“Kiedis didn’t sing ‘Knock Me Down’ because he was (is) out of tune”

The former music producer of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Michael Beinhorntaking part in a question and answer session with fans of the Californian group on Reddit, was able to explain why it was John Frusciante to sing the song “Knock Me Down” on the band’s 1989 album “Mother’s Milk”.

Beinhorn’s memory was prompted by a question from a fan who asked why
John Frusciante
sang in place of
Anthony Kiedis
in a song in memory of the previous guitarist of
Red Hot Chili Peppers Hillel Slovak,
great friend of Kiedis, who died on June 25, 1988 at the age of 26 due to a heroin overdose.

This is the producer’s response to the question: “I’m glad you like ‘Knock Me Down’ so much: it was a big change from the Peppers’ usual sound up to that point. John sang the song because it was melodic and Anthony was/is out of tune, that is, he can’t hear the pitch.”

Michael Beinhorn
he continued, “Anyway, John essentially wrote the song, including the melody, so it wasn’t entirely inappropriate of him to sing it, plus he idolized Hillel… As for the band’s reaction to the final product… well… I never found out what they thought of the final mix. However, when I finally played Anthony the songs with the finished guitars for the first time, he hadn’t been on any of the sessions until then, he freaked out, not in a good way. I think the band has I kind of disowned the record for this reason.”

The profound emotional impact that the death of
Hillel Slovak
had on the band also led to the abandonment of the drummer
Jack Irons
then replaced by
Chad Smith
.