23 apr 14.
i will preface this by saying that our ever so gracious host is not a fan of greg dulli. i doubt today's post will convert him, though i hope it converts some of you or maybe you're already devotees of mr. dulli. i've been kicking around the idea of doing a day dedicated to greg dulli for DC's for a while, and since their newest album came out last week, i've listened to it on pretty constant repeat. so. enjoy.
-me.
algiers, the lead single from the afghan whigs' first album in 16 years, do to the beast.
Greg Dulli was born and brought up in Hamilton, Ohio. Although he was raised a Roman Catholic, he is now agnostic. Dulli first came to public attention in the late 1980s with The Afghan Whigs when he joined D.C. transplant bassist John Curley and Louisville, Kentucky, guitarist Rick McCollum. The band fused punk rock and R&B.
-from wikipedia.
the aghan whigs formed in 1986 in cincinatti, OH. originally a garage-y punk band in the vein of groups like the replacements and mudhoney, their sound evolved over time to incorporate a more overt soul and R&B influence. singer greg dulli and bass player john curley played together in dulli's first band, the black republicans. curley also jammed at the time with guitarist rick mccollum, who was revered on the local scene for his wild playing and innovative use of effects pedals.
their first album, big top halloween, was originally recorded as a demo, but curley made covers and got 1000 copies pressed to sell at shows. dulli later disavowed the album, but there was enough promise on it to capture the attention of jonathan poneman, one of the head honchos at sub pop records. originally, the plan was just for the whigs to release a single as part of sub pop's subscription club, the sub pop singles club, but eventually they decided to release a full album. the afghan whigs were the first non-northwestern US band to sign to sub pop, joining a roster that included such grunge luminaries as nirvana, mudhoney, TAD and others (soundgarden had decamped, first to greg ginn's SST records and then to A&M).
the afghan whigs debut release for sub pop was an LP titled up in it, featuring lead single 'retarded.'
live in san diego, 1994.
'you my flower,' another single from up in it.
up in it was followed by a single recorded with marcy mays of cincinatti indie rockers scrawl on lead vocals, released under the band name 'ornament.' the single featured the first recording of the song 'tonight,' which would later appear on their next sub pop LP, celebration, as well as a cover of the shirelles' song 'will you still love me tomorrow?'
ornament - will you still love me tomorrow?
1992 saw the release of celebration, as well as an EP of covers, uptown avondale, which featured songs originally recorded by freda payne, al green, and the supremes, among others.
'come see about me,' originally a hit song for diana ross and the supremes.
'miles iz ded,' the hidden, last track on congregation. the title comes from a message music exec david katznelson left on dulli's answering machine on 28 sept, 1991: 'miles is dead. don't forget the alcohol,' referring to jazz legend miles davis' passing on that day.
in 1993, the afghan whigs signed to elektra records and decamped to ardent studios, where groups like big star and led zeppelin recorded in the 70's, to craft their masterpiece, gentlemen. marcy mays joined the group again, to sing the highly personal, self-flagellating lead vocal part on 'my curse,' a song that dulli determined would be too painful to sing himself.
my curse.
gentlemen ended up being the whigs' most commercially successful album, with the videos for singles 'debonair' and 'gentlemen' receiving heavy rotation on MTV's 120 minutes, a program that showcased up-and-coming alternative and indie groups.
gentlemen.
debonair.
in stark contrast to the grunge look that was becoming ever-present on MTV and elsewhere, the afghan whigs appeared in designer suits with expensive haircuts. where other groups were going around in ratty flannels with unwashed hair, the whigs presented themselves as well-groomed, impeccably-styled gentlemen, a presentation that made dulli's lyrics about hard-drinking, drug-abusing couples at the verge of disintegration even more poignant.
debonair/what jail is like, live at pinkpop, 1994.
in 1994, dulli became the only other musician to play on the foo fighters' debut album, which was otherwise performed entirely by dave grohl following a spell of depression after kurt cobain's suicide and the ending of nirvana. dulli was in the studio watching grohl record, and grohl handed him a guitar to play. he ended up adding guitar to the track 'x-static.'
x-static.
also in 1994, the band released the 'what jail is like' EP, which featured covers of songs by the ass ponys and the supremes, among others.
my world is empty without you/i hear a symphony.
in 1995, the afghan whigs recorded their next album, black love, in memphis and seattle. the lyrical themes on this album were even darker than on gentlemen, being mostly about obsession, murder and paranoia. the main influences on the lyrical content were noir writers like james ellroy and raymond chandler, kenneth anger's book 'hollywood babylon,' and the crime scene photographs of weegee. the music this time out was funkier and more soulful than anything the whigs had attempted previously.
here is the full album.
here is the video for 'honky's ladder.'
here is greg dulli performing 'summer's kiss' acoustically in 2010.
1998 saw the release of the afghan whigs final album, 1965, recorded primarily in new orleans, LA, at producer daniel lanois' kingsway studio. the lyrics this time out are more sexual, with much of the sleaze factor of previous outings removed. the album is by far the whigs' most R&B influenced.
crazy.
citi soleil.
'66,' live on the conan o'brien show.
the afghan whigs split amicably in 2001, with dulli shifting his focus to his new group, the twilight singers. the twilight singers were even more overtly R&B influenced on their first couple albums than the afghan whigs were, with songs that veered into trip-hop territory, lots of programmed drums and an almost constant rotation of musicians from album to album and song to song.
the twilite kid.
covering outkast's 'hey ya!'
'on the corner,' from 2011's dynamite steps.
in 2006, the afghan whigs reunited briefly to record two new songs for unbreakable: a retrospective 1990-2006, a best of album featuring tracks from all of their records except big top halloween.
magazine.
in 2003, dulli began work with mark lanegan (screaming trees, queens of the stonage age) on an album, which would see release in 2008 as saturnalia. the name chosen for the group was the gutter twins, a play on mick jagger and keith richards' production work as the glimmer twins. joining them on the record were musicians like troy van leeuwen and alain johannes from queens of the stone age and petra haden, formerly of the rentals and that dog.
here is the video for lead single 'idle hands.'
performing 'god's children' on later... with jools holland.
the stations.
the gutter twins released an EP, adorata, also in 2008. the EP features covers of tracks by jose gonzalez, vetiver and scott walker, among others, as well as a version of 'st. james infirmary,' which lanegan had previously recorded on an album with belle and sebastian's isobell campbell, and two unreleased originals, 'spanish doors' (which originally saw release as the B-side to 'god's children'), and 'we have met before.'
spanish doors.
st. james infirmary.
'flow like a river,' originally performed by eleven, whose alain johannes and natasha shneider also performed on saturnalia.
in 2012, the afghan whigs reformed to play a series of festival dates that saw them release a cover of frank ocean's 'lovecrimes.'
lovecrimes.
in 2013, it was announced that the afghan whigs were at work on a new LP, do to the beast. the lyrics this time include references to british occultist and spy aleister crowley, spaghetti westerns and of course the self-destructive doomed lovers that dulli's become known for. do to the beast was released on 16 april, 2014, to heavy acclaim. the afghan whigs continue to tour and appear to be dulli's primary musical focus for the moment.
lost in the woods.
the lottery.
can rova.
royal cream.
'fountain and fairfax' live on KCRW, 2012.
live with usher, SXSW 2013.
covering the clash's 'lost in the supermarket,' as well as 'stand by me,' originally by ben e. king.
etc.
theafghanwhigs.com - home for all things whig-related.
theguttertwins.com - info on saturnalia and the gutter twins.
thetwilightsingers.com - homepage for the twilight singers.
summerskiss.com - a great comprehensive fansite for all things greg dulli.
*
p.s. Hey. Guest-host Rewritedept, musician and writer and d.l. and Mr. Generous, blog-post-wise, draws your considerable attention to the various sonic stylings of Greg Dulli, whose output, just to clarify re: Rwd's intro, is more 'not really my thing' than something I've actively de-fanned. In any case, please use today's overview to develop your own relationships with Mr. Dulli's music, and I'm all ears and eyes, as is Rwd, who no doubt would love to hear your feedback, thank you. And thank you kindly, rewriter of department. ** les mots dans le nom, Hi. I think everyone just needed a little time to recover from the post's bedazzling genius, ha ha. Cool that you saw and liked 'Ludwig'. The boat thing is particularly memorable, I agree. ** David Ehrenstein, Ah. ** Sypha, Sounds gross, yeah. But it's over, and now you're the test results' bitch, and I hope you pass with what constitutes flying colors in this case. Well, that's tentative with fingers crossed great news about the possible Rebel Satori second go around! Sounds pretty positive, no? And awesome too 'cos Oscar/Bene's art will get a venue as well. Thanks for ordering the scrapbook book. Cool. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, Tosh. Wow, your stripes post looks incredible. I'll be all over there reading that in a few minutes. Everyone, yesterday's stripey post occasioned the one, the only Tosh Berman to bring to our attention an amazing seeming stripes-centric post on his own blogspot second home 'The Wonderful World of TamTam Books', and it is nigh on imperative to go read exactly that. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Thanks for ponying up for the scrapbook. That's funny, or, rather, very not funny: I was just reading up on UKIP yesterday, trying tot figure out what it is, and it/they are truly horrible. ** Kier, Cool, laughter, yes! That was a very pictorially interesting day, or I guess I mean my imagination really enjoyed the pretty, strange sunburn to rhubarb to cooly horned sheep visualization. It made a really good montage. I'm glad your ears didn't get permanently fucked up by Melt Banana. As exciting as that sounds, and it was at the time, the almost undetectable but nonetheless ever-present auditory buzz/scar isn't. Not that I would have changed a thing. You're going to draw Melt Banana? What a great idea! Love, me. ** Schoolboyerrors, Hi, Diarmuid. Huh, interesting. I certainly know what you mean, and I remember those. Actually, they're tropes of almost every porn site, but gif tech has gotten so sophisto now that they don't have that ugly, insinuating clanging effect that they used to. I do remember the dial-up thing. Wow, I think in one comment you might have solved the mystery of why I insist on putting gifs in every post humanly possible. And how are you today? ** Steevee, Again? Okay, you have it sorted out finally, i.e, morning appointment, good. If Steven Knight's LOCKE has opened here, that news has escaped me, but I've been so travel/busy/consumed lately that I'm way behind. It sounds kind of really interesting. Anyway, I'll check the local listings today and find out. Thanks, Steve. ** Misanthrope, You make good narrative. You get a narrative hall pass or, I don't know, the opposite of a hall pass. What the hell does that mean? Sometimes I step back from my on brain and go, Wtf?! Maybe everyone does that? ** Kyler, Good morning back to you! Cool about the cover being nailed down. July 8th for the post is no problem. Cool. Yeah, just send me stuff and anything you like at some point before that. Bon day! ** Rewritedept, Thanks a whole bunch for the post today, buddy! Open for him: wow, nice! Aw, thanks for adding a bookmark to this joint. Hi, Patrick! Today Zac and I are auditioning new possible performers for our film all day, and we're really hoping to find a guy to play one of the two roles in the first scene -- the other role is already cast, we think -- which we plan to shoot in about three weeks, so time is short, and, yeah, wish us luck. ** Right. May Greg Dulli provide the soundtrack for the local portion of your Tuesday, and I will see you tomorrow.