On the 29th of September 1963, in Richmond California, a little boy is born into a working-class family of car mechanics. His name was Leslie Edward Claypool.
Les Claypool was raised in El Sobrante, California, where he started playing bass guitar at 14, and he got really good at it too. He later attended De Anza High School in Richmond, where he became friends with a guy named Kirk Hammett. After graduating, he worked as a carpenter for several years.
After the death of Metallica’s legendary bassist Cliff Burton in 1986, Metallica held auditions for a new member and Les’ friend, Kirk, asked him to audition as Burton’s replacement.
“I wasn’t a big metal guy, but [Kirk] had given me Ride the Lightning a year before that, and I would listen to that in the morning before I got to go to work… I didn’t know much about the scene, i went and, you know, I didn’t even never realise how big they were to tell you the truth, you know, like ‘maybe I could quit my carpentry job!’ you know.”
During the audition, it was clear that Les didn’t play metal music.
“Lars said, ‘you’re not used to playin’ this kinda stuff, are you?’ and I said, ‘Hey you guys wanna jam on some Isley Brothers tunes?’ and nobody got my joke”
Metallica’s front man, James Hetfield, said that Claypool was not given the spot in the band because “He was too good” and that he “should do his own thing”. So, he did.
In the mid-eighties, Les formed the band Primate (Which later changed to Primus due to a band called The Primates threatening legal action due to the name similarity) with Todd Huth on guitar and, most notably, Jay Lane on the drums, however they left shortly after to pursue their own projects. Todd and Jay were replaced with Larry “Ler” LaLonde (Who was a student of the great Joe Satriani) and Tim “Herd” Alexander, respectively. There was big discussion around which genre they were, with most fans saying that Primus are pretty much just their own genre, but more professionally, they have been labelled as funk metal.
In 1990, Primus released their first album Frizzle Fry which was critically well received and made them a staple of the underground alt. music scene. During the early days of the band, their iconic catchphrase developed. Fans would compliment them and Claypool would reply with “Nah, we suck”, and the band began introducing themselves on stage with “We’re Primus, we suck”, and the two words “Primus sucks!” quickly turned into a common phrase and chant at their concerts, with
Claypool saying “I think it’s the greatest thing somebody can come right up to me and say, ‘You guys really suck.’ and I would just take it as a compliment”
The debut album of Primus on a major record label was Sailing the Seas of Cheese, the album that got me into them. The album released three singles: “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver”, “Tommy the Cat”, and “Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers”. “Tommy the Cat” is widely regarded today to be one of the best Primus bass lines, as well as one of the hardest, featuring both strumming and slap technique, which, as of the 14th of August 2025, I can almost play at full speed. “Tommy the Cat” also made an appearance on the soundtrack of the movie Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, as well as the band making a cameo in the film. Sailing the Seas of Cheese went gold and the band toured in support of bands like Rush, U2, and Anthrax.
In 1993, Primus released Pork Soda, which debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200. This album however, focused on much darker themes. The first single “My Name Is Mud” reached number 9 in the United States Alternative Songs Chart. Other singles from the album “DMV” and “Mr. Krinkle” were released, with the latter getting a music video that featured Claypool in a pig suit and tuxedo playing an upright bass in an abandoned warehouse as a flurry of strange things passed by him. Claypool said he put his “heart and soul” into that music video, and for it to get played “like six times” on MTV, was a problem for him.
Primus headlined Lollapalooza in 1993 as well as making an appearance at Woodstock ’94. While performing “My Name Is Mud” the band were pelted with Mud and Les stopped playing to tell them to “keep the mud to themselves”. During the performance of “Harold of the Rocks”, Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell came on stage and joined them for the song. During “Here Come the Bastards” Claypool went on a short rant about Barbra Streisand.
“For the criticism about Woodstock, it’s a little too expensive… Now I know that you’re having a hell of a good time, but you possibly might be saying ‘Oh, you know, it’s a little expensive, if you start thinking those thoughts, then just think of one thing, Barbra Streisand. I guarantee if you went to a Barbra Streisand concert you’d be spending a load more money, you wouldn’t have, well I don’t know, you wouldn’t have nearly as much fun.”
He then followed this up with “So we’re Primus, we suck, we’ve established that”
The encore of their performance at Woodstock ’94 was “Master of Puppets” by Metallica. They played a short one minute cover of the song featuring Les Claypool playing the main riff, but with slap bass.
In 1995, Primus released their fourth album, Tales from the Punchbowl, which happens to be my favourite album, and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200. It contained Primus’s most successful single to date, “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver”, which was nominated for a Grammy Award. The music video featured the band members in cartoonish plastic cowboy costumes playing instruments, and comic strips painted by Les Claypool during the verses. Two other less successful singles were released from that album, “Southbound Pachyderm” and “Mrs. Blaileen”. “Mrs. Blaileen” was, according to Les, the retelling of a true story with the names changed.
In 1996, Tim Alexander left the band, which was described by Claypool as “like a marriage that just slowly decayed to an end”. Later that year, Primus were asked to compose the theme song to South Park.
Antipop was released in 1999, which featured a multitude of guest appearances. Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello was featured on “Electric Uncle Sam”, “Mama Didn’t Raise No Fool”, and “Power Mad”. Matt Stone featured on “Natural joe”. Stewart Copeland featured on “Dirty Drowning Man”. James Hetfield featured on “Eclectic Electric”. And Fred Durst appeared on “Lacquer Head”. Primus then toured on KoRn’s Family Values tour and Ozzfest. Ironically, the song “Lacquer Head” was banned from MTV due to its references to and depictions of drug use, despite the song being an anti-drug message.
Entering into the 2000’s, Primus went on hiatus for three years. During this time, Claypool started two side projects, Colonel Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, which featured both Huth and Lane, and Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains, which featured him, Bernie Worrell, and the mysterious and legendary guitarist Buckethead.
In 2006, Primus signed on with RedOctane to allow recordings of “John the Fisherman” to be used in Guitar Hero II for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360.
They released a few more albums since then, and in July 2025, their new drummer, John Hoffman, said that there was a “strong probability” that a new Primus album would be released.
Les Claypool was listed as one of the greatest bassists of all time by Rolling Stone, and is widely regarded to be the best by many of his fans, myself included. He formed his own style that mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, slapping, and even the use of a whammy bar. The main reason that I would consider him to be the best, is not only his speed, his accuracy, and the complexity of his playing, but also the fact that he can play these parts while singing. To put it into perspective, Eric Clapton, one of the greatest guitarists of all time, said that he can’t sing his iconic
song “Layla” and play the riff at the same time. Meanwhile, in “Tommy the Cat”, Les Claypool plays the main bass line, which is really complex and fast, while singing. Singing isn’t even the right word to describe it, he’s monologuing. The lyrics to that part of the song contain no melody, it’s just a 150-word rant. This, to me, is what cements Les Claypool as the greatest bass guitar player ever.
