Primus explores a world of pure imagination on tour

Primus leader Les Claypool was mesmerized the first time he saw the 1971 trippy classic “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.”

“I was a young fellow in grammar school,” Claypool says. “The credits rolled up, and I was hooked. It went on to absorb my life for the next year or so.”

The film (based on Roald Dahl’s book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) starred Gene Wilder as chocolatier Wonka, who leads a group of youths through a candy-coated quest in his factory. A 2005 remake (“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) starred Johnny Depp as Wonka.

“I made Oompa Loompa-shaped candy and read the books,” says Claypool, who saw the original film as a glorious thing. “Back then, there weren’t a lot of kids films. Nowadays they’ve figured out there’s a (boatload) of money in it. Every five minutes there’s a new movie, but there wasn’t a plethora of them back then.”

Claypool introduced his children, now teenagers, to the movie. And he’s sharing his interest on the new album “Primus & the Chocolate Factory with the Fungi Ensemble” and the accompanying tour, “An Evening With Primus & the Chocolate Factory,” coming to the Modesto Centre Plaza on Tuesday, Sept. 1.

The show includes the definitive Primus lineup, with guitarist Larry LaLonde and drummer Tim Alexander, allowing for what feels like a period of fresh air for Primus.

The group puts its own twist on music from the original soundtrack, without attempting to redo it note for note.

“I knew I wanted to take on some sacred cow, so we took on this sacred cow,” Claypool says. “I wasn’t sure at first if we were going to do the whole record. But altogether I don’t feel we missed a single song. ‘Pure Imagination’ was the most intimidating. It’s such an intricate arrangement. But we wanted to take that on and do it justice, make it our own, and it worked out.”

The song, and even the entire project, easily could have gone south – which is what some say happened with the movie remake.

“I didn’t think it was Tim Burton’s best film by a long stretch,” Claypool says. “He has made some special films. That wasn’t one of them. There were plenty of people out there who loved it and plenty of people that didn’t. When you take on a sacred cow, you’re going to step on people’s toes.”

Claypool considered other projects, including a Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour.” But Primus did a Willy Wonka show in 2013 as part as its annual New Year’s Eve thematic series. (Others have been caveman and underwater themed.)

Claypool says the Wonka-themed New Year’s Eve show went great and set in motion the idea to pursue it deeper. The new show features a set resembling a magical chocolate factory.

“Things were popping up, Oompa Loompas were running around,” he says. “And everybody was hopped up on chocolate.”

This story was originally published August 26, 2015 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Primus explores a world of pure imagination on tour."