The Wallflowers
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| The Wallflowers |
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The Wallflowers are a rock band from Los Angeles, California.
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[edit] History
[edit] The Wallflowers
The band's self-titled debut album was released in 1992 on the Virgin Records label. Although praised by critics, it only sold 25,000 copies.
The original members of the Wallflowers include vocalist and guitarist Jakob Dylan, bass player and background vocalist Barrie Maguire, Peter Yanowitz on drums, Rami Jaffee on keyboards, and guitarist Tobi Miller. This quintet broke up shortly after the album's release due to conflicts within the band, and with the record company. Yanowitz went on to drum for Natalie Merchant and is currently regaining fame as the bassist for Morningwood (credited as Pedro Yanowitz).
Though they played venues all around Los Angeles, their favorite was the Kibitz room of Canter's Delicatessen, a fabled Los Angeles hangout, where they played every Tuesday night. They soon grabbed the attention of groups such as 10,000 Maniacs, The Spin Doctors, Cracker, and Toad the Wet Sprocket, each of which invited the Wallflowers to join them on tour.
The Wallflowers' sound is influenced by a variety of groups including bands such as Counting Crows, The Band, Bruce Springsteen, The Replacements, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, and The Clash. Frontman Jakob Dylan said that the most influential album in his life is The Clash's London Calling: "They had something I could listen to that I wanted to associate."
[edit] Bringing Down the Horse
The band seemed quiet for a few years but stormed back on the scene with their double-platinum 1996 release, Bringing Down the Horse, which comprised such hits as "6th Avenue Heartache," "One Headlight" , "The Difference," and "Three Marlenas." The band wagged record labels, from Virgin to Interscope. For this retort, frontman Dylan was joined only by keyboardist Rami Jaffee from the original lineup. Guitarist Michael Ward, drummer Mario Calire, and bassist Greg Richling were called in to form the new band. "One Headlight" peaked at #2 on the charts and "6th Avenue Heartache" peaked at #33 on the charts. At the Grammy Awards of 1998, The Wallflowers and Jakob Dylan walked away with two Grammys; one for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "One Headlight," and Jakob Dylan was awarded Best Rock Song for writing "One Headlight." Bruce Springsteen joined the Wallflowers for a live performance of their song "One Headlight," at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards. "One Headlight" was the #1 video of the year for 1997 on VH1 and #5 on MTV.
Although the band was popular, many critics shrugged at the Wallflowers' laid-back ethos; Trouser Press writer Jason Reeher famously wrote that the band were "the Dire Straits of the Alternative Nation."
[edit] (Breach)
After almost four years, the Wallflowers continued work on their next album, (Breach), released October 10, 2000; the first single was "Sleepwalker", followed by "Letters From the Wasteland." The record was featured on MTV's First Listen show. Guests included Elvis Costello, who lent vocals on "Murder 101." The album was certified gold on September 21, 2001.
[edit] Red Letter Days
On November 5, 2002, The Wallflowers released their fourth studio album, Red Letter Days. RLD was the first Wallflowers record that featured Jakob Dylan playing a majority of the lead guitar parts. The album had a much more aggressive sound than any of their previous releases. The first single and only music video shot was for "When You're On Top." The single was a smash hit on AAA radio stations, but received little mainstream attention. Subsequent singles from the album include "If You Never Got Sick," "Closer to You," and "How Good It Can Get" which received radio airplay across multiple formats. The band was a part of many exclusive performances during promotion of the record, including a Live at the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame concert for MTV, and a special televised concert for VH1, Live at Alcatraz, being the first band to ever play a concert on the famous island.
[edit] Rebel, Sweetheart
The band's most recent release, Rebel, Sweetheart was released on May 24th, 2005. This is the first Wallflowers record available as a DualDisc. The DVD included interviews and exclusive performances and arrangements of many of the band's songs. Brendan O' Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Train) was called in to produce the record and played guitar as well. Fred Eltringham, the newest Wallflowers member, played drums. A video was filmed for their first single "The Beautiful Side of Somewhere" which hit #5 on AAA radio. The second single released was "God Says Nothing Back." In promoting the record, The Wallflowers performed special televised concerts for the Oxygen Custom Concert Series on the Oxygen channel and were also featured on the PBS series Soundstage. Singer/songwriter Carol King was the special guest performer for the Oxygen concert.
In conjunction with the release of Rebel, Sweetheart the band released an exclusive iTunes Originals album for the iTunes music store. The album featured exclusive performances and interviews with Jakob Dylan. The band also volunteered to perform for sailors on the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis as the troops were returning to California. [1]
Much to the dismay of longtime fans, the Wallflowers have not toured much in 2006; recently, it was announced that Dylan would be appearing with T-Bone Burnett as a guest musician during Burnett's first tour in 20 years. The two share a long history that extends further than just Burnett's impactful production work on Bringing Down the Horse.
[edit] Movie Soundtracks
The song "Into the Mystic" was featured on the American Wedding soundtrack. The Wallflowers also did a remake of David Bowie's song "Heroes" for the Godzilla soundtrack and was also featured in the closing credits in the 2000 film The Replacements. "Heroes" was also featured in the game NHL 99. Their cover of "I Started a Joke" by the BeeGees is also on the Zoolander soundtrack. Another cover The Wallflowers made was of the Beatles song, "I'm Looking Through You" which is featured on the I Am Sam soundtrack.
[edit] Television Soundtracks
Beginning in September, 2006, Jakob began writing and recording new songs that became integral to the storytelling of Six Degrees, the ABC Television drama produced by J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias). "Here Comes Now," produced by Steve Lillywhite (U2, Dave Matthews), became the show's theme, while new songs "Stardust Universe" and "No Matter What" were among the first to be used in early episodes of the show. "Everybody Out of the Water" is on the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation soundtrack.
The hidden track (#13) on RLD, "Empire of My Mind" was the theme song for the CBS television series, "The Guardian."
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio Albums
- The Wallflowers · Virgin · 1992
- Bringing Down the Horse · Interscope · 1996
- (Breach) · Interscope · 2000
- Red Letter Days · Interscope · 2002
- Rebel, Sweetheart · Interscope · 2005
[edit] Movie Soundtracks
- "Heroes" (on Godzilla (soundtrack), 1998)
- "I Started A Joke" (on Zoolander (soundtrack), 2001)
- "I'm Looking Through You" (on I Am Sam (soundtrack), 2002)
- "Into The Mystic" (on American Wedding (soundtrack), 2003)
[edit] Compilations
- "One Headlight" (on Excess Baggage, 1997)
- "Angel on My Bike" (on KCRW Rare on Air, Vol. 3, 1997)
- "Used To Be Lucky" (on No Boundaries: A Benefit For the Kosovar Refugees, 1999)
- "Everybody Out of the Water" (on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, 2002)
- "Too Late For Goodbyes" (on Trampoline Records Greatest Hits, Vol. II, 2003)
- "Lawyers, Guns, and Money" (on Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon, 2004)
