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Table of Contents
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Foreword by Matthew Bellamy (Muse)
Chapter 1: Welcome to This World
Chapter 2: Dad, What's a Primate?
Chapter 3: The Gig That Should Not Be
Chapter 4: How to Make Sausage
Chapter 5: Then Along Came Ler
Chapter 6: Herb the Ginseng Drummer
Chapter 8: They Call Me the Frizzle Fry
Chapter 10: The Magical Mr. Whalley
Chapter 11: Sailing the Seas of Cheese
Chapter 12: Spreading the Cheese
Chapter 13: Grab Yourself a Can of Pork Soda
Chapter 14: The Prawn Remains the Same
Chapter 15: Tales from the Punchbowl
Chapter 16: Tim Has Left the Building
Chapter 17: Mackerel and the Brain
Chapter 18: Lunatics Run the Asylum
Chapter 21: The Wheels Fall Off
Chapter 23: Colonel Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade
Chapter 24: Return of the Bastards
Chapter 25: The Onion, the Pumpkin, and Other Adventures
Chapter 26: From Pumphouse to Festeroo
Chapter 29: In Glorious Hindsight
Chapter 30: The Roller Coaster Continues
Bonus Excerpt: South of the Pumphouse by Les Claypool
The germ of the idea for this book can be traced to an exact date—Thursday, June 9, 2011, at roughly 5:30 p.m. That was when Greg Prato wrapped up an interview with Les Claypool over the phone for Rolling Stone and presented the question, “Thanks for the interview . . . and by the way, did you ever think of doing a book about the history of Primus?” A brief backstage meeting took place after a Primus show at Roseland (RIP) in New York City on Friday, September 30, 2011, shortly before midnight, and the book idea was officially given the thumbs-up (with an agreement that it would be best to set it up in an “oral history” format). The first interview for the book took place (with Les) on Wednesday, January 11, 2012, at 1:00 p.m., and the final interview for the book (again with Les) took place on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, at 1:30 p.m. The first draft of the book was submitted via e-mail on Thursday, November 8, 2012, at 7:56 p.m., and the book’s contract was signed/submitted on Thursday, February 20, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. This paragraph was completed/submitted for inclusion in the book on Tuesday, April 29, 2014, at 10:12 p.m. [Please note: all times listed above are according to Eastern Standard Time.]
Cast of Characters
M “HERB” ALEXANDER: Primus drummer 1989–1996, 2003–2010, 2013–present
TREY ANASTASIO: Phish singer and guitarist, Oysterhead singer and guitarist
MATTHEW BELLAMY: Muse singer, guitarist, and pianist
CHARLIE BENANTE: Anthrax drummer
TOM BLANKENSHIP: My Morning Jacket bassist
LES CLAYPOOL: Primus singer and bassist 1984–present, Sausage singer and bassist,
