 3%, one of the lower percentages in the history of western civilization".^[2] The owner of the label,Bernard Stollman, has frequently faced accusation of not payingroyalties to artists.^[10] In February 1967, the group was signed toAtlantic Records and recorded one album,The Fugs Eat It, but it was never released.^[11]

Asatirical rock band with a political slant, the Fugs have performed at various war protests – against the Vietnam War and since the 1980s at events around other U.S. involved wars. The band's often frank and humorous lyrics about sex, drugs, and politics^[6] occasionally generated hostile reactions, most notably from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the late 1960s. The group is referenced several times in the F.B.I. file on theDoors; an excerpt mentions eleven songs fromThe Fugs First Album that are "vulgar and repulsive and are most suggestive".^[12]

In 1968, they toured Europe twice: in May to Denmark and Sweden where they wrote the song "The Swedish Nada"^[11] and played withFleetwood Mac,Ten Years After, andThe Nice;^[13] and in September to Germany where they played withPeter Brötzmann,Cuby and the Blizzards,Family,Guru Guru Groove,Alexis Korner,David Peel,Tangerine Dream, at the Internationale Essener Songtage in theGrugahalle in Essen.^[13][14]

In 1971, at aGeneral Conference ofThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Fugs song was castigated byEzra Taft Benson - a high-ranking elder who would go on to become itsPresident. In a speech condemning rock music as Satanic, Benson said "the cynic defends his degeneracy by ridiculing his critics with confusing metaphors." He complained that critiquing "The words of the rock recording 'I Couldn't Get High,'" caused people to call for the LDS hymn 'High on the Mountain Top' to be dropped from songbooks. Benson disputed the retort that 'If one sees filthy implications in a popular song, it is because he has a dirty mind,'" saying "No filth is [merely] implied in many of the lyrics. It is proclaimed."^[15]

In a 2012 interview withNational Public Radio, Ed Sanders read a leaflet from an August 1965 show: "The Fugs present: Night of napalm, songs against the war, rock n' roll bomb shrieks, heavy metal orgasms! Watch all The Fugs die in a napalm raid!"^[16]

Their participation in theNational Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam's 1967March on the Pentagon, at which they and others purportedly attempted to encircle and levitate the Pentagon, is chronicled inNorman Mailer's bookThe Armies of the Night. A recording of this event is featured on the Fugs' 1968 album,Tenderness Junction, entitled "Exorcising the Evil Spirits from the Pentagon Oct. 21, 1967".^[17] Beforehand, Sanders and Kupferberg had prepared an elaborate exorcism ritual, and rented a flatbed truck along with a sound system.^[2] As is heard on the album, the two gathered a large crowd in front of the Pentagon and repeatedly chanted, "Out, demons, out!"^[2][17]

One of their better-known songs is an adaptation ofMatthew Arnold's poem "Dover Beach". Others were settings ofWilliam Blake's poems "Ah! Sun-flower" and "How Sweet I Roam'd". Another, "Nothing", is a paraphrasing of the Yiddish folk song "Bulbes".^[18]

After pursuing individual projects over the years, in 1984 Sanders and Kupferberg decided to re-form the band and stage a series of Fugs reunion concerts.^[19] On August 15, 1988, at the Byrdcliff Barn in Woodstock, New York, the Fugs performed one of their first real reunion concerts. This incarnation of the Fugs included, at various times, the guitarist and singer Steve Taylor (who was also Allen Ginsberg's teaching assistant at the Naropa Institute), the drummer and singer Coby Batty, the bassistMark Kramer, the guitarist Vinny Leary (who had contributed to the first two original Fugs albums), and the bassist and keyboardist Scott Petito. The re-formed Fugs performed concerts at numerous locations in the United States and Europe over the next several years.

In 1994 the band intended to perform a series of concerts inWoodstock, New York, (where Sanders had lived for many years) to commemorate the 1969Woodstock Festival, which had actually occurred near the town of Bethel, some 50 miles away. They learned that a group of promoters were planning to stageWoodstock '94 that August near Saugerties, about 8 miles from Woodstock, and that this festival would be much more tightly controlled and commercialized than the original. Consequently, The Fugs decided to stage their own August 1994 concerts as "The Real Woodstock Festival", in an atmosphere more in keeping with the spirit of the 1969 festival. The basic Fugs roster of Sanders, Kupferberg, Taylor, Batty, and Petito performed in this series of concerts with additional vocal support from Amy Fradon and Leslie Ritter and also with appearances by Allen Ginsberg andCountry Joe McDonald. In 2003, the group releasedThe Fugs Final CD (Part 1) with positive feedback. In 2004, The Fugs began to recordBe Free: The Fugs Final CD (Part 2).

In 2008 their song "CIA Man" was featured during the end credits for the movieBurn After Reading, directed by theCoen brothers. In 2009, Kupferberg suffered twostrokes, the latter of which severely hindered his eyesight. He was under constant care, but was able to finish recording his tracks forBe Free in his New York City apartment. A benefit for Kupferberg was held inBrooklyn, New York, in February 2010, featuring all of the Fugs minus Kupferberg, as well asLou Reed,Sonic Youth,Patti Smith Group guitaristLenny Kaye, and others.Be Free: The Fugs Final CD (Part 2) was released on February 23, 2010. The album art, designed by Sanders, featured a snail reading Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl". The album was produced by Taylor and Sanders.

Kupferberg died on July 12, 2010, inManhattan, at the age of 86.^[20] In 2008, in one of his last interviews, he toldMojo magazine, "Nobody who lived through the '50s thought the '60s could've existed. So there's always hope."^[21]

The remaining Fugs from time to time seriously consider further performances.^[11][19] On June 11, 2011, the four remaining Fugs performed atQueen Elizabeth Hall in London as part of the annualMeltdown Festival, curated that year byRay Davies of theKinks. Their set received a four-star review inThe Guardian.^[22]

They performed at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland on November 30, 2012, and at the City Winery in Chicago on December 1, 2012. They performed at the Brooklyn Folk Festival on November 10, 2021.

The band can be seen performing in thecult filmChappaqua (1967) byConrad Rooks.Tuli Kupferberg made appearances inW.R.: Mysteries of the Organism (1971) byDušan Makavejev and played God inVoulez-vous coucher avec God? (1972) byMichael Hirsh and Jack Christie.

Their song, "CIA Man", can be heard during the closing credits of the 2008Coen Brothers' filmBurn After Reading, and during the closing credits of the fifth episode of the 2017 docudrama miniseriesWormwood.

The Fugs went through a number of lineup changes. Below are those that lasted the longest. For instance, guitaristStefan Grossman was with the band for only several weeks, so this lineup is not included.

1964 – February 1965

• Kendell Kardt – vocals
• Tuli Kupferberg – vocals
• Ed Sanders – vocals
• Ken Weaver – vocals, conga
• Steve Weber – guitar, vocals
• Peter Stampfel – fiddle, harmonica, vocals

Summer 1965

• Tuli Kupferberg – vocals, percussion
• Ed Sanders – vocals
• Ken Weaver – drums, vocals
• Steve Weber – guitar, vocals
• Vinny Leary – guitar, vocals
• John Anderson – bass, vocals

September – December 1965

• Tuli Kupferberg – vocals, percussion
• Ed Sanders – vocals
• Ken Weaver – drums, vocals
• Steve Weber – guitar, vocals

December 1965 – July 1966

• Tuli Kupferberg – vocals
• Ed Sanders – vocals
• Ken Weaver – drums, vocals
• Lee Crabtree – keyboards, percussion
• Vinny Leary – guitar, vocals
• John Anderson – bass, vocals
• Pete Kearney – guitar, vocals

July – October 1966

• Tuli Kupferberg – vocals
• Ed Sanders – vocals
• Ken Weaver – drums, vocals
• Lee Crabtree – keyboards, percussion
• Jon Kalb – lead guitar
• Vinny Leary – rhythm guitar, vocals
• John Anderson – bass, vocals

October 1966 – Spring 1967

• Tuli Kupferberg – vocals
• Ed Sanders – vocals
• Ken Weaver – drums, vocals
• Lee Crabtree – keyboards, percussion
• Jake Jacobs – guitar, vocals
• Chuck Rainey – bass

Summer 1967 – Summer 1968

• Tuli Kupferberg – vocals
• Ed Sanders – vocals
• Ken Weaver – drums, vocals
• Ken Pine – guitar, vocals
• Danny Kortchmar – guitar, violin
• Charles Larkey – bass

Winter 1968 – March 1969

• Tuli Kupferberg – vocals
• Ed Sanders – vocals
• Ken Weaver – drums, vocals
• Ken Pine – guitar, vocals
• Bill Wolf – bass, vocals
• Bob Mason – drums

1984 – 2010

• Tuli Kupferberg – vocals
• Ed Sanders – vocals
• Steven Taylor – vocals, guitar
• Coby Batty – drums, percussion, vocals
• Scott Petito – bass, keyboards

2010 – present

• Ed Sanders – vocals
• Steven Taylor – vocals, guitar
• Coby Batty – drums, percussion, vocals
• Scott Petito – bass, keyboards

• The Fugs First Album is a retitled reissue of the Broadside/Folkways LP.

• Official website
• The Fugs atAllMusic
• TheFugs Archive atFales Library

• The Fugs
• Musical groups established in 1964
• Rock music groups from New York (state)
• ESP-Disk artists
• Fontana Records artists
• Reprise Records artists
• Transatlantic Records artists
• American protopunk groups
• 1964 establishments in New York City
• American satirists
• American satirical musicians
• American comedy musicians
• Political music groups
• Freak scene musicians

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