Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea recently shared a post on Instagram to honor Tomata Du Plenty, the inspiration behind the band’s song ‘Grand Pappy Du Plenty.’
On August 10, 1984, Red Hot Chili Peppers released their self-titled debut studio album. The record, credited as the first funk metal album, helped the band build a fanbase. Apart from ten other songs, it included one instrumental track, titled ‘Grand Pappy Du Plenty,’ which has an exciting source of inspiration.
When Dave Navarro joined RHCP in 1993, the band would play ‘Grand Pappy Du Plenty’ before ‘Give It Away.’ Written by Flea, Jack Sherman, and Andy Gill, the song was quite the opposite of their other songs in the album, as it sounded more emotional and sentimental.
Following the album release, ‘Grand Pappy Du Plenty’ was performed on the 1984 tour, the ‘Freaky Styley’ tour, and the ‘One Hot Minute’ tour. It was written in honor of Tomata Du Plenty, a singer of the late 1970s and early 1980s electropunk band The Screamers and a painter.
In a recent Instagram post, Flea paid tribute to Plenty by sharing a picture of himself, Plenty, and Anthony Kiedis. In the caption, he stated that Tomata Du Plenty was a fantastic artist, both as a painter and the singer of the Screamers. Flea then revealed RHCP greatly admired Plenty and wrote ‘Grand Pappy Du Plenty’ for him.
Flea’s Instagram post read:
“Me and Anthony Kiedis with the great Tomata Du Plenty back in the day. Tomata was the singer of a pioneering Avante band called the Screamers. He was so intense it seemed he might explode into a fireball at any second. He was an amazing artist, and when we met him, the Screamers had broken up; he had dedicated his creative efforts to his paintings and drawings.
We admired him greatly, and his encouragement meant so much to me. We have a song for him on our first album called ‘Grand Pappy Du Plenty.’ Fly on Tomata, you wild man, you gift to humanity, you beam of light, we love you.”
Below, you can see Flea’s post and listen to the song ‘Grand Pappy Du Plenty.’
Photo Credit: Flea – Instagram
