Jerry Was a Race Car Driver
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" | ||
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| Single by Primus | ||
| from the album Sailing the Seas of Cheese | ||
| Released | 1991 | |
| Genre | Alternative rock Funk metal Alternative Metal |
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| Length | 3:11 | |
| Label | Interscope Records | |
| Writer(s) | Claypool/LaLonde/Alexander | |
| Producer(s) | Primus | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Primus singles chronology | ||
| Mr. Knowitall 1990 |
Jerry Was a Race Car Driver 1991 |
Tommy the Cat 1991 |
"Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" is the first single off Primus's 1991 album Sailing the Seas of Cheese. The song was considered bizarre by many people who had not previously heard the band's unique music, but many people fell in love with the single. The song revolves around the story of an ill-fated race car driver named Jerry (whether or not the song is about a particular race car driver is still unknown).
The music is built around Les Claypool's funky (and now, almost instantly recognizable) finger-tapped bass line and silly story-telling style vocals, as well as eccentric guitar accompaniment from Larry LaLonde, including a guitar solo, and Tim Alexander's pounding drums. The result was a fast, funny, and extremely catchy song that helped Primus expand their fanbase. "Jerry..." received heavy airplay on rock radio, and peaked at number 23 on the Modern Rock Tracks in 1991.
[edit] Music Video
A music video was also created for the song. The video begins with Bob Cock getting an order of nachos, only to drop them after a collision with Larry LaLonde on a skateboard. The rest of the video cuts between scenes of the band playing an out-of-control gig in a small club, shots of the nachos being zoomed into, and race car footage. At the end, the camera zooms in on the cheese, and there is a claymation segment which features many of the creatures on the cover of the Sailing the Seas of Cheese album, then zooms back out to the cheese, and a dog sniffs it, closing the video. The video became an MTV favorite and is still sometimes played.
"Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" was also performed on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Carson, who was usually supportive of any band that played, was taken aback and did not know what to make of Primus. He also did not display Sailing the Seas of Cheese to the audience at the end of the show.
Despite popular belief, "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" was not the first ever Primus single. That credit goes to "John the Fisherman" from 1990's indie release Frizzle Fry. Because "John the Fisherman" was released on an indie record it had limited popularity, whereas "Jerry..." was released on a major label, allowing for greater availability at record stores and more radio exposure.
The song features a sample of Bill Moseley's character Chop Top from the film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, chuckling to himself then remarking :"Dog will hunt!".
"Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" was also included in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater as well as ATV Offroad Fury.
