BUTTHOLE SURFERS: HAIRWAY TO STEVEN Fourth Studio Album (1988)

Hairway to Steven is the fourth studio album by the experimental rock band Butthole Surfers, released in April 11, 1988. All songs were written by Butthole Surfers, co-produced by Butthole 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. Some of its tracks make allusions to famous musicians, such as Julio Iglesias. The album’s name is a Spoonerism of Led Zeppelin‘s signature song, “Stairway to Heaven“.

The last full-length Butthole Surfers studio album of the 1980s, and the last on indie label Touch and Go, marked a midway point in the band’s career, straddling their psychedelic-noise roots and the more accessible recordings that followed it. Like Butthole Surfers‘ previous releases, Hairway to Steven uses nontraditional 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 Butthole Surfers. Live performances of all of the album’s songs, with the exception of “Julio Iglesias“, were included on 1989’s Double Live. “Rocky” and “Fast” continue to be regular features of their concerts.

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”).

Tracklist:

1. Jimi
2. Ricky
3. I Saw an X-Ray of a Girl Passing Gas
4. John E. Smoke
5. Rocky
6. Julio Iglesias
7. Backass
8. Fast

Credits:

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

https://buttholesurfers.bandcamp.com/album/hairway-to-steven