''Devil's Workshop'' is the second of a pair of albums by

Frank Black and the Catholics Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965), better known by the stage name Black Francis, is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies (band), Pixies. Following th ...

to be simultaneously released on August 20, 2002 (along with '' Black Letter Days''). "His Kingly Cave" was originally recorded for an aborted album project in mid-2000 entitled '' Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day''. "Velvety"'s music comes from an earlier Pixies B-side, appropriately named "Velvety Instrumental Version". The track first received lyrics when it was revived for this album.

Background

In 2002, Frank Black talked to the Free Williamsburg website about some of the songs on ''Devil's Workshop''. "Velvety" was written by Black as a teenager and was called "Velvety Instrumental Version" because at the time he thought it sounded like

the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

, "which, of course, it doesn't, in hindsight," he said. "We had started to play it when we were touring on '' Dog in the Sand'', just the instrumental version. It was a loud, open the set, "Hello! We're here!" kind of rave-up. It was kind of around. One day I had a session, and I didn't have a new song to present to the band and I said "Okay, I'm gonna write some lyrics to this song." As a matter of fact, that was the first thing we recorded for ''Devil's Workshop'', I believe, on the first day." "His Kingly Cave" is about a trip to

Graceland Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, once owned by American singer Elvis Presley. Presley is buried there, as are his parents Vernon and Gladys, paternal grandmother Minnie Mae, grandson Benjamin, and daugh ...

many years before. Black: "I thought it would be fun to take hallucinogenic mushrooms while I was there. I was much younger than I am now. ... I went to Graceland with my girlfriend and we took mushrooms and it was a horrible and tense day. That's a telling of that day in that story."

Track listing

All tracks written by

Frank Black Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965), better known by the stage name Black Francis, is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies. Following the band's break ...

. # "Velvety" – 2:28 # "Out of State" – 2:29 # "His Kingly Cave" – 4:44 # "San Antonio, TX" – 3:43 # "Bartholomew" – 2:26 # "Modern Age" – 2:55 # "Are You Headed My Way?" – 2:03 # "Heloise" – 3:42 # "The Scene" – 2:29 # "Whiskey in Your Shoes" – 3:06 # "Fields of Marigold" – 3:05

Personnel

Frank Black and the Catholics *

– vocals, guitar *Scott Boutier – drums *David McCaffery – bass, vocals *Dave Philips – guitar, pedal steel guitar, vocals Additional musicians *

Joey Santiago Joseph Alberto Santiago (born June 10, 1965) is a Filipino-American guitarist and composer. Active since 1986, Santiago is best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist of the alternative rock band Pixies. After the band's breakup in 1993, ...

– guitar *

Lyle Workman Lyle Dean Workman is an American guitarist, composer, session and touring musician, and music producer. His music has been widely distributed since his debut on the eponymous '' Bourgeois Tagg'' album in 1986, and is known for his work as compos ...

– guitar * Moris Tepper – guitar *Rob Laufer – keyboards *

Eric Drew Feldman Eric Drew Feldman (born April 16, 1955) is an American musician. Feldman has worked with Captain Beefheart, Fear, Snakefinger, The Residents, Pere Ubu, Pixies, dEUS, Katell Keineg, Frank Black, The Polyphonic Spree, Tripping Daisy, Reid Pal ...

– keyboards *

Stan Ridgway Stanard "Stan" Ridgway (born April 5, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter, and film and television composer known for his distinctive voice, dramatic lyrical narratives, and eclectic solo albums. He was the original lead singer and a founding ...

– keyboards * Ben Mumphrey – maracas Technical *Frank Black and the Catholics – producer *Ben Mumphrey – producer, engineer *Robert Vosgien – mastering *AlphaBeta – cover design

References

{{Authority control 2002 albums Frank Black and the Catholics albums SpinART Records albums Cooking Vinyl albums