RHCP – Robust Rock

“Revelations” serve as a mini essay / blog that may be converted to a Podcast Episode and or published to print.  Written by Magico777 * Copyright 2022

Welcome to Revelations on Robust Rock 

The definition of “Robust” is: strong and healthy, vigorous. 

A robust rock band has built a legacy of having lasting, endless energy, that sets them apart from most bands.  The Red Hot Chili Peppers have established themselves as such a band since they emerged in the early 1980s and whereby they always delivered an intense energy in all of their undertakings. 

Their music started out rather punk and the band would lose their original lead guitar player and drummer very early in the band’s history.  Many pro musicians would come in and go out of the RHCP until a solid line up was built. However, lead singer Anthony Kiedis and bass player, Michael Balzary, better known as “Flea”,  used their energy to keep recruiting musicians to keep the band going regardless of the many HR issues the band encountered along their journey.

Below – The RHCP’s first TV appearance –

The majority of Red Hot Chili Pepper’s body of work includes drummer, Chad Smith and guitarist, John Frusciante who joined the band a few years after the RHCP emerged as a bona fide; signed band yet relatively early in the history of the band.

With Chad Smith and John Frusciante becoming a staple with the band the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ energy drove them towards constantly evolving and reinventing themselves but more so – reinventing their music.  The RHCP began with punk roots and then progressed to funk and rock.

Interestingly enough, the RHCP would evolve towards becoming more commercialized in the sense of being played on the radio and being in rotation on MTV.  The band practiced to make certain they delivered all their songs as it sounded on their albums.  This was important to the band’s leader, Anthony Kiedis in particular to keep order and focus.

Below – The RHCP perform live & tight –

Chemical dependencies would plague the band and band members.  Each band member, one by one worked to rid themselves of their vices but one of the members, John Frusciante struggled to equalize himself and ended up leaving the RHCP in 1992.  Other musicians would come in to fill John Frusciante’s shoes, however, Frusciante became a ‘framer’ of RHCP songs.  John’s distinctive guitar playing style was impossible to replicate similar to how guitar players failed to emulate Slash’s guitar sound in Guns N’ Roses. 

Time would pass by and John Frusciante would ultimately beat the odds he was against and rejoin the RHCP circa 1998.

When John Frusciante came back to the RHCP he came back harder and stronger than ever before which in Rock History has been witnessed with Stevie Ray Vaughn, who also beat his demons and came back so much stronger of a guitar player than he was in the past. 

The Red Hot Chili Peppers being such a robust rock band used John’s new found energy and pivoted once again into reinventing themselves by improvising instrumental jams.  Fans and audiences from around the world could not believe that the Red Hot Chili Peppers had evolved into psychedelic rock away from their traditional Punk and Funk roots.  John Frusciante had always been influenced by punk and funk music but was also an (indirect) understudy of Jimi Hendrix and studied his techniques. 

Improvisations noticeably developed while on tour from 2004 to 2008.  This small era of time consisted of the most amazing psychedelic performances the Red Hot Chili Peppers have ever performed with John Frusciante.

Below – RHCP Evolve to Amazing Jams –

Upon his return, Frusciante would also advance the band as his input to structure songs placed a soul into the magical sound of each song that he would write and compose.  The RHCP released a double album –  Stadium Arcadium in 2006  which was the last album that John Frusciante contributed with the band.  Stadium Arcadium went multi-platinum in worldwide sales in record breaking time.

At the height of his best (live) guitar playing and improvising, John Frusciante quit the band again in 2009 and asked Josh Klinghoffer, a LA known musician who went on tour with the RHCP on their last tour to fill his shoes and take over.  Josh accepted the offer and carried the band until 2020 when, once again, John Frusicante would rejoin the band.

Below: Josh Klinghoffer performs Scar Tissue live. 

In closing, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are masters at being a robust rock band for the ages that always prepares to have endless energy to stoke their audience and leave them begging for the band to keep playing more music.  The RHCP also were dynamic towards reinventing their music they produced, covering a diversified number of music genres.

2022 – The RHCP will be going on tour with John Frusciante who rejoined the band in 2020.