Flight of the Cosmic Hippo

Flight of the Cosmic Hippo is the second album by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, released in 1991. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. The album title came from an audience member who suggested "Flight of the Codeine Hippo" as a name for the title track. The band changed "codeine" to "cosmic" to avoid the drug association.

Flight of the Cosmic Hippo
Studio album by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Released	June 11, 1991
Recorded	1991, The Castle
Genre	Jazz fusion, post-bop, folk rock, bluegrass
Length	43:57
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Béla Fleck with the Flecktones
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones chronology
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones (1990) Flight of the Cosmic Hippo (1991) UFO Tofu (1992)

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

In his Allmusic review, music critic Brian Mansfield wrote of the album "The Flecktones owe more to bebop than bluegrass, and here the group finally names their style "blu-bop." That's why Flight of the Cosmic Hippo topped the jazz, not the country, chart. The Flecktones continue to make it look easy, adding banjo power chords to "Turtle Rock" and reworking Lennon/McCartney's "Michelle""[1]

Track listing

All songs by Béla Fleck unless otherwise noted.

1. "Blu-Bop" (The Flecktones) – 4:22
2. "Flying Saucer Dudes" – 4:51
3. "Turtle Rock" – 4:12
4. "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo" – 4:29
5. "The Star Spangled Banner" (Francis Scott Key, arr. The Flecktones) – 2:35
6. "Star of the County Down" (P.D., arr. The Flecktones) – 4:21
7. "Jekyll and Hyde (and Ted and Alice)" – 7:04
8. "Michelle" (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) – 5:10
9. "Hole in the Wall" – 4:40
10. "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo (Reprise)" – 2:14

Personnel

• Béla Fleck – banjo (tracks 2, 4-10), electric banjo (tracks 1, 3), synth (track 1)
• Howard Levy – diatonic harmonica (tracks 2, 3, 5-8, 10), piano (tracks 2-5, 7-10), synthesizers (tracks 1, 2, 4-6, 9), harp in a cup (track 4), harp through micro synth (track 2), double ocarina (track 9), Hammond B-3 organ (track 6)
• "Future Man" – Synth-Axe Drumitar
• Victor Wooten – 4-string, 5-string fretless (tracks 4, 5, 7, 8, 10) and 6-string electric basses

Track notes

• "The Star Spangled Banner" was arranged during the Battle of Wadi Al-Batin in Iraq and was recorded a day after the battle started.
• "Jekyll and Hyde (and Ted and Alice)" references the novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde as well as the film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.

Production notes

• Produced and mixed by Béla Fleck with the Flecktones
• Bil VornDick – engineer, mixing
• Carlos Grier – editing
• Denny Purcell – mastering
• Mark Nevers – assistant engineer
• Keith Odle – mixing assistant
• Richard Battaglia – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
• Mark Tucker – photography
• Elvis Wilson – design
• Laura LiPuma – art direction
• Mark Fox – artwork

Chart positions

Year	Chart	Position
1991	Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums	1

References

1. Mansfield, Brian. "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved August 3, 2011.