Asphalt Risin' Explained

Asphalt Risin
Cover:Asphalt Risin Chevy Van Cover.jpg
Alt:Image of autos in motion
Type:single
Artist:Fu Manchu
Album:In Search of...
B-Side:"Chevy Van"
Released:1996 (US)[1]
Recorded:September 1995
Studio:Grandmaster Recorders, Ltd. in Hollywood, California
Genre:Stoner rock
Length:3:13
Label:Mammoth Records
Producer:Fu Manchu & Brian Jenkins
Prev Title:Missing Link
Prev Year:1996
Next Title:Jailbreak
Next Year:1998

"Asphalt Risin" is a song by American stoner rock band Fu Manchu. It was released as a single in 1996 by Mammoth Records – the first of two single releases off the album In Search of.... The B-side was a rendition of the 1975 song "Chevy Van" which was originally written and performed by Sammy Johns. It was featured in and on the soundtrack of the 1977 film The Van,[2] in which the main character drove around in a retrofitted custom van.[3]

Reception

Dave Pehling from CBS news listed this song alongside the In Search of... track "Regal Begal" as the standouts which made the album it came from, "a bonafide classic of the genre" which he described as a "downtuned, psychedelic style of heavy stoner rock" created with "enormous fuzzed-out riffs."[4]

Representing Classic Rock magazine, Malcolm Dome noted the "decisive edge" that lead guitarist Eddie Glass and drummer Ruben Romanocontributed to the tracks "Asphalt Risin" and "Seahag" as a reason for inclusion in the article, "10 stoner rock albums you should definitely own."[5]

Bearing to the longevity of the song's composition Curtis Craig from AllMusic, commenting on the live version from the bands 2003 Go for It... Live! album that, "it's songs from early albums that shine like a sparkly GTO paint job" noting that "Asphalt Risin" in particular "rumbles through shifting gears of fuzz."[6]

Track listing

7" vinyl 1996 (MR0139-7)

  1. "Asphalt Risin" – 3:11
  2. "Chevy Van" – 3:22 (Sammy Johns)

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Asphalt Risin' release date. AllMusic. July 16, 2023.
  2. Web site: The Van – Original Soundtrack. AllMusic. July 10, 2023.
  3. Web site: The Van (1977) Film. AllMovie. Mark. Deming. July 10, 2023.
  4. Web site: SoCal Stoner-Rock Pioneers Return To San Francisco. cbsnews.com. Dave Pehling. November 6, 2017. July 10, 2023.
  5. Web site: 10 stoner rock albums you should definitely own.. loudersound. Malcolm Dome. July 13, 2021. July 11, 2023.
  6. Web site: Go for It...Live! Review by Craig Curtice. AllMusic. Craig Curtice. July 22, 2003. July 15, 2023.