Kettle Whistle

Kettle Whistle is a compilation album by alternative rock band Jane's Addiction, released November 4, 1997, on Warner Bros. Issued to coincide with the 1997 "Relapse" tour, the album – originally titled It's My Party^[9] – includes new, alternate, unreleased and live tracks.

Kettle Whistle
Compilation album by Jane's Addiction
Released	November 4, 1997
Recorded	1986 – August 1997
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	74:27
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction chronology
Live and Rare (1991) Kettle Whistle (1997) Strays (2003)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Chicago Tribune	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[3]
NME	6/10[4]
Pitchfork	6.8/10[5]
Robert Christgau	C+[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
USA Today	[8]

Certified gold in the U.S., for sales in excess of 500,000, Kettle Whistle is the only Jane's release to feature Flea on bass (he plays trumpet on Nothing's Shocking). The liner notes feature an anecdotal article on the band by Henry Rollins.

Background

When asked about the material on the album in a November 1997 Guitar World interview, Dave Navarro stated, "Almost all of it was chosen by Stephen [Perkins] who is, like, the Jane’s Addiction archivist. He basically has every demo tape and every board tape from every show. He put together what he thought was a nice, well-rounded ensemble of live stuff, studio outtakes, remixes, demos and things that never made it to record. At this moment, some of it’s still open to debate. Given the amount of material, I don’t think the three of us are ever going to be totally in agreement about every single cut. But I feel proud of and stand behind every piece of music that we made."^[10]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Kettle Whistle"	Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Stephen Perkins, Flea	7:47
2.	"Ocean Size" (Nothing's Shocking Demo, 1988)		4:31
3.	"My Cat's Name Is Maceo" (Out-take, 1987 - Add'l recording 1997)		4:23
4.	"Had a Dad" (Nothing's Shocking Out-take, 1988)		3:45
5.	"So What!"	Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Stephen Perkins, Flea	4:41
6.	"Jane Says" (Live at Irvine Meadows, 1991)		6:31
7.	"Mountain Song" (Dudes Soundtrack, 1986)		4:08
8.	"Slow Divers" (Jane's Addiction Out-take, 1987 (Live) - Add'l recording 1997)		4:35
9.	"Three Days" (Live at Hollywood Palladium, 1990)		12:06
10.	"Ain't No Right" (Live at Hollywood Palladium, 1990)		3:23
11.	"Up the Beach" (Live at Hollywood Palladium, 1990)		3:20
12.	"Stop!" (Live at Hollywood Palladium, 1990)		4:23
13.	"Been Caught Stealing" (Ritual de lo habitual Out-take, 1989)		4:20
14.	"Whores" (Live at the Pyramid, 1986)		3:58
15.	"City" (Soul Kiss, 1988)		2:30
Total length:			74:27

All tracks are written by Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins, except where noted. Songs are new, album-exclusive recordings except where noted

Track information

• "Kettle Whistle" was performed by the band in the late 1980s, and never recorded. The "Relapse" line-up of the band recorded the song in August of that year at Mount Mehru Studios in Venice, CA. This studio is owned by Farrell and Perkins' former band Porno for Pyros.
• The version of "Ocean Size" included on this compilation is a demo the band recorded to show their producing abilities to Warner Bros. The track was recorded at Capitol Records Studios in 1988.
• "My Cat's Name Is Maceo" is about Farrell's cat and was recorded in 1987 at Hully Gully Studios in Los Angeles with Maceo Parker guesting on alto sax.
• The version of "Had a Dad" included was originally intended for Nothing's Shocking but was rejected by Warner Bros.
• "So What!" is a new song recorded by the "Relapse" line-up.
• The live version of "Jane Says" is from the first Lollapalooza, which was also the final tour before the band's initial breakup in 1991.
• The version of "Mountain Song" that appears here originally appeared on the soundtrack for the film Dudes and was used to get the band signed to XXX Records.
• "Slow Divers" was the opening track for the live show which was used as the basis for the band's debut album, Jane's Addiction.
• "City", as it appears on this album, was played only by Farrell and Navarro. According to the liner notes, the other half of the band were lost in traffic at the time.

Personnel

Jane's Addiction

• Perry Farrell – lead vocals (all tracks)
• Dave Navarro – guitar (all tracks)
• Eric Avery – bass guitar on 2–4, 6–7, 9–14
• Flea – bass guitar on 1, 5, 8; trumpet on 5
• Stephen Perkins – drums (all tracks)

Additional musicians

• Maceo Parker – saxophone on 3
• Dave Fridmann – keyboards on 5
• Christine Cagle – backing vocals on 5

Charts

Chart (1997)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[11]	64
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[12]	42
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[13]	23
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[14]	40
UK Albums (OCC)[15]	199
US Billboard 200[16]	21

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[17]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Kettle Whistle at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
2. Kot, Greg (1997-10-31). "Jane's Addiction Kettle Whistle". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved 2013-02-23.
3. Mirkin, Steven (1997-11-14). "Kettle Whistle Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2009-04-25. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
4. "Jane's Addiction - Kettle Whistle CD Album". CD Universe. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
5. Wisdom, James P. (1999-12-31). "Kettle Whistle". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2008-07-18. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
6. "CG: jane's addiction". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
7. Chonin, Neva (1997-12-11). "Kettle Whistle". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
8. Gundersen, Edna (1997-11-18). "Album whets the 'Whistle' for classic Jane's Addiction". USA Today. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
9. "News: Jane's are on the boil!". Kerrang! #666. 20 September 1997. p. 6.
10. 11/1997 Guitar World
11. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 143.
12. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3387". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
13. "Charts.nz – Jane's Addiction – Kettle Whistle". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
14. "Norwegiancharts.com – Jane's Addiction – Kettle Whistle". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
15. "Chart Log UK 1994–2010: Jessie J – JX". zobbel.de. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
16. "Jane's Addiction Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
17. "American album certifications – Jane's Addiction – Kettle Whistle". Recording Industry Association of America.