"More cowbell" is an
American
pop culture catchphrase originally derived from an April 8,
2000, Saturday Night
Live comedy sketch fictionalizing the recording of the
song " The Reaper" by
Blue Öyster Cult.
sketch featured guest host
Christopher Walken as fictional
music producer Bruce Dickinson (not to be
confused with the
Iron Maiden singer
of the same name, or
Jim Dickinson, an actual record producer of
the same last name) and
Will Ferrell as
fictional
cowbell player Gene
Frenkle. In the
television
special Saturday Night Live: 101 Most Unforgettable
Moments, this sketch is moment number five.
Synopsis
The sketch is presented as though it is an episode of
VH1's
Behind the
Music documenting the band
Blue Öyster Cult. It begins with what
is said to be film from the 1976 recording session that produced
the band's biggest hit, "
The
Reaper". The producer (played by Christopher Walken) introduces
himself as "
the Bruce Dickinson" and tells the band they
have "what appears to be a dynamite sound." The band members are
impressed at this compliment because of Bruce Dickinson's supposed
high standing in the music industry.
The first take of the recording session begins soon after. The
recording seems to be going well, but the band stops playing after
a few moments because the cowbell part is rather loud and
distracting, not to mention off tempo. However, Dickinson feels
quite differently and, to the surprise of most of the band, asks
for "a little more cowbell" and suggests that the cowbell player,
Gene Frenkle (
Will Ferrell), "really
explore the studio space this time."
Frenkle's exuberance in following this advice causes him to bump
into his bandmates as he dances around the cramped studio,
thrusting his pelvis wildly in all directions, and the band aborts
another take. Dickinson enters the studio exasperated at wasting
"two good tracks." Frenkle sheepishly agrees to tone down his
performance in the spirit of cooperation. Dickinson warns Frenkle
not to tone it down too much, as they're "gonna want the cowbell on
this track." However, Frenkle
passive-aggressively plays the
cowbell very close to
Eric Bloom (Chris
Parnell)'s ear and fails to keep time with the rest of the band.
Frenkle suddenly knocks over Bloom's microphone stand, ending the
take prematurely. The rest of the band expresses frustration with
Frenkle (and
Jimmy Fallon playing the
drummer starts laughing at the sight of Frenkle, whose sunglasses
had flown off during the altercation with Bloom, causing him to
barely be able to say his lines), but Dickinson remains focused
only on getting more cowbell onto the track.
Gene Frenkle then makes an
impromptu
speech to the rest of the band. He declares that Dickinson's
stature lends a great deal of weight to his opinion about the
cowbell part, and that the last time Frenkle checked, they didn't
have "a whole lot of songs that feature the cowbell" and therefore
he would be "doing [himself] a disservice, and every member of the
band" if he "didn't perform the hell out of this." At the climax of
the sketch, Dickinson exclaims: "Guess what?! I got a fever, and
the only prescription... is more cowbell!" The band agrees to let
Frenkle play the cowbell part his way. As the band begins another
take, the sketch ends with a freeze frame on Frenkle with the
superimposed message: "In Memoriam: Gene Frenkle: 1950-2000."
Comedy vs. reality
The song "
The Reaper" by
Blue Öyster Cult actually does
feature a cowbell, however the sketch takes liberty with the actual
events surrounding the recording.
- Gene Frenkle is a fictional character invented for the sketch,
although his appearance was modeled on Eric Bloom's appearance at
the time. Despite the fact that Frenkle is fictional, fans
occasionally expressed their sympathies to Blue Öyster Cult over
his death.
- According to former band bassist
Joe Bouchard, the cowbell part was
overdubbed by his brother Albert after the rest of the song had been
recorded. It is much quieter than portrayed in the sketch. Eric
Bloom, however, claims that he was the one who played it.
- Christopher Walken portrays a character named Bruce Dickinson,
who is identified as the producer of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper."
However, the song was actually produced by Sandy Pearlman. Bruce
Dickinson was a mid-level manager at Columbia Records whose
name appears on a Blue Öyster Cult greatest hits CD as the "reissue
producer." This Bruce Dickinson is not the vocalist for British heavy metal band
Iron Maiden, hence the humor in his
boastful declaration of being "THE Bruce Dickinson," as the
character was based upon a far less famous figure.
Reappearance on Saturday Night Live
On May 14, 2005, on an episode that
Will
Ferrell hosted, the Gene Frenkle character made a re-appearance
on the set of
Saturday Night Live as musical guest
Queens of the Stone Age
played their first song of the night, "
Little Sister"
- which features a
jam block, an
instrument similar to a cowbell.In his Gene Frenkle costume,
Ferrell played the song's jam block part using a large cowbell
along with the band, drawing much applause.
Promos for the April 5, 2008
Christopher Walken/
Panic at the Disco episode of
Saturday Night Live referenced the "More Cowbell" sketch.
However, the cowbell did not appear during the actual
episode.
Sketch performers
Influence in popular culture
The influence of the sketch is surprisingly widespread. The sketch
caused so much interest in the cowbell that it has been adopted by
sports teams to promote fan-involvement in matches, most famously
with the
2008 Tampa Bay
Rays of Major League Baseball (though cowbells were first given
away at Rays games during the 2006 season), and it has appeared in
movies, video games, an
iPhone
application, and television. For instance, on the November 18,
2005, episode of the program
Jeopardy!, the last answer in the Double
Jeopardy category "I Need More Cowbell" was "Don't fear this band
who turned cowbell from a cult into a religion." The show "The
Afternoon Blitz" on Sirius NFL Radio (channel 124) features
"Cowbell Thursdays," often playing excerpts from this skit at the
beginning of the show.
During Blue Oyster Cult's recent tours, the band has sold at their
merchandise table black t-shirts with the slogan "got cowbell" in
the style of the popular
Got
Milk? advertising brand.
Mississippi
State University
has enjoyed a long history with the cowbell as a
noisemaker at home football games. The 2009 entrance video
for the football team begins with Bruce Dickinson's famous line of
"I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell!" Due
to cowbells not being officially permitted in the MSU football
stadium, the word "cowbell" in the line is covered up by the
opening music and the MSU logo flying on screen.
Notes
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