The Dharma Bums were a U.S. garage band, consisting of Jim Talstra, John Moen, Jeremy Wilson, and Eric Lovre.[2] They named themselves after the Jack Kerouac book The Dharma Bums.
Dharma Bums | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Genres | Garage rock (earlier), Alternative rock (later) |
| Years active | 1987–1992 |
| Labels | PopLlama, Frontier, Tim/Kerr |
| Past members | Jim Talstra John Moen Jeremy Wilson Michael Sutton Eric Lovre |
The band was formed in 1987 in Portland, Oregon, United States,[2] by members of two local bands, The Watchmen and Perfect Circle (no connection with the later bands The Watchmen or A Perfect Circle). Their first album, Haywire, was produced by Scott McCaughey (lead singer of the Young Fresh Fellows) and recorded for the PopLlama label in 1989.[2] McCaughey later played their debut to Frontier Records boss Lisa Fancher, who was impressed enough to re-release the album.[2] One of the tracks, "Boots of Leather", proved to be an enduring college radio hit.
In 1990 the more polished album Bliss was released on Frontier Records.[2] Featuring greatly improved songwriting, this release covered subjects including rape, adolescence, and suicide in a mature fashion built on ragged rock textures.[2] Dharma Bums released their third and final album Welcome in 1992 and then disbanded. Wilson went on to form the alt-rock band Pilot.
Many[who?] in the local Portland scene had expected the Dharma Bums to be a breakthrough alternative rock act of the Northwest music scene. Some biographers, such as Melissa Rossi, author of Courtney Love: Queen of Noise, and Poppy Z Brite, author of Courtney Love: The Real Story, write that Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain first met each other at a Dharma Bums concert in Portland — when Nirvana served as the opening act.[3][4] In an interview with Fuse TV posted on YouTube on March 11, 2012, Courtney Love herself says, "I met (Kurt) in 1988 at a Dharma Bums show."[5]
Discography
editLPs
edit- Haywire (PopLLama Records, 1988)
- Bliss (Frontier Records, 1990)
- Welcome (Frontier Records, 1992)
Singles
edit- Haywire (7", PopLLama Records, 1988)
- Givin In (7", Frontier Records, 1991)
- Battle Of The Northwest Super Powers! (7", Frontier Records, 1992, Split 7" with Young Fresh Fellows)[6]
References
edit- ^ "Current Exhibitions - Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses". 8 June 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-06-08. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 91. ISBN 0-85112-579-4.
- ^ Rossi, Melissa. Courtney Love: Queen of Noise. Pocket Books. 1996. ISBN 0-671-00038-1 Page 88: "Nirvana -- now known by the latest in a series of band names that included Throat Oyster, Pen Cap Chew and Ted Ed Fred -- had driven down from the college town of Olympia, Washington, where they then lived, to open up for the Dharma Bums, a local band that boasted some of the town's cutest boys."
- ^ Brite, Poppy Z. Courtney Love: The Real Story. Touchstone/Simon and Schuster. 1997. Page 98: "Courtney spent two months in Portland trying to get a band together and dating a record-store owner, a beautiful half-Mexican with butternut skin and chocolate eyes who encouraged her interest in new music. One night she went to see the Dharma Bums at Satyricon. The opening act was Nirvana."
- ^ "Courtney Love | On The Record". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ "Dharma Bums (3)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
External links
edit- Dharma Bums entry on allmusic.com
- SATYRICOM ...THE ALBUM is a tribute to the defunct Portland nightclub.
- Influential Portland band Dharma Bums reunites