andrewgoulding.com - Lone-Rhino

Lone Rhino &

Twang Bar King

Adrian's first two solo albums are presently being offered as a compilation, two for the price of one.

Adrian Belew: Lone Rhino

Adrian Belew: Lone Rhino

If you approach Lone Rhino, Adrian Belew's first album as a modest, experimental affair, you may well be surprised...as there are definitely a few pleasant surprises. The opener, Big Electric Cat has a nice jungle groove and some neat guitar...

Big Electric Cat

The Momur is funny, like a paranoid Talking Heads...

"...Late last night
I was speaking with my wife
When she turned into a momur
Tried to put me uptight
I said; 'You don't scare me!'
Then she let out a scream...
That's when my heart started jumpin'
Like a broken TV..."

The Momur

Lone Rhinoceros* (still one of Belew's favorites) is ecology-witty in a rather droll way...and the animal-guitar noises are cool...

"...I'm a lone rhinoceros
There ain't a helluva lot of us...
Left in this world..."

Lone Rhinoceros

Incidentally, over at his blog, Adrian tells a wonderful anecdote about how Lone Rhinoceros came about with a convoluted tale involving:

David Bowie
Charlie Chaplin's son &
Ringo Starr

....but the stand-out on the album is the dreadfully arranged The Man In The Moon...a song about Belew meeting with his father's spirit, who died when he was 19:

"...There I stood in the night
Out on the broken pier
Me with my feet in the sea
You with your face in the clouds
The man in the moon

And as I heard your voice
Felt your laugh
Flood across the broken pier
I wanted to die right then and there

You smiled down across the waves
As if to say to me:
Everything will be OK
Be strong and true...

And I felt your eyes...
Like a tide...
Pulling me out
Into the air

For a moment in time
You held me there
Father and son
Home again..."

The Man In The Moon

MG: Better Homes and Gardens named your Man in the Moon as one of its Top 10 Songs for Dads. As a father, how did that make you feel?

AB: Oh, it made me feel incredible! More than just being a father, it made me feel incredibly sentimental about my father. The song is written about his death, which happened when I was 19. I've had a lot of people tell me over the years that it kind of breaks them up a bit. They're still there in your life. They sit in your memory and they're still in your mind. My father comes to me in my dreams a lot. And it's not a bad memory. He comes and goes and we hang out. It's a good thing. It's a wonderful thing. It's an honor, period, especially because I'm not the kind of artist that I think of in terms of being in Better Homes and Gardens. [Laughs] modernguitars.com

So, first solo album, Lone Rhino, is quirky and promising. It's certainly not brilliant but it's a curio well worth getting hold of for any Belew buff.

for more information, see:

a post from Adrian's blog about playing Adidas In Heat LIVE with his band Gaga &
an unusually grumpy post from Adrian about landing the record deal for Lone Rhino
The Adrian Belew Trio Big Electric Cat 2008 (excerpt)

Twang Bar King

Twang Bar King was Belew's second solo album is a considerably more cohesive, confident effort with Adrian going for a psychedelic (and sometimes humorous) feel that's far less bitsy than Lone Rhino, where his influences sorta bogged him down.

Adrian Belew: Twang Bar King

Twang Bar King

Starting with I'm Down, McCartney's b-side of The Beatles Help single, which is OK if you know the original...and I suspect, pretty good if you don't.

Adrian Belew: I'm Down

N.B.: I presume the feathers in the video are eider down. The standout tracks on Twang Bar King include:

The Rail Song, a love song to the fast disappearing railway of old...

"...I recall as a boy we would hop the freights
Wasn't nuthin' but a kick back then
There was no better thrill for my anxious heart
Than a long flat car headin' out of the yard...

...I gave you my best years..."

The Rail Song

The Ideal Woman, perhaps the most comprehensive wish-list I've ever heard...

"...She's demure, friendly, loving and good looking, good looking....and wealthy, tall, pretty, thin, blonde....a loving person, great personality, fun to be with...independent, gorgeous, rich powerful, liberal yet she's very romantic...of course, she'd have to have the perfect figure...everywhere she goes she's beautiful..." The Ideal Woman

Twang Bar King, a manic macho song about Mr. Geetarr...

"...Rip, bash, smash...burn up a fret
I can keep in tune and nearly beat it to death...
That's why they call me the twang bar king!..."

Twang Bar King

Guitarhoo: Who came up with the "Twang Bar King" moniker?

AB: That was really an idea for a song. It was a joke. I came up with it. I thought there was a lotta sort of load mouth bragger guitar players in the world saying, "I'm the greatest", kinda guys. You know, and I kinda thought I'll write a song that's funny about that kind of character and epitimize that in a song. I never meant for anyone to think it was me saying that about myself, because I certainly didn't feel that way and I still don't.

You know, people have used that as a moniker for me over the years. Some people still even call me The Rhino from the Lone Rhino times and I think all of that's fine. You know, 'cause I don't take it seriously and I know people don't think that I'm really trying to be a Twang Bar King but it's nice to have something like that to be known as, it gives you some sort of personality. guitarhoo.com

...and the very silly Fish Head...originally a song from Ga-Ga, a loose LIVE band that Adrian had been in a few years before...

"...Yes he was a fish-head
His frontal lobe was a re-tread
He rode a little motor scooter
They said he was a neuter
Tried to be a masher
He was a failure as a flasher
What made it most regrettable
He though he was incredible..."

Fish Head

Not forgetting, of course, the rather strange She Is Not Dead...

Q: How did you write She Is Not Dead?

A: The whole band played the melody line from The Man In The Moon, (from Belew's Lone Rhino), we reversed the tape, and added the drumming. The song went through two periods for me lyrically. It first started out as a religious hymn to Mother Earth, saying: Praise the Earth, it's still not dead, even though we tried so hard to kill it. Then I started thinking about it in more human terms and my relationship with my wife. Our relationship has gone through so many ups and downs...as marriages do and it's still not dead. The song clearly had a double meaning for me, and it does have a religious overtone to it. I like the combinations of ethnic elements in the music. I'm very, interested in working a lot more with combinations of eastern, African and electronic...all three together. interview from not a dotcom

Most of all, Belew and friends seem to be having a ball, probably something sorely needed as our Adrian had been having an emotionally rough time with King Crimson recording their album Beat.

Adrian Belew: Lone Rhino & Twang Bar King

"...This two-fer is a nice value with a lot of great music, although for those new to Belew, I'd recommend starting with Young Lions, it's a superb record, and certainly among Belew's best material..." Amazon.com reviewer Michael Stack

"...Adrian has managed to take his influences and forge his own sound. Always distinctive, always original, funny, quirky and extremely musical..." Amazon.com reviewer Brian Bilick

So there you have it, the first two Belew discs, Lone Rhino & Twang Bar King. By the way, Don't tell Adrian but I think you can program your CD to make one pretty interesting early '80s obscure-rock album!