Pleasure and Pain - Definition

Pleasure and Pain is the name of an LP released in 1992 as a Vinyl record by Ben Harper and Tom Freund (both previously from the band Thirsty Dog), consisting of 11 predominantly standards-based tracks with no backing recorded at the Cardas studio in California. It led to the signing of Ben Harper to Virgin Records. Soon after this recording Ben toured with Taj Mahal as a backing guitarist.

Track listing

1. "Whipping Boy" (Chris Darrow)
2. "Jesus on the Mainline" (traditional)
3. "Pay the Man" (David Lindley, George Pierre)
4. "Quarter of a Man" (Bob "Frizz" Fuller)
5. "Mama's Got a Girlfriend" Now (Harper)
6. "Angel from Montgomery" (John Prine)
7. "Click Yo' Heels" (Freund)
8. "You Should Have Come to Me" (Freund)
9. "Dust My Broom" (Robert Johnson)
10. "Sweet Home Chicago" (Robert Johnson)
11. "Pleasure and Pain" (Harper)

Pleasure and Pain is also the name of a documentary DVD by David Lynch about Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals. It covers much of Harper's philosophy and tour schedule, while also providing a format for visualizing Harper's songs. Included on the DVD was a segment where fans got to see Harper's family owned store and "meet" Ben's grandfather.