It Crawled into My Hand, Honest

by The Fugs

Overview

Having attained a professional rock-band sound on Tenderness Junction, the Fugs seemed determined to further expand their arrangements (aided, perhaps, by a major-label budget) on It Crawled into My Hand, Honest. Indeed, the album is ridiculously eclectic. There's stoned psychedelic folk-rock ("Crystal Liaison"); cry-in-your-beer country music with vehemently satirical or surrealistic lyrics ("Ramses II Is Dead My Love," "Johnny Pissoff Meets the Red Angel"); grand, sweeping classical orchestration ("Burial Waltz"); a Gregorian chant about "Marijuana"; down-home gospel with lyrics that no preacher would dare enunciate ("Wide Wide River," with the line: "I've been swimming in this river of sh*t/More than 20 years and I'm getting tired of it"); and, almost buried along the way, the kind of tuneful, countercultural folk-rock Tuli Kupferberg contributed to earlier albums ("Life Is Strange"). Choral backup vocals abound, and the mere presence of a half-dozen outside arrangers testifies to how much the group's attitude toward exploiting the studio had developed since the bare-bones ESP albums. Generally, the songs (most written by the core trio of Sanders, Kupferberg, and Weaver) are more concerned with deft poetry and humor than political statements, although the customary social satire and calls for sexual freedom and drug use are present in diminishing degrees. Although side one is five discrete tracks, side two is a side-long cut-and-paste of tracks varying in length from three seconds to four minutes, the stylistic jump-cuts similar to those employed by the Mothers of Invention in the same era. It's an impressive and, usually, fun record, but it's also less lyrically cogent and powerful than their early albums. One senses that the Fugs' personality and individuality were ultimately somewhat muted by the more ambitious production values and frequent use of external musicians and arrangers. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	10/28/2022
Label:	Wounded Bird
UPC:	0664140630529
Rank:	36094

Tracks

1. Crystal Liaison
2. Ramses II Is Dead, My Love
3. Burial Waltz
4. Wide Wide River
5. Life Is Strange
6. Johnny Pissoff Meets the Red Angel
7. Marijuana
8. Leprechaun
9. When the Mode of the Music Changes
10. Whimpers from the Jello
11. The Divine Toe, Pt. 1
12. We're Both Dead Now, Alice
13. Life Is Funny
14. Grope Need, Pt. 1
15. Tuli, Visited by the Ghost of Plontinus/More Grope Need (Grope Need, Pt. 2)
16. Robinson Crusoe
17. Claude Pelieu and J.J. Lebel Discuss the Early Verlaine Bread Crust Fragments
18. The National Haiku Contest
19. The Divine Toe, Pt. 2
20. Irene

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Fugs   Primary Artist
Ken Pine   Guitar,Vocals
Charles Larkey   Bass
Ed Sanders   Vocals
Tuli Kupferberg   Vocals
Ken Weaver   Drums,Vocals
Doug Franklin   Vocals
Leslie Dorsey   Vocals
Bob Mason   Drums
Randy Kay   Conductor
Flora Alderson   Conductor
The Bread Crust Choral Society   Vocals

Technical Credits

Al Schachman   Arranger
Bob Dorough   Instrument Arrangement,Composer,Vocal Arrangement
Ken Pine   Arranger,Composer
Danny Kootch   Arranger
Richard Alderson   Arranger,Engineer,Producer,Musical Coordinator
Ed Sanders   Design,Arranger,Composer,Producer,Liner Notes,Group Member
Tuli Kupferberg   Composer,Group Member
Ken Weaver   Composer,Group Member
Arthur Jenkins   Arranger
Doug Franklin   Vocal Arrangement
Randy Kay   Arranger
Warren Smith   Arranger,Composer,Producer
Flora Alderson   Arranger