Deep Archive (1984 to 1992)
PEK & Space
Whiskey is Wholesome
Excerpt From Notes by PEK
“… At each interlude Mike and I also drank more whiskey, so as the performance progresses the screamed words extolling the benefits of whiskey get progressively more incoherent. The playing, however, is inspired, if I don’t say so myself. At the time, this was the best and first recorded example of my capacity to sustain an extended improvisation. It’s also quite funny.…”
Notes by PEK
A few months back, I had a reunion session with Jim Smith and Dave Murray. We played in a band called the Fabulous Weiners in the early 80s. See the Evil Clown Album page for details and links: https://evilclown.rocks/fabulous-weiners/
I’ve been thinking a bit about those early times in my music career since they came, so I dug through my hard drives and found the one that has the digitized files of my early work from 84 to 92. Most of it is not well recorded, but there are some studio sessions and some things well better recorded by Space on a 4-channel Reel to Reel recorder.
Whiskey is Wholesome is one of my important early mature statements on tenor sax. Space and I were at his house with just tenor sax, bass, a vocal mic and a bottle of whiskey. Before we started playing. we drank some of the whiskey. I do not believe that any of the text of this performance was planned, It is the grandfather of the kind of improvised banter that occurs in the current Evil Clown project Neurodivergent Orchestra.
Anyway, the piece is a long roughly 40-minute blues with periodic interludes where I shout words about how tasty whisky is and its other benefits. At each interlude Mike and I also drank more whiskey, so as the performance progresses the screamed words extolling the benefits of whiskey get progressively more incoherent. The playing, however, is inspired, if I don’t say so myself. At the time, this was the best and first recorded example of my capacity to sustain an extended improvisation. It’s also quite funny.
I don’t have video from this period, but I will post a static image with the Audio on YouTube for more posts from this Deep Archive Period.
PEK – 10/23/2026