Back in the ‘90’s there used to be an Indie Music Magazine called CMJ New Music Monthly. It ran from 1993 until 2009. CMJ stood for College Media Journal, and with every issue, it came with a Compact Disc, featuring 15-20 tracks from the artists featured that month. I never subscribed to this magazine but my old roommate and Life Hero Phil did. That year I lived with Phil (most of 1997), we discovered great New Music via this method (though Phil was far more savvy than I).
Phil called my attention to Track Two of the disc by a band I hadn’t heard of, called Ben Folds Five. The Battle Of Who Could Care Less was my introduction to the talent, humour, and tunefulness of this trio. The band’s name alone gives clue as to where their heart lies. The smokin’ hot harmonies and casual obscenity were a one-two knockout to my heart.
As usual, not only did Phil know who this band was, he was already in possession of their 1995 Self-Titled Debut Album. I immediately dove in.
I soon learned that Ben Folds Five was the brain science of the band’s chief songwriter, pianist and leader, Mr. Folds. On bass was Robert Sledge, and rounding out the trio on drums was Darren Jessee, and they hailed from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. What made this band lineup unique in the mid 1990’s was the fact that it was piano-led, and avoided the use of guitars. Post Grunge, they really stood out for that reason alone. The fact that the musicianship is so tight and confident, they’re able to rock like any screaming Metal Band, and cap it off with an impromptu Sonata. The thoughtful and humorous outsider lyrics helped cement their reputation as “Punk Rock For Sissies.”
The Five started gaining a reputation for their live show, and they toured ceaselessly through the mid-to-late ‘90’s. They travelled in a van bringing along a baby grand piano and Marshall amp stack with them. That, my friends, is dedication to your craft.
This is the band, jamming during soundcheck, with hilarious effect.
The Battle Of Who Could Care Less was the first single from Ben Folds Five’s second album, Whatever And Ever Amen. It continued their humorous insight into modern culture, with more space being given to musings on failed love and starting over.
What came next was the surprising success of the album’s fourth single, Brick. Brick is a standout song on the album, and if anyone knows Ben Folds Five, it’s probably because of this song. This ballad about a real-life teen abortion is so unlike any of the rest of the band’s repertoire, but it drove the album to sell over a million copies in the US. It became a millstone around the band’s neck. The early fans thought they had “sold out,” and the people who fell in love with Brick had no time for the other (more accurate) side to the band. The band quickly learned to hate it.
The success of Brick gave Ben Folds Five the opportunity to tour the world, and soon began to establish a fan base in Japan and Australia, that still exists today for Folds. On the Japanese edition of Whatever And Ever Amen, they added a Japanese lyric version of Song For The Dumped.
(Japanese Version)
After experiencing what the highs of success and fame had to offer, Ben made a decision to take this opportunity to create a project that I knew that he could lean on the record company for the studio time, and not worry too much about success. The result was an album under the name Fear Of Pop, which was released to no acclaim, and quickly disappeared. What’s notable for this project was the track that featured William Shatner. The ElectroPop of In Love, matched with the creepy come-on from Captain Kirk is more than enough to spark anyone’s curiosity. This wouldn’t be the last time that Ben worked with Shatner, producing an album for him in 2004.
The pressure to follow up the success of Whatever and Ever Amen was wearing on Ben around this time, and he began composing a long-form song cycle, with little to no regard to audience reaction. After some coaxing, Ben Folds Five’s third album was finally cobbled together from what Ben had come up with. The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner arrived with a thud. It was clear that aside from the lead single, Army, this was going to be a difficult listen.
Orchestral arrangements accompany the band on Messner, giving the band a lush sheen to counterpoint the down and dirty lead bass and furious piano. The band’s fans were left confused by its depth and murky subject matter. People looking for Brick Part Two were instead warned that the protagonist suffers from Narcolepsy. He’s not tired. He just sleeps.
It was during this album cycle that me and my wife, Jennifer, were able to see Ben Folds Five in concert. They opened up for Beck while he was touring behind his latest album, Midnite Vultures. It may not be his best, but it’s my favourite Beck album.
Ben Folds Five more than outdid themselves in terms of aggressively tight musicality and fantastic showmanship. The manic collective of the band was palpable, as though one too many shows had seeped whatever conscious energy that remained, and they were working with pure adrenaline. A show filmed for Japanese Television around this time is a document of a band at the end of their tether.
Friction between the band members, and fatigue with being around each other, led to the band breaking up the following year.
It wouldn’t be until years later the Reinhold Messner album got some of the credit that it deserves, as many of the Emo Bands of the ‘00’s would cite it as an influence. In fact, it was because of this that MySpace was able to coax a reunion out of the band in 2008, where they performed the album in its entirety.
Narcolepsy & Don’t Change Your Plans
After the band broke up in 2000, Ben’s solo career began in earnest, and he began work on Rockin’ The Suburbs. Having gotten married (to this third wife, Frally), and becoming father to twins, Ben’s lyrics take a sentimental turn on his debut solo album. The biggest hit to have longevity from this record is his ballad to his wife, The Luckiest. It’s a new wedding favourite that has been used in many movies.
The album is a spotty, but mostly great introduction to the many previously unseen facets to Folds’ personality. Where it’s strengths lie are in the several character studies (Annie Waits, Zac and Sara, Fred Jones Part 2, Losing Lisa, Carrying Cathy), which have been a strength throughout his career. The humour is still there, with the cutting title track (a swipe at Limp Bizkit and their ilk), and Fired.
Rockin’ The Suburbs came out on the unfortunate Street Date of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Terrorist attacks are terrible, in terms of album sales, and didn’t help anybody in anyway, much less Ben Folds and Mariah Carey. No one remembers the real victims.
That fall, Ben Folds did a show in Toronto in support of the album, with a new trio, and a more approachable stage persona. That show cemented my fandom in Folds. At one point in the show, before doing Army, he divided the audience in half to sing the saxophone and trumpet parts. Before performing Not The Same, he taught the audience the three-part harmony for the backup vocals. The Music Nerd in me lit up with all sorts of dopamine. He’s one of us!
Unfortunately, Rockin’ The Suburbs wasn’t the success that it should have been, but it continues to be a classic for those in the know. At this point, I had come to the opinion that it was completely unjustifiable that this man was so talented and original and still wasn’t as rich and famous as Bono.
Folds, in fact, at that time, was so unsuccessful that he was forced to go on a financially-strapped US tour, where he performed solo and interacted with the audience. It was on this tour that a tradition began, where Ben would improvise a song on the spot at each show. Thus began Rock This Bitch.
The Ben Folds Five fan base in Australia and Japan was still strong enough for Ben to make a return visit. It was on a stop in Tokyo where he would show off his ability to quickly compose and produce Station Idents for “Tokyo’s Number One Music Station.”
Folds’ second solo album, Songs For Silverman, took nearly three years to arrive. Though this album was dedicated to Ben’s wife, Frally, the lyrics contained within spoke of an unhappy home, distrust, and betrayal. The writing on the wall wasn’t hard to read, and Ben’s marriage broke up not long after Silverman was released. The lead-off single for the album was Landed, another surefire hit in another dimension.
Songs For Silverman became another Cult classic, in that it sold worse than his first solo record, but is still much-loved. Ben’s insightful and sarcastic humour is in full force, with songs like Jesusland and Bastard. The chorus of the latter track is a bit of a mantra of mine; “Why you gotta act like you know when you don’t know? It’s OK if you don’t know everything.”
Ben’s third solo album Way To Normal was released in 2008, and a curious, very Early-21st Century thing occurred in its lead-up to release. In July of that year, someone posted an early link to a fansite with a pdf of an album cover, and a list of songs for Ben Folds’ new album. When this was brought to his attention, Ben and Band were on tour in Ireland. He immediately booked studio time and spent an evening creating and recording new songs with the titles that had been “leaked.” He then leaked those songs himself. In some cases, the fake versions have become more beloved than the actual album versions.
Way To Normal is a much more mean-spirited album, in the way the lyrics play out towards the object of his emotional turmoil. While Ben was always hesitant to talk about the autobiographical nature of his songs, in deference to the mother of his children, it is pretty clear that Ben is not in a happy place. His duet with Regina Spektor, You Don’t Know Me, was a minor hit. Watch for Jason Sudeikis on trombone.
Ben’s next project would ensure that he wouldn’t be getting questions regarding the lyrical inspiration. For this one, he was approached by author and fan Nick Hornby. The author of Fever Pitch and High Fidelity wondered if Ben would be interested in putting music to some of his words. Turns out that appreciation was mutual, and Folds jumped at the idea. The resulting album, Lonely Avenue was critically acclaimed, and featured some of Ben’s most ambitious songcraft. It spawned another minor hit for Ben, From Above.
I truly feel that not being bogged down by his own emotions, and giving voice to someone else’s words was a terrific exercise for Ben to flex musical muscles previously unseen.
Following the project with Nick Hornby, Ben reunited with the pair from BF5 for a new album and tour. The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind was released 2012 to almost zero fanfare, despite having The Fraggles star in their video.
The album sold to expectations, and the following World Tour was also a success, but it wasn’t enough to extend the life of the band, and after a Live album Ben Folds Five again went their separate ways.
Ben then got himself involved in a project that none of his fans saw coming. I’m not sure if you remember watching television in the early 2000’s, but reality shows were all the rage. In particular, Music competitions that promised fame and fortune to the winners were on every Network. There were too many shows like this to mention, but Ben Folds ended up being a mentor and judge on NBC’s The Sing Off. What made this show different was that it was not a contest pitting solo artists against each other, but instead it was acapella choral groups. I’m a sucker for unaccompanied voices. This was, without a doubt, the nerdiest Reality Competition on Television, and I was hooked.
Ben’s next project was a step towards Classical and Chamber Pop. His fifth solo album So There was a collaboration with New York City’s octet yMusic on eight songs, with the album ending with three concertos for Piano and Orchestra, performed with the Nashville Symphony. It is a bold and unique mix of Pop and Classical elements. Lyrically, Ben has gained perspective; “Seems what’s been good for the Music hasn’t always been so good for the life,” he sings on Phone In A Pool.
For the last few years Ben has been dividing his time between Nashville and Sydney, Australia, and has remarried again. While in Nashville, he helped save RCA Recording Studio A, which is a legendary studio founded by Chet Atkins, where artists such as Dolly Parton, The Monkees, and Paramore have recorded, and was due for the wrecking ball. Ben bought this Historic Landmark and it continues to operate today.
Ben has become renowned for his efforts in support of Music Education, and is the first Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Centre in Washington, DC. He continues to travel and perform around the world, and will often do shows with local orchestras.
Rock This Bitch
He still performs solo shows, and at times will do “Paper Airplane Tours”, where the audience requests songs, via paper airplane, and Ben would make up the setlist on the spot.
Back in 2020, when the pandemic started, Ben found himself confined in Australia, with all his shows cancelled, and travel restricted. He decided to spend his time doing weekly livestreams, playing requests for viewers.
That same year, at the halfway point of the year, Ben released a single that captured the moment beautifully, called 2020.
There doesn’t appear to be a new album in sight from Ben Folds, and he recently released his autobiography, A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons. I truly hope this doesn’t mean he is hanging up his songwriting gloves (or whatever), because it would be a damn shame.
Audiobook Sample
Whether or not we will be another album by Ben Folds remains to be seen. I hope we’ll hear some new songs, because I’m invested in this man’s voice. The story isn’t over yet.
(live, 1997)
Thanks for reading! Check back next Sunday (11/13) for Jason’s New Music Heroes, Chapter Ten – Danny Michel.
Be kind to each other!
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