Les Claypool, Larry ”Ler” LaLonde, and Tim “Herb” Alexander haven’t released an album together as Primus since 1995’s gold-certified Tales From The Punchbowl. But they reunited—along with cellist Sam Bass and percussionist Mike Dillon—last year for a special performance that saw them covering the entire soundtrack of 1971’s Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory. And now that set will be immortalized in a new album, Primus And The Chocolate Factory With The Fungi Ensemble, due October 21 (preorder here). Primus has already offered a taste of the upcoming LP by releasing its version of “Pure Imagination,” streaming below.
The album will be accompanied by a month-long U.S. tour, which drummer Alexander plans to be part of, despite recently suffering a heart attack. Claypool told Rolling Stone that the sets will start as a “stripped-down” Primus performance, then pull back the curtain for a full-fledged Wonka fest. The band may even put on matinee Wonka shows for kids, Claypool said.
Primus will also start selling its own candy bars—Professor Nutbutter, Bastard Bar, and Mr. —and will release its album on chocolate-covered vinyl. A random five of those records will be golden, though there’s no word yet on any potential prizes.
Claypool also couldn’t avoid expressing his hatred of Tim Burton’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, stressing that this is a tribute to the 1971 classic, the one that did not insult Gene Wilder. “We need to make sure that kids in the future watch the original Willy Wonka and not the horrendous, horrible remake that came along and left the taste of feces in our mouths,” he said. “There are a lot of very talented people on the planet. And Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are two of those very talented people. But like all human beings, every now and then, we crap in our pants.”
Primus Tour 2014:
October 22–Upper Darby, Pennsylvania–Tower Theatre
October 24–Albany, New York–Palace Theatre
October 25–Boston, Massachussetts–Orpheum Theatre
October 26–Burlington, Vermont–Flynn Center for Performing Arts
October 28–Waterbury, Connecticut–Palace Theater
October 29–Baltimore, Maryland–Hippodrome
October 31–New York, New York–Beacon Theatre
November 1–New Brunswick, New Jersey–State Theatre
November 2–Rochester, New York–Main Street Armory
November 3–Detroit, Michigan–The Fillmore Detroit
November 5–St. Louis, Missouri–Peabody Opera House
November 7–Cincinnati, Ohio–Taft Theatre
November 8–Atlanta, Georgia–Tabernacle
November 9–Orlando, Florida–Hard Rock Live
November 11–Miami Beach, Florida–The Fillmore Miami Beach at The Jackie Gleason Theater
November 12–Clearwater, Florida–Ruth Eckerd Hall
November 14–Biloxi, Mississippi–Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
November 15–Austin, Texas–ACL live at the Moody Theater
November 16–Dallas, Texas–The Majestic Theatre
November 17–San Antonio, Texas–Majestic Theatre
November 19–Phoenix, Arizona–Orpheum Theatre Phoenix
November 21–Los Angeles, California–Orpheum Theatre LA