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From album
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Red Hot Chili Peppers · 1991 · Track 4
Details
Duración5:23
ÁlbumBlood Sugar Sex Magik
Año1991
ISRCUSWB19901569
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The story behind
The story behind Funky Monks is not just that of a song, but of a fascinating visual record that takes us into the creation of a key album for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This documentary, filmed in black and white, shows us the band working on Blood Sugar Sex Magik, a record that was recorded in 1991 in a particular place: The Mansion, a house that, it is said, was haunted and belonged to Rick Rubin, the album's producer. The film captures moments of the band as they shaped many of the tracks that would end up on the record, and even others that didn't make it but were later released as singles or B-sides. In addition to seeing them play, the documentary includes talks with each member of the group, with Rubin, and with Lindy Goetz, their long-time manager. Part of this material was later used, in 1992, for the music video of "Suck My Kiss". Originally released on VHS, Funky Monks has had a DVD reissue, and was directed by Gavin Bowden.
This 60-minute audiovisual record was recognized in 2011 by NME as one of the most important rock documentaries to see, ranking it 14th on their list. In 2013, a preliminary version of the documentary with over 18 minutes of unreleased material appeared on YouTube, including scenes of the band recording tracks like "They're Red Hot", "Search and Destroy", "Sikamikanico", and "Soul to Squeeze", as well as extending some already known sequences. The existence of a three-hour cut of the documentary has been rumored for years, and material not included in the official version has appeared in other media, such as television interviews and other documentaries about the group. Color footage from the era has even been used for interviews on channels like MTV, and a VH-1 documentary featured never-before-seen footage of an unreleased song from the Blood Sugar Sex Magik sessions that has yet to be identified. The album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, released in September 1991, marked a turning point for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, distancing themselves from the heavier sound of their previous album, Mother's Milk (1989), and giving more prominence to the melodic compositions of guitarist John Frusciante. This record, which fuses funk rock with other genres, reached number three on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States and generated hits like "Under the Bridge" and "Give It Away".