Bill Berry Performs on R.E.M.'s Fan Club Christmas Single

R.E.M. fans got a rare surprise for their annual Christmas gift from the band this year: former drummer Bill Berry, who retired from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group in 1997, made a rare appearance with one of his old Murmur bandmates on one of the two songs featured on the 2009 Christmas single sent to members of the R.E.M. fan club, Slicing Up Eyeballs reports. Berry drums while R.E.M.'s Mike Mills sings and plays both bass and guitar on the track "Crazy Like a Fox," a cover of a 1966 Lenny Kaye protest song. Mills also performed the Xmas single's other track, the classic "Santa Baby," by himself.

Neither Michael Stipe nor Peter Buck appear on either track, but it's nice to see Berry performing once again under the R.E.M. moniker. "Crazy Like a Fox" also marks the first time Berry has recorded in the studio with R.E.M. since they covered John Lennon's "#9 Dream" for a tribute comp in March 2007, just days after Berry performed with his former band mates at their Rock Hall induction ceremony.

Related Stories:
• R.E.M.'s "Accelerate" Rehearsal Gigs Turn Into "Olympia" Live LP
• R.E.M. Play Surprise Song at Tribute to Their Three-Decade Career

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter