longform (7000-word) oral history in anticipation of 25th yr anni on Monday:
https://uproxx.com/indie/guided-by-voices-alien-lanes-oral-history-25th-anniversary/
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 1 May 2020 15:49 (four years ago) link
Sprout: I can remember we were practicing for Propeller and Bob, after the practice, goes, “Okay, this is it. This is my final album, I’m done. I can’t do this anymore.” So the next morning, I get a call from him about 7:30, eight o’clock. He goes, “I got another song, I got to come over.” So he was there in 15 minutes and we went in the basement and we hooked the 4-track up. Bob sat down and showed me the guitar parts and then he played the drums and I set it up so we could do guitars and drums at the same time. So we recorded that and then he threw the vocal on and threw the lead guitar on. It was “Exit Flagger.” It came together in a matter of 20 minutes.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 1 May 2020 15:51 (four years ago) link
I also liked the parts about Matt Sweeney talking about how he first learned about the band.
...and later on their first NYC show (after a 6 year live show hiatus!) which blew Gerard & Chris away despite the band being incredibly nervous... some of the band had never been to NYC.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 1 May 2020 16:00 (four years ago) link
And then the Jon Stewart footage, which begins with perhaps the best 2-minute 1-chord rock song ever broadcast on live TV?
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 1 May 2020 16:14 (four years ago) link
okay last snip:
Sprout: Somebody at Matador called and said, “Look, we’re going to have your album mastered tomorrow. Do you want to talk to Bob Ludwig about it?” And I said, “Sure, why not?” So he called or I called him, and I go, “So have you ever done a master from a cassette?” And he said, “Yeah.” Because he did Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen. So it was like, “Oh geez, all right. I guess you can handle it.”
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 1 May 2020 16:29 (four years ago) link
I love the story of Bee Thousand how the Scat guy called Bob up for another album and bobs all “uh the band broke up.. but wait! I can throw something together”
― brimstead, Friday, 1 May 2020 18:33 (four years ago) link
Good stuff, thanks.
― Together Again Or (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 1 May 2020 18:36 (four years ago) link
Yeah thanks for linking, that's a great article. Liked the story behind the album title!
― Gavin, Leeds, Friday, 1 May 2020 18:59 (four years ago) link
Exit Flagger!
― calstars, Friday, 1 May 2020 23:40 (four years ago) link
is Little Whirl too traditional to do well in this poll? not what people come to GBV for?
― lukas, Friday, 1 May 2020 23:43 (four years ago) link
i guess Motor Away says that's not the case.
― lukas, Friday, 1 May 2020 23:46 (four years ago) link
lol i loved this
Matt Sweeney (singer/guitarist for Chavez, hard-core GBV fan, future GBV member): I went to my weed dealer’s house, who was a serious record collector. I went over to buy some weed, and the music that he was playing was so fucking good, and also not like the kind of music that he usually played, because he was definitely over rock music. He was into free jazz and shit like that. Generally, the routine was that I would buy some weed from him, and then we’d hang out and listen to records. We called it the Monday night pot party. He lent me the record, and me and my friend just lost our minds. The record was Propeller.They sounded like a legit ’60s band. And Mitch Mitchell is on the record? Mitch Mitchell was Jimi Hendrix’s drummer! All of it was so weird. The names didn’t seem like they were real. Tobin Sprout doesn’t seem like a real name.
They sounded like a legit ’60s band. And Mitch Mitchell is on the record? Mitch Mitchell was Jimi Hendrix’s drummer! All of it was so weird. The names didn’t seem like they were real. Tobin Sprout doesn’t seem like a real name.
― budo jeru, Saturday, 2 May 2020 00:01 (four years ago) link
i speak in monotone
― mookieproof, Saturday, 2 May 2020 01:10 (four years ago) link
(also i absolutely voted for little whirl)
― mookieproof, Saturday, 2 May 2020 01:50 (four years ago) link
Reading that was like reading about Ancient Greece: A&Rs, courtships by major labels, middleaged midwestern sports bar schlubs-as-indie-darlings, shooting hoops with Billy Corgan. It also occurs to me that if this record came out today most of the press would be about the "giggling faggots" line (not a defense of that lyric btw). This oral history just really encapsulates what a difference two decades can make, for better or worse.
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 2 May 2020 12:26 (four years ago) link
I also always assumed that it was some weird accordion on "Blimps go 90" and now that I know it's (obviously) a violin, all I can hear is how woefully out of tune it is! Still a great song, though.
― Paul Ponzi, Saturday, 2 May 2020 12:51 (four years ago) link
― calstars, Saturday, 2 May 2020 13:00 (four years ago) link
middleaged midwestern sports bar schlubs
Eh, that was part of the marketing: Bob was a 4th-grade teacher, Tobin was/is an artist + graphic designer/illustrator by trade, Greg Demos is a lawyer (currently magistrate of Franklin County OH).
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Saturday, 2 May 2020 16:12 (four years ago) link
if you have ever been around these guys, the wider, "Dayton mafia" circle...I mean I love them but it really is the way you imagine it to be and there's nothing remotely ironic about it
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 17:31 (four years ago) link
Right. Just extrapolating from what I have read written by certain Replacements fan, not based on first-hand experience.
― My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 May 2020 17:34 (four years ago) link
it's a really mix of people, townies are townies and end up doing all sorts of different things according to their capabilities
good vibes all around though
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 17:41 (four years ago) link
I kind of picture every GBV crowd as being like the one on the Crying Your Knife Away boot. "If you throw up at my afterparty, you're no longer my friend."
― Revolutionary Girl Utrenja (Tom Violence), Saturday, 2 May 2020 17:45 (four years ago) link
― calstars, Saturday, 2 May 2020 17:45 (four years ago) link
I, um, lived in Austin for a couple of years too so I am not surprised by this kind of thing.
― My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 May 2020 17:46 (four years ago) link
Bob was a 4th-grade teacher,
Are you saying teachers can't be sports bar schlubs? But Pollard, the guy writes poetry, he's had exhibitions of his art etc, I'm guessing he isn't your run of the mill sports bar schlub.
― The Corbynite Maneuver (Tom D.), Saturday, 2 May 2020 17:49 (four years ago) link
xxp calstars I was just responding to what Albert wrote about the townie-sports schlubs-Bud Light narrative being a sort of mythology for marketing purposes, just saying that it's legit
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 17:55 (four years ago) link
which isn't mutually exclusive to an interest or proficiency in the arts! Just that there is some hardcore redneck action too
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 17:56 (four years ago) link
One of the time this most jumped out at me what at that Matador anniversary thing in Las Vegas, when like twenty or thirty of these (always suoper nice!) dudes would load into the buffet for breakfast
it was funny because you very clearly very easily identify ppl who were there for those shows as opposed to the regular hotel guests...and then there was this whole other, much smaller yet equally one-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-other crowd
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:00 (four years ago) link
I used to be able to type
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:01 (four years ago) link
I also remember the casino marquee said in massive letters at the top
KEVIN POLLAK
and underneath in much, much fractionally smaller letters "Matador 40th Anniversary Etc."
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:08 (four years ago) link
Man, Vegas buffets aren’t what they used to be
― brimstead, Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:14 (four years ago) link
Xpost
I remember seeing Mitch hanging out and drinking with fans after in the hotel stairwell after their anniversary show set!
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:37 (four years ago) link
Bob Pollard was a jock in high school — haven’t any of you read Guided By Voices: a Brief History? Everything you need to know about Bob Pollard and his general worldview is in there. He’s not a mystery. He’s all of the above.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:37 (four years ago) link
I read the Bee Thousand 33-1/3 recently and it does a pretty good job describing the millieu, the vibe. lots of insane hard-to-read overanalysis tho (sorry if the author posts here, overall I loved the damn thing)
― brimstead, Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:44 (four years ago) link
yeah that was v good I think
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:46 (four years ago) link
I read the Jim Greer book about GBV, which I didn't like much, I hated all the stuff about Bob and boorish buddies boozin' it up in his basement tbh.
― The Corbynite Maneuver (Tom D.), Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:53 (four years ago) link
For some reason Bob Pollard finds them fascinating but fuck knows why anyone else should.
there are no snobs in heaven
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 18:56 (four years ago) link
I imagine that way he's always the star and the focal point.
― The Corbynite Maneuver (Tom D.), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:02 (four years ago) link
no
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:05 (four years ago) link
If anything it's the opposite. There are ton of different reasons to love spending time with people you've known your whole life.
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:06 (four years ago) link
Jim Greer should write a better book next time then.
― The Corbynite Maneuver (Tom D.), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:11 (four years ago) link
― My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:12 (four years ago) link
So how does the Dayton Mafia stack up next to The Memphis Mafia?
― My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:13 (four years ago) link
If anything it's the opposite. There are ton of different reasons to love spending time with people you've known your whole life.― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, May 2, 2020 3:06 PM (twenty-eight minutes ago)
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, May 2, 2020 3:06 PM (twenty-eight minutes ago)
― My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:42 (four years ago) link
MM has political connects
― calstars, Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:42 (four years ago) link
This never really worked for me.
It's reliant on not moving very far from where you grew up.
― The Corbynite Maneuver (Tom D.), Saturday, 2 May 2020 19:51 (four years ago) link
Right. I have actually been living pretty close to where I grew up for the past decade and half, which caused some deal of anxiety at first, which I believed I touched upon last night in the group hang when it was mentioned.
― My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 May 2020 20:09 (four years ago) link
xxxp yes the B1000 book
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 20:46 (four years ago) link
james I've had p much the same experience, by choice, but I can also appreciate the value in it
― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), Saturday, 2 May 2020 20:50 (four years ago) link