Ben Folds

Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) is an American singer-songwriter. While he has gained fame as a pianist, he is also adept at guitar, bass, and drums. He originally gained fame as a member of the rock band, Ben Folds Five. Ben has released four solo albums: Fear of Pop: Volume 1, Rockin' the Suburbs, Ben Folds Live, and Songs for Silverman. Fear of Pop was released while Ben Folds Five were still together; Suburbs, Live, and Songs for Silverman were released afterwards. Since Fear of Pop is highly experimental and Live is a collection of live solo recordings of mostly songs originally recorded with Ben Folds Five, Rockin' the Suburbs is Ben's first proper solo release, in which he recorded most of the instruments himself. In late 2003 two solo EPs: Speed Graphic and Sunny 16 were released, with a third entitled Super D released in mid-2004. He currently resides in Adelaide, Australia with his wife, Frally Hynes, and two children, Louis and Gracie. He tours Japan and the United States, as well as other parts of the world, periodically.

Folds also produced and arranged the most recent William Shatner album, Has Been (2004); he previously worked with Shatner on the songs "In Love" and "Still in Love" for Fear of Pop.

Folds described his former band, Ben Folds Five, as "punk rock for sissies," and his oddball lyrics often contain nuances of depression, melancholy and self-conflict. While he was with the band Ben Folds Five and since his departure, Folds also provided a number of songs for film soundtracks. Some of these include "Lonely Christmas Eve" for the film How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (2000), a rendition of the Beatles' "Golden Slumbers" for the film I Am Sam (2001) and "Wicked Little Town" for the film Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001).

On a planned tour of Australia, Folds teamed up with namesakes Ben Kweller and Ben Lee to travel the country together as The Bens, at the suggestion of a fan on Ben Kweller's official website. The trio also went on to record an four-track EP together, entitled The Bens.

In summer of 2004, Folds co-headlined an American tour with fellow rockers Rufus Wainwright and Guster. His fourth solo album entitled Songs for Silverman was released in the U.S. on April 26, 2005, featuring Jared Reynolds on bass, and Lindsay Jamieson on the drums. This album includes the track "Late", a tribute to the late singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, and also features "Weird Al" Yankovic on "Time." Folds is slated to perform with Rufus Wainwright and Ben Lee in the summer of 2005 as part of the "Odd Men Out" tour.

Discography

Fear of Pop: Volume 1, 1998, Sony

1. Fear of Pop
2. Kops
3. Slow Jam '98
4. Blink
5. In Love
6. Interlude
7. Avery M. Powers Memorial Beltway
8. I Paid My Money
9. Rubber Sled
10. Root to This
11. Still In Love

Rockin' the Suburbs, 2001, Sony

1. Annie Waits
2. Zak and Sara
3. Still Fighting It
4. Gone
5. Fred Jones part 2
6. The Ascent of Stan
7. Losing Lisa
8. Carrying Cathy
9. Not the Same
10. Rockin' the Suburbs
11. Fired
12. The Luckiest

Rockin' The Suburbs (Single), 2001, Sony – UK #53

1. Rockin' the Suburbs

Still Fighting It (Single), 2002, Sony

1. Still Fighting It

Ben Folds Live, 2002, Sony

1. One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces
2. Zak and Sara
3. Silver Street
4. Best Imitation of Myself
5. Not the Same
6. Jane
7. One Down
8. Fred Jones part 2
9. Brick
10. Narcolepsy
11. Army
12. The Last Polka
13. Tiny Dancer
14. Rock this Bitch
15. Philosophy
16. The Luckiest
17. Emaline

(DVD)

1. Not the Same
2. Philosophy
3. Army
4. "Album Art Antics"
5. Eddie Walker
6. The Ascent of Stan
7. Tiny Dancer (Elton John cover)
8. Song for the Dumped

Speed Graphic (2003) (EP)

1. In Between Days (The Cure cover)
2. Give Judy My Notice
3. Protection
4. Dog
5. Wandering

Sunny 16 (2003) (EP)

1. There's Always Someone Cooler Than You
2. Learn to Live With What You Are
3. All U Can Eat
4. Rockstar
5. Songs of Love (The Divine Comedy cover)

Super D (2004) (EP)

1. Get Your Hands Off My Woman (The Darkness cover)
2. Adelaide
3. Rent a cop
4. Kalamazoo
5. Them That Got (Recorded live at the Avalon, Boston, MA, 8 June 2002) (Ray Charles cover)

Landed (Single), 2005, Sony

1. Landed

Bitches Ain't Shit (Single), 2005, Sony – US #71

1. Bitches Ain't Shit (Dr. Dre cover)

Songs for Silverman, 2005, Sony – US #13, UK #65, Australia #9

1. Bastard
2. You To Thank
3. Jesusland
4. Landed
5. Gracie
6. Trusted
7. Give Judy My Notice
8. Late
9. Sentimental Guy
10. Time
11. Prison Food

Songs for Goldfish, 2005,

1. In Between Days
2. Gone
3. Hiro's Song
4. You To Thank
5. Weather Channel Music
6. Evaporated
7. There's Always Someone Cooler Than You
8. Rockin' The Suburbs
9. Radio Jingles for Tokyo's Inter-FM
10. Side of The Road

External links

• Official Site
• Fan Site benfolds.org
• Joey's Guide to Ben Folds Five B-Sides and Rarities
• Fan Site thesuburbs.org.uk
• Ben Folds Lyrics Database