Wasn’t Lucinda Williams’ new album for American Records supposed to be out by
now? I seem to recall that it was set for a fall ’95 release. A rep for
American says that “we don’t have any info” as to when the album is going to
appear, but adds that “there’s no such thing at this label as running behind.
Rick [Rubin, head of the label] says that no record is released before its
time.” If Rubin’s Orson Welles-like statement is to be trusted, we can only
hope that the album’s working title hasn’t been changed to It’s All
True. In any case, you’ll have plenty of chances to ask Williams about the
matter herself; she’ll be playing a marathon five-day stretch at the Electric
Lounge starting next Tuesday (see “Recommendeds”). Oh, and did you catch her
original version of “Passionate Kisses” being used at the tag for one of MTV’s
Sex in the ’90s programs?
Out on Patrol
Is the name Red Simpson familiar to you, by any chance? He’s the fella whowrote “Highway Patrol” back in 1966, and thanks to Junior Brown, he’s got
checks coming in from it again. Ol’ Red showed up at Brown’s Continental Club
show last Sunday night and sang a couple of songs with him (including “Highway
Patrol,” of course) and the two have since gone into the studio to record a
pair of songs, one written by each. The name Chris Isaak might ring a bell,
too. He and his band dropped into the Continental that night as well, and
Isaak’s drummer Kenny Dale Johnson, ex of Extreme Heat (n�e Steam Heat),
got to hobnob with some old buddies.
So Who Gives a Whit?
I’m not hearing much to indicate that the big ad campaign for Reese Whitley isturning the man into an overnight sensation. In fact, Steamboat’s Danny Crooks
recently called to say that Whitley, the fellow who was supposed to “reinvent
rock & roll,” drew a grand total of 38 paid customers to his show at the
‘boat last week. Says Crooks (who apparently won’t be booking Whitley into the
Steamboat again anytime soon), “He did reinvent rock & roll — it
used to be good.” One musician he’s slightly more enthusiastic about is
his son, Sean, who got up to play guitar last week with Vallejo.
Still More Back Rumors
Okay, this is the last time we’re gonna update the Back Room situation unlessthe venue mysteriously ends up blasting off to Mars or something, but contrary
to last week’s column, Mark Olivarez will indeed be continuing to book the
club. As far as the renovations I mentioned, those will begin this week and
probably continue through mid-January, progressing slowly so that the club can
remain open during the work. Olivarez says that when the new look is complete,
there will be a new sound, as well. He says he won’t be booking any local metal
acts at the club anymore and plans to move the Back Room “more into the
mainstream.” He’ll also definitely be bringing in roadshows by bands who play
the type of music he considers a “personal favorite”: industrial. All right,
that’s it. No more Back Room updates. (Wait a minute, do I smell rocket fuel
burning?)
Shopped Liver
Hope you Bad Livers fans have patience, because the band does. They’vefinished up work on their latest album (working title: Hogs on the
Highway) and, says Liver Mark Rubin, they’ve “got a lot of offers” from
record companies, but rather than rush it out on Touch and Go, who released
their three previous efforts, they’ll be taking their sweet time and waiting it
out until they get a satisfactory deal. In the meantime, though, you needn’t
worry about getting enough Liver; there’s never a shortage of live appearances
by the guys.
Mixed Notes
I’m hearing January 16 as the real, final, official release date for thatlong-delayed Ministry album. You may have already heard advance tracks like
“The Fall” being played on KNACK and elsewhere… So when did CDs get so
tricky? First a friend tells me that he stuck Sugar’s Besides in a
computer — cuz it was the only thing he had handy to play it on — and he
found a video on it. Now Jo Carol Pierce’s Bad Girls Upset by the Truth comes out and has a note on it saying “To access the soundtrack only, program
tracks 1,22,3,5,7,23,9,11,13,15,
17,19,21.” Jeez, with vinyl, all you had to
worry about was some joker putting a locked groove on the end… Oh, and along
with Pierce’s album, Monkey Hill Records has just issued the first “solo” album
from former part-time Austinite Dan Stuart. The Green on Red leader is joined
on the disc by former True Believers guitarist Jon Dee Graham, Poi Dog/Silos
drummer Daren Hess, and everyone’s producer, J D Foster… The big (re)release
of Hamell on Trial’s Big as Life album on Mercury Records was this week
(I like how the advance cassette points out with an asterisk that “Folsom
Prison Blues” is a “Hidden Bonus Track.” No tricky CD deception here!) and Ed
will be “coming home” to the Electric Lounge on Friday. So, how’d the Bill
Hicks tribute song go over in Europe, Ed?… Paul Minor’s Superego is taking a
break after this Sunday’s Free-for-All to get some work done on an album, but
the Free-for-Alls will be continuing with guest hosts taking the stage until
the band’s return… Country night on Mondays at the “Emo-dillo” will be moving
to the Electric Lounge in January. I guess that makes it the “Electro-dillo,”
though that sounds a bit too much like a “personal massaging device,” if you
know what I mean… Mr. Groper will be hosting the third annual pot luck supper
at the Flamingo Cantina tonight (Thursday). If you bring some “cooked vittles,”
say the band, you can “get in for free, eat all you can, and throw the rest”…
Out now from local Pinche Gringo Records is a new CD from Houston band the
Suspects. They’ll be playing at Emo’s “Ska Fest” this Saturday… I just got
handed the 101X-mas CD of local and not-so-local troublemakers having their way
with the songs of the season and my, my, there’s some scary stuff listed here.
I’m not sure which I’m most afraid of listening to, Sixteen Deluxe doing “Away
in a Manger” or the Wannabes’ “One Note Solo Christmas,” but considering the
contents of the new Fear album, I’m not surprised by the title of Lee Ving’s
track: “Another Christmas Beer”… Think that stuff was scary? Right behind it,
I got handed an advance tape of the Twisted Willie comp of weird Willie
Nelson covers. I’ve already told you of Johnny Cash/Krist Novoselic/Kim
Thayil/Sean Kinney teaming up on “Time of the Preacher,” but how about the
pairing of L7 and Waylon Jennings on “Three Days” or Kelley Deal and Kris
Kristofferson doing “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground”? You’ll have to
satisfy your need for twisted tunes with the 101X comp for now, though;
Twisted Willie doesn’t have its commercial release until January 30…
Have I mentioned that Jerry Finn, producer of such big names Pennywise and
Rancid and who mixed Green Day’s Dookie, is helming Magneto USA’s debut,
currently being recorded in L.A.? Didn’t think so. I did already tell you it
was coming out on Hollywood Records, though, so just consider this a
reminder… Some in-store appearances: Dash Rip Rock will play a set at
MusicMania this Sunday at 5pm and, hey, is that really the only in-store this
week? Weird. There’re some CD and tape release parties this week, though, like
Ellen Todd & Ike Eichenberg, formerly of Zizzer Zazzer Zuzz, for their new
disc Take Me Places at Rivendale’s Restaurant in San Marcos on Saturday,
and Amberjack Rice at the Hole in the Wall next Thursday with his new cassette
Doug… Dewey Decibel of the Chumps had a red Fender Mustang with an
Iron Cross sticker on it stolen from the Blue Flamingo last Wednesday. If you
see it, let the band know. If you took it, return it and they say there’ll be
no questions asked… Next Wednesday’s Asylum Street Spankers show at the
Electric Lounge doubles as a party for Guy Forsyth, so when you show up there,
be sure to tell him “Happy Birthday.” Unless he’s singing, of course, because
then he’d have to ask you to be quiet or leave the room… I suspect Guy would
be more polite about it than Natalie Merchant would, though. I’m told that she
didn’t want alcohol sold during her Austin Music Hall show last week, so the
only bar open was the small lobby bar in the front of the building. Merchant
apparently objected to alcohol sales because it would detract from the intimacy
of the performance. Funny, even if you could legitimately call the Hall
“intimate,” ensuring that there is a steady stream of people constantly shoving
their way from one end of the building would hardly be my first suggestion for
improving the atmosphere there… The big Devo Hoot Night at the Hole in the
Wall is coming up this Wednesday, with a “no `Whip It'” rule and a stellar
lineup of spuds including the Wannabes, Hormones, Tallboy, Gomez, Paranoids,
Xanna Don’t, Altamont ’69, Peglegasus, Spot (the multi-instrumentalist
H�sker D� prod�cer, not the Dallas power pop band), and perhaps
a certain opening act at Liberty Lunch if they finish up their set there in
time. Finally, I’ll have an excuse to wear my New Traditionalist Man Sleeveless
Maxi-Turtleneck (made to be uncomfortably cold and hot at the same time!) in
public… The Paranoids seem to be trying to keep the vinyl industry alive
single-handedly. They’ve got a new 7-inch out on Bunkhouse Records and say they
have more on the way through Rise, No Lie, and Seattle’s Rat City Records…
Strange press release of the week is a three-way tie this week, and don’t ask
me how these things always manage to find their way into my box: One
concerns a sculpture commemorating the music of Frank Zappa, which is being
unveiled in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and is entitled “Zappa Honored
With Lithuanian Erection.” The second, a three-page treatise on farting by one
Dr. Stuart Dobbs, comes from the Methodist Hospital System. In it, Dr. Dobbs
pronounces that “The healthy individual may make around 17 ounces of gas in one
day, although, it’s normal to have more.” In case you were questioning Dr.
Dobbs’ expertise, the release insists that he’s a man “who wouldn’t pull your
leg. Or your finger.” Finally, David E. Cooper of Tempe, Arizona has blessed us
with the announcement of an inventor’s discovery of “a way to use an eyelid
muscle up by the brow. When the eyelid closes, a wand in the groove of the
muscle triggers a micro switch to start a small clock. If the eye opens right
away, the signal stops so it was just a blink. If the eye stays closed, the
clock keeps running and starts the alarm in 21/2 seconds, which is
soon enough to wake the driver before he can crash.” Mr. Cooper, are you by any
chance a distant relative of Alice Kennedy Spooner?
— Contributors: Chris Gray, Raoul Hernandez, Andy Langer, Margaret
Moser
This article appears in December 1 • 1995 and December 1 • 1995 (Cover).