How ‘More Cowbell’ Became a Classic ‘Saturday Night Live’ Sketch

UltimateClassicRock ^ | April 6, 2018 | Jeff Giles

[nickcarraway]

Ping

[skeeter]

Guys I got a fever…

[real saxophonist]

I have one of these.

[nickcarraway]

If I wrote that skit, it would have been War, playing Low Rider.

[nickcarraway]

Is the cowbell on Funky Town real or a synthesizer?

[Leaning Right]

> “I held on to it for, I think, three months, until Christopher Walken was the host, and rewrote it for him,” Ferrell added. <

Pretty much anything Christopher Walken is involved in will turn out good.

[nickcarraway]

Pretty much anything Christopher Walken is involved in will turn out good.

Even throwing actresses off boats?

[KarlInOhio]

How ‘More Cowbell’ Became a Classic ‘Saturday Night Live’ Sketch

Step 1. Put Christopher Walken on it. He's had a bunch of very strange, funny skits. This one, the census taker, Colonel Angus, the Pranksters (I pranked him to death with a tire iron), the trivial psychic.

[blueunicorn6]

It’s not well known, but a herd of cows calmly grazing in a meadow overlooking the Atlantic Ocean heard that cowbell emanating from a television on a luxury yacht and charged off a cliff to follow that cowbell resulting in the deaths of over 200 cows.

Jerry Stanker was a witness to this event.

“The cows fell off the cliff like Cocoa Puffs falling into a bowl of salty, blue milk.”

[real saxophonist]

I think those are Agogo bells, and yes, they sound real to me.

[real saxophonist]

The bass line kills the cowbell.

[nickcarraway]

They had Randy Brecker - that’s a quality session guy. I would probably be too embarrassed to tell him we weren’t using his solo on the final track. I didn’t think a band like that would use a horn, let alone by an accomplished musician.

[nickcarraway]

Wow. Interesting.

[Telepathic Intruder]

Here are a few rules for a doing a perfect Christopher Walken impression.

1) Always pronounce one syllable words using two syllables.
2) Pause in a middle of sentences. Not all the time, however, lest it sounds repetitive.
3) Crack your voice occasionally. But again, not too often.
4) Draw out the last syllable of sentences, but not every time. Just occasionally.
5) Use a New York accent. This is maybe the most difficult but still very important rule.

Now, practice using the following (ignore rule #2 in this case):
Come on!

[packrat35]

Most definitely. Natalie and cowbell.

[packrat35]

More Cowbell skit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVsQLlk-T0s

[Salvavida]

“.....and a fittingly bizarre Christopher Walken performance.”

A “normal” Christopher Walken performance would have sounded better. No need to be redundant.

[RummyChick]

when I see walken I always wonder if he talks with that cadence in his normal life.

Here he is at the age of 25 in Hawaii Five 0. Not as pronounced

https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/aolfsf/a_25yearold_christopher_walken_on_hawaii_fiveo/

[real saxophonist]

I had the privilege of meeting his brother Michael, they were in town for a Brecker Brothers gig that night. Cool guy, RIP. Dave Weckl was on drums that night.