Ben
Folds Five news
Sept. 2012. The
newly-reunited Ben Folds Five releases a new album, The Sound of
the Life of the Mind, and launches their first tour in over a
decade. The Magical Armchair has the
tour dates.
Stuff on this site
• Ben Folds Five FAQ
• MP3 of me sitting in
with BF5 on "Best Imitation of Myself"
• Order albums and sheet
music
• Chord charts for some songs
• My lousy MIDI recording of Best Imitation
• Similarities between BF5 songs and other songs
• A Who's Who Guide to Ben Folds Five
• Interviews with the band from the 1990s
• BF5 Haikus
• Picture of my BF5 tattoo
• The piano market (piano stocks)
• BF5's shows in Austin
• SXSW 1996 concert photos
Other sites
• The band's official site
• Magical Armchair (well-known fansite)
• Wikipedia article about the band
• Lyrics at BestLyrics.com
• Misheard lyrics
• Ragogna interview, Oct. 2012. Excellent interview with Ben; touches on some technical aspects of the music as well as the meaning behind some of the lyrics.
• BF5 All Together Now. Japanese fan site, in
English & Japanese. Doesn't seem to have been updated since
2000, but has some cool GIF animations of the band.
• The Strangest Thing. This large fansite died
in 2002, but here's the archive.
• 1997 interview
• Hotel
Lights. Darren Jessee's critically-acclaimed other band
• ChuckFolds.com.
Ben's brother's site about his own music
• Phil's Finest Hour was an Australian band with a
BF5-like sound. Unfortunately they seemed to have disappeared,
and I can't find any recordings of them listed anywhere.
Ben
Folds Five timeline
1966. Ben born on
Sept. 12.
Mid-1980s. If
the song "Army" is truly
autobiographical, Ben works at Chik-Fil-A, contemplates joining the
army, and plays in an unsuccessful band.
~1987-90. Ben
forms Majosha with Millard
Powers. Band wins a "Battle of the Bands" contest.
1994. Band forms in
Chapel Hill, NC, with Folds,
Darren Jessee on drums, and Robert Sledge on bass guitar.
1995. Debut
eponymous album on Caroline Records.
"Underground" is a semi-hit single.
1996. The band gets
a large following in Japan, courtesy of a
Japanese TV drama in which one of the characters is a big fan, but gets
a lot less attention the U.S.
1997. Second album, Whatever
and Ever Amen.
The single "Brick" launches the band to stardom, and "Song for the
Dumped" and "Battle of Who Could Care Less" hits the Top 25.
1998. Ben releases
his first solo album, Fear
of Pop, though Ben Folds Five is still going strong.
1999. Third album, The
Unauthorized Biography
of Reinhold Messner. "Army" charts in the Top 20.
2000. The band
breaks up amicably in October. The bandmembers' projects
post-breakup aren't detailed here; instead see the Wikipedia articles
about Ben,
Darren, and
Robert.)
2005. A remastered
and expanded edition of Whatever and Ever Amen is released,
including seven new bonus tracks.
2008. The band
reunites for a single show in Chapel Hill. (NME)
2011. The band reunites to
record three new songs for the compilation album The Best Imitation
of Myself: A Retrospective.
2012. The band releases their fourth
studio album, The Sound of the Life of the Mind, and begins
their first tour in over a decade.
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Austin-specific
stuff about Ben Folds Five
Shows
All the shows Ben Folds
Five has ever played in Austin:
(1) Nov. 1995 ... Electric Lounge
(2) Feb. 11, '96 ... Electric Lounge ... with 3-Lb. Thrill and The
Customers ($5, I have ticket #33.)
(3) Apr. 1996 ... Scholz Garden (South by Southwest) ... following
Sincola
(4) Apr. 18, '97 .. Liberty Lunch ... with Komeda ($9; I have ticket
#51.)
(5) Nov. 22, '97 ... La Zona Rosa ... with Old Pike and Travis
(6) May 14, '98 .. Austin Music Hall ... with SuperDrag
(7) Sept. 24, '12 ... Stubbs ... with Kate Miller-Heidke
Accolades
BF5 placed eighth in
the 1998-99 Austin Chronicle Readers' Music Poll in the Roadshow. (My
band, King Cheese, placed third in the Cover Band category.)
1. Motley Crue (Austin Music Hall, 12-1-98)
2. Dave Matthews (Southpark Meadows, 8-15-98)
3. Garbage (Austin Music Hall, 10-16-98)
4. Barenaked Ladies (Austin Music Hall, 11-7-98)
5. Lyle Lovett (Paramount Theatre, 12/1-3/98)
6. Elton John (Frank Erwin Center, 8-7-98)
7. Ani DiFranco (Bass Concert Hall, 10-7-98)
8. Ben
Folds Five (Austin Music Hall, 5-14-98)
9. Goo Goo Dolls (Liberty Lunch, 10-27-98)
10. Billy Bragg (Univ. of TX Student Union Ballroom,
12-7-98)
BF5 placed third in the 1997-98 Austin Chronicle Readers'
Music Poll in the Roadshow category, beating out some really big
names:
1. John Fogerty ... (Austin Music
Hall)
2. Aerosmith ... (Erwin Center)
3. Ben
Folds Five ... (La Zona Rosa)
4. Wilco ... (Liberty
Lunch)
5. Tool ... (Austin Music Hall)
6. Prince ... (Erwin Center)
7. Big Head Todd & the Monsters ... (Austin Music Hall)
8. Lyle Lovett ... (The Backyard)
9. Foo Fighters ... (Austin Music Hall)
10. Indigo Girls ... (The Backyard)
Photos
Here are 16 photos from the
SXSW show on 3-14-96.
Interviews
Read the short, funny 4-18-97
interview in the Austin Chronicle.
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Ben, Darren, and Robert rode bicycles in the Uncle
Walter
video. If you ride a bike, check out my guide to How
to Not Get Hit By Cars.
Ben told me in 1998 that
Darren Jessee (BF5's
drummer) is a vegetarian. Vegetarianism and even
veganism are a lot more common now than they were in the 90s, so props
to Jessee for being ahead of the curve on that one. Other
vegetarian musicians include as Paul McCartney, Prince,
Madonna, Natalie Merchant, and a host of others (including many you've
never heard of, like me). Get the scoop
on meatless diets on my Vegetarian
Guide site.
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