Come On Pilgrim

Come On Pilgrim is the debut mini-LP release by the American alternative rock band Pixies. Produced by Gary Smith, the album was released in September 1987 by 4AD.

Come On Pilgrim
EP by
Pixies
ReleasedSeptember 28, 1987 (1987-09-28)
RecordedMarch 1987 (1987-03)
StudioFort Apache Studios, Roxbury, Massachusetts
GenreAlternative rock
Length20:29
Label4AD
ProducerGary Smith
Pixies chronology
Come On Pilgrim
(1987)		 Surfer Rosa
(1988)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Blender[2]
Pitchfork8.3/10[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]
Spin Alternative Record Guide7/10[5]

Background

In March 1987, Pixies (Black Francis, guitar/lead vocals; Kim Deal, bass/vocals; Joey Santiago, guitar; David Lovering, drums), entered Boston's Fort Apache Studios with Fort Apache owner/record producer Gary Smith to record a demo tape. The resulting 17-song cassette, later dubbed "The Purple Tape" eventually found its way to Ivo Watts-Russell, president and co-founder of the influential British record label 4AD. Pixies' manager, Ken Goes, was also the manager of Throwing Muses, who had become the first American band to sign to 4AD a year earlier. Despite being initially unimpressed by the demo, Watts-Russell was urged to sign the band by his girlfriend, a secretary for 4AD. After her insistence, he walked the streets of New York listening to The Purple Tape on his Walkman and, in his words, finally "got it."

Watts-Russell hand-picked eight of The Purple Tape's 17 songs to make up a debut "mini album." Expressing regret that some other previous 4AD debuts had failed to live up to the power of their demo versions, he decided to slightly re-mix eight of The Purple Tape's 17 songs for release, rather than have the band re-record the songs. Pixies later re-recorded and included eight of the nine remaining Purple Tape tracks over the course of their albums and EP releases. The only song not to be re-recorded and released was "Rock A My Soul." This, along with the rest of the nine "missing" Purple Tape tracks were released as Pixies by the Canadian label Sonic Unyon in 2002.

The title of the album is derived from "Watch What You're Doing", a song by Christian rock singer Larry Norman, that includes the line, "C'mon pilgrim, you know He loves you",[6] which the Pixies use in the song "Levitate Me". Larry Norman's lyric is "C'mon pilgrim, you know He loves you. He loves you more, than He loves this cloven earth. Don't make your life bad, and start acting like an idiot."

Content

Come On Pilgrim showcased much of Pixies' variety and set up the beginnings of many trends in their music. It includes two songs partly sung in Spanish ("Vamos" and "Isla de Encanta") which drew upon some of Francis's experiences in Puerto Rico (Isla de Encanta is an alteration of the island's nickname, Isla del Encanto meaning "isle of enchantment"). Two songs explicitly mention incest— "Nimrod's Son" and "The Holiday Song". "I've Been Tired" refers metaphorically to sex and rock & roll culture, and there are four songs with overt religious references or language ("Caribou", "Nimrod's Son", "The Holiday Song" and "Levitate Me"). "Caribou" is about reincarnation. "Ed Is Dead" is about a brain-damaged girl known to Francis.[7] Beyond lyrical trends, Come On Pilgrim displayed Joey Santiago's innovative guitar leads, Deal's sunny vocal harmonies, and Francis's vocal range, which varied from screaming to traditionally-sung melodies.[8] A version of the song "Vamos" would appear on Pixies' next two releases: re-recorded with Steve Albini for their first full-length album, Surfer Rosa, and as a live B-side on their first single, "Gigantic".

Release

The original 1987 UK release entered the UK indie album chart on October 24, 1987 (1987-10-24), spending 29 weeks on the chart and peaking at number 5.[9] Come On Pilgrim failed to secure distribution in the United States when it was first released. It was released in the United States in August 1988, when Rough Trade included it on their CD release of their first full-length album Surfer Rosa. At the same time, the two releases were issued on separate vinyl records by Rough Trade. Also in August 1988, 4AD released Surfer Rosa and Come On Pilgrim on CD together in the UK. This has been the standard UK CD release ever since, only being out of print for about six months in 1998. Subsequent U.S. CD releases have split them in two.

In 1992, Elektra Records issued Come On Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa on separate CDs in the US. After 4AD re-acquired the band's US distribution rights in 2004, they were again released on CD separately; this version of Come On Pilgrim was the first CD release to carry the 4AD catalogue number (MAD 709).[10] The album received far more attention from the British music press than in the United States. It was reviewed in Q Magazine, Sounds and NME.[11][12][13]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Black Francis, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Caribou" 3:14
2."Vamos" 2:53
3."Isla De Encanta" 1:41
4."Ed Is Dead" 2:30
5."The Holiday Song" 2:14
6."Nimrod's Son" 2:17
7."I’ve Been Tired" 3:01
8."Levitate Me"Francis, Kim Deal, David Lovering, Jean Walsh2:37
Total length:20:29

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[14]

Pixies

Technical

Chart performance
Chart (1987) Peak
position
UK Indie Chart[9] 5

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[15] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[16] none 198,000[17]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

UK Gold Certification is for sales of Surfer Rosa/Come On Pilgrim released in 1993[18]

Notes and references
  1. Phares, Heather. "Come On Pilgrim – Pixies". AllMusic. Retrieved March 31, 2007.
  2. Dolan, Jon (December 2009 – January 2009). "Pixies: Come On Pilgrim". Blender (76): 86. Archived from the original on April 20, 2009. Retrieved June 14, 2009.
  3. Powell, Mike (April 25, 2014). "Pixies: Catalog". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  4. Wolk, Douglas (2004). "The Pixies". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 640–41. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  5. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). "The Pixies". Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  6. Buckley, Peter (2003) [2003]. The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. p. 793. ISBN 1-84353-105-4. Retrieved March 21, 2008.
  7. Spitz, Marc (September 2004). Life to the Pixies. Spin.
  8. Sisario, Ben. Doolittle 33⅓. Continuum, 2006. ISBN 0-8264-1774-4, p. 18
  9. Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1999. Cherry Red Books. ISBN 0-9517206-9-4.
  10. 4AD EP releases are given "BAD" catalogue numbers, and mini-albums are given "MAD" catalogue numbers.
  11. New Musical Express, October 1987
  12. Q Magazine, December 1987
  13. Sounds Magazine, December 1987
  14. "Pixies: Come On Pilgrim". Discogs.com. Retrieved on August 14, 2020.
  15. "British album certifications – Pixies – Come On Pilgrim". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Come On Pilgrim in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  16. "American album certifications – Pixies – Come On Pilgrim". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  17. "The Record: Unfinished Business". Capital Public Radio. February 3, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  18. "British album certifications – Pixies – Come On Pilgrim". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Come On Pilgrim in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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