Hit 'Em With a Shovel

Okay... I have to make up for that last post. For all those asking about the artwork on the merchandise in the Ashtray Prophets store, here's the story:

As everyone knows, the Ashtray Prophets were infamous for their love/hate relationship with country music. They would cover songs by the great ones (Willie Nelson, Tom T. Hall, and Kenny Rogers, to name a few), but then they'd rip Nashville a new one by parodying the supposed boorish nature of country songs, singers, and their fans. Songs like "No Beer, No Work", "Pocket Pal", and "Plastic Undies Cowboy" caused a near-riot during the second set of their gig at the Small Planet during MSU Rodeo Weekend.

"Hit 'Em With a Shovel" was another example of the Ashtray Prophets sticking their middle fingers in the eye of the Grand Ol' Opry -- and it coincidentally was one of their first hits. In fact, after their first public performance of this song, it became an instant campfire favorite among the college crowd.

A friend of mine came across a old cassette tape (obviously a copy of a copy of a copy...) at Boston College that has a very early recording of this song. It almost sounds like this may have been one of the very first recordings of an early version of this song. The guys never really wrote anything down, and they often recorded their songs while writing them.

Click here to download Hit 'Em With a Shovel.

Butterman

I wanted to post another song today, so I was going to post "Fat Hog From the Cafeteria", but being that today is Veteran's Day here in the States, I figured another song would be more appropriate. Well, kinda. I don't know.

Click here to download "Butterman"

I really don't know if there's as much a story as it seems an inside joke behind this song, so I can offer no explanation except that the Ashtray Prophets really liked their beer.

Berdy Found! Let It Rain Beer!

A recent story on the AP wire mentioned that Berdy -- the so-called "third Ashtray Prophet" -- has been found alive and well in a Jewish compound in the midwest. According to the article, when told he had been considered missing for the past 10 years, he sleepily responded, "Dude, got any weed?"

In celebration of this event, I'm posting a private recording I got from a guy on the Internet who knew a guy who knew a guy who claims to have been present for the taping. The story goes like this:

Sometime in 1992 or 1993, the guys were having an informal jam in MH's dorm room and somebody said, "Wouldn't it be cool if it rained beer?" MH started playing, Berdy starting singing, and the rest is history. The following live recording caught it as it happened, and, from what I am told, it was all completely improvised.

Click here to download "God, Let it Rain Beer".