Red Hot Chili Peppers Live
Hailing from Los Angeles, the Red Hot Chili Peppers formed in 1983 with a pure funk that California held dear with the decline of Disco music. In the early years of the band, the original line up would throw in rock and thrash which gave them an entirely unique flavor that nobody had heard before. To this day, nobody comes close to replicating the Red Hot Chili Peppers in terms of their sound. To some, they’re considered the “Led Zepplin of Cali,” in reference to their inadvertent way of creating their own genre.
Unfortunately the early days for the band weren’t that easy. RHCP has had 14 members to date while retaining the original count of 4 at any given time. Only two of the original founders remain, Anthony Kiedis, the frontman and lyrical mastermind, and Flea, the signature bassist with what he dubs his ’slap-happy’ style of play. Dealing with the death of their original guitar player Hillel Slovak from a heroin overdose and the departure of their drummer, the band adopted different musicians styles of play. Anthony Kiedis has stated that their influences blended with the direction of the band helped form their genuine appeal, infusing punk rock with their homegrown love for funk music. This plethora of styles resulted in the record now available as free music downloads Blood Sugar Sex Magik, which although it was their 5th album, sold over 15 million copies to date and introduced the world to the band.
Dave Navarro
In the following years, RHCP would recruit Dave Navarro, guitarist of Janes Addiction, to record One Hot Minute. Though a reputable album with a bit more rock power, it didn’t perform nearly as well as Blood Sex Sugar Magik, so Navarro went right back to Perry Cantrell and continued his career in a different direction. The band wouldn’t see a similar sort of success from their 5th album until completing Californication with guitarist John Frusciante, who had left the band previously after succumbing to a heroin addiction. After hits like Scar Tissue and Californication ate up the airwaves over the composition team of Anthony Kiedis and Frusciante, the band had nothing but success.
Their most recent album, Stadium Arcadium, has given the band their first American #1 album with tracks such as Dani California and Snow. Though they lost John Frusciante again as he wanted to pursue a solo venture, RHCP remains strong with relentless touring and a positive outlook for the road ahead. They have one of the rockiest histories for a successful band, but continue to prevail with flying colors. They are determination incarnate.
Here’s a personal favorite from Californication and a fun video encompassing the feel of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Can’t Stop:
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