The Turd Town Tour was a short three-and-a-half-month-long concert tour by Red Hot Chili Peppers. The tour, which the band considered to be a disaster, was named by the band members who insisted that they play off-the-beaten-path venues in small cow towns. The tour marked the debut of guitarist John Frusciante, who replaced DeWayne McKnight after three shows, and drummer Chad Smith, who replaced D.H. Peligro at the end of the tour.
Background
Shortly following the death of guitarist Hillel Slovak in June 1988, drummer Jack Irons felt too overcome with grief and his own personal issues to continue with the band. Both Slovak and Irons help form the group in 1983 and both were on their second tenures with the band at the time. The two remaining founding members, singer, Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea decided in honor of Slovak they would again attempt to carry on with the band. Slovak was replaced by former Parliament-Funkadelic guitarist, DeWayne McKnight while Irons was replaced by former Dead Kennedys drummer, D.H. Peligro. Kiedis briefly went to rehab for thirty days after the lineup was formed and while in rehab minus Kiedis they recorded one song with Flea on lead vocals titled "Blues for Meister" which would later appear on the band's 1994 Out In L.A. album. The band attempted to tour with the lineup however after four shows, McKnight was fired due to chemistry issues. His replacement was 18-year-old guitar prodigy, John Frusciante who was already a big fan of the band. Frusciante performed his first official show as the band's guitarist on October 5, 1988. With the band feeling at full strength once again they decided to tour and began work writing and rehearsing for the next album although in late November, Peligro too would end up being fired due to his own drug and alcohol problems. Peligro was replaced through auditions in late November 1988 by drummer, Chad Smith, who played the final two dates in December to finish out the tour. Early in the following year, Smith, Frusciante, Kiedis and Flea would begin recording their next album, Mother's Milk, which at the time would launch the band to their biggest success. Frusciante remained with the band for another four years before quitting and later re-joining in 1998 while Smith has been with the band ever since this tour. The tour was also notable for one of the band's opening acts, No Doubt who in the mid-1990s would find big mainstream success on their own.
The tour saw the band leaning heavily on their first three albums although after the firing of McKnight and with Frusciante and Peligro on board the band began to write music for their next album, Mother's Milk and three songs from that record, "Punk Rock Classic", "Stone Cold Bush" and "Taste the Pain" made their live debuts on the tour along with instrumental jam which eventually became "Subway to Venus". Shortly into the tour and the writing for the album, Peligro was fired as well. Peligro's replacement, Chad Smith finished the remainder of the tour and has been with the band ever since.
