For Whom the Cowbell Tolls: 25 Years of Paul's Boutique

Think you know everything possible about the Beastie Boys classic album Paul’s Boutique? Think again. To commemorate the album’s 25th birthday, author Dan LeRoy and journalist Peter Relic joined forces to “drop the new science and kick the new knowledge” about this legendary 1989 release.

The follow-up to LeRoy’s acclaimed 33 1/3 series volume about Paul’s Boutique, this all-new book is crammed with deep research and fresh information. Released on 6623 Press’s creator-owned 66 & 2/3 imprint, it’s a stunning new chapter in Beastie scholarship — and archaeology — that might just startle the band themselves.

Learn about the freshly unearthed outtakes from Paul’s Boutique—including the album’s great lost single. Get a behind-the-scenes look at Capitol Records’ fateful decision to sign the Beasties and its controversial aftermath, featuring new interviews with all the top label executives. Take a look at forgotten, freshly unearthed Beastie artifacts.

Then dig into the “Boutique Bouillabaisse,” a multi-part tribute to the album’s famous closing medley, jam-packed with inside information. Watch rap's densest lyric sheet take shape in pictures of notebook pages jotted during the Paul’s Boutique sessions. Go track-by-track through a rare Mike D mixtape that influenced the album’s prescient retro sound. Meet the hip-hop duo nobody knows, who inspired Adam Yauch. Find out how three DJs reconstructed Paul’s Boutique, sample by sample. Learn more about characters like Beastie “trim coordinator” Dave Scilken. With many more funky exclusives, this one-of-a-kind book includes 36 photos and three illustrations from artist Jim Mahfood's 2007 Beastie Boys graphic novel Ask For Janice.

For Whom the Cowbell Tolls: 25 Years of Paul’s Boutique is guaranteed to make you as smart as when “Galileo dropped the orange”!

Dan LeRoy is the author of a book about Paul’s Boutique for Continuum’s 33 1/3 series, and The Greatest Music Never Sold: Secrets of Legendary Lost Albums. He has written about music and politics for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Alternative Press and National Review Online. He lives near Pittsburgh.

Peter Relic is a Los Angeles writer whose work has appeared in Da Capo’s Best Music Writing anthology, as well as Rolling Stone, Vibe, XXL and Mass Appeal. He is currently writing a book about the history of the iconic label Delicious Vinyl.