Faith No More - The Cowboy Song (1988 Demo)

Recorded on 4-Track in Bill Goulds attic as a demonstration of Mike Patton for Faith No Mores management and their record company (Slash). Two copies of this tape exist, dubbed directly from the 4-Track by Bill onto tapes with pre-existing music on them.

This copy was sold on eBay in September 2006 after being found in a Hollywood, CA thrift shop in a box of other music industry demo tapes along with a copy of Mr Bungles 4th demo OU818″ and 4 photos of Mike Patton taken in a Photo Vending Machine.

These are rough versions of the songs, most likely played live into the 4-Track. The music and lyrics are early versions and contain many differences from the final recordings.
The exact timing of the recording is unknown but FNMs first gig with Patton was in Nov 1988 and so this recording was probably made before that.

Tracklisting:

1. The Cowboy Song
2. Surprise! You're Dead
3. Underwater Love
4. Falling to Pieces

Category:

Music

Tags:

• faith no more
• the cowboy song
• angel dust
• the real thing
• mike patton
• billy gould
• roddy bottum
• mike bordin
• jim martin
• rare
• 1988
• demo
• epic

[ctipple1981]

I'm a huge Faith No More fan and just when I think I've heard everything, I stumble across something like this. The Cowboy Song is quite possibly my favorite song by them, so this was really cool to hear. Thanks for posting it!

[Patton123]

@dominamaris He wrote all the lyrics for The Real Thing within a week while staying in a San Fran hotel. All the music for the album was written before he joined. They took a radically different approach while writing every other album, which is why they all sound so different

[Guitarsthatkill]

@Mikeus2006 Mind you, the Real Thing itself has an E, C, D sequence too..

[number0six]

Fantastic!!!

Thanks for putting this up a real treasure...

The Cowboy song is so great and on of my favorite's...

[artiegohome]

@antennavillain Excellent observations! FNM has never communicated well with their fans, leaving us to piece together the bands history through rumor and conjecture. If I could pick any member of the band to write their biography it would hands-down be Billy. He's an original member and is regarded as the sane one who held the band together. He also oversaw the various greatest hits compolations and (rumor has it) has recordings of every show FNM ever played. I'd love to see his basement!

[SaltyChuck]

It's infinitely more raw...but this is my favorite FNM song, and the drums have such a tribal power...awesome.

[antennavillain]

This recording raises so many questions about the timeline of events when Chuck left and Patton arrived. I wonder if there was a brief window where FNM were rehearsing with both (and maybe more?) just to see what worked.

[094673982]

The ONLY thing I don't like about this was how I didn't hear it in '01, '03, '07.... oh and also how Mr Bordin is SO close to what a theoretical GOD could be on drums, that no-one IMO has ever matched it... Mike, your voice was raw pain and rage and hope, this was in so many ways the definitive FMN song, it's so sad we loungers with a pash have to scrounge the YouTubes to find it!

But hey - f*cking GREAT - AMAZING - If I haven't made that clear enuff! :-P

[094673982]

@rounder421

It does but not this version, which is great in terms of lyrical development - LOVE IT!!!!

[LaurenCS1992]

@ctipple1981 I thought exactly the same thing when I heard it a couple of years ago

[l500disaster]

@rounder421 Thanks, now I get it . . . someone gave me a cassette years ago and when the song didn't appear on the rarities and best-ovs collections, I assumed my version came from some mysterious source.

Here' s hoping we get a studio album after all ;)

[rounder421]

@MrZardoz777 the cowboy song appears on Live at Brixton academy as a bonus track.