Cowbell

"I got a fever, and the only prescription.. is more cowbell" - Bruce Dickinson It’s September 17th 1976. A sportly spring Sunday signalled a simply sublime sound session at the shifty yet sonically surreal Sunshine Studios in downtown LA. Rock outfit Blue Oyster Cult were laying down tracks on a new tune entitled Don’t Fear the Reaper with legendary producer Bruce Dickinson there pushing them beyond their childhood dreams of rock stardom and into a world in which any of the band members could get a lay with a simple strike of the cowbell. Yes, the cowbell. It wasn’t easy getting that cowbell track down, the band had an ironclad vision of their musical direction when cowbell master Gene Frenkle challenged it on this Sunday of all Sundays. All the band wanted was a smooth recording session featuring their traditional line up of guitar, bass, and percussion to make the most of their time with legendary Bruce Dickinson (“yes, THE Bruce Dickinson”), but Gene Frenkles presence in the studio with his steel-cast Hendrix-custom Cowbell 3000 would change the way they looked at rock and roll forever. Left to right: Gene Frenkle and Blue Oyster Cult 1976, Vintage 1934 brass cowbell, & the late Gene Frenkle (aka Will Ferrell) Audio extract from original Dont Fear the Reaper takes: Cowbell The integration of the cowbell into contemporary rock was a painstakingly slow process involving a solid base of passionate cowbell gurus. They threw them all over the place in order to increase consumer awareness of the vast range of cowbell models available, no demographic was spared in this drive. All nations would see some form of cowbell hit the market. In the mountains of Tibet cowbells found their way into Buddhist temples in which many seeking enlightenment through meditation were disturbed by its shrill and unique sound. For this reason it was banned in many parts of the world. The United States of America, founded by ideals of Freedom which are now enforced by ignorant rednecks sporting double barrelled shotguns, almost saw the end of the cowbell. It was all thanks to the hippy era and the abundance of free love that the cowbell made it through; hippies would purchase and trade many different kinds of cowbells as informal, cheap substitutes for wedding rings. For example, Hippy Woman A would hang a black steel-cast Farehn Cowbell 200B around her neck to signify her current sexual ties to Hippy Primate B, who would wear the same. Since everyone slept around like rabbits, up to 5 cowbells a day were purchased by many hippies. This phase in history alone kept the cowbell alive. In the 21st century the cowbell is as powerful as ever, more songs than I was ever aware of feature a cowbell striking away periodically from start to finish. It’s unbelievable. Most noticeable recently is the Queens of the Stone Age’s latest single release “Little Sister”, in which the cowbell can be heard as a solo instrument for a remarkable 4 beats at the beginning of the song and several consecutive beats in several other parts. Other well known songs featuring the cowbell include “Play that Funky Music” by Wild Cherry, “Dr Feelgood” by Motley Crue, “Talk To Me, Dance With Me” by Hot Hot Heat and the classic Run DMC track “King of Rock”. Cowbell lives. Lest we forget,