Damaged (Black Flag album)
Encyclopedia
Damaged is the debut studio album by the American hardcore punk
band Black Flag
. It was released in December 1981 through SST Records
. In 2003, the album was ranked number 340 on Rolling Stone
s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
.
Nervous Breakdown, with singers Keith Morris
, Ron Reyes
, and Dez Cadena
; some of the Reyes sessions became the Jealous Again
EP, while selections from two of many Cadena sessions became the Six Pack
EP and the "Louie Louie"/"Damaged I" single; other session outtakes would later comprise the Everything Went Black
double album
. At the time of the recording, Cadena had moved to rhythm guitar (a position he had initially intended to take when Reyes was still in the band) and 20-year-old Washington, DC expatriate Henry Rollins
had become the band's new lead singer weeks before the sessions occurred. Unlike Reyes, who had never sung in a studio before and Cadena, who had not even sung at all before joining the band, Rollins already had one recording credit to his name with the short-lived DC hardcore punk band State of Alert
, who recorded No Policy
, an EP released earlier that year on Dischord Records
.
The band recorded their backing tracks without Rollins, who overdubbed vocals with band members Greg Ginn
(guitar) and Chuck Dukowski
(bass) coaching him afterward. The most complicated vocal tracks ended up being Dukowski's "What I See", which was supposed to have an improvised speech in the song's bridge but ended up having one written out by Dukowski when Rollins could not come up with anything that he was satisfied with, and "T.V. Party", which featured backing vocals from the entire band.
The studio that the album was recorded at Unicorn Studios, which was owned by SST Records
. The band was living in another part of the building that housed Unicorn Studios prior to the sessions.
Drummer Robo was wearing bracelets on his left wrist that rattled when he played; the rattling, whenever he would hit his snare drum, especially when he hit downbeats on it, became part of the sound.
The version of "Rise Above" on the album was recorded at an earlier session with Rollins & was intended purely for a single release. Another version was recorded during the album sessions but the band abandoned it & decided to include the single version instead.
The closing track, "Damaged I", is technically Rollins' first writing credit with the band. In his book Get in the Van, Rollins reports that he used to improvise the lyrics every night when the song was performed live. Two takes of the vocal were done, and the first was used.
. The photograph has been described as "iconic" in the pages of Artforum
.
—resulted in an initial pressing of 25,000 copies. MCA Records president Al Bergamo listened to the album prior to release & claimed that it was "anti-parent", although he never cited a specific lyric that led him to that conclusion. As a result, MCA refused to distribute the already-pressed-and-packaged album which bore an MCA Distributing Corp. logo on the lower right corner of the back cover. Black Flag members had to personally visit the pressing plant and apply a sticker over the MCA logo which read, "As a parent... I found it an anti-parent record"—thus essentially throwing Bergamo's words back in his face.
Longtime SST employee Joe Carducci has reported that the "anti-parent" statement was a red herring. In fact, according to Carducci, Unicorn Records was so poorly managed and so deeply in debt that MCA would lose money in distributing Damaged, regardless of its content, and was eager to sever its relationship with Unicorn by any possible pretext.
SST ended up distributing Damaged on its own; as a result, Unicorn filed lawsuit against Black Flag and SST, claiming breach of contract. Black Flag were suddenly enjoined from recording any more records under their own name, although SST were able to continue with its own release schedule, releasing The Minutemen's The Punch Line
and the debuts of the Meat Puppets
and Saccharine Trust
. However, Unicorn would release a single of an updated "T.V. Party" before the legal trouble started, a recording (just as ironically) commissioned by MCA for the soundtrack to the film Repo Man.
The legal dispute between Black Flag and Unicorn tied the band up for almost two years, during which time they released Everything Went Black
, a double album of pre-Rollins outtakes, under the names of the individual musicians and vocalists on the record. Unicorn ended up filing even more legal briefs, claiming that Black Flag had violated a court injunction against releasing new records. Ginn and Dukowski ended up doing several days in Los Angeles County Jail for contempt of court, but the case fizzled out soon afterward when Unicorn went out of business, freeing Black Flag of any further obligation to the label.
" was also recorded. According to Rollins in Get in the Van, this version featured the band going into "a strange jam at the end until the tape ran out;" It was never mixed down in any form. As of July 2006, it was unknown if the master tapes to these outtakes were still in existence. Henry Rollins later stated on his radio show's blog that alternate versions of "What I See" and "at least one other song that I can't remember" also came out of the Damaged sessions, and that other outtakes from Black Flag's other albums also exist.
According to Black Flag's engineer and live sound man Spot, a nearly complete version of Damaged was recorded at Golden Age Studios with Dez Cadena doing vocal duties. This session is where the tracks for the Six Pack EP came from. No official version of the remainder of this recording session has ever been released, although pirated copies have circulated in tape trading circles for years. A comparison of the unreleased Dez Cadena sessions with the released LP suggests that the vocal cadence and presentation of the Cadena sessions were used as a reference by the band prior to recording the final album.
A version of "Depression" was recorded to be the b-side of the "Rise Above" single.
Additional musicians
Production
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
band Black Flag
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
. It was released in December 1981 through SST Records
SST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
. In 2003, the album was ranked number 340 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
.
Background
Black Flag had made at least two aborted attempts to record a full-length album since the release of its first extended playExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Nervous Breakdown, with singers Keith Morris
Keith Morris
Keith Morris is an American singer and songwriter known for his role as frontman of the hardcore punk bands Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, and Off! Born and raised in Hermosa Beach, California, he formed Black Flag at the age of 21 with guitarist Greg Ginn and performed on the band's 1978 debut EP...
, Ron Reyes
Ron Reyes
Ron Reyes is an American musician most noted as the second singer for the Los Angeles punk rock group Black Flag. Reyes, who is of Puerto Rican descent, joined Black Flag after original vocalist Keith Morris had quit to form the Circle Jerks...
, and Dez Cadena
Dez Cadena
Dez Paul Cadena is an American punk rock singer and guitarist. He was the third vocalist and later rhythm guitarist for hardcore punk band Black Flag. Since 2001 Cadena has played guitar with the Misfits...
; some of the Reyes sessions became the Jealous Again
Jealous Again
-Band:* Ron Reyes – vocals* Greg Ginn – guitar* Chuck Dukowski – bass guitar; vocals on "You Bet We've Got Something Personal Against You!"* Robo – drums-Production:* Spot – producer, recording engineer, mix engineer...
EP, while selections from two of many Cadena sessions became the Six Pack
Six Pack (EP)
-Band:* Dez Cadena – vocals, rhythm guitar* Greg Ginn – lead guitar* Chuck Dukowski – bass guitar* Robo – drums-Production:* Geza X – producer, recording engineer, mix engineer* Spot – producer* Raymond Pettibon – artwork...
EP and the "Louie Louie"/"Damaged I" single; other session outtakes would later comprise the Everything Went Black
Everything Went Black
Everything Went Black is a compilation album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag, released in 1982. It comprises early songs recorded before Henry Rollins became the band's vocalist in 1981, and released initially without the band's name on its cover, due to their lawsuit with MCA/Unicorn...
double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
. At the time of the recording, Cadena had moved to rhythm guitar (a position he had initially intended to take when Reyes was still in the band) and 20-year-old Washington, DC expatriate Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
had become the band's new lead singer weeks before the sessions occurred. Unlike Reyes, who had never sung in a studio before and Cadena, who had not even sung at all before joining the band, Rollins already had one recording credit to his name with the short-lived DC hardcore punk band State of Alert
State of Alert
State of Alert was an American hardcore punk group formed in Washington, D.C. in 1980, and disbanded in 1981.-History:State of Alert were fronted by Henry Garfield, who would later rise to fame as Henry Rollins. They formed in October 1980 and disbanded in July 1981...
, who recorded No Policy
No Policy
No Policy is the only release by the early American hardcore punk band State of Alert, the first band to be fronted by Henry Rollins. It was released on 7" in March 1981 on Dischord Records...
, an EP released earlier that year on Dischord Records
Dischord Records
Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in the independent punk music of the D.C.-area music scene. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release Minor Disturbance by The Teen Idles...
.
The band recorded their backing tracks without Rollins, who overdubbed vocals with band members Greg Ginn
Greg Ginn
Gregory Regis Ginn is a guitarist, songwriter, and singer. He is best known for being the leader of and primary songwriter for the hardcore punk band Black Flag, which he founded and led from 1976 to 1986....
(guitar) and Chuck Dukowski
Chuck Dukowski
Chuck Dukowski is an American punk rock musician, best known as a founding member and bass player for Black Flag. Dukowski wrote some of Black Flag's most popular songs, including "My War," "What I See," "I've Heard It Before" and "Spray Paint." He left the band before the release of My War, and...
(bass) coaching him afterward. The most complicated vocal tracks ended up being Dukowski's "What I See", which was supposed to have an improvised speech in the song's bridge but ended up having one written out by Dukowski when Rollins could not come up with anything that he was satisfied with, and "T.V. Party", which featured backing vocals from the entire band.
The studio that the album was recorded at Unicorn Studios, which was owned by SST Records
SST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
. The band was living in another part of the building that housed Unicorn Studios prior to the sessions.
Drummer Robo was wearing bracelets on his left wrist that rattled when he played; the rattling, whenever he would hit his snare drum, especially when he hit downbeats on it, became part of the sound.
The version of "Rise Above" on the album was recorded at an earlier session with Rollins & was intended purely for a single release. Another version was recorded during the album sessions but the band abandoned it & decided to include the single version instead.
The closing track, "Damaged I", is technically Rollins' first writing credit with the band. In his book Get in the Van, Rollins reports that he used to improvise the lyrics every night when the song was performed live. Two takes of the vocal were done, and the first was used.
Cover art
The cover art, taken by punk photographer Ed Colver, features Rollins putting his fist through a mirror. The effect was made by cracking the mirror with a hammer, while the "blood" on Rollins' wrist is a mixture of red ink and coffeeCoffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
. The photograph has been described as "iconic" in the pages of Artforum
Artforum
Artforum is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art.-Publication:The magazine is published ten times a year, September through May, along with an annual summer issue...
.
Business disputes with Unicorn
Their distribution deal with Unicorn—which was associated with MCA RecordsMCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
—resulted in an initial pressing of 25,000 copies. MCA Records president Al Bergamo listened to the album prior to release & claimed that it was "anti-parent", although he never cited a specific lyric that led him to that conclusion. As a result, MCA refused to distribute the already-pressed-and-packaged album which bore an MCA Distributing Corp. logo on the lower right corner of the back cover. Black Flag members had to personally visit the pressing plant and apply a sticker over the MCA logo which read, "As a parent... I found it an anti-parent record"—thus essentially throwing Bergamo's words back in his face.
Longtime SST employee Joe Carducci has reported that the "anti-parent" statement was a red herring. In fact, according to Carducci, Unicorn Records was so poorly managed and so deeply in debt that MCA would lose money in distributing Damaged, regardless of its content, and was eager to sever its relationship with Unicorn by any possible pretext.
SST ended up distributing Damaged on its own; as a result, Unicorn filed lawsuit against Black Flag and SST, claiming breach of contract. Black Flag were suddenly enjoined from recording any more records under their own name, although SST were able to continue with its own release schedule, releasing The Minutemen's The Punch Line
The Punch Line
The Punch Line is the first 12-inch and third record release by influential American punk rock band Minutemen, and the fourth-ever release from SST Records. Less than half the length of most LPs, the total playing time for all eighteen songs is a mere fifteen minutes...
and the debuts of the Meat Puppets
Meat Puppets
The Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980, in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood , his brother Cris Kirkwood , and Derrick Bostrom . The Kirkwood brothers met Bostrom while attending Brophy Prep High School in Phoenix...
and Saccharine Trust
Saccharine Trust
Saccharine Trust is a post-hardcore band from California that was started in 1980 by singer Jack Brewer and guitarist Joe Baiza.The band would frequently perform with SST labelmates Minutemen and Black Flag. Drummer Rob Holzman appeared on their 1981 debut Paganicons but left the band to play in...
. However, Unicorn would release a single of an updated "T.V. Party" before the legal trouble started, a recording (just as ironically) commissioned by MCA for the soundtrack to the film Repo Man.
The legal dispute between Black Flag and Unicorn tied the band up for almost two years, during which time they released Everything Went Black
Everything Went Black
Everything Went Black is a compilation album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag, released in 1982. It comprises early songs recorded before Henry Rollins became the band's vocalist in 1981, and released initially without the band's name on its cover, due to their lawsuit with MCA/Unicorn...
, a double album of pre-Rollins outtakes, under the names of the individual musicians and vocalists on the record. Unicorn ended up filing even more legal briefs, claiming that Black Flag had violated a court injunction against releasing new records. Ginn and Dukowski ended up doing several days in Los Angeles County Jail for contempt of court, but the case fizzled out soon afterward when Unicorn went out of business, freeing Black Flag of any further obligation to the label.
Known outtakes and alternate versions
In addition to the known unreleased version of "Rise Above" recorded during the album sessions and the alternate take of "Damaged I", a version of Black Flag's arrangement of "Louie LouieLouie Louie
"Louie Louie" is an American rock 'n' roll song written by Richard Berry in 1955. It has become a standard in pop and rock, with hundreds of versions recorded by different artists...
" was also recorded. According to Rollins in Get in the Van, this version featured the band going into "a strange jam at the end until the tape ran out;" It was never mixed down in any form. As of July 2006, it was unknown if the master tapes to these outtakes were still in existence. Henry Rollins later stated on his radio show's blog that alternate versions of "What I See" and "at least one other song that I can't remember" also came out of the Damaged sessions, and that other outtakes from Black Flag's other albums also exist.
According to Black Flag's engineer and live sound man Spot, a nearly complete version of Damaged was recorded at Golden Age Studios with Dez Cadena doing vocal duties. This session is where the tracks for the Six Pack EP came from. No official version of the remainder of this recording session has ever been released, although pirated copies have circulated in tape trading circles for years. A comparison of the unreleased Dez Cadena sessions with the released LP suggests that the vocal cadence and presentation of the Cadena sessions were used as a reference by the band prior to recording the final album.
A version of "Depression" was recorded to be the b-side of the "Rise Above" single.
Release variations
- A 1982 European release issued by Roadrunner RecordsRoadrunner RecordsRoadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...
' RoadRacer imprint substitutes the later single version of "T.V. Party" for the album version on side one, and adds the Dez Cadena-led single version of "Louie Louie" to the end of side two. - The initial CD reissue of Damaged, for some unknown reason, appended the Jealous Again EP. All subsequent versions contain the original album only.
Track listing
This listing is for the album as originally released and sequenced for vinyl and cassette. For other variations, see Release variations above.Personnel
- Henry RollinsHenry RollinsHenry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
– lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the... - Greg GinnGreg GinnGregory Regis Ginn is a guitarist, songwriter, and singer. He is best known for being the leader of and primary songwriter for the hardcore punk band Black Flag, which he founded and led from 1976 to 1986....
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Dez CadenaDez CadenaDez Paul Cadena is an American punk rock singer and guitarist. He was the third vocalist and later rhythm guitarist for hardcore punk band Black Flag. Since 2001 Cadena has played guitar with the Misfits...
– rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, backing vocals - Charles DukowskiChuck DukowskiChuck Dukowski is an American punk rock musician, best known as a founding member and bass player for Black Flag. Dukowski wrote some of Black Flag's most popular songs, including "My War," "What I See," "I've Heard It Before" and "Spray Paint." He left the band before the release of My War, and...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - Robo – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, backing vocals
Additional musicians
- Mugger – backing vocals
Production
- SpotSpot (producer)SPOT, , was the house producer and engineer for the influential independent punk record label SST Records. He recorded, mixed, produced or co-produced for most of SST's pivotal acts between 1979 and 1985...
– producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including... - Francis Buckley – mixerAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
- Ed Colver – artwork