Mark Lanegan
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| Mark Lanegan | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mark Lanegan |
| Born | November 25, 1964 |
| Origin | Ellensburg, Washington, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock Grunge Folk-rock Hard rock |
| Occupation(s) | Vocalist, Musician |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Label(s) | Sub Pop Epic Records SST Records Beggars Banquet |
| Associated acts | Screaming Trees Mad Season Queens of the Stone Age The Twilight Singers The Gutter Twins Soulsavers Isobel Campbell |
| Website | Mark Lanegan Official Site |
Mark Lanegan (born November 25, 1964 in Ellensburg, Washington) is a singer and songwriter. He has had a noteworthy career as a solo artist, but until recently was best known for his tenure as the lead singer of the Seattle grunge band Screaming Trees.
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[edit] Early life
Lanegan rarely talks about his childhood years. He mentioned in a 1996 interview printed in Pacific Northwest periodical "The Rocket" that he drove a combine.[1] It is known that he came from a 'dysfunctional' family that he tried to avoid, and was heavily into drugs by the age of 18, having already been arrested and sentenced to one year's imprisonment for drug-related crimes.[2] He managed to get out of actual jail by taking a year-long rehab course. Around this time he met and befriended Van Conner with whom he would eventually form the Screaming Trees. At this point his relationship with the Conner brothers was restricted to talking about music and working for their parents' electronics hardware store. This job apparently largely involved repossessing televisions, microwaves and toasters from nearby trailer parks and having guns pulled on him. [3] In 1984, Mark held a job in a pea field, as a "grease monkey." Two months before the band's first record release, Mark was planning to leave the Screaming Trees to pursue a job in Las Vegas. However, on his last day of work his legs were run over by a tractor and he had to be hospitalized. After his recovery he continued to tour with the band well into the 90's.
[edit] Musical career
[edit] Screaming Trees (1985-2000)
Screaming Trees released their debut EP Other Worlds in 1985. The album was originally available only in a cassette format but in 1987 the EP was re-released by SST Records on a CD format.
Screaming Trees then released their debut album Clairvoyance which is now known for it's combinations of psychedelic and garage rock. The album never charted and never hit it in the mainstream.
In 1987, the band released their second effort and also their first album for a major label, Even If and Especially When , through SST Records. The other albums to the EP Beat Happening/Screaming Trees EP which is a collaboration between Beat Happening and Screaming Trees.
In 1991 Screaming Trees released the album Uncle Anesthesia which was produced by Chris Cornell from Soundgarden and Terry Date. Despite the major label backing, the album failed to expand the Screaming Trees' audience beyond its existing fanbase. However, "Bed of Roses" was released as a single and became a minor hit on the Modern Rock charts.
Their next album was Sweet Oblivion which was a hit and includes the hit single "Nearly Lost You". Sweet Oblivion was the first album that charted on the Billboard 200. It's peak on the Billboard 200 was 141 and it's peak on Top Heatseekers was 4.
1996 brought the release of Dust. The band's highest-selling record and often seen as their best, it would also turn out to be their swan song. The record featured Mike McCready of Pearl Jam and Mad Season playing the guitar solo on "Dying Days", a track reflecting on the deaths of several of Lanegan's close friends, and of the grunge scene in general.
Screaming Trees was among the pioneers of Seattle's grunge music phenomenon, but never achieved the fame or commercial success of Seattle's "Big Four": Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam or Soundgarden.
[edit] Solo work and Side Projects (1990-2004)
Lanegan's solo career began while he was still working with Screaming Trees, but has continued beyond the band's official dissolution in 2000.
In 1990, Lanegan released his first solo album, The Winding Sheet, on the legendary label Sub Pop, which also hosted Nirvana, Soundgarden and many others. Around this time, Lanegan had a blues-based side-project which featured Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana fame on guitar and bass respectively, with then Screaming Trees drummer Mark Pickerel on drums. A number of tracks were recorded, including a cover of Leadbelly's version of Where Did You Sleep Last Night?, appearing on The Winding Sheet, and "Ain't it a Shame," which is available on the Nirvana box set With The Lights Out. Cobain also supplied backing vocals on "Down In The Dark" on Lanegan's debut. Nirvana would later go on to perform Where Did You Sleep Last Night at their famous Unplugged performance in New York. [4]In the end, the majority of the album was recorded with Pickerel on drums, Mike Johnson (who would later go on to play bass with Dinosaur Jr.) on guitar, Steve Fisk on piano and organ, and Jack Endino on bass.[5]
The second record, 1994's Whiskey for the Holy Ghost, was a far more cohesive recording, with such ethereal songs as "The River Rise," "Kingdoms of Rain," "Riding the Nightingale" and "Beggar's Blues." Taking nearly three years to make, the album came close to not seeing the light of day as Lanegan was set to throw the master tapes in a pond outside of the recording studio, only to be stopped by Producer Jack Endino at the last moment.
In 1995 Lanegan appeared on Above, the sole album by the "grunge supergroup" Mad Season. The group was formed in late 1994 by Layne Staley of Alice in Chains, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees and John Baker Saunders of The Walkabouts. Lanegan appeared on "Long Gone Day" and "I'm Above".
In 1998 Scraps At Midnight was released. The album was recorded the previous winter after completing a tour with his band the Screaming Trees, which was unfortunately plagued by great inner-turmoil. It was recorded in Joshua Tree, California and produced by long-time friend and collaborator Mike Johnson, immediately after Lanegan was released from rehab.
The fourth of his solo recordings was 1999's I'll Take Care of You, on which Lanegan covers songs by prominent folk and R&B artists such as Tim Hardin and Booker T. and the MGs, as well as country icon Buck Owens.
2001 saw the release of his fifth album proper, Field Songs. This album had a more low-key feel than its predecessors and also featured friend Duff McKagan, as well as major contributions from former Soundgarden bassist, Ben Shepherd.
2003 saw him appear on Greg Dulli's The Twilight Singers record Blackberry Belle, sharing lead vocal duties on the epic closing track, "Number Nine". This would be the first in many collaborations with Dulli and The Twilight Singers.
On his latest solo album, Bubblegum (2004)[6], Lanegan was joined by a cadre of prominent artists, including P. J. Harvey, Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age, Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs and Twilight Singers, Dean Ween of Ween, and Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin, previously of Guns N' Roses. Also appearing on Bubblegum is Lanegan's ex-wife, Wendy Rae Fowler. The favorably reviewed album is his most commercially successful to date, reaching number 39 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart. Some would assume this is due to the appearance of several prominent musical figures, although the album did receive glowing review by critics.
[edit] Queens Of the Stone Age (2000-2005)
In 2000, Lanegan appeared on Rated R, the second album from Queens of the Stone Age, singing lead vocals on the track "In The Fade" and backup vocals on a number of others.
Shortly after releasing Field Songs, Lanegan became a full-time member of QOTSA. Lanegan appeared on the 2002 release from QOTSA entitled Songs for the Deaf, once again singing lead on the tracks "Song For the Dead," "Hangin' Tree," and "God is in the Radio". He also toured in support for the album over the next two years.[7]
Mark toured full-time as a third vocalist for Queens of the Stone Age between 2001 and 2005 before leaving due to health issues. Joining his friend Joshua Homme, who supported the Screaming Trees as their touring guitarist in 1996, Lanegan's distinctive vocals were a welcome accompaniment to bassist Nick Oliveri's screaming nature and Homme's high delivery. The 2005 Queens of the Stone Age album Lullabies to Paralyze began with Mark Lanegan singing accompanied only by Homme's acoustic guitar on the track "This Lullaby".
[edit] Recent work (2005-2007)
In December 2005, Lanegan released an EP with former Belle & Sebastian cellist/vocalist Isobel Campbell, titled Ramblin' Man (the title track itself a cover of the Hank Williams song). This served as a precursor to their first full-length collaboration, Ballad of the Broken Seas. Campbell wrote and recorded the majority of the album's tracks in Glasgow, with Lanegan adding vocals in Los Angeles. The record was well-received by critics who likened the duo to Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra.
In addition to providing vocals, Lanegan also wrote the song "Revolver". Different versions of this song appear on the Ramblin' Man and Ballad of the Broken Seas. The album was put on the shortlist for the 2006 Mercury Prize.
Lanegan and Campbell played four UK concerts in January 2007, with the London date being moved to a larger venue as a result of high demand for tickets.
In 2007 the duo recorded a second album together, entitled Sunday At Devil Dirt, which was released on May 5, 2008.
Lanegan has appeared on three releases with The Twilight Singers (Blackberry Belle, She Loves You and A Stitch in Time). In 2006 Lanegan toured with the band in Europe and Israel followed by a fall tour throughout the United States.[8]
Soulsavers' It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land (2007)
In October 2006, English electronica duo Soulsavers announced on their Myspace site that they were putting the finishing touches to their new album It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land, which features Lanegan on 8 of the album's 10 tracks.
Although the album is not credited as Soulsavers And Mark Lanegan, he did have a significant input. As well as appearing as vocalist, the tracks "Revival", "Ghosts of You and Me", "Paper Money" and "Jesus of Nothing" are credited as written by Mark Lanegan and Soulsavers. The album also features a re-working of "Kingdoms Of Rain", which was initially released on Lanegan's second solo album, Whiskey for the Holy Ghost.
Soulsavers recorded the tracks in England in 2005 & 2006, with Lanegan recording the vocal parts at Conway Studios in Los Angeles.
The single "Revival" has received significant airplay and can be streamed on the band's Myspace (as well as the video for the track).
On March 9, 2007, a blog entry on Soulsavers' Myspace stated that they had "just confirmed 2 shows on 13 & 14 July in Madrid & Barcelona". On March 15, 2007, Lanegan fan site Onewhiskey.com was updated to state that Lanegan would be touring with Soulsavers.
In 2006 Lanegan also collaborated with Chicago electronica duo The Baldwin Brothers on the track "The Party's Over"[9], released on their album "Return of the Golden Rhodes".
He has continued to work with Queens of the Stone Age. In 2007, he appeared on their album, Era Vulgaris, contributing background vocals to the track "River in the Road".
Lanegan also contributed a cover of Bob Dylan's "Man in the Long Black Coat" to the soundtrack of the 2007 Dylan biopic I'm Not There.
[edit] The Gutter Twins (2003-Present)
The Gutter Twins is the long awaited collaboration between Mark Lanegan and former Afghan Whigs/current Twilight Singers vocalist Greg Dulli. Working on a collaborative album since at least 2003[10], the pair first played as The Gutter Twins in Rome in September 2005.
On September 22, 2007 it was announced on the pair's MySpace that their long-awaited debut has been completed. Saturnalia was released on March 4, 2008 on Sub Pop, a label both Dulli and Lanegan have worked with before. The duo's first tour commenced on February 14, 2008 in New York City and will continue in March and April throughout Europe and the United States.[11]
The album was a big hit and Blast Magazine's Liz Raftery ended up praising the album calling it "an audial descent into the dark emotions that often lurk beneath the surface."[12] The albums highest position was at 7 in Belgia. The album also peaked at 117 on the Billboard 200. That means that Saturnalia is the first since Screaming Trees Dust that has charted at the Billboard 200 with Mark as a permanent band member.[13] It's been announced that the band are going to release a second single on August 11. The single is "God’s Children".[14]
The Gutter Twins has announced a UK tour in May where they are going to play 6 live concerts around Britain. The band will play in Oxford Academy (August 11), Nottingham Rescue Rooms (12), London Shepherd's Bush Empire (13), Brighton, Komedia (26), Sheffield, Leadmill (27) and Liverpool, Academy 2 (30).[15]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
- 1990 – The Winding Sheet
- 1994 – Whiskey for the Holy Ghost
- 1998 – Scraps at Midnight
- 1999 – I'll Take Care of You
- 2001 – Field Songs
- 2004 – Bubblegum
[edit] References
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]
- ^ Mark Lanegan Bubblegum
- ^ Mark and QOTSA
- ^ The Twilight Singers and a interview with Mark Greg
- ^ [6]
- ^ The Village Voice The Gutter Twins
- ^ New Tour Dates
- ^ Blast Magazine
- ^ The Gutter Twins Chart Positions
- ^ The Gutter Twins New tour dates and new single
- ^ The Gutter Twins new tour dates
[edit] External links
- onewhiskey: dedicated to the music and fans of Mark Lanegan
- Mark Lanegan discography
- Mark Lanegan: allmusic
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