Red Hot Chili Peppers have never been a band that lived and died by vocal perfection.
Half the magic was always in the swagger, but a new claim from one of their past producers is dragging the conversation back to a blunt question fans have argued about for decades.
Producer Michael Beinhorn has alleged that Anthony Kiedis is tone deaf, in the medical sense, saying the frontman struggles to perceive pitch (via The PRP).
The claim surfaced during a recent Reddit AMA, where Beinhorn was asked about ‘Knock Me Down’, the second single from the band’s 1989 album Mother’s Milk.
A fan told Beinhorn they loved the track and asked why John Frusciante seemed to take such a prominent role vocally, they also brought up the song’s emotional weight, as it’s widely viewed as tied to the death of original guitarist Hillel Slovak, who died from an accidental heroin overdose in 1988.
Beinhorn didn’t dance around it:
“Don’t sweat it, your questions are valid. I’m glad you love ‘Knock Me Down‘ so much- it was a major departure from the RHCP sound up till that point. John sang the song (or rather, his voice was louder in the mix) because the song was melodic and Anthony was/is tone-deaf (ie- he can’t hear pitch). At any rate, John essentially wrote the song, including the melody, so it wasn’t entirely inappropriate for him to song it (plus he somewhat idolized Hillel).
I might be missing something but I don’t think there’s a longer version of ‘Knock Me Down‘ than what’s on the record (of course, this is stuff that happened almost 40 years ago, so I may be forgetting something). As for how the band reacted to the final product…well…I never found out what they thought of the final mix. However, when I finally played Anthony the tracks with the finished guitars on them for the first time (he hadn‘t been to any of the sessions up till then), he freaked out- not in a good way. I think the band kind of disowned the record because of this.”
It’s a wild statement, but it also lines up with how Mother’s Milk stands out in their catalogue, the songs are tighter, more melodic, and Frusciante’s touch is all over it.
Beinhorn later went on to produce records for artists including Ozzy Osbourne, Soundgarden, Korn, and Marilyn Manson, making his comments hard to ignore, even if they’ll definitely divide Chili Peppers fans.
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