In March 1987, Pixies, entered Boston's Fort Apache Studios with Fort Apache owner/record producer Gary Smith to record a demo tape. The resulting 17-song cassette, later dubbed "The Purple Tape" eventually found its way to Ivo Watts-Russell, president and co-founder of the influential British record label 4AD. Pixies' manager, Ken Goes, was also the manager of Throwing Muses, who had become the first American band to sign to 4AD a year earlier. Despite being initially unimpressed by the demo, Watts-Russell was urged to sign the band by his girlfriend, a secretary for 4AD. After her insistence, he walked the streets of New York listening to The Purple Tape on his Walkman and, in his words, finally "got it." Watts-Russell hand-picked eight of The Purple Tape's 17 songs to make up a debut "mini album." Expressing regret that some other previous 4AD debuts had failed to live up to the power of their demo versions, he decided to slightly re-mix eight of The Purple Tape's 17 songs for release, rather than have the band re-record the songs. Pixies later re-recorded and included eight of the nine remaining Purple Tape tracks over the course of their albums and EP releases. The only song not to be re-recorded and released was "Rock A My Soul." This, along with the rest of the nine "missing" Purple Tape tracks were released as Pixies by the Canadian label Sonic Unyon in 2002. The title of the album is derived from "Watch What You're Doing", a song by Christian rock singer Larry Norman, that includes the line, "C'mon pilgrim, you know He loves you", which the Pixies use in the song "Levitate Me". Larry Norman's lyric in turn is derived from Stevie Wonder's, "Sweet Little Girl".
Content
Come On Pilgrim showcased much of Pixies' variety and set up the beginnings of many trends in their music. It includes two songs partly sung in Spanish which drew upon some of Francis's experiences in Puerto Rico. Two songs explicitly mention incest— "Nimrod's Son" and "The Holiday Song". "I've Been Tired" refers metaphorically to sex and rock & roll culture, and there are four songs with overt religious references or language. "Caribou" is about reincarnation. "Ed Is Dead" is about a brain-damaged girl known to Francis. Beyond lyrical trends, Come On Pilgrim displayed Joey Santiago's innovative guitar leads, Deal's sunny vocal harmonies, and Francis's vocal range, which varied from screaming to traditionally-sung melodies. A version of the song "Vamos" would appear on Pixies' next two releases: re-recorded with Steve Albini for their first full-length album, Surfer Rosa, and as a live B-side on their first single, "Gigantic".
Release
The original 1987 UK release entered the UK indie album chart on, spending 29 weeks on the chart and peaking at number 5. Come On Pilgrim failed to secure distribution in the United States when it was first released. It was released in the United States in August 1988, when Rough Trade included it on their CD release of their first full-length album Surfer Rosa. At the same time, the two releases were issued on separate vinyl records by Rough Trade. Also in August 1988, 4AD released Surfer Rosa and Come On Pilgrim on CD together in the UK. This has been the standard UK CD release ever since, only being out of print for about six months in 1998. Subsequent U.S. CD releases have split them in two. In 1992, Elektra Records issued Come On Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa on separate CDs in the US. After 4AD re-acquired the band's US distribution rights in 2004, they were again released on CD separately; this version of Come On Pilgrim was the first CD release to carry the 4AD catalogue number. The album received far more attention from the British music press than in the United States. It was reviewed in Q Magazine, Sounds and NME.
Track listing
All songs by Black Francis except "Levitate Me" by Black Francis/Kim Deal/David Lovering/Jean Walsh
