"A blue bong, high quality indica buds, hash, hash oil, freebase, red wine, cigarettes, LSD, coffee, and whippets." Dust Brother Mike Simpson's recollection of the essential items in the production of the Beastie Boy's second album gives more than a hint about why this particular slice of hip-hop has been, to say the least, a little obscured. And this is the Beastie Boys album which needs the most exposition; even though most people will tell you that it's their masterwork, the circumstances surrounding it have been in need of description.
Thankfully, this sad lack of information is filled by Dan LeRoy's new book, which tells the album's story in its entirety. This is definitely one of the best stories to an album I've had the pleasure of reading: filled with juicy and hilarious anecdotes about music industry power struggles, wild parties and ground-laying music-making, Paul's Boutique is definitely the most entertaining of the 33 1/3 books I've read. There are plenty of scenes that provide major entertainment: the Beasties' many eggings of unsuspecting victims, Capitol A&R man Tim Carr's nude sauna business meeting with Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons, and many more. And LeRoy's really done his homework to stitch the story together: his bibliography is the busiest of all the 33 1/3 books I’ve been through.
The format of the book is one people who have read previous 33 1/3 volumes will be familiar with: opening with the album's complete history, and then proceeding into a track by track description of the songs that comprise the album. Thankfully, LeRoy includes info on b-sides and outtakes, a rare and scattered bunch of songs, most with humorous, interesting stories of their own. The way he brings up some of the more salient samples that make up the songs is also admirable, hitting some nice middle ground between not discussing the composition at all and giving an exhaustive sample list (which, as the Dust Brothers and Matt Dike admit, would be impossible anyway).
The book's final chapter wraps up and ends with a reflective note on the Beasties' future, the album's legacy, and, problematically, its overlaying sense of nostalgia. Nostalgia is a concept LeRoy tries to work throughout the book. He takes it to be a crucial element of Paul's Boutique, and he expounds on it intermittently in his analysis. He makes a good argument, too; but while it's true the album is made up of pop culture fragments from an earlier time, sometimes it doesn't seem fair to me to pigeonhole this tendency as "nostalgia." The artists involved weren’t really looking back with a wistful fondness; to me, it seems they were actively buoying themselves on music they loved, no matter what the cultural circumstances.
Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
Fantastic review, MPP!
I agree that for the listener, Paul's Boutique is a very forward-reaching album. Most people didn't even know what to think of it at the time; it truly took the hip hop digging public at large a while to recognize the seminal work for what it is.
2 - zingzing
it's up there with fear of a black planet and follow the leader as some of the greatest hip hop ever made, i'd say. 33n1/3 books have never really impressed me, but i have to say there is a large knowledge gap for paul's boutique... so i may have to check this out. although i really would be looking for info about the samples.
3 - zingzing
like there's that one drum beat that st ettiene and leftfield (and others, i am sure) also used during the early 90's... what is it? i can't remember which track it is... eggman? kind of a rolling beat.
4 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!