Press Play

Album: Tiny Music... Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop (1996)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This instrumental opens the third Stone Temple Pilots album, Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop. It came out of an impromptu jam where the band, plus producer Brendan O'Brien, picked up instruments and started playing. Robert DeLeo explained to Songfacts: "Dean [his brother, Dean DeLeo] had a really cool '60s Hagström 8-string bass. He just plugged it in, and Eric [Kretz] started playing a beat. Brendan had a tambourine and I had Dean's guitar. It was kind of a goof."
  • The title came about when Brendan O'Brien told the engineer to "press play," meaning to record their jam. Dean DeLeo thought it would be a good name for the song.
  • This is one of the few instrumental contributions from STP lead singer Scott Weiland, who played percussion on the track. Weiland was a wild card at this time; he was arrested on drug charges in May 1995 and started taking on side projects outside the band. The recording sessions for Tiny Music went well, but soon after the album was released in March 1996, they had to stop touring so Weiland could enter rehab. They didn't play another show with him until December.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be GiantsSongwriter Interviews

Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Famous Singers' First Films

Famous Singers' First FilmsSong Writing

A look at the good (Diana Ross, Eminem), the bad (Madonna, Bob Dylan) and the peculiar (David Bowie, Michael Jackson) film debuts of superstar singers.

Who Did It First?

Who Did It First?Music Quiz

Do you know who recorded the original versions of these ten hit songs?

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.