Released by Relapse records in 1996, this odd collection of songs is a tribute to the virtues of smokin' spliffs, mostly featuring "smoking songs" of the 1920s and '30s along with a couple of parody moments and a crazed semi-white-noise freakout hidden track, "Loading Dock." Exit-13 is a mainly- studio concoction, the brainchild of guitarist Steve O'Donnell and vocalist Bill Yurkiewicz; for this recording, they enlisted the assistance of members of Brutal Truth and former Pain Teens singer Bliss Blood.
Exit-13 on this album were:
RICHARD HOAK -- drums, piano and vocals on Loading Dock, backing vocals on Light Up!, ultra suave crushed red velvet smoking jacket
DAN LILKER -- upright bass, piano, vocals on Light Up!, And If You're A Viper, backing vocals on Willie the Record Releaser, loaded pipes, insubordination
BLISS BLOOD -- kazoo on 1'1 (Thirteen Inches of Fun), backing vocals on Light Up!, inspiration STEVE O'DONNELL -- electric guitar, vocals on Stoney Monday, 1'1 (Thirteen Inches of Fun), and Hempcake, backing vocals on Light Up!, official session fatty technician
BILL YURKIEWICZ -- vocals on Willie the Record Releaser, backing vocals on When I Get Low, I Get High and Weed, noise effects, beer buds
Notes:
LIGHT UP!... A cover of the Buster Bailey's Rhythm Busters dittie recording December 7, 1938. A call to arms. Twist and shout. A most pragmatic lead-off track. Let's all get mellow! JACK I'M MELLOW comes from the 1938 Trixie Smith tune, and if you followed the instructions articulated in the previous track, you should be feeling about the same way we did during the entire recording session! Bliss' rendition of IF YOU'RE A VIPER remains close to the 1938 gem from Bob Howard and His Boys. Bliss sure knows how to kick the gong around! STONEY MONDAY is based on the blues standard Stormy Monday. Steve used to play around with this bloodshot blues number at practice as far back as early 1990. The bong hits have always flown on Friday. WHEN I GET LOW, I GET HIGH was originally recorded by Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb and His Orchestra during April 1938. Bliss and the band follow the title's applied wisdom on an almost constant basis! LOTUS BLOSSOM (SWEET MARIJUANA) was originally recorded by Julia Lee and Her Boy Friends during November 1947. This track is sheer Bliss. WILLIE THE RECORD RELEASER is based on the 1927 Ernest Rogers smashed hit Willie the Chimney Sweeper. The lyrics have been autobiographically altered to relate to Willie's new, but equally dirty, career and vices. 1'1 (THIRTEEN INCHES OF FUN) is another twisted old parody from a year or two back. Steve bassed this whacked track on the 1926 classic Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue, penned by Sam Lewis, Joe Young and Ray Henderson. Has anybody seen our bong?!? WEED is a cover of the Bea Foote song that had remained unissued until the REEFER SONGS compilation. All day long indeed. IF YOU'RE A VIPER gets a second treatment complimented by original lyrics penned by Dan, proving he was destined to be a member of Exit-13! The man has gotta be wasted constantly! KNOCKIN' MYSELF OUT was inspired by the 1941 Lil Green number of the same name. At this point in the record we hope you have been knocking yourself out gradually by degrees. HEMPCAKE is just that! SWEET MARIJUANA BROWN, a Barney Bigard Sextet composition, was originally recorded during January 1945. This tune is an intoxicating song about a gal we all love. She's taken all of us in at one time or another. This thirteenth track ID also includes LOADING DOCK, a music experience which cannot be expanded upon, but believe me when I tell you we get our kicks from smoking big fat doobies!!!!
These smoking songs were recorded at Sound Cage Studio, Lancaster, Pennsylvania August 1995.
Engineered by Jan Leuzczek. Mixed by Dan Lilker and Bill Yurkiewicz.
Produced by Bill Yurkiewicz for Relapse Records.
Mastered at SAE Mastering, Phoenix, AZ August 1995 and M Works, Cambridge, MA August 1996 by Dave Shirk and Bill Yurkiewicz.
Addition Smokin' Session players:
Shawn McKenna -- Trombone(s) on Light Up!, If You're A Viper, When I Get Low, I Get High, Weed, and Lotus Blossom (Sweet Marijuana)
Terry Sherry -- Electric Bass on Sweet Marijuana Brown and 1'1 (Thirteen Inches of Fun)
Front cover artwork by Wes Benscoter.
Photography by Alexander Golaski and Bill Yurkiewicz.
Liner notes by Bill Yurkiewicz.
Graphic artistry by Eric Horst.
Cold Meat logo parody photo is an actual homemade seed-cleaning machine taken from the 1913 U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Yearbook.
Executive producers Matthew F. "Two-Hit Baker" Jacobson and Willie the Record Releaser
Special thanks to all the Relapse vipers and frails, Father Jan and Sound Cag -- cheers for the use of the Doghouse!!!!, Terry Sherry, Shaw McKenna, Kipp Johnson for preproduction assistance, Jass Records for releasing the inspirational VIPER MAD BLUES and REEFER SONGS compilations, Zap's Vintage Clothing, Lancaster, PA for the zoot hookup, Jack Herrer for The Emperor Wears No Clothes, Zena Tsarfin @ HIGH TIMES MAGAZINE for being a pusher, NORML, Wes Benscoter for the great artwork, Jason @ DOD Electronics, The Rat by Proco, Graffix Water Pipes, S.D. Modiano rolling papers, all all-natural Belgian, English and American ales, Tanqueray Gin, Richard Linklater and to hemp activists and home cultivists worldwide -- it is in honor of our beloved cannibis sativa that these songs were recorded!
Exit-13 recorded SMOKING SONGS under the influence of homegrown Pennsylvanian guage and various micro-brewed ales. Exit-13 advocate the rational and intelligent use of marijuana as a recreational stimulant and as a viable alternative to fossil fuels and deforestation.
In the very words of George Washington, first President of the United States of America,
"MAKE THE MOST OF THE HEMP SEED, SOW IT EVERYWHERE."
Light Up!, Jack I'm Mellow, If You're A Viper (Blissful Mix), Stoney Monday, When I Get Low I Get High, Lotus Blossom (Sweet Marijuana), Willie the Record Releaser, 1'1 (Thirteen Inches of Fun), Weed, If You're A Viper (Viper Mad Lilker Mix), Knockin' Myself Out, Hempcake, Sweet Marijuana Brown, Loading Dock ("hidden" track)