Our Beloved Revolutionary Band Returns: Omnivore Expands Two By Camper Van Beethoven

December 5, 2013 By Joe Marchese — 1 Comment

Among the leading lights of what would eventually become known as “alternative rock,” few groups made as great a mark as Camper Van Beethoven. The California band, which had its beginnings in 1983 and coalesced in 1985, incorporated elements of rock, punk, folk, ska and world music into its own style of “surrealist absurdist folk.” Three indie albums arrived before Camper signed with Virgin Records for its major-label debut, 1988’s Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart. On February 4, Omnivore Recordings will revisit that alt-rock landmark as well as its follow-up, 1989’s Key Lime Pie, in deluxe expanded editions available on CD and produced in cooperation with the band members. The same date, the original LPs will also be reissued on 180-gram vinyl in lavish Omnivore fashion.

Dennis Herring, who would go on to produce albums by Elvis Costello, Ben Folds and Counting Crows, helmed Camper’s two Virgin albums. Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart assuaged the usual fears that a brave and adventurous indie band had “sold out” in signing to a mainstream label; as Omnivore’s press release puts it, “As it turned out, the first three tracks on Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart were a pop song, an instrumental and an adaptation of a dirge about death. Heck, the release even had a love song for Patty Hearst. No, Camper Van Beethoven hadn’t sold out. They just had better distribution now!” Though Sweetheart was an accessible record which earned the band an even greater fan base, it didn’t whitewash the band’s more outré sensibilities or simplify the wide-ranging, varied instrumentation. The album’s line-up included David Lowery on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Jonathan Segel on violin, mandolin, keyboards, guitar and backing vocals, Victor Krummenacher on bass and backing vocals, Greg Lisher on lead guitar, and Chris Pedersen on drums. (Sweetheart was the first Camper Van Beethoven album not to feature founding guitarist/drummer/multi-instrumentalist Chris Molla.) Omnivore’s CD reissue adds a whopping 10 bonus tracks to the album’s original 14 songs, including live tracks, non-LP songs and the edit of “Eye of Fatima Pts. 1 & 2.”

Camper returned in 1989 with Key Lime Pie, its final album before (temporarily) breaking up in 1990. The band’s line-up was somewhat altered here, with the departure of Jonathan Segel before the album’s recording commenced. Hence, the album was crafted by Lowery, Krummenacher, Lisher and Pedersen, with the violin parts played by Don Lax and Morgan Fichter. Somewhat darker and more Americana-oriented than its predecessor, Key Lime Pie featured a noteworthy cover of Status Quo’s psychedelic “Pictures of Matchstick Men” and a track about another notorious American figure, “Jack Ruby.” Nine bonus tracks add up to the tastiest Key Lime Pie yet, including live tracks, rare edits and demos.

After the jump: more on both albums, including full track listings and pre-order links!

In addition to the expanded CDs, both albums will return from Omnivore on 180-gram vinyl. In the case of Key Lime Pie, the nearly hour-long album will be released on two vinyl LPs for improved sound, with a bonus track (“Closing Theme, a.k.a. Guitar Hero”) on the fourth side and playable at 45 RPM. Though Camper Van Beethoven broke up following the two Virgin LPs, the reunited band continues to record and perform today. The band’s most recent studio effort, La Costa Perdida, arrived in early 2013, with Lowery, Segel, Krummenacher and Lisher in the core group. Chris Pedersen contributed drums on a couple of tracks.

Fans will be doubtless be happy campers when Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart and Key Lime Pie, remastered and with new liner notes and photos, hit stores from Omnivore Recordings on February 4! You can pre-order both titles at the links below!

Camper Van Beethoven, Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart (Virgin CD 90918-4, 1998 – reissued Omnivore Recordings, 2014)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Link TBD

LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Link TBD (Includes Tracks 1-14 only)

Eye Of Fatima (Pt. 1)
Eye Of Fatima (Pt. 2)
O Death
She Divines Water
Devil Song
One Of These Days
Turquoise Jewelry
Waka
Change Your Mind
My Path Belated
Never Go Back
The Fool
Tania
Life Is Grand
Love Is a Weed
Harmony In My Head
Wade In the Water
Eye Of Fatima Pts. 1 & 2 (Edit)
The Day That Lassie Went To The Moon (Live)
One Of These Days (Live)
Smash It Up (Live)
Seven Languages (Live)
Kodachrome (Live)
Hanging Around (Live)
Pope Festival

Camper Van Beethoven, Key Lime Pie (Virgin CD 91289-1, 1989 – reissued Omnivore Recordings, 2014)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Link TBD

2-LP Set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Link TBD (Includes Tracks 1-15 only)

Opening Theme
Jack Ruby
Sweethearts
When I Win The Lottery
(I Was Born In A) Laundromat
Borderline
The Light From A Cake
June
All Her Favorite Fruit
Interlude
Flowers
The Humid Press Of Days
Pictures Of Matchstick Men
Come On Darkness
Closing Theme (a.k.a. Guitar Hero)
(I Was Born In A) Laundromat (Edit)
Country 2 (Demo)
Good Guys & Bad Guys (Live)
Wasted (Live)
Take The Skinheads Bowling (Live)
Before I Met You (Live)
L’aguardiente (Soho Natural Session)
(I Don’t Want To Go To The) Lincoln Shrine (Soho Natural Session)

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Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.