CONTEST TIME - TRI-COLOR GIVEAWAY!
Brendan Benson
“Half a Boy (And Half a Man)” b/w “Big Kid Face”
179 tri-color copies, unlimited quantity on black vinyl
I just want the whole world to know, I am so incredibly excited to have a Brendan Benson record on Third Man.
Yeah yeah, I know we put out Raconteurs and JW and the Bricks stuff that he slays on, but this is different.
Brendan was the first musician I ever really met who I considered having “made it.”
He was signed to Virgin! He bought a house with record label money! He opened for the Wallflowers! He got fan mail from Japan! He jammed with Dave Grohl!
For me, at 16 years old, that was eye-opening.
And as his career has progressed, both solo and in bands, he’s never failed to make a record that was interesting or tuneful or compelling.
Dude just does good work. And this a-side is quintessential BB like he has not lost a step. You need this in your life. Much respect to the first lyric in the song referencing his obscure b-side “Son of a Welder.” Also, so stoked that we’re pressing tri-colors in Detroit and how sick they look!
Side notes: in the height of my Sub Pop collecting phase I bought a copy of the Flaming Lips 7” off of him. He gave me a bowl of blueberries and cream (or was it milk?) It was, at the time, the most exotic thing I had ever eaten. He was amazed I had never eaten a salad. I would not eat my first salad until the age of 21.
On the way to a JW & the Bricks rehearsal back in ’99 I wrecked my car. I was 17 years old. I asked all the other band members how old they were the first time they’d wrecked a car. Jack and Kevin both responded “16.” Brendan responded “15” and I thought that was BADASS. Like he stole the car or something.
I hopped in the Whirlwind Heat tour van for a day back in 2003 when they were opening for the Dirtbombs. They put in the “Lapalco” CD and all three of them together just got SOOOO EXCITED to be listening to it, like it was some long waited-for treat. So I asked them how often they listen to “Lapalco” and they said “Once a day, every day.” They just loved the album so much they couldn’t contain themselves.
I sing “Jet Lag” to my daughter Violet usually 4th or 5th in my setlist of “Shit I Know All the Words To While I’m Trying to Get This Booger To Bed.”
I’m giving away one copy of the limited edition tri-color of this record. In the comments below, do whatever…tell a story about Brendan, make me laugh, make me cry…it’s free reign to impress me. Whichever comment I like most gets the prize. SIMPLE!
In 2011 me and my brother flew over from liverpool to galway to see Brendan in a local pub called the Roisin Dubh. My nan lives opposite the pub and my uncle took me and my brother. The show was so intimate and i was literally sat a foot away from brendan. After the show, me and my brother were videoed for the tour documentary he was making (still waiting to see this haha). Brittany sold me and brother our posters and shirt and when we told her we came all the way from liverpool to see Brendan, she immediately took us outside to met him and mark, who was with him. He was the nicest man i’ve ever met, signed everything, and gave me his plec, a true gent. He stayed there for half an hour just chatting to me and my bro and he was so cool about it, also told me he loved my blazer. He was so sweet and I would love to met him again. That saying, ‘never meet your heroes’ can be completely ignored and thrown out the window when it comes to Brendan :)
Okay last offer. Will buy you lunch w/ cpl of beers (domestic only) and a pack of smokes. Also you are not allowed to say the word 45 during lunch. Deal???
Brendan Benson looks a lot like my brother. At my mum’s house I secretly swapped a family photo of my brother with a photo of Brendan. My mum hasn’t noticed. It’s been on the wall for 7 months…!
I’m 32 and I just wrecked my car reading this… do you think I could get a yondr pouch for driving?
Thanks,
Andrew
I once got a concussion from running into a wall while jamming out to a song on Consolers Of The Lonely. Worth it.
I don’t have a Brendan story. But I sure did enjoy yours.
I remember in 1997 seeing Rage Against the Machine at Cobo in Detroit MI, After the show me and my friends who went snuck behind the building, as we were standing by a door that was open, i saw Zach walk by, then with a handful of shirts Tom Morello walks out the door and starts handing them to all of us who were in the vicinity and proceeds to autograph it, after that Brad came out and autographed it, such an amazing time for an 19 year old fan/music love of RATM
Crazy how you get hundreds of comments when you give something away, and only get a handful when you don’t. Or perhaps it is the music reviewed?
M E Smith, a man who would have no truck with such baubles as tri colours! The only musician I know who hated Bob Dylan, and why you may ask? Simple because all other musicians liked Bob Dylan. Truculent, obstinate, angry, offensive in every way. God bless you sir and all who sail in her!
A moose once bit my sister. She was listening to the Raconteurs at the time. Then she put the dirtbombs on and the moose ran for the woods. What a strange day that was.