Beastie Boys-Paul's Boutique (JHO Hall Of Fame)

I go to the CD rack the other day to pull out my favorite Beasite Boys album "Paul's Boutique". I was in the mood for "Lookin' Down The Barrel Of A Gun" and the "B-Boy Bouillabaisse" suite which I heard on my IPOD at the gym a couple weeks before. Looking at the CD case, it's cracked in five places, there is some sort of haze from condensation, and inside the CD simply falls out because the fastener is busted in three places. It gets me thinking of the history of one of my favorite hip-hop albums of all time. It's been through nine addresses with me, five states and who knows how many to work sessions in the car. And I picked up this particular copy in the summer of 1996 after I graduated college because my roommates always had a copy handy so I never needed  my own. Listening to it on my way to work (because my car is from the stone age of 2002), I'm chanting along about Chuck Woolery, Ben Franklin, Son Of Sam, and Wonder Bread bag shoes like it's an old habit. But what a fun habit to have. It seems logical that "Paul's Boutique" needs to go in the JHO Hall Of Fame.

Because there are so many references and samples littered throughout the Beastie Boys landmark album, I'm not going through them all. There's a website I found a few years ago which will give you everything you want to know about the album. Paul's Boutique Website, everything you need to know about the album is....here.

When I first remember hearing the album, it was in the summer of 1989 riding around with friends. The album was an astonishing step up from their breakthrough "Licensed To Ill". Lyrically, MCA, Mike D and Ad-Rock were rapping about everything...in a completely intelligent way. In retrospect, the growth in maturity is astronomical between albums. Without it, they would have undoubtedly wallowed in self parody by 1993, if they even lasted that long. There were characters you were familiar with and characters you learned about (Saduhara Oh comes to mind first).The way the three interacted with each other throughout the album brought a whole new definition to the definition of carefree. But yet it was complex and ever so sprawling at the same time. The insertions of pop culture icons and other song lyrics throughout their songs were fantastic, done like no one ever had before or rarely have since. It was the cornerstone to a decade that followed it that swam in pop culture references. We have three emcees to thank for that.

photo courtesy: magnetmagazine.com

Musically it was a kaleidoscope of songs that we all remember hearing on FM radio going to little league baseball games or basketball games. Familiar songs from the Eagles to Sly and The Family Stone to Black Oak Arkansas to the Beatles. The band got together with the Dust Brothers, moved out to California to write and record (for some reason, I picture it being like Zuckerburg and company moving into the house in California in The Social Network type atmosphere) and samples were a free for all. This was before the damn Turtles ruined it by suing De La Soul in 1990. It was a free for all and no album has ever mixed the past with the new style so well together in so many different directions.

From what I remember though, the album was a major commercial disappointment at the time of its release. The record company was hoping for "Licensed To Ill" type numbers and the album didn't fare anywhere near as well as its predecessor. It instead weeded out a lot of the jocks and sorority girls who loved the party anthems on "Licensed To Ill". And let's face it, the party jams on both albums are stellar, but "Paul's Boutique" was much more diverse and challenging to wrap your head around on first listen. This was an album that required dedication from the listener and those who finally got it stand by it religiously for many good reasons.

courtesy: thedaysoflore.com

In college, it found its way in the background for endless nights of card games, Nintendo standoffs and pre-bar workouts. In a way it took three full years of working in to the faithful's mindset that by the time "Check Your Head" came out in 1992, the commercial disappointment was forgotten as "Check Your Head" was a top ten hit. After college, it was one of the first Compact Discs I picked up because I couldn't imagine my collection without it. And ever since I get the tremors to want to hear the thing top to bottom on occasions just because I miss it.

That's pretty much the history as I see it. But if you are a faithful, I'm preaching to the choir...or the congregation...or however that saying goes.

Here are some of my favorite moments and lyrics on the album:
Shake Your Rump: "Got more rhymes than Jamaica got Mango Kangols" and "Like Fred Flintstone driving around with bald feet"
Johnny Ryall:  "Sleepin' on the street in a cardboard box, He's better off drinkin' than smokin' the rocks"
Eggman: Curtis Mayfield's "The Pusherman" in the verses, Sly and the Family Stone's "Dance To The Music" in the break, just wonderful.
High Plains Drifter: "Bust a Travis Bickle when I feel that I'm getting pushed"
Sounds Of Science: "Dropping science like when Galileo dropped his orange" and the Beatles "The End"
Hey Ladies: "Sucking down pints till I didn't know, Woke up in the morning with a one ton hoe"
Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun: "Ultra violence running through my head, Fuzzy navel y'all making me see red." And of course, the two second sample of Mountain's "Mississippi Queen.
What Comes Around: "Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your hair, So I can climb up and get into your underwear"
Shadrach: Figuring out the beat was "Hot 'n Nasty" from Black Oak Arkansas, a rare album my dad owned was awesome. "More Adidas sneakers that a plumber got pliers, Got more suites that Jacoby & Meyers"
B-Boy Bouillabaisse: The whole suite. Favorites are "Stop That Train" and "Hello Brooklyn".
Plus the bookends of "To All The Girls" and the two very short skit/instrumentals (the way a hip hop album should operate) are great too.

So this weekend, make it a "Shadrach" weekend. Savor the rich moments which made "Paul's Boutique" one of the best hip/hop albums of all time. If you've got the deluxe edition bust it out. Or if you've got a rough old copy like I own, bust it out. Or bust it out on your digital music player. Because musically, life would be a lot more boring if this album was never created. Essential in every way.

Source: http://www.jhostation.com/2011/03/beastie-boys-pauls-boutique-jho-hall-of.html

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