Hairway to Steven

Hairway to Steven is the fourth full-length studio album by American alternative rock band Butthole Surfers, released in February 1988. All songs were written by the Butthole Surfers, co-produced by the Surfers and Ric Wallace, and mixed by Wallace. The album was recorded at January Sound Studio in Dallas.

The album was originally released on Touch and Go, and was reissued on Latino Buggerveil in 1999.

Hairway to Steven's title is an obvious parody of (or perhaps tribute to) Led Zeppelin's popular hit, "Stairway to Heaven." Some of its tracks also make allusions to other famous musicians, such as Julio Iglesias.

Music

The last full-length Surfers album of the 1980s marked a midway point in the band's career, straddling their punk rock roots and the more accessible recordings that would follow. Like the Surfers' previous releases, Hairway to Steven uses non-traditional instrumentation, extensive tape editing, and sound modulation. Unlike its predecessors, which relied almost exclusively on a foundation of electric guitar, bass, and dual drummers, it makes equally heavy use of the acoustic guitar.

This was drummer Teresa Nervosa's final studio recording with the Surfers.

Live performances of all the album's songs, with the exception of "Julio Iglesias," were included on 1989's Double Live. "John E. Smoke" continues to be a regular feature of their concerts.

Song titles

This album used no actual song titles when originally released; each song was represented by an absurdist, often scatological cartoon printed on the vinyl record's label and in the CD's packaging. In the years since, fans have extrapolated the songs' actual names by cross-referencing this album with official and bootleg recordings of the Surfers' live performances, particularly 1989's Double Live. Many online music services use these widely accepted titles (see "Track listing").

Background

Hairway to Steven was recorded at one studio in a relatively short period of time. According to bassist Jeff Pinkus, the band had been performing most of these songs for years before recording them for this album. Many of the band's previous releases had been piecework affairs, recorded over several months in numerous studios, and their songs underwent far more in-studio development.

The Surfers opted to follow this album's blueprint on future recordings, entering the studio with more fully formed songs than they had in the past. Pinkus has expressed the opinion that these better-organized recording sessions stifled much of the spontaneous creativity that had propelled the group's previous albums.

Track listing

All songs written and co-produced by the Butthole Surfers. The following titles were extrapolated by matching the songs to those found on 1989's Double Live, with the exception of "Julio Iglesias," which is inferred from the song's oft-repeated mention of the singer's name.

Side 1

1. "Jimi" – 12:38
2. "Ricky" – 2:36
3. "I Saw an X-Ray of a Girl Passing Gas" – 4:56

Side 2

1. "John E. Smoke" – 6:40
2. "Rocky" – 3:45
3. "Julio Iglesias" – 3:05
4. "Backass" – 6:07
5. "Fast" (a.k.a. "Fart Song") – 1:35

Personnel

• Gibby Haynes – lead vocals
• Paul Leary – guitar
• Jeff Pinkus – bass
• King Coffey – drums
• Teresa Nervosa – drums

References