Philip Charles Lithman 1949-1987 , co-founded the beloved Pub Rock group Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers with Martin Stone , worked extensively with American Avant Gardists The Residents , Phil released his first solo single in 1978 The Spot/Smelly Tongues , followed by 4 studio albums , several tours , and further work on Residents recordings and the 13th Anniversary Tour , amazing musician to be sure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakefinger http://www.myspace.com/snakefinger http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1806 http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=snakefinger&search_type=&aq=0&oq=snakef
Good idea ! Too bad there are not any (pro) live recordings of his own band (that I am aware of), he put on a hell of a show ! Got to see him only once, with the Residents, Boston 1983. Bill
Anybody own his "History Of The Blues"? The one thing of his I've never heard. The one track I have from the UWEB CD is really hot!
Oh, and another thing; when I saw "Juliet Of The Spirits", I couldn't tell if I loved it for it's KILLER VISUALS, or the fact that "Shining Faces" is played throughout it, and that was the first Snakefinger song I ever heard!
If you saw Snakey in '83 it was his regular band , he toured with the Residents 85-87 on The 13th Anniversary Tour . The Live In Chicago CD on T.E.C. tones is pro and very cool , a longer version came out on a limited cdr , there is also video from that show . http://www.emg3000.com/snake/snake.html
The History Of The Blues lp was a small pressing and is very scarce , it is also only about half the show if that .
You are correct ! It was 1986, not 1983 (my memory ain`t what it used to be !) Thanks for the tip on the live release ! Bill
They are all blue , this one is not mine , was found on the web , i believe they pressed 10,000 ( ! )
Any news on Snakey's daughter? I heard she tried to SUE The Residents for some royalties, and they've stop making all of his work that THEY own available to ANYONE!
It was about references to his name and credit for Residents recordings. If she was really interested in releasing his albums the rights are probably her's to do that. Here's what the Residents had to say: This was in 2007 and the Snakefinger's stuff had already been out of print. Ralph gave back the rights to the artists for their own recordings as well. Apparently in 2007 La-Ni was trying to get success in her own band and I guess that was one avenue for publicity???
I remember when "Manual Of Errors" & "Live In Chicago" first came out on CD: they were released on the T.E.C. label (out of the hands of The Residents)..... I wonder if THEY still own them?
Not to go off-topic, but did you guys check out my "If you like "The Beatles Play The Residents"..." thread? Since I would assume you guys are the only ones they would care about it.
I doubt it. Often if a label is out of business (TEC Tones is out of business right?) and there's no intent on releasing the material the artist/heirs retain the rights. Even for labels in business this is true. No one would stop the lovely La-Ni from doing reissues.... she probably has no intention of doing so.
An Ebay search comes up with : http://music.shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=snakefinger&_sacat=11233
I have it - it's real and it's spectacular! (really nice German audiophile pressing, too - unless they add some unreleased tracks, I'd feel no need to re-buy it on CD)
Not to threadcrap but how many original Residents are even involved with the band these days (or for the last 25 years for that matter?) It's always sad when this kind of stuff happens. I'd never thought I'd live to see the day when someone is trying to propel their career off of Snakefinger.... I'm glad I snagged that CD of "Chewing Hides The Sound" when it came out ages ago-a true classic!
Two guys from the beginning and still two guys. In fact insiders have pretty much acknowledged that one guy is really "The Residents". There were obviously lots of guests on recordings from the beginning and also two other friends who have been said to not be part of the music making (John Kennedy and Jay Clem). The names of the two Residents is pretty easy to find if you're looking - even pictures, videos etc. They just don't admit that they are The Residents. Yes, that supposed law suit is kind of silly. Doesn't appear anything happened with it or Girls with Guns.
Thanks Mark for the info- I was a huge fan back from about 1979-1984 and then kind of lost track of their work-my brother saw them on two different tours (13th Anniversary and one other tour much later) and was convinced one of the band members was female the second concert...
