D. Boon and Friends is a compilation album of home recordings featuring American musician D Boon, of the band Minutemen.[1] The album is the inaugural release of the Hermosa Beach, California-based label Box-O-Plenty Records, started by Boon's one-time roommate Richard Derrick.[2] Most of the tracks are living-room jam sessions (on guitars, bass and cheap keyboards) done by Boon, Derrick, and Crane,[3] who had previously contributed backing vocals and trumpet parts to Minutemen's Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat and Project: MershEP's.
Also heard on the album are live recordings of a one-time project band featuring Boon and three percussionists under the band name Hammerdown, a rare D. Boon acoustic solo show, a tape of a Minutemen gig with Derrick substituting for drummer George Hurley (who couldn't get time off work to participate in the show), and an experimental demo recording featuring D. Boon overdubbing three different lead guitar parts over a rhythm guitar track.[1]
The cover art of D. Boon And Friends is derived from a Christmas card Boon had given Derrick in 1984.[3]
Mike Watt, as curator of the Minutemen legacy, gave the project his blessing, as did D. Boon's father. Watt, Meat Puppets drummer Derrick Bostrom, Crane, and Richard Derrick all contributed liner notes.[3]
In keeping with a Minutemen crediting tradition, Boon and many of the other participants are credited with "singing" instead of "vocals."
The first pressing of the CD had a purple cover. Current pressings have the front cover printed with an off-yellow background. Customers who order the CD directly from the label also receive a bonus 23-minute CD-R of other Boon/Crane/Derrick jam sessions and solo live tracks that didn't fit into the original track sequence.
Recording details
Tracks 1–16, 20–21 recorded at various living room and party jams between November 1984 and June 1985.[4]
The Minutemen with guest substitute drummer Richard Derrick
On Track 33:
D. Boon: four multi-tracked guitar parts
Production
Richard Derrick – editing and mixing
Mike Watt – invaluable assistance, liner notes
Crane – invaluable assistance, liner notes
Derrick Bostrom – liner notes
David Guererro – additional post-production
Kevin Keller – additional post-production
Paul Sanolan – additional post-production
Joe Steiner – mastering
D. Boon – artwork (from a 1984 Christmas card given to Richard Derrick)
Nanette Roeland – design and layout
Dirk Vandenberg – photography
Special thanks: Dennes & Patricia Boon, the Derrick and Sanchez family, Mike Watt, George Hurley, Harvey Kubernik, Derrick Bostrom, Leland Jessop, Chris Benson, Tom Pachal, Stew, Juliana Roeland, Bruce Siart, Tod Van Valkenburgh, Jim Mills, and Cleo.
