The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger (song)
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This article is about the Delta Nudes song. You may be looking for the 1970 demo album of the same name. |
"The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger" (alternatively known as "When Roy Stuffed Trigger") is a song by the group who would later become The Residents. It was composed and recorded in 1970 with their early collaborator Roland Sheehan, and featured in two versions on their demo tape of the same name.
An edited version of the first version of the song is the only excerpt from this tape to have been released to date, and first saw release on 2012 on the compilation album ERA B474.
History
"The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger" was composed by the loosely assembled group of artists who would later become known as The Residents, then living in a small apartment in San Mateo, California.
A lament invoking the horse Trigger, famous companion of Roy Rogers (who was indeed stuffed after death), the song was composed and recorded with the group's friend and early musical contributor Roland Sheehan, who plays guitar on the recording. Hardy Fox (the long-time arranger and producer for The Residents) would later claim that the song's title was conceived by "a friend on acid".[1]
It is the title track on the group's 1970 demo reel of the same name, which also includes a short avant-garde reprise of the song (alternatively titled "Maybe More Trigger" on some bootlegs) near the end of the second half of the tape.
For many years the group's earliest recordings were only vaguely described in official biographies. Uncle Willie, president of the UWEB fan club, confirmed in 1992 that he had found a "suite" entitled "The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger" while searching through the group's archives.[2]
Edited version
An alternative, shorter mix of "The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger" was first released in 2012 on the Robot Selling Device compilation release ERA B474, then again in 2013 and 2016 on the similar releases The Delta Nudes' Greatest Hiss and The Residents Present The Delta Nudes.
This version truncates the long instrumental coda of the original recording, instead being cross-faded into a sample of a choir not heard on the original demo reel, and - like the other "hissy" early recordings featured on these compilations - is treated with digital reverb. It has not been confirmed whether this alternate edit (with the otherwise unheard choral sample) originates from the time of recording or whether it was created specifically for the release of ERA B474.
Lyrics
Once I had a little girl Sweetest girl in the whole wide world I loved her and she loved me She sailed away across the big blue sea Never figure, that Roy stuffed Trigger It won't ??? who stuffed him
Never knew why she sailed away Just kept hopin' for a brighter day I flew away to another land Joined my sweetheart(?) in a rock 'n roll band Never figure, that Roy stuffed Trigger It won't ??? who stuffed him
Play my guitar and sing a song Somehow all seemed to be wrong Then one day a streak of luck Heard my baby had been hit by a truck Never figure, that Roy stuffed Trigger It won't ??? who stuffed him
Get that Trigger!
Releases
- The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger (1970, unreleased) [version 1] [version 2]
- ERA B474 (2012) [version 3]
- The Delta Nudes' Greatest Hiss (2013) [version 3]
- The Residents Present The Delta Nudes (2016) [version 3]
Versions
- ↑ San Mateo home recording, 1970 (first take)
- ↑ San Mateo home recording, 1970 (reprise/second take)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 San Mateo home recording, 1970 (2:54 edit of first take)
See also
- The Delta Nudes
- Roland Sheehan
- The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger
- Rusty Coathangers for the Doctor (song)
External links and references
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The Ballad of Stuffed Trigger (1970) Side A |
