Who?

• The Ben Folds Five  (Update Jan 2003)

• Former Members of Ben Folds Five (Update 09-22)

• Ben's Touring Band (2001)

• Who Recorded Rockin' the Suburbs?

• Ben Folds and a Piano and Drums

• Ben's Family (Update Jan 2003)

• Misc

The Ben Folds Five

There is no THE in Ben Folds Five.  Not like The Jackson Five.  It's just "Ben Folds Five."  You can't just THE a band name whenever you feel like it.  You wouldn't say The Weezer, would you?

Whether it merely satisfies some grammatical need or they think it's actually part of the title, journalists seem to love the extra "the."  A pet peeve the band and fans alike, this one may never die:

A scant two months after announcing the breakup of the Ben Folds Five, front man Ben Folds is nearing completion on his first solo album.    
- Rolling Stone

Folds also manages to maintain his lyrical blend of humor and down to earth storytelling that fans of “The Ben Folds Five” have grown to love.
- Penn State McKeesport Collegian

UPDATE >> Thirty-one publications found in the archive commit this cardinal sin - among the guilty are Newsweek, Amazon.com, StarPolish, Musiciansnews.com, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, New York Daily News, Phoenix New Times, Sound and Vision, Boulder Daily Camera and The Cleveland Scene. <<

A Japanese publication manages to take it one step further for their second offense:

Formed by Folds in his native city of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1994, the Ben Folds were always something of an anomaly in the rock universe.
- Metropolis

As former Ben Folds Five bassist Robert Sledge once put it, "It's not THE Ben Folds Five, mother f***er."  And it's not "The Ben Folds" either.  And Folds is his name; he isn't folding five of anything, so it is not "Ben Folds' Five."

UPDATE >> The crowd was a bit wary: would he play songs from Ben Folds’ Five?
– DC101 <<

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Former Members of Ben Folds Five

I'm sure that by now, just about everyone has heard of the Ben Fold's Five, a piano-driven four piece rock band with a their smart lyrics and unique sound.
– gotpunk

Most everyone realizes that Ben Folds Five had only three members, but that doesn't mean they can spell drummer Darren Jessee's last name.  Of the 78 articles that mention Darren, Jessee is spelled correctly only 62% of the time.  This may have something to do with the fact that the spell check application in Microsoft Word does not recognize "Jessee"; even so, are we so mindless we can not override spell check?

Elsewhere in the BFF aftermath, Darren Jesse has scheduled a series of New York-area solo gigs in the coming weeks...
- Rolling Stone

...Ben, along with bass guitarist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessie formed Ben Folds Five...
- The Blurb

There's even one misspelling of his first name:

Former band mate Robert Sledge's strange bass is noticeably absent, as are Darrin Jesse's pounding drums...
- The Exponent (Purdue)

It's possible that the following interviewer realizes that "Jesse" is not Darren's first name, but the way it is spelled makes me hesitant to give him the benefit of the doubt.

BH: Then is your relationship with Robert and Jesse rocky?
- Badger Herald

I swear I wasn't dreaming when I read someone refer to the former members of Ben Folds Five as Darren and Jesse, but I can't seem to find it again.

In this quote, the author has mixed up Darren and Robert's post-band activities:

Even as Folds embarks on the tour for Suburbs behind primarily positive response for the album, and Sledge begins work on what he hopes will be his solo project, and Jesse continues his production career, Folds speaks warmly of his bandmates by way of a wholly unexpected vehicle.
- CityBeat

Ben, Robert, and Darren always seemed to get enjoyment out of feeding false stories to the press, and that didn't necessarily end when the band broke up.  For a while, much of the information in Darren's post band activities at the Ben Folds Five official site was intended to be misleading and humorous.  I'm sure Darren laughed if he happened to see this:

Rumor has it he is also currently working on a screenplay about the music industry called Breaking Wind.
- Spin

Darren Jesse, the drummer, has been touring solo and has been working on a movie screenplay. 
- The Etownian

When Ben posted a largely tongue in cheek message to the Magical Armchair Digest, the information it contained soon popped up in a variety of publications.  References to his alleged contribution with Darren are amusing, whether they are reported in all seriousness or not.

Folds also said at least one collaboration with Ben Folds Five drummer Darren Jesse, a song tentatively called "The Wind Beneath My Sheets," might make the final cut as well.
- Rolling Stone

 He also hinted at the possible inclusion of a collaboration with former BF5 drummer Darren Jessee tentatively titled "The Wind Beneath My Sheets."
- Sonic Net

Then again, you never know.  Many of us thought Ben's adult Christmas song (mentioned in the same post) was a fantasy, until it surfaced a year later under the title "Bizarre Christmas Incident."

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Ben's Touring Band (2001)

The identities of the individuals who supported Ben on tour in 2001 is another source of bewilderment.  For the record, they were "Snuzz" (Britt Uzzel) on guitar, Millard Powers on bass, and Jim Bogios on drums.

Early pre-tour reports named Anthony Johnson as drummer.  It's not clear whether this was the original plan or just completely false.  Regardless, Jim Bogios was the only drummer to play for Ben on tour in 2001 - yet many a reviewer must have gotten their information from The Rolling Stone or other early sources.

Folds has most of the pieces of a new band in place and plans to hit the road in mid-July, beginning somewhere along the West Coast.  Among those onboard are former 24-7 Spyz drummer Anthony Johnson and Folds' longtime pal bassist Millard Powers.
- Rolling Stone, May 1, 2001

There are the familiar piano bashings, heavy drums (Anthony Johnson), bass (Millard Powers) and the new addition of an accompanying guitar (Snooze).

and

Anthony Johnson drummed himself into a frenzy.

- The Age, August 2001

While Jim Bogios is correctly reported as drummer most of the time, his name is sometimes incorrectly spelled Bogius or Boges. At other times, it is indicated that he is an old friend of Ben's.  It's true that Ben knew his other 2001 touring partners, Snuzz and Millard Powers, from his Chapel Hill days.  Jim was the only member to be found through a formal selection process, despite the following excerpt.

After getting back into the recording groove, Folds rounded up Chapel Hill buddies Jim Bogios (drums), Millard (guitar) and Snuzz (bass) and conformed to a more traditional rock band setup to keep the music coming.

This quotation is also misleading as to the origins of Ben's touring band:

Luckily, Ben didn't wait long before he jumped back into the business with the help of his brother Snuzz's (pronounced Snooze) band.
– Magidoff.com

Snuzz (Britt Uzzel) is NOT Ben's brother.  Ben's brother Chuck has, however, played with Snuzz in the past in a band called "Bus Stop," and he played bass on some of Snuzz's solo albums. << UPDATE

Snuzz, whose nickname (derived of his last name) is pronounced "Snooze,"  is battling with Darren Jessee for the most mis-reported name.  He definitely takes the prize for the most variety, referred to correctly as Snuzz and Britt Uzzel and incorrectly as Snooz, Snooze, and Brett Uzzel. Incidentally, he is also referred to as Brett in the BFF FAQ.

Joining Folds onstage will be Chapel Hill chums Snooz (guitar/keyboard), Millard (bass) and drummer Jim Bogios, who previously pounded the skins for Sheryl Crow and the Dixie Chicks.
- MTV

Millard Powers is referred to as simply "Millard" about half the time he is mentioned, perhaps due to Ben's tendency to speak of the band members by their first names.  It's funny, however, when authors make a point that he goes by only one name.

Playing with Folds will be three friends from Chapel Hill, N.C., who collectively use only four names: guitarist-keyboardist Snooz, bassist Millard and drummer Jim Bogios.
- Columbus Dispatch

On the road, Folds is now backed by former Dixie Chicks drummer Jim Bogius and two single-named pals from back in Raleigh -- guitarist Snuzz and bassist Millard.
- StarPolish

Millard is also once referred to as "Avery Powers."  While I'm not one hundred percent sure, I believe Avery is Millard's first name (Millard being his middle name).  Either way, it's extremely likely that "Avery M. Powers Memorial Beltway" in Fear Of Pop Volume I is a tribute to Millard.

Here the writer has mixed up Snuzz and Millard's instruments:

Snuzz and Millard, old Chapel Hill pals of Folds, took control of bass and guitar, respectively, with sexy results.
– Chicago Flame

The following quote left me scratching my head:

This new band lacks the Five’s personality, but gets the job done. (Though touring guitarist Dick Fortus’ rock-star strutting was a bit too sincere.)
- Philly CityPaper

Touring guitarist Dick Fortus? Huh? A little research revealed that guitarist Richard Fortus provided extra guitar on the album for the track Rockin' the Suburbs.  Kudos to writer Patrick Rapa for reading the liner notes, but it's unclear if he assumes Snuzz is Fortus or if he's merely comparing them.  I'm leading towards the former.  Besides, I am a big fan of Snuzz's strutting.

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Who Recorded Rockin' the Suburbs?

With the exception of a few guest appearances, Ben plays all of the instruments and provides all of the vocals on Rockin' the Suburbs.  Or does he?

The new group recorded Folds' first full album minus the Five, Rockin' The Suburbs.
- Daily Tar Heel

On the whole, though, this album is hugely indifferent. The piano playing is merely nice and the backing band lacks any kind of stand out qualities.

- Random Magazine

That last statement is quite appropriate for a publication titled Random.  I strongly advise whoever wrote that to figure out what it is they're bashing before they begin.  You know what they say about assuming...

I'm not even sure these guys realize that Ben ever had a band:

I never heard of Ben Folds before he hit it big with "Battle of Who Could Care Less", even with his local presence, my mind just wasn't into music at that point in my life. Anyway, by the time I heard his first two albums, his major 15 minutes were pretty much up. I didn't think much of him though the next few releases, I'm not even sure I heard anything off them.
- People Talk Too Loud

Having focused the main set on his latest record, Folds returned for a seven-song encore made up of material from all three Ben Folds albums.
– The IslandEAR

One or two album reviews I've read listed the album as a Ben Folds Five release; if you happen upon any of these, please contact me.

Ben also wrote all of the songs on the album (sharing credit for one song with his wife Frally Hynes), though the following quote makes it sound like he didn't write one of them.

Ben Folds plays virtually all of the instruments on all of the songs on this record, as well as writing all but one of the songs, something that has been sadly absent from the world of pop music recently.
– Cosmically Speaking

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Ben Folds and a Piano and Drums

Many Australian publications reported that Ben would be touring with drummer Joey Waronker in April 2002.  Some even included quotes from Ben talking about it:

Ben will be performing in Australia with Joey Waronker who is the son of legendary Los Angeles-based producer Lenny Waronker (James Taylor, Randy Newman and the like) and grandson of violinist and Liberty Records founder Simon Waronker. He’s also a noted session drummer who’s appeared on countless albums including those by Beck, R.E.M., The Smashing Pumpkins, Spain, Lagwagon, R L Burnside, Richard Thompson, Shivaree, Mark Eitzel and Elliot Smith.

"Joey just wanted an excuse to come down to Australia and hang out, but he’s a fine drummer," Ben said. "We haven’t decided what we’re going to do on the tour - we haven’t even got together yet - but I’m open to anything. I’d like it to be really informal."
– Rip It Up

For one reason or another, this never happened.  Shortly before the tour, the billing was changed to "Ben Folds and a Piano," and Ben's sets in Australia were a continuation of what he had been doing in the United States -- just Ben.  The reason for this isn't really known by fans, though many speculate that Ben was happy with the way the tour was going.  Perhaps Ben and Joey never had a chance to get together.

For a moment, after reading the following, I thought Ben was touring with Beck:

Billed as ‘Ben Folds: a Piano & Drums Australian Tour 2002’, the jaunt sees Folds joined by Beck and R.E.M. cohort Joey Waronker on stix.
– Time Off

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Ben's Family

Ben and his wife Frally have twins:  Louis, a boy, and Gracie, a girl.  Unfortunately, nobody told The Durham Independent that:

The onetime Chapel Hill resident, a multi-platinum rockstar so famous he has his own Internet chat-group, now lives in Australia with his wife and twin boys. - The Durham Independent

No one can figure out how old the twins are either; this can be found in the When section.

UPDATE >> Is Ben's wife a model?

Folds played every instrument on the album, and even collaborated with his wife, Australian model Frally Hynes, on the break-up song, "Gone".
– Gamut Mag

I won't say that Frally is not or was not a model; I suppose she very well could have been.  However, this is the only time I have seen this mentioned.  Frally is more frequently referred to as a yoga instructor. <<

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Miscellaneous

While the general idea expressed below is correct (Ben played three Ben Folds Five tunes), the wording used is a bit misleading:

...“The Best Imitation of Myself,” “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces,” and “Philosophy,” all of which he wrote with his former group, Ben Folds Five. - The Tech

All three of those songs were released on Ben Folds Five studio albums, but they were not necessarily originally written with the band.  An alternate version of Best Imitation of Myself, for example, can be found on Ben's 1990 demo tape.  (While I'm sure Darren and Robert brought much to the table with their innovative playing and ideas, they are not credited for writing any of these particular songs.)

 

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