John Frusciante Gets a Boner

I remember being 11 or 12 years old and paying $20 to get me a VHS copy of "Funky Monks", the documentary behind Blood Sugar Sex Magik by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was awesome to see Chad Smith lay it down (with the greatest drum sound EVER), then switch it up and play somber tunes on the piano. He also left the mansion they recorded in every night to escape the man-grabbing that was going on daily between Flea, Anthony and John. We also got to see how truly terrible Anthony was (and still is, to some extent) as a vocalist, Flea and Chad playing tire irons during "Breaking The Girl" and one of the weirdest things I've ever heard someone say.

During a personal interview with John in his makeshift bedroom, he describes what it's like to get caught up in a good riff, jamming with the band. He says he gets a boner because the jams are so awesome, making him do his thing (hopefully in private...more likely in Anthony). You could easily see from these clips and interviews that this was the start of John's heroin addiction, which later left him Pepperless and replaced by 147 guitarists, including stints by Arik Marshall and Dave "I'm a walking douche bag" Navarro.

With the Peppers on hiatus while Anthony impregnated a 19 year old girl, Chad rocks with many a motherfucker (Glenn Hughes, Sammy Hagar's Chickenfoot, solo projects) and Flea shows up on the new Keith Caputo disc), John is ready to unleash "The Empyrean" thru The Record Collection tomorrow. This is the first solo disc of his since releasing 6 LP'sin 6 months back in 2006. I'd expect more of the same, which for fans of JF is always welcome. Haunting melodies, amazingly simple structures and surprisingly beautiful vocals and lyrics.

For fans of his older work, all of this will inevitably fall short of "Your Pussy's Glued To A Building On Fire" or "Life's A Bath", bt in reality, those are fucking terrible records made by a drugged out lunatic. I'm very happy with sober John. Keep the boners coming, my friend.

"Going Inside" Live, 2000ish:
"Carvel": All Tomorrow's Parties, 2005: