Gary Wilson (musician)
Encyclopedia
Gary Wilson is an experimental music
ian/performance art
ist best known for his 1977 album You Think You Really Know Me
, after which he promptly retired from recording and performing concerts. He slowly gained a strong cult following during the 1980s and 1990s, and in the early 2000s became active again.
, New York
, Gary Wilson was one of four siblings, the others being Larry, David and Patti. They kept several duck
s as pets while children. His father worked for IBM
during the day, and by night played stand-up bass in a lounge band
whose act played the same hotel approximately four nights a week for 25 years. Gary was a self-taught musician, and was proficient in guitar, bass, drums, piano and cello by the time he entered grade school. He has credited his earliest influences to be Fabian
, Bobby Rydell
and most of all Dion
. His mother would curl the front of his hair for him every morning so that he could look like his teen heart-throb idols.
At age 9, Gary Wilson joined his school band, playing stand-up bass. The following year, he wrote his first song. At 12, Wilson started acquiring tape machines
and began recording songs in his parents' basement. Around this time, he became fascinated by The Beatles
and rock and roll
(he attended The Beatles' famous 1965 Shea Stadium concert
). About a year later, he began playing keyboards in a band called Lourde Fuzz. They cut a single when he was only in eighth grade. The group even earned a spot on a bill opening for The 1910 Fruitgum Company
. When the band's lead singer left, Wilson took over vocals and songwriting, but quickly proved to be too strange for the other members.
In 1969, Wilson discovered the music of aleatoric composer John Cage
. When sought out, Cage surprisingly invited the 14-year-old musician into his home to discuss and critique music for several days. Wilson was also given advice by the composer, such as if your music/performance "doesn’t irritate people, you aren’t doing your job." This experience is deemed by many to be a huge event in Wilson's life, and his songs became increasingly experimental
after this point. Wilson has also cited avant-garde composer David Tudor
as a major influence during this time. Upon graduation from high school in 1970, he moved to New York City
for several weeks, but quickly returned to his parents' home in Endicott
, New York
. Around this time, Wilson "fell right into" playing lounge music on the side, just as his father had.
's Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York
in 1976, a well-known recording studio
that has played host to sessions by Bob Dylan
, R.E.M., Patti Smith
, The Rolling Stones
and many other notable acts. There, Wilson recorded versions of "6.4=Make Out", "Chromium Bitch", "Groovy Girls", and "I Want To Lose Control". He eventually decided that he would prefer to record at his familiar home studio and finished recording You Think You Really Know Me
, his first album, in his parents' basement. On this recording, Wilson sometimes played solo and was other times accompanied by a backing band, The Blind Dates. He pressed, distributed, funded and released the album himself. Wilson pressed 300 copies in 1977 and a further 300 copies in 1979 (he now claims that he only has two original copies left in his personal possession from these pressings). A few years later, Cry Baby Records would re-release the album, pressing about 1000 copies.
His 1970s concert performances were cited as bizarre and outrageous, a "show that included cellophane, duct tape, bed sheets, fake blood, flour, and milk." So outlandish were the shows that often they would have their electricity cut in attempts to get them to leave the stage. After receiving a small amount of radio
play, Wilson decided to try and pursue landing a record deal and moved west to California
in 1978. There he recorded three singles, In the Midnight Hour/When I Spoke of Love (1978), Forgotten Lovers E.P. (1979) and Invasion of Privacy (1980). Although he did have some supporters (receiving fanmail
during the period from the band The Residents
), viable commercial success did not find Wilson. After a 1981 American tour, he retired from the experimental music scene and dropped off the public radar.
was heard citing him as an influence in concerts, at award ceremonies, and on his album, Odelay
. Perhaps most notably, Beck namechecked the musician in his hit single "Where It's At
": "Passin' the dutchie
from coast to coast/like my man Gary Wilson rocks the most." Around the same time, he was cited by the people behind Sub Pop Records as a major influence on their company.
In the early 2000s, Motel Records began a search to find the reclusive musician, but were unsuccessful (even after hiring a private detective). He was eventually found through contacting ex-band members. He was nearly 50 years old, working part-time at The Jolar Cinema adult theater, playing keyboard in a weekly jazz act called Donnie Finnell & Company East at the Rancho Bernardino Lounge and living with his girlfriend (an experimental artist who had studied at UCSD in the 1980s) in San Diego. He gave Motel Records his permission to repress You Think You Really Know Me, and also offered to play a handful of shows to promote the rerelease.
On May 16, 2002 Gary Wilson returned to the stage after a 20 year absence, playing two shows at Joe’s Pub in downtown Manhattan. A documentary about Wilson's career and his return to the public stage was filmed by Michael Wolk, titled You Think You Really Know Me: The Gary Wilson Story. The film recorded the musician's long and emotional train
ride (due to his fear of flying
) from the west coast back to his native New York for his first concert in decades. The film was screened at several theaters in 2005, and was released on home video by Plexifilm
in June 2008. Wilson said attending the film's premier at the Lincoln Center in New York was "one of the highlights of my life."
titled Dimension Mix
. In 2006, his website stated that a greatest hits album was in the works, supposedly to feature tracks from You Think You Really Know Me and Forgotten Lovers; however, no further plans for the album have been revealed and it may have been scrapped. Wilson continues to occasionally perform live, though usually in southern California, sometimes unannounced and typically unpromoted. He has not toured since his rebirth in popularity, apparently due to his dislike of traveling and aerophobia.
According to Wilson's MySpace
account, the musician currently resides in San Diego, California
. As of mid-2008, his lounge act band is still together, playing their regular Friday and Saturday night slot at Bistro 221 in Escondido, as well as playing for-hire at special events and country club
s, covering songs by Nat King Cole
, Lou Rawls
, Wayne Newton
, Johnny Mathis
, etc. He also stated that he had recently come back in to email
contact with the infamous "Linda" featured in many of his songs. Although they were able to resolve some old issues, the woman is now married
and Wilson said of the situation, "I don't think it's cool to get between people."
In May 2008, Wilson's website announced that a new album, Lisa Wants To Talk To You
, was in the works. The record was set to be released on Human Ear Music
on August 15, 2008 but the release was delayed for unknown reasons until September 15. Western Vinyl
released Gary Wilson's new album Electric Endicott in the fall of 2010. The album is available on CD, vinyl, and MP3. To promote his new album, Wilson performed on the October 27, 2010 episode of The Jimmy Fallon Show with members of The Roots
acting as his backing band. In July 2011 Stones Throw Records
released a direct-to-vinyl live recording from a performance earlier that year.
Wilson is slated in November 2011 to release a new digital album, "Feel the Beat," on Tip Records, a music-business incubator created by rock critic Robert Duncan
as an exploratory arm of Duncan/Channon A limited number of copies are to be released on CD and vinyl as well.
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
ian/performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
ist best known for his 1977 album You Think You Really Know Me
You Think You Really Know Me
You Think You Really Know Me is the debut album by American experimental music icon Gary Wilson. Originally self-released in 1977 to little fanfare, the album eventually gained a cult following. In the late 1990s, Beck namechecked Wilson in one of his most popular songs...
, after which he promptly retired from recording and performing concerts. He slowly gained a strong cult following during the 1980s and 1990s, and in the early 2000s became active again.
Early years
Born in The North Side of EndicottEndicott, New York
Endicott is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 13,038 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village is named after Henry B...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Gary Wilson was one of four siblings, the others being Larry, David and Patti. They kept several duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
s as pets while children. His father worked for IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
during the day, and by night played stand-up bass in a lounge band
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
whose act played the same hotel approximately four nights a week for 25 years. Gary was a self-taught musician, and was proficient in guitar, bass, drums, piano and cello by the time he entered grade school. He has credited his earliest influences to be Fabian
Fabian (entertainer)
Fabiano Anthony Forte , known as Fabian, is an American teen idol of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He rose to national prominence after performing several times on American Bandstand. Eleven of his songs reached the Billboard Hot 100 listing.-Early life:Fabian was the son of Josephine and Domenic...
, Bobby Rydell
Bobby Rydell
Bobby Rydell is an American professional singer, mainly of rock and roll music. In the early 1960s he was considered a so-called "teen idol"...
and most of all Dion
Dion DiMucci
Dion Francis DiMucci , better known as Dion, is an American singer-songwriter whose work has incorporated elements of doo-wop, pop oldies music, rock and R&B styles....
. His mother would curl the front of his hair for him every morning so that he could look like his teen heart-throb idols.
At age 9, Gary Wilson joined his school band, playing stand-up bass. The following year, he wrote his first song. At 12, Wilson started acquiring tape machines
Tape recorder
An audio tape recorder, tape deck, reel-to-reel tape deck, cassette deck or tape machine is an audio storage device that records and plays back sounds, including articulated voices, usually using magnetic tape, either wound on a reel or in a cassette, for storage...
and began recording songs in his parents' basement. Around this time, he became fascinated by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
(he attended The Beatles' famous 1965 Shea Stadium concert
The Beatles' 1965 USA Tour
The Beatles staged their second concert tour of the United States in the late summer of 1965. At the peak of American Beatlemania, they played a mixture of outdoor stadiums and indoor arenas, with two historic stops on this venture....
). About a year later, he began playing keyboards in a band called Lourde Fuzz. They cut a single when he was only in eighth grade. The group even earned a spot on a bill opening for The 1910 Fruitgum Company
1910 Fruitgum Company
The 1910 Fruitgum Company is an American bubblegum pop band of the 1960s. The group's biggest hits included "Simon Says," "1, 2, 3, Red Light," "May I Take A Giant Step," "Special Delivery," "Goody Goody Gumdrops," and "Indian Giver." Guitarist Frank Jeckell claimed to have adopted the name from a...
. When the band's lead singer left, Wilson took over vocals and songwriting, but quickly proved to be too strange for the other members.
In 1969, Wilson discovered the music of aleatoric composer John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
. When sought out, Cage surprisingly invited the 14-year-old musician into his home to discuss and critique music for several days. Wilson was also given advice by the composer, such as if your music/performance "doesn’t irritate people, you aren’t doing your job." This experience is deemed by many to be a huge event in Wilson's life, and his songs became increasingly experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
after this point. Wilson has also cited avant-garde composer David Tudor
David Tudor
David Eugene Tudor was an American pianist and composer of experimental music.- Biography :Tudor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied piano with Irma Wolpe and composition with Stefan Wolpe and became known as one of the leading performers of avant garde piano music. He gave the...
as a major influence during this time. Upon graduation from high school in 1970, he moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
for several weeks, but quickly returned to his parents' home in Endicott
Endicott, New York
Endicott is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 13,038 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village is named after Henry B...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Around this time, Wilson "fell right into" playing lounge music on the side, just as his father had.
You Think You Really Know Me and self-imposed exile
Gary Wilson went to Albert GrossmanAlbert Grossman
Albert Bernard Grossman was an American entrepreneur and manager in the American folk music scene and rock and roll. He was most famous as the manager of Bob Dylan between 1962 and 1970.-Biography:...
's Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 at the 2000 census.The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county...
in 1976, a well-known recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
that has played host to sessions by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, R.E.M., Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
and many other notable acts. There, Wilson recorded versions of "6.4=Make Out", "Chromium Bitch", "Groovy Girls", and "I Want To Lose Control". He eventually decided that he would prefer to record at his familiar home studio and finished recording You Think You Really Know Me
You Think You Really Know Me
You Think You Really Know Me is the debut album by American experimental music icon Gary Wilson. Originally self-released in 1977 to little fanfare, the album eventually gained a cult following. In the late 1990s, Beck namechecked Wilson in one of his most popular songs...
, his first album, in his parents' basement. On this recording, Wilson sometimes played solo and was other times accompanied by a backing band, The Blind Dates. He pressed, distributed, funded and released the album himself. Wilson pressed 300 copies in 1977 and a further 300 copies in 1979 (he now claims that he only has two original copies left in his personal possession from these pressings). A few years later, Cry Baby Records would re-release the album, pressing about 1000 copies.
His 1970s concert performances were cited as bizarre and outrageous, a "show that included cellophane, duct tape, bed sheets, fake blood, flour, and milk." So outlandish were the shows that often they would have their electricity cut in attempts to get them to leave the stage. After receiving a small amount of radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
play, Wilson decided to try and pursue landing a record deal and moved west to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1978. There he recorded three singles, In the Midnight Hour/When I Spoke of Love (1978), Forgotten Lovers E.P. (1979) and Invasion of Privacy (1980). Although he did have some supporters (receiving fanmail
FanMail
FanMail is the third studio album by American girl group trio TLC, released on February 23, 1999. As with previous album CrazySexyCool , the group re-teamed with Dallas Austin, Babyface, and Jermaine Dupri on the album's production and the album features the computer voice female named Vic-E .The...
during the period from the band The Residents
The Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
), viable commercial success did not find Wilson. After a 1981 American tour, he retired from the experimental music scene and dropped off the public radar.
Rediscovery and documentary
Wilson then lapsed into obscurity until around 1996, when BeckBeck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
was heard citing him as an influence in concerts, at award ceremonies, and on his album, Odelay
Odelay
Odelay is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock artist Beck, originally released on June 18, 1996, by DGC Records.After the mainstream success of "Loser", Odelay featured several hit singles, including "Where It's At", "Devils Haircut", and "The New Pollution"...
. Perhaps most notably, Beck namechecked the musician in his hit single "Where It's At
Where It's At
"Where It's At" is the first single from Beck's 1996 album, Odelay. Beck wrote the song in 1995. He premiered it at Lollapalooza 1995, in a version very similar to its incarnation on Odelay...
": "Passin' the dutchie
Pass the Dutchie
"Pass the Dutchie" was a song recorded by the British group Musical Youth from their 1982 album The Youth of Today. It was a major hit, holding the number one position on the UK singles charts for three weeks in September and October 1982.-Background:...
from coast to coast/like my man Gary Wilson rocks the most." Around the same time, he was cited by the people behind Sub Pop Records as a major influence on their company.
In the early 2000s, Motel Records began a search to find the reclusive musician, but were unsuccessful (even after hiring a private detective). He was eventually found through contacting ex-band members. He was nearly 50 years old, working part-time at The Jolar Cinema adult theater, playing keyboard in a weekly jazz act called Donnie Finnell & Company East at the Rancho Bernardino Lounge and living with his girlfriend (an experimental artist who had studied at UCSD in the 1980s) in San Diego. He gave Motel Records his permission to repress You Think You Really Know Me, and also offered to play a handful of shows to promote the rerelease.
On May 16, 2002 Gary Wilson returned to the stage after a 20 year absence, playing two shows at Joe’s Pub in downtown Manhattan. A documentary about Wilson's career and his return to the public stage was filmed by Michael Wolk, titled You Think You Really Know Me: The Gary Wilson Story. The film recorded the musician's long and emotional train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
ride (due to his fear of flying
Fear of flying
A fear of flying is a fear of being on an airplane , or other flying vehicle, such as a helicopter, while in flight. It is also sometimes referred to as aerophobia, aviatophobia, aviophobia or pteromerhanophobia....
) from the west coast back to his native New York for his first concert in decades. The film was screened at several theaters in 2005, and was released on home video by Plexifilm
Plexifilm
Plexifilm is an independent DVD label and film production company co-founded by Gary Hustwit and Sean Anderson in 2001...
in June 2008. Wilson said attending the film's premier at the Lincoln Center in New York was "one of the highlights of my life."
Recent activity
Motel Records soon after put out Forgotten Lovers, a collection of singles, b-sides, rare and unreleased songs dating back to 1974. In 2004, Wilson released Mary Had Brown Hair on Stones Throw Records, his first album of original material in almost 30 years. In 2005 he played instruments and co-produced "Rain of Earth" as one of the 'Stones Throw Singers' on a tribute album to Bruce HaackBruce Haack
Bruce Clinton Haack was a musician, composer, and pioneer of electronic music. He was born in Alberta, Canada.-From Alberta to New York :...
titled Dimension Mix
Dimension Mix
Dimension Mix is a compilation album from indie record label Eenie Meenie Records released on August 23, 2005. The CD is a tribute to Dimension 5 Records and the music of electronic sound pioneers Bruce Haack and Esther Nelson....
. In 2006, his website stated that a greatest hits album was in the works, supposedly to feature tracks from You Think You Really Know Me and Forgotten Lovers; however, no further plans for the album have been revealed and it may have been scrapped. Wilson continues to occasionally perform live, though usually in southern California, sometimes unannounced and typically unpromoted. He has not toured since his rebirth in popularity, apparently due to his dislike of traveling and aerophobia.
According to Wilson's MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
account, the musician currently resides in San Diego, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. As of mid-2008, his lounge act band is still together, playing their regular Friday and Saturday night slot at Bistro 221 in Escondido, as well as playing for-hire at special events and country club
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
s, covering songs by Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, Lou Rawls
Lou Rawls
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
, Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, etc. He also stated that he had recently come back in to email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
contact with the infamous "Linda" featured in many of his songs. Although they were able to resolve some old issues, the woman is now married
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
and Wilson said of the situation, "I don't think it's cool to get between people."
In May 2008, Wilson's website announced that a new album, Lisa Wants To Talk To You
Lisa Wants To Talk To You
Lisa Wants to Talk to You is the title of the fourth album by experimental musician Gary Wilson, released on September 15, 2008 by the Echo Park-based label Human Ear Music....
, was in the works. The record was set to be released on Human Ear Music
Human Ear Music
HumanEar is a multidisciplinary censorship, consultancy and digital conservative active in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Berlin....
on August 15, 2008 but the release was delayed for unknown reasons until September 15. Western Vinyl
Western Vinyl
Western Vinyl is an independent record label based in Austin Texas. It was founded in 1998.-Bands and Artists Associated with Western Vinyl:*Anomoanon*Appendix Out*Balmorhea*Bexar Bexar*Botany*Bonnie Prince Billy*Callers*Carter Tanton*Chas. Mtn....
released Gary Wilson's new album Electric Endicott in the fall of 2010. The album is available on CD, vinyl, and MP3. To promote his new album, Wilson performed on the October 27, 2010 episode of The Jimmy Fallon Show with members of The Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
acting as his backing band. In July 2011 Stones Throw Records
Stones Throw Records
Stones Throw Records is an independent hip hop record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was started in 1996 by DJ/Producer Peanut Butter Wolf in part to release the music he made with Charizma who was killed at the age of 20....
released a direct-to-vinyl live recording from a performance earlier that year.
Wilson is slated in November 2011 to release a new digital album, "Feel the Beat," on Tip Records, a music-business incubator created by rock critic Robert Duncan
Robert Duncan (writer)
-Career:Robert Duncan was part of the 'second wave' of writers for Creem magazine, becoming managing editor from 1975 to 1976. In Creem's 1977 Reader Poll, he finished third in balloting for "Best Rock Critic" behind Lester Bangs and Robert Christgau...
as an exploratory arm of Duncan/Channon A limited number of copies are to be released on CD and vinyl as well.
Albums
- Another Galaxy (19741974 in music-January–April:*January 3 – Bob Dylan and The Band kick off their 40-date concert tour at Chicago Stadium. It's Dylan's first time on the road since 1966.*January 17...
) - You Think You Really Know MeYou Think You Really Know MeYou Think You Really Know Me is the debut album by American experimental music icon Gary Wilson. Originally self-released in 1977 to little fanfare, the album eventually gained a cult following. In the late 1990s, Beck namechecked Wilson in one of his most popular songs...
(19771977 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977.-January–February:*January 1 – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy....
, reissued 19911991 in musicSee also:* 1991 in music Record labels established in 1991-Summary:The year 1991 is the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", becomes the most popular U.S. album of the year...
and 20022002 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI...
) - Forgotten Lovers (20032003 in music-January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested...
, reissued 2011 on vinyl) - Mary Had Brown Hair (20042004 in musicSee also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol....
) - Lisa Wants To Talk To YouLisa Wants To Talk To YouLisa Wants to Talk to You is the title of the fourth album by experimental musician Gary Wilson, released on September 15, 2008 by the Echo Park-based label Human Ear Music....
(20082008 in music2008 was a huge year in music history with the emergence of pop superstars Lady Gaga and Katy Perry into the mainstream. Also, this is the year that is widely agreed upon by critics as the start of the fall of hip hop from the mainstream and the rise of Synthpop into the mainstream due to acts such...
) - Electric Endicott (20102010 in music2010 in music may refer to:*2010 in American music*2010 in Australian music*2010 in British music*2010 in Canadian music*2010 in European music *2010 in Irish music*2010 in Japanese music*2010 in New Zealand music...
) - Feel the Beat (2011)
Singles
- Dream(s)/Soul Travel (1973)
- Another Galaxy/Softly the Water Flows (1973–1974)
- In the Midnight Hour/When I Spoke of Love (1978)
- Forgotten Lovers E.P. (1979)
- Invasion of PrivacyInvasion of Privacy (song)"Invasion of Privacy" is a double 7" single released in 1980 by Gary Wilson. Recorded at Circle Sound Studios in San Diego, only 500 copies were pressed by MCP Records. Wilson sang, played guitar, piano/keyboards and bass; Dave Haney played drums...
(double 7") (1980) - This Is Why I Wear My Wedding Gown E.P. (1983)
- Newark Valley (2004)
- 6.4 = Make Out (demo version) (2004)
External links
- Official Gary Wilson Website
- Gary Wilson's Myspace
- Official Donnie Finnell & Company East Website (Wilson's lounge act)
- About.com article on Gary Wilson
- "Peeling Back The Gauze: Gary Wilson Uncovered" interview/article in MungBeing
- Stones Throw Records
- Gary Wilson interview with Drastic Plastic Dress
- Video interview with Gary Wilson by Brainwashed.com
- http://larecord.com/interviews/2008/04/01/tue-apr-1-gary-wilson-interview/April 2008 Interview with L.A. RecordL.A. RecordL.A. Record is an independent music magazine originally published weekly as a broadsheet poster. The poster usually depicts a local Los Angeles musicians and according to the magazine editors is meant to recreate an iconic album cover. In March 2008, it began publishing as a monthly magazine with a...
]