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00:00Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada
00:30I could have used a little more cowbell.
01:04This is the cowbell sketch.
01:09After a series of staggering defeats, blue oyster called a symbol in the recording studio in late 1976.
01:15After a series of staggering defeats, what does that even mean?
01:21This is beyond my wildest dreams that you're making a documentary about the cowbell sketch.
01:27This sketch, it's a great example of the freedom to kind of create something that crazy.
01:35I could have used a little more cowbell.
01:40Isn't that rated as the most popular sketch of all time?
01:44Once my pants are on, I make gold records.
01:47Smart and silly to the nth degree.
01:51Everybody knows it, even people who weren't born yet when this sketch was popular.
01:56It's definitely stood the test of time.
01:59It became ubiquitous, more cowbell.
02:02It's absolutely bonkers that if you're doing a documentary on one sketch, but if you're going to pick one, definitely
02:07it's cowbell.
02:08It's the biggest sketch I've ever been part of.
02:11It's definitely been a testament to trusting your gut, where you're like, yeah, let's just try it.
02:16You know what? It's fine. Let's just do the thing.
02:22Is that pathetic, though?
02:24What?
02:25If I laugh at my own sketch.
02:29The cowbell, rock and roll's unsung hero, an instrument whose contribution in music may be colossal to some, but questionable
02:37to others.
02:38The origin story of cowbell is just a tad bit annoying from the outset.
02:43It's why it's such a dangerous percussion instrument.
02:45The cowbell is not something to be f***ed with.
02:50First emerging thousands of years ago, percussion's drunk uncle became the heartbeat of the farm with its less-than-rhythmic
02:56clang.
02:57Isn't that why the cows wore the f***ing bells so people knew they were coming?
03:00That's exactly why they wore the f***ing bells.
03:03It was this unmeasured melody that allowed farmers to keep track of wandering herds.
03:08But because of its tiresome tune, the born rebel had been at the center of beefs for centuries.
03:14I can't believe you've done this much f***ing research in the cowbells.
03:17Oh, you have no idea.
03:21Somebody actually said, will you take the bell off Bessie and bring it into the rehearsal space?
03:26And another person said back, yeah.
03:30There's something about that, that version of rock and roll that's like you're driving a van on the highway and
03:37it just works.
03:38There are certain cowbell songs which hold the throne, you know, in the pantheon of cowbell songs.
03:46Mississippi Queen by Mountain.
03:48Mississippi Queen!
03:50Is an iconic cowbell song.
03:52And then there's the famous Sabbath cowbell song.
03:56Also, the Knack had a great cowbell song.
04:00Oh, but listen, we're here talking about Blue Easter Cult and Don't Fear the Reaper.
04:04Because it was basically immortalized in this sketch.
04:09I've had like a corkboard in my office where I would put little cards as potential ideas.
04:15And Don't Fear the Reaper must have come on somewhere.
04:20I remember listening to that song as a kid on the radio in the car.
04:25This is Blue Easter Cult with Don't Fear the Reaper.
04:28It's a great song.
04:30And I loved the song first.
04:33And then I heard the cowbell second.
04:36It's the perfect calibration of loud enough but not too loud.
04:42It's really kind of impotent in the background.
04:45It's just, don't listen to me.
04:47But I'm playing the cowbell here.
04:50And I had the thought, even as a kid, huh, what is the life of the guy playing the cowbell?
04:57I guess it was germinating for decades in the back of my head.
05:02That must have just unlodged in my brain.
05:05And I thought, that could be a funny leaping off point.
05:11So who is the cowbell genius that inspired Will's leap of fame?
05:16This guy.
05:2170s rock legend Gene Frankel.
05:23I'm Gene Frankel.
05:25Cowbell, that's it.
05:27What else is there?
05:32Anyway, Gene Frankel's totally made up.
05:34F***.
05:39Oh, Gene is fictional.
05:41What are you talking about?
05:42Are you lying to me?
05:43I should have done my homework.
05:49The cowbell sketch's story starts all the way back in 1995 when, after a massive shakeup,
05:54a young Will Ferrell was asked to join SNL's newest cast.
05:58I'm the first person that's going to be on camera for that season for this brand new cast.
06:06Lauren walks by in an effort to be funny and he says, no pressure, but the whole show's riding on
06:11you.
06:12And just walks away.
06:13And it cracked me up.
06:14It really made me laugh.
06:15But I'm sitting there and they're counting the showdown.
06:21And then all of a sudden, I felt the enormity of this moment being on live television.
06:28And I'm like, oh no, this is crazy.
06:31And so, I totally garbled the lines.
06:35Good afternoon.
06:36It's been a busy day in court.
06:37The trial which ended yesterday with the prosecutions, reposecutions.
06:43So, my first moment on Saturday Night Live, I mess up.
06:46Right out of the gate.
06:49Entertainment section wrote a review.
06:52And it said, most annoying newcomer, Will Ferrell.
06:56I kind of had a choice.
06:57I was either going to take that to heart or I was going to just use it as bulletin board
07:03material.
07:03So, sure enough, I had a placard made, most annoying newcomer.
07:07And I put it on the door of my office.
07:09And I was like, okay, if you think I'm annoying now, just wait.
07:13I'm going to be so annoying.
07:16The weatherman is dead!
07:24Oh, man!
07:31I love it!
07:32I'm actually going to murder you!
07:37My back.
07:38But I thought you said the exercises were...
07:40Well, they're not!
07:41Now get the hell out of me!
07:42You just come in with the most original ideas.
07:45Like, how about...
07:45And he would go off and write by himself and just, well, here's something I think is funny.
07:48This is really weird.
07:50He was inspiring.
07:51Because to think, like, okay, whatever you're thinking, like, you can go weirder.
07:56I never was governed by, internally by, like, what do I think people want to see?
08:01It was just, like, what makes me laugh?
08:04Ladies and gentlemen, Norm MacDonald!
08:09Norm MacDonald had come back to host.
08:12I don't know if you remember this, but I used to actually be on this show.
08:16You know?
08:18That's when I wrote the sketch initially, and Norm was playing the producer character.
08:24One of my favorite moments in table reads would be every once in a while, Will would write a sketch
08:29by himself.
08:30When you take it to the table on Wednesday, you know, hopefully it gets a great response.
08:34The way that table read works is, uh, it's like a long, huge table, and everyone's got scripts in front
08:40of them, and you just read it.
08:41And it's really fun.
08:41It's kind of like a radio play.
08:43We would read anywhere from 35 to 40 sketches, and anywhere from 8 to 12 would get picked.
08:50So, the name of the sketch, which I didn't know, is called Recording Session.
08:53He didn't want to lead the joke, so I'm sure he wasn't going to put Cowbell sketch, so you knew
08:57Cowbell was coming.
08:58Lorne Michaels reads the stage directions, but the only way Lorne could.
09:04Uh, cut to interior studio, uh, Jimmy at the drums, Horatio with bass, Parnell as lead singer with guitar, Catan
09:11with guitar, Will with woodblock.
09:14Huh, interesting.
09:15I had no idea it was written as woodblock.
09:18What?
09:18It was?
09:20When did it change?
09:21I gotta have more woodblock.
09:23Woodblock?
09:25I don't think it rolls off the tongue.
09:27Yeah, it just wouldn't work.
09:29We would not be talking about the sketch today if it was Christopher Walken saying, I need more woodblock.
09:38No, I don't think so.
09:40Clearly that Cowbell was the right choice.
09:42It could have been woodblock.
09:43You'd have to change to the name of the documentary.
09:47The Woodblock Doc.
09:49That's actually a pretty good title.
09:50Rolls off the tongue.
09:52And Norm was funny and everything like that, but just as it goes, that week, there was, it just wasn't
09:58picked.
10:00So it was shelved for two or three months.
10:03I remember thinking, oh, it's a little too weird for the room.
10:08I'll just hold on to it.
10:09Maybe there'll be a better fit.
10:11But when Christopher Walken came back, I missed this place, you know, I rewrote it with Walken in mind.
10:19Known for his dramatic roles, Walken proved to be a welcome guest at Studio 8H.
10:24This night would be the fourth time he showed he could play satire as well as serious.
10:28SNL had been having Walken host since, I believe, 1990.
10:31Hello, I'm Christopher Walken, and this is Saturday Night Live.
10:36Good to see you.
10:37It's good to be back.
10:38He'd already been in The Deer Hunter.
10:41I'm through it.
10:44Won his Academy Award in 78.
10:47I'm very happy to have this.
10:50He had this kind of cult status.
10:53I was just like, what's some weird stuff Walken could say?
10:57These freaks are all player haters.
10:59He fits in almost anything in the weirdest way.
11:03I have become you.
11:06And you, me.
11:07He was almost like the John Mulaney or the Dave Chappelle of that era,
11:11that when he showed up, it was just going to be a fun night.
11:14I think it's best suited in Walken's hands because of his diction.
11:20Look at me. I'm so drab and boring that Mango will never love me.
11:24He could read the ingredients, the toothpaste, I'd want to brush.
11:27If I were to watch Central Porn, but with the bottom of the screen blocked out with a piece of
11:34cardboard,
11:35would I find the human halves of the female actresses appealing?
11:39Well, maybe, but you've got to remember that at some point there's going to be a horse penis in there.
11:44Fair enough.
11:47We got to meet him for the first time at Saturday Night Live.
11:50Musical guest, Foo Fighters.
11:55Before introducing the band, he asked me if the accent was on Foo or Fighters.
12:01What's the emphasis?
12:04Foo Fighters or Foo Fighters?
12:06I said, uh...
12:07I think Foo Fighters is the best.
12:09And so we were standing there on the stage as we were about to go to air,
12:14and I'm like, he's going to do it, he's going to do it, he's going to f***ing do it.
12:20Pin drop silence, and he says,
12:22Ladies and gentlemen...
12:23Ladies and gentlemen, Foo Fighters.
12:28With Walken on board, the sketch had another shot at the table read.
12:32I will never forget that table read, because that sketch was so funny.
12:36He wrote it perfectly for Chris Walken's voice.
12:40If you're going to think of a word for Christopher Walken,
12:44you know, wood black is good, but cow, owl, bell, cowbell, that's perfect for Walken.
12:50Anything that was a physical sketch, I made sure that we all stood up in the room.
12:57I got someone from the music department to get me a cowbell,
13:00so I got the physicality across of what was going to happen.
13:03Will stood up and he sold that sketch.
13:06He sold it real hard.
13:08Passing the first phase of SNL's gauntlet meant the cowbell would take the next step in coming to life.
13:18After the read-through on Wednesday, you go into this big room,
13:23and there would be Eugene and his team standing behind draft boards,
13:28already drawing up how the sets are going to look.
13:30You kind of describe your vision to all the designers, whether it's costumes, props.
13:35Are there any special makeup needs, hair needs?
13:38Then I went in and I picked all the camera shots.
13:40I mean, these are, like, the best people in the business.
13:42Whatever idea you give, they're going to elevate it.
13:45No dream is too big.
13:47Nobody in the staff ever says no.
13:49They understand the joke and they have a serious approach to it.
13:52Our job is comedy and we do take comedy seriously.
13:55It is the most terrifying and one of the hardest jobs I've ever had.
13:59It's a show divided up into departments,
14:02all of whom are trying to get to that 11.30 deadline.
14:06Trying to make those turnarounds, trying to make that clock.
14:09Saturday, you're still working on stuff.
14:11And changing.
14:12We'd be rewriting until all hours of the night.
14:15If I ever walk through the studio, they're out there still painting the sets.
14:18It's a machine, you know, and Lauren's built this amazingly well-oiled machine.
14:23There's hundreds of people coming together to make this show.
14:27There's nothing else like it.
14:30After table read, the SNL army knew they had more work to do.
14:34What they didn't know is how closely the sketch mirrored the real story of Blue Oyster Cult,
14:39who was desperately trying to record a hit 25 years earlier.
14:44I'm Buck Darma.
14:45I'm a founding member of Blue Oyster Cult.
14:48I'm Eric Bloom.
14:50Buck and I have been partners for 50-plus years as founding members of Blue Oyster Cult.
15:03When I signed the group, they were, to me, the real musical iteration of the tone that Spinal Tap was
15:11striving for.
15:13We had the whole mysterious image, the black leather and all of that stuff.
15:18And here we are, these band geeks, you know.
15:20Hi, we're the POC, and we'll be Burning For You in concert this weekend on MTV.
15:32Burning For You was a hit, and Godzilla was a hit.
15:36But Don't Fear The Reaper, it's our most famous song.
15:39All the times have come.
15:43I was just playing guitar, and the iconic riff just sort of happened,
15:49and I immediately turned the recorder on and captured it.
15:55It was our second gold record, and it eventually went platinum.
16:00You started like, oh, we're getting a lot of fans now.
16:03It broke us open, really.
16:05It sort of lifted us up.
16:06Yeah.
16:08I have memories of, like, throwing up cold keg beer,
16:13where Don't Fear The Reaper is playing in the background.
16:25Rehearsal day on a Saturday, and at 8 o'clock, you begin a two-hour dress rehearsal.
16:30It's do or die for the writers and the cast members,
16:33because if the sketch doesn't go well in dress, you're screwed, it gets cut.
16:37I was the drummer in that sketch, and I go,
16:40I'm going to do something that no one's ever done.
16:41I'm going to hit the sticks, like, real drummer.
16:44So, like, and then I'll lip sync, you know?
16:47And so that's what I'm going to be known for.
16:49Everyone's going to be like, that's Jimmy Fallon.
16:51That's the guy that played the fake drumsticks the best.
16:54All right, let's do this.
16:56One, two, three, four.
17:04And so I remember that was all I was thinking about that.
17:08All right, guys, I think we're ready to lay this first track down.
17:11By the way, my name is Bruce Dickinson.
17:14Yes, Steve Bruce Dickinson.
17:16And I've got to tell you, fellas, you've got what appears to be a dynamite sound.
17:21Everything wasn't as heightened as it was on the air show.
17:24I think it was kind of fine.
17:27Babies, before we're done here,
17:29you're all going to be wearing gold-plated diapers.
17:31I was surprised at how low-key he was playing it.
17:35He wasn't bringing the full walk into it.
17:37I'm sure at that point he was saving his energy for the air show
17:41because he knew what a long night he was up for.
17:44He doesn't do full walking, and I don't think I'm as physical.
17:49At the time, I don't think anyone had any faith that that sketch would air.
17:54Not to mention, the sketch played in the corner of the studio
17:58that we would affectionately call Shit Can Alley.
18:01It was actually doomed from where they put it on the floor.
18:06Oh, God, my scene's over in Shit Can Alley
18:08because you're really far from the audience.
18:11It's like in a place that only the cameras are going to see it.
18:13We call it stage one.
18:15We'll call it Shit Can Alley.
18:18I think they call it the death corner.
18:21It was also known as Coffin Corner
18:23because a lot of sketches that played there died.
18:31I did a sketch on that lonely corner called the Tarmac Talk Show.
18:35It was a disaster.
18:36I did an Italian waiter's sketch, and that was off to the side.
18:40When you're stuck under there, there is a tacit sort of thing.
18:43We're probably not going to make it to air.
18:45I swear it didn't have anything to do with whether we liked a piece or not.
18:49It was just a scale thing.
18:52In fact, the original Wayne's World was there.
18:55Wayne's World!
18:59We did eventually get Wayne's World at home base.
19:03There's a method to that show.
19:04I hope all the cast watches this documentary.
19:07There's a lot of Game of Thrones trickery to it.
19:11I remember doing the sketch in that corner where you go,
19:13OK, well, maybe the sketch is not going to make it.
19:15It was weird, you know.
19:18You have this moment at 10 o'clock where we have to go into Lauren's office.
19:23You look on the board, everyone cranes their neck,
19:25and you're like, did my sketch make it?
19:26You know, it was old school, like the high school audition,
19:29like, did I make it this week?
19:31It's butterflies, it's nerves.
19:32There's panic because everyone's fighting for time on the air.
19:36They're praying they are going to get that sketch in,
19:39or otherwise they don't get on the show at all that week,
19:42and then they have to go stand in their street clothes for goodnight just waving.
19:46We'd go into dress rehearsal with some really good sketches,
19:49but certain things get cut for time.
19:52It's heartbreaking every week.
19:54It's an emotional roller coaster.
19:58So this is it?
19:59Yeah.
20:00And so I walk and I'm like, oh, OK, cowbell's in.
20:04All right.
20:05After so many moments where it could have been shelved forever,
20:08the sketch that wouldn't die was going to see the light of day.
20:1111.30 on Saturday night was minutes away,
20:15and the cowbell was about to be live.
20:22The show was April 8, 2000.
20:25I'm getting goosebumps now just thinking about walking down that hall
20:30and seeing all the cast members and the pictures and the music.
20:33Come hell or high water, whether we're prepared or not,
20:3711.30 comes and we had to produce some sort of product.
20:40It's pressure.
20:42The band's playing.
20:43Everyone's ready to go.
20:44You feel the energy of set, the cast, and then, of course, the audience when you've got a live audience.
20:48I mean, you go into the show.
20:49So it is live.
20:51You can make mistakes.
20:52Things can go wrong.
20:53There's all these people running around and the sets move.
20:56It's a war zone.
20:57It's a comedic war zone.
20:58It just gives you this adrenaline rush.
21:01And you're like, oh, my God.
21:02Everyone here did their job to get to this moment.
21:07We used to have these old state managers.
21:10They've been there since day one, 1975.
21:12And they had this funny banter, and they would scream this thing,
21:17five seconds!
21:18And that would get the audience laughing.
21:21Five seconds!
21:24That's why you always hear a little bit of a laugh when the show first starts.
21:30Man, it's cool.
21:31I'm going to be president.
21:32That's wicked.
21:34Dana Carvey was there that night.
21:35I was nervous about that because he's my idol.
21:42Dana came in and did a cold open.
21:45Will was killing it as Bush.
21:47It was an exciting night.
21:49I love you, son.
21:50Rest your head here for a minute.
21:52Let me tell you a secret.
21:53Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!
22:06It's Saturday Night Live!
22:09You've got Christopher Walken, one of the best hosts ever.
22:12You know, he has that energy.
22:13It just had kind of like a magic.
22:15Saturday Night, love is night of the week.
22:26In that commercial break, all the cameras had to move from home base through the audience
22:30over to the corner of stage one.
22:33This was the first sketch after Christopher Walken's monologue.
22:36There's not that much time between the cold open and the sketch, so there was two of us
22:40like just slapping on glue, trying to get that beard to go on.
22:44Like you're about to go out there to do battle.
22:45It was a flurry of activity, and then in front of me was a wall of monitors.
22:49As for recording session, please come to the floor.
22:52Christopher, Jimmy, Horatio, Will, and Chris.
22:55I was so nervous.
22:56It was one of my first shows.
22:57I was new.
22:59Horatio and Chris Parnell were new.
23:00I was extra nervous that I have a speaking line.
23:04After dress rehearsal, I went and changed my shirt and got into tighter clothes.
23:10I was like, give me the tightest.
23:12Do we have a size smaller of that shirt?
23:15As soon as I went on to the opening shot, I was like, that is not the shirt he wore
23:19at
23:19dress rehearsal.
23:21And I think with the newfound confidence of my tight 70s shirt, I was like, I'm really
23:26going to go for it.
23:27We're playing the VH1 behind the music opening, and we're off and running.
23:32After a series of staggering defeats, Blue Oyster Cult assembled in the recording studio in
23:37late 1976.
23:38And this, we put like a film scratch on top of it to give it like the aged look.
23:43For a session with famed producer Bruce Dickinson, and luckily for us, the cameras were rolling.
23:50And this is the original drawing of Cowbell.
23:53It's such a simple, almost silly little sketch.
23:56I mean, I think it's really funny, actually, when I look at it now.
24:01Soundproofing, wood paneling, with the control room being upstaged so that we could see
24:08Chris coming in and out of that door.
24:11And inside that recording booth was one of our audio people, because he had the absolute
24:17perfect look to be a recording engineer at a rock studio.
24:26We kind of try to replicate reality.
24:30The light, the cone usually points down straight.
24:33That's not something that bothers me, because those kinds of accidents actually allow you
24:39to think, well, it's live.
24:43All right, guys, I think we're ready to lay this first track down.
24:48There is a lot of establishing that needs to happen before you even get to see Will play
24:54the cowbell for the first time.
25:00By the way, my name is Bruce Dickinson.
25:03Yes, the Bruce Dickinson.
25:06And I got to tell you, fellas, you have got what appears to be a dynamite sound.
25:11Coming from you, Bruce, that means a lot.
25:15Yeah, I mean, you're Bruce Dickinson.
25:18This is incredible.
25:19I can't believe Bruce Dickinson digs our sound.
25:22Bruce Dickinson did not produce Don't Fear the Reaper.
25:26The producer was Sandy Perlman, Murray Krugman, and David Lucas.
25:32I was a producer of Bloor's Occult, Don't Fear the Reaper.
25:35I'm a believer in credits.
25:37You know, I think credits are important.
25:40And I'm listed as the lead producer.
25:42Murray produced it, too, right?
25:44Murray.
25:45Murray read the paper and drank coffee.
25:49I produced their first seven albums.
25:51Get out of here.
25:52He's a jingles producer.
25:54I was the king of the jingles.
25:56Reach out, reach out and touch someone.
25:59Catch that Pepsi spirit.
26:02The seven-minute cigarette.
26:04I'm doing jingles like crazy all day long.
26:08And doing rock and roll at night, which is why my wife left me.
26:11She means we bring good things to life.
26:15Excuse me, cut that.
26:16F*** my former wife.
26:19In the story of the song, who is the Bruce Dickinson?
26:22Me.
26:24Well, I was the producer.
26:26Christopher Walken.
26:27In real life, that would be David Lucas.
26:29I think Christopher Walken is an amalgam of Sandy and I.
26:33Bruce Dickinson.
26:34Another work of fiction who is in no shape or form a real human being.
26:38Wait, so who's this guy?
26:41My name is Bruce Dickinson.
26:42But not the Bruce Dickinson.
26:45If it makes you happy, I'll cop to the Bruce Dickinson.
26:48So he is a real guy.
26:50Yeah, he was a staff Sony compilation producer.
26:53And he's enjoying his fame.
26:55I do remember them playing a CD.
26:58We had CDs at the time.
26:59A blue oyster called.
27:00There was this name, Bruce Dickinson.
27:03Producer.
27:04It's kind of a funny sounding name.
27:06That was the extent of my research.
27:07The back of a CD cover.
27:09I kind of thought it was hilarious, but it was like, why are they using my name?
27:14I'd never worked on the original record.
27:17But there are more errors.
27:19The customers looked at that compilation record and what we were wearing, they all mimicked that outfit.
27:26This is the band.
27:28So, you know, we homage this as closely as we can.
27:31They mixed everybody up.
27:33Like the guy that looked like me was playing lead guitar.
27:36Chris Kattan was playing Buck, but he's Alan or Albert.
27:41The guy with the mustache, I don't know what to say about him.
27:44I think we got the lead singer of it wrong.
27:48They called him Eric, but it was supposed to be Buck.
27:51Jimmy Fallon was dressed to look like Alan, but he was playing the drums.
27:55And then the fictional Gene Frankel, obviously, he was not supposed to be me.
28:00He had the curly wig based on my look at the time.
28:04So we'll mix up a few beards and mustaches.
28:07Let's get back to the sketch.
28:09Easy, guys.
28:11I put my pants on just like the rest of you, one leg at a time.
28:15Except once my pants are on, I make gold records.
28:21I was truly surprised Christopher Walken found this new kind of intensity.
28:26I was like, what is he doing?
28:28Oh, my God.
28:29I've really got to keep it together here.
28:30He brought his perfect thing to it.
28:33Christopher Walken, for air, upped his game.
28:36He was almost doing an impersonation of Christopher Walken.
28:39He was talking like no other human being would talk ever.
28:44All right.
28:45Here we go.
28:47Fear.
28:47Don't fear the reaper.
28:48Take one.
28:49Roll it.
28:49All right.
28:50One, two, three, four.
29:11It actually sounds like Will has pretty good time.
29:14He's kind of holding it together.
29:15That's good.
29:16Not a lot of people can do that.
29:17Wait, wait.
29:19Stop.
29:21Bruce, could you come in here for a second, please?
29:23That was going to be a great track.
29:25Guys, what's the deal?
29:27Are you sure that was sounding okay?
29:29When I saw the skit, I said, how did they even hear the calva?
29:34How did they even know it was there?
29:36And then to come up with this thing about should it be in there or should it not be in
29:39there?
29:40That's exactly what happened.
29:42We actually had that debate at the time.
29:44I don't remember any of that.
29:45I don't remember any of that.
29:47There's no voting.
29:48We generally do what I say.
29:50There was two other producers, but they were not in favor of the cowbell.
29:54I knew a cowbell was, you know, a dumb idea.
29:57I'm like, cowbell?
29:59Why?
29:59I knew it needed something.
30:01It needed momentum.
30:03And the fact of the matter was this is a song about death, oncoming death.
30:08It needed a heartbeat.
30:11Cowbell.
30:15I go get the cowbell.
30:16I come back.
30:17Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.
30:19Nobody said anything for 20 years.
30:21But suddenly, after Will's sketch, everybody remembered doing it.
30:25I did it.
30:26A lot of different people think that they played it.
30:28I played it on the record.
30:29I played the cowbell.
30:30I don't even remember whether Lucas or Albert played it.
30:33But the irony here, the headline here, I don't think it's a cowbell.
30:38Oh, my gosh.
30:39It had that hollow sound of a woodblock, whereas a cowbell has a really shrill metal top-end sound.
30:47And there's the sound.
30:49Listen to it.
30:51Have you isolated that track?
30:53Have you heard?
30:54Is it, in fact, a cowbell on the two-inch tape?
30:58I'll play it, and you'll hear it.
30:59Listen to it.
31:03How can you prove you played it, though?
31:07To who?
31:08To me.
31:09I can't.
31:10Well, there you have it.
31:12Moving on.
31:13Are you sure that was sounding okay?
31:14I'll be honest, fellas.
31:15It was sounding great, but I could have used a little more cowbell.
31:22As soon as he delivers that first line, I could use a little more cowbell.
31:27And that gets a huge line.
31:28I'm like, oh, they're in.
31:30They're in.
31:30Oh, goody.
31:31There's more coming.
31:33I was walking around backstage, and I started hearing roars.
31:38Whenever I heard that sound in that studio, I would try to watch the sketch, so I snuck in through
31:44the cables and got behind the camera to watch this and hear the sound coming from the balcony above my
31:53head.
31:53And it was like 300 mason jars exploding.
31:57Let's take it again.
31:58And Gene.
31:59Yeah.
31:59Really explore the studio space this time.
32:02You got it, Bruce.
32:03I mean, really.
32:04Yeah.
32:04Explore the space.
32:06Okay.
32:07Bruce Dickinson is the perfect producer because musicians would, like, usually get in the way of themselves and say, like,
32:13well, I'm not sure.
32:14People might like that.
32:15We shouldn't do it.
32:17This motherfucker was like more cowbell.
32:22Okay.
32:22I like what I'm hearing.
32:24Roll it.
32:25One, two, three, four.
32:36Will was playing Gene Frankel, and his shirt was hiking up, like front twerking, just sort of dry-humping the
32:44air.
32:47Will doing Will.
32:48That's Sarah Clark.
32:51His belly button was deep and rich with sweat.
32:55It looked like an ancient wellspring.
32:58I didn't do it like that in dress.
33:02That much thrusting.
33:05I just looked at Will, and he was sweating, and his shirt was up here, and his gut was hanging
33:09out.
33:09It's hard to be serious when you see that stomach.
33:12It's different than most stomachs.
33:13You know, it's got a lot of fun hair.
33:16You could see Walkins enjoying this.
33:18He's laughing in the background.
33:20It's wonderful that somebody caught that moment.
33:22And it was the funniest thing I've ever seen in my entire life.
33:27You know what he's doing?
33:28He's exploring the space.
33:30It was so surreal and bizarre, but you could feel in the air that it was working.
33:36And the room kind of got hot.
33:38It felt like the audience liked it.
33:40There was a lot of laughs.
33:41When the sketch is going and it's cooking, the room almost shakes a little bit.
33:46And it was shaking that night.
33:49And I can remember looking at the crowd above my head, going, holy moly, this is what we do this
33:59for.
34:01Hey, stop!
34:03Stop, Bruce.
34:04I'm sorry.
34:05Could you come back in here, please?
34:07Fellas.
34:07No.
34:08We just wasted two good tracks.
34:11By the way, the premise that you could waste a track just makes me laugh.
34:16This last one was even better than the first.
34:19Well, it's just that I find Gene's cowbell playing distracted.
34:22I don't know.
34:23If I'm the only one, I'll shut up.
34:25No, it's pretty rough.
34:26You know, I can pull it back a little if you like.
34:29Not too much, though.
34:30I'm telling you, fellas.
34:32The way he was saying it, even to like, you know, I want that cowbell.
34:36Cowbell.
34:37Like he was dropping them in.
34:39Three pointers.
34:40You know what?
34:41It's fine.
34:42Let's just do the thing.
34:43Will has that capacity to lower his IQ with just in a second.
34:47Like his eyes just go a little like he loses literally intelligence.
34:51Hey, roll it.
34:53One, two, three, four.
35:05Will was right on top of me and banging the cowbell in my face.
35:09And I had the sense that he wanted to make me break.
35:11It was intense.
35:12You also have the instinct that this is only going to work if I do not break.
35:16You know, it's got to be this intensity between us.
35:19I hoped if we could catch lightning in a bottle, I could get those guys to laugh.
35:25Chris Parnell was a machine and would never break.
35:28I knew I could get right up in his face with the cowbell and he would play it with such
35:32disdain.
35:33They used to call Parnell the ice man because he was the guy you couldn't break.
35:38But, you know, I mean, I'm a human being.
35:40So, you know, it was it was hard.
35:42I mean, it helped, obviously, that the walking is as solid as he is and didn't break.
35:47There was one moment where the camera was not on me and I looked down at my guitar and I
35:53cracked a hint of a smile.
35:55But thankfully, the cameras didn't catch it.
36:01Come on, Jim!
36:03Come on!
36:05You know, that, that, it doesn't work for me.
36:09I gotta have more cowbell.
36:11And then Chris Kattan at one point gets really mad.
36:15Kattan was so funny, too.
36:17He had his mustache and his weird look.
36:19Will said, when you say your line, whatever you got in that little body, just, you know, push me as
36:24hard as you can.
36:26I was like, okay.
36:27I really was like, don't blow this force, Gene.
36:30I think he was startled that I pushed him so hard.
36:34And then, yeah, his stomach came out.
36:36And then that's when Jimmy broke.
36:39I was out of my league, you know.
36:41I had one line and Will turns and I have my line and I looked into the eyes of a
36:47lunatic.
36:48And I'm laughing, too, but I have the benefit of wearing a beard.
36:52And so you can't quite tell that I'm breaking as hard as they are.
36:56Quit being so selfish, Gene!
36:59Then flubbed my line and then I couldn't stop laughing.
37:01I had to look away.
37:03I think I did start biting my stick.
37:05I didn't know what else to do.
37:06I was like, this is the funniest.
37:08It's, it's giggles in church.
37:10It's giggles in classroom times a million.
37:13I know that Jimmy would get flack for breaking all the time, but I loved it every single time.
37:18And it just, it just showed how much fun he was having.
37:21I wish I didn't laugh at it, but of course I became known for the guy who laughs and sketches
37:25instead of the guy that plays the drums.
37:29Can I just say one thing?
37:30Yeah, baby, just say it.
37:33I'm staring here, staring at rock legend Bruce Dickinson.
37:36I'm a cock and a walk, baby.
37:37And if Bruce Dickinson wants more cowbell, we should probably give him more cowbell.
37:41Say it, baby.
37:43And Bobby, you are right.
37:44I am being selfish.
37:45But the last time I checked, we don't have a whole lot of songs that feature the cowbell.
37:50I gotta have more cowbell, baby.
37:53Christopher Walken added this whole thing where he gets all fired up and
38:00it leans into it on such a level that I didn't even expect.
38:04I'd be doing myself a disservice and every member of this band if I didn't perform the hell out of
38:10this.
38:10And with that, like so many times before, a simple series of words would enter the lexicon.
38:17On this night, a catchphrase was born.
38:21Guess what?
38:22I got a fever.
38:25And the only prescription is more cowbell.
38:28That's it.
38:29That's the mic drop.
38:30Thank you, Bruce.
38:32You hope for one of these things.
38:34It's lightning in a bottle.
38:36I mean, it rarely happens when you have a catchphrase or something that takes off.
38:41We are two wild and crazy guys.
38:45And I live in a van down by the river.
38:49Superstar.
38:51We want to pop you off.
38:55And I can see Russia from my house.
38:59So if you do something on TV in sketch form and people are quoting it and like it and are
39:05applauding when you do it the second or tenth time,
39:07that's just a thrill.
39:09That's everything.
39:10Well, isn't that special?
39:15I think if I just leave and maybe I'll come back later and we can lay down the cowbell.
39:21Come on, baby.
39:22Gene, wait.
39:25Why don't you lay down that cowbell right now with us together?
39:33This is a lovely moment.
39:39Do you mean that, Eric?
39:41He speaks for all of us.
39:44Eventually, they all come around to the idea that actually the song needs the cowbell.
39:49And that's, there's nobody who's being mocked.
39:53Thank you.
39:54Babies, before we're done here, y'all be wearing gold-plated diapers.
40:00What does that mean?
40:01Never question Bruce Dickinson.
40:04Both.
40:09You didn't want anything wacky at the end of cowbell.
40:11It had feasted on every single metric of comedy.
40:14And it's just, it's full of joy.
40:17One, two, three, four.
40:37I remember almost coming off of that, it almost felt like we went to camp together or something.
40:41And, like, we grew up together.
40:43We just had an experience.
40:44We were really unified by the fact that we had to kind of pull this off.
40:50But there was no way of telling that it would be a thing that would in any way be remembered
40:56from that point on.
41:01It came out, it was good, and people liked it.
41:04But then Will's best of came out.
41:08All of a sudden, people started coming up and talking to me about it like it just aired.
41:13And it was a whole new generation of people going, like, that's the best sketch that's ever been made.
41:18It got passed around at, like, colleges.
41:20People talked about it.
41:22It sort of took off culturally, didn't it?
41:24And teams at sporting events were now playing clips on, like, the Jumbotron to get a crowd going.
41:30Guess what?
41:31Look out, dude!
41:34The only prescription is work out!
41:41After years of incubation as an inside joke, the Cowbell Sketch's slow-rolling train was starting to pick up steam.
41:47You have got to give me more Cowbell.
41:51More Cowbell was becoming more than a catchphrase.
41:54Soon enough, it would be a mantra.
41:57I got a fever!
41:58And the only prescription is more Cowbell!
42:01It just became a thing.
42:02People yelling on the street to me.
42:05Jimmy, yo, gotta have more Cowbell, man!
42:07People were, like, bringing Cowbells for you to sign and shirts that say, I gotta have more Cowbell.
42:18To have things that you've created that have this other life, it's completely surreal.
42:25Guess what?
42:25I got a fever.
42:26More Cowbells.
42:27Yes, more Cowbells.
42:29People started bringing Cowbells to shows.
42:32Much to our shouldn't we?
42:33Yeah.
42:34Most people cannot play a Cowbell.
42:36They think they can.
42:38Yeah, everybody thinks they can, then it all falls apart.
42:41I mean, it's turned into this whole sociological thing.
42:45You had no idea.
42:46It's in the dictionary now.
42:48Did you know that?
42:48You had no idea that you were starting that.
42:50No, I did not.
42:51I had no idea why I was there in the first place.
42:53I had jingles to do.
42:57Since this skit, I've seen Will playing the Cowbell with more than a few people.
43:02Will's Cowbell became so popular, he went on to play it with people like Chris Martin,
43:07Mark Anthony, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Queens of the Stoney.
43:14My management came to me in a very serious tone.
43:18It was like, Will wants to play Cowbell.
43:21My response was, are you kidding me?
43:24Of course.
43:34I remember watching that Queens of the Stoney's performance.
43:37When it happened, I was like, there he is.
43:42Everyone wants to be part of something classic.
43:44This addendum to that classic sketch became classic in its own right.
43:49The skit brought the cowbell to society because before that, cowbells were known by musicians.
43:56But when that skit aired, boom, everybody knew about cowbells.
44:01And it was our cowbell that was used in that skit.
44:04If you look at it, there's a Latin percussion label on that bell that Will Ferrell is holding
44:11as he's pounding away.
44:13And to be a manufacturer of cowbells at that time, wow, we were, you know, we were superstars.
44:19The cowbell industry was riding high, but others did not share the same enthusiasm.
44:24Or among your best-known performances would be in the turn-out live sketch, cowbell.
44:29Have you found that to be true?
44:30I don't understand why it follows me around like it does.
44:34It's kind of run its course.
44:38No, it hasn't.
44:40It's going to keep going.
44:42I went to see Christopher Walken years later in a play he was doing, and I talked to him backstage.
44:48He was like, you know, you've ruined my life.
44:53And I go, I have?
44:55He's like, every show, people bring cowbells for the curtain call and bang them.
45:04And it's quite disconcerting.
45:09So no remorse on your part?
45:11Not really.
45:14So have you reached out to Chris?
45:16Yeah.
45:16And is he going to talk about it?
45:18Nope.
45:19That keeps his cool factor here.
45:22Yeah, that he's not going to go down memory lane, let the work speak for itself.
45:29Wow.
45:30It's really hot.
45:31Wow, that really, yeah.
45:32Is that his teen spirit?
45:34Yeah.
45:37After seven years on the show and having solidified his place on SNL's Mount Rushmore of great performers,
45:42Will Ferrell's star had never shined brighter.
45:45I loved Saturday Night Live.
45:47I loved the camaraderie.
45:48I loved the atmosphere.
45:49I loved all of it.
45:50But at seven years, it also just felt like this is a really good time to leave.
45:57Will was our rock, you know?
45:59I mean, we lived together in those offices, like, sleeping there.
46:03We knew each other so well.
46:05I've been with him here since he first started here.
46:07Whenever they move on and go do something else, it's like somebody's gone from your family.
46:11Like, the last read-through of his tenure here was just like, I think, every single person was crying.
46:19It was heartbreaking when he left.
46:21They were an incredibly talented, hardworking cast, and Will was definitely the glue.
46:29Will's time on SNL was proof that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, a lesson Gene
46:34Frankel taught his band and the whole world on that fateful Saturday so long ago.
46:38Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live, kind of a show where everyone gets to take their whack.
46:44It can be really powerful to see a group of people all pull on the same oar.
46:51It's brilliant.
46:52You know, there's no better feeling in the world to see your buddies make everyone happy together.
46:57That is the point of that sketch.
46:59There's a certain heartwarming element to that skit.
47:03In the end, they all come together, and they make beautiful music.
47:06I mean, when you're in a band, that's what you're doing.
47:08You're agreeing to stick together and look out for each other in the service of something better.
47:14Albert played it his way.
47:15I played it my way.
47:16And who cares?
47:18Yeah.
47:18That's fantastic that I get to see you.
47:21I've always loved you, and I will always love you.
47:23And me too.
47:23And I don't care if you played it or I played it.
47:25That's what's important.
47:29There are hundreds of people who work on the show.
47:32At times, you get to be the centerpiece.
47:34At other times, you get to be in support.
47:37But as long as the body of work is just really strong, who cares?
47:44Then does he die?
47:49I forgot he dies.
47:52How do you think he died?
47:54Bending over to pick up a penny in New York City was struck by a bus.
47:57That's good luck.
48:04Bizarre gardening accident.
48:06Walking down the street of New York and got crushed by a piano.
48:12Nice.
48:17I'm guessing an accidental drug overdose.
48:20I'm going to say natural causes.
48:22It's just like one of those things where he had enough life in him.
48:26And then the body was like, yeah, we're good.
48:28We did it.
48:32Gene Frankel, he was Jeff Bezos' favorite cowbell artist.
48:37Became friends.
48:38He's still alive.
48:39And he lives in Newport Beach.
48:46Whatever really happened to the fake Gene Frankel, the world will never know.
48:50But one thing is for sure.
48:52There's probably a little bit of Gene Frankel in everybody.
48:55I am Gene Frankel.
48:56I'm Gene Frankel.
48:58I'm Gene Frankel.
49:00I am Gene Frankel.
49:02I am Gene Frankel.
49:03I am Gene Frankel.
49:04I'm Gene Frankel.
49:05I'm Gene Frankel.
49:06I'm Gene Frankel.
49:07I'm Gene Frankel.
49:08I am Gene Frankel.
49:09I am Gene Frankel.
49:10I am Gene Frankel.
49:11I am Gene Frankel.
49:12I am Gene Frankel.
49:13Rest assured, I'm not Gene Frankel.
49:15I'm the real Gene Frankel.
49:49...
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