where did the band primus get their name
Primus (band) Primus began as Primate in El Sobrante, California, in 1984 with singer and bassist Les Claypool, guitarist Todd Huth, and a LinnDrum drum machine. The duo initially had trouble finding a drummer, until Claypool's friend Vince "Perm" Parker returned home from a stint in the army, and together the three of them recorded their first demo, financed by Claypool selling his car.[2][3] Primate changed their name to Primus after "about a month" when they were approached by a group called the Primates threatening legal action over the similarity of their names.[3] Parker was soon replaced by the band's second drummer, Peter Libby, who was himself replaced by Robbie Bean, before the band eventually settled on Tim "Curveball" Wright in 1986.[4] After rising to fame in the local music scene with their brand of funk metal fusion, reaching the point where they were "selling out Berkeley Square", Wright left Primus in the summer of 1988 to be replaced by Jay Lane, drummer with the Freaky Executives, who were "getting dicked around by their record company", as Claypool later described it.[3]
Hootie & the Blowfish Hootie & the Blowfish formed in 1986. The quartet met when they were freshmen at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Bryan heard Rucker singing in the showers of the dorm they shared and was impressed by his vocal ability. They began playing cover tunes as The Wolf Brothers; eventually they collaborated with Felber, a former high school bandmate of Bryan's, and Jim "Soni" Sonefeld as Hootie & the Blowfish. The name is a conjunction of the nicknames of two of their college friends.[2] Brantley Smith was the original drummer for the band. He left the group to pursue music ministry, but he has made scattered guest appearances with the band (he played cello on their MTV Unplugged performance in 1996, and played drums at Gruene Hall in Gruene, Texas, on June 27, 2008).