Green on Red
Encyclopedia
Green on Red was an American
rock
band
, formed in the Tucson
, Arizona
punk
scene, but based for most of its career in Los Angeles
, California
, where it was loosely associated with the Paisley Underground
. Earlier records
have the wide-screen psychedelic sound of first-wave desert rock
, while later releases tended more towards traditional country rock
.
(vocals/guitar), Jack Waterson (bass), Van Christian (drums, later of Naked Prey
) and Sean Nagore (organ), quickly replaced by Chris Cacavas. In the summer of 1980, the Serfers relocated to Los Angeles, where they changed their name to Green on Red (after the title of one of their songs) to avoid confusion with the local surf punk scene. Christian returned to Tucson and was replaced by Lydia Lunch
sideman Alex MacNicol.
The band issued an overtly psychedelic, self-released red vinyl EP, sometimes called Two Bibles, though its first widely available record was an EP issued in 1982 by Dream Syndicate
leader Steve Wynn
on his own Down There label. Green on Red followed the Dream Syndicate onto Slash Records
, which released the album Gravity Talks in the fall of 1983. San Francisco-based guitarist Chuck Prophet
joined for the 1985 Gas Food Lodging (Enigma), after which MacNicol was replaced on drums by Keith Mitchell (later of Mazzy Star
). In 2006 'Gas' was performed live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties
-curated Don't Look Back
series. Also in 1985, Stuart collaborated with Steve Wynn
as "Danny and Dusty" on the album The Lost Weekend (A&M
).
A major-label deal with Phonogram
/Mercury
followed, with the EP No Free Lunch and the album The Killer Inside Me, produced by Jim Dickinson
at Ardent Studios
in Memphis. The band split up afterwards; Cacavas began recording albums under his own name. When Stuart returned to recording, with the 1989 Here Come the Snakes, it was essentially as a duo with Prophet, using hired backing. Three more albums were released before the pair called it quits, after the 1992 Too Much Fun. Stuart essentially quit music afterwards; Prophet maintains a career as a solo artist and semi-celebrity sideman.
However, in September 2005, the band reformed in "golden era" line-up, Stuart, Cacavas, Prophet and Waterson, with Jim Bogios filling in for Alex McNicol (who had died in the meantime) to play a one-off show as part of the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of Club Congress in Tucson. This was followed up by a show in London on 10 January 2006 (ostensibly to complete their aborted 1987 European tour). A second "Danny and Dusty" album came into production, followed by a double album
and DVD
on Blue Rose Records.
Danny & Dusty
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, formed in the Tucson
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
scene, but based for most of its career in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, 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...
, where it was loosely associated with the Paisley Underground
Paisley Underground
Paisley Underground is an early genre of alternative rock, based primarily in Los Angeles, California, which was at its most popular in the mid-1980s.- History :...
. Earlier records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
have the wide-screen psychedelic sound of first-wave desert rock
Palm Desert Scene
The Palm Desert Scene is a group of closely related bands and musicians from Palm Desert in Southern California. Their hard rock sound – which is often described as desert rock – contains elements of psychedelia, blues, Heavy metal and other genres, such as hardcore, as well as...
, while later releases tended more towards traditional country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
.
History
The band began in 1979 as The Serfers, a four-piece made up of Dan StuartDan Stuart
Dan Stuart is an American musician best known as the leader/singer/songwriter of 80's post punk, alt-country rock band, Green On Red , and for his teaming with Steve Wynn as Danny & Dusty.-History:Raised in Tucson, Arizona, Dan Stuart founded punk band The Serfers in 1979...
(vocals/guitar), Jack Waterson (bass), Van Christian (drums, later of Naked Prey
Naked Prey
Naked Prey was a rock band from Tucson, Arizona formed in 1982 by former Green on Red drummer Van Christian and David Seeger, who had been in the original lineup of the Giant Sandworms as well as The Pedestrians, a band credited with having performed the first punk rock show in Tucson...
) and Sean Nagore (organ), quickly replaced by Chris Cacavas. In the summer of 1980, the Serfers relocated to Los Angeles, where they changed their name to Green on Red (after the title of one of their songs) to avoid confusion with the local surf punk scene. Christian returned to Tucson and was replaced by Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
sideman Alex MacNicol.
The band issued an overtly psychedelic, self-released red vinyl EP, sometimes called Two Bibles, though its first widely available record was an EP issued in 1982 by Dream Syndicate
Dream Syndicate
The Dream Syndicate was an alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California active from 1981 to 1989. The band was associated with the Paisley Underground music movement.-History:...
leader Steve Wynn
Steve Wynn (songwriter)
Steve Wynn is a songwriter based in New York . He led the band the Dream Syndicate from 1981 to 1989 and afterward began a solo career.- Career in bands :...
on his own Down There label. Green on Red followed the Dream Syndicate onto Slash Records
Slash Records
Slash Records is a record label in Los Angeles, originally specializing in local and punk rock bands.The label was formed in 1978 by Bob Biggs as an outgrowth of the Los Angeles-based fanzine, Slash. Biggs, a painter, initiated the label with a seven-inch single from The Germs in 1978. A full album...
, which released the album Gravity Talks in the fall of 1983. San Francisco-based guitarist Chuck Prophet
Chuck Prophet
Chuck Prophet is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. A Californian, Prophet first achieved notice in the American psychedelic/desert rock group Green on Red, with whom he toured and recorded in the 1980s...
joined for the 1985 Gas Food Lodging (Enigma), after which MacNicol was replaced on drums by Keith Mitchell (later of Mazzy Star
Mazzy Star
Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock band formed in Santa Monica, California, in 1989 from the group Opal, a collaboration of guitarist David Roback and bassist Kendra Smith...
). In 2006 'Gas' was performed live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
-curated Don't Look Back
Don't Look Back (concert series)
Don't Look Back is a yearly series of concerts in which London based promoters All Tomorrow's Parties ask artists and bands to play one of their seminal albums live in its entirety...
series. Also in 1985, Stuart collaborated with Steve Wynn
Steve Wynn (songwriter)
Steve Wynn is a songwriter based in New York . He led the band the Dream Syndicate from 1981 to 1989 and afterward began a solo career.- Career in bands :...
as "Danny and Dusty" on the album The Lost Weekend (A&M
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
).
A major-label deal with Phonogram
Phonogram Records
Phonogram Records was started in 1962 as a joint venture between Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon. In 1972, Phonogram was merged with Polydor Records into PolyGram....
/Mercury
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
followed, with the EP No Free Lunch and the album The Killer Inside Me, produced by Jim Dickinson
Jim Dickinson
James Luther "Jim" Dickinson was an American record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others, the Memphis based band, Mudboy & The Neutrons.- Biography :...
at Ardent Studios
Ardent Studios
Ardent Studios is a recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee. Ardent Records/Ardent Music is the in-house label.- History :Ardent Studios was founded by John Fry and was initially a studio in his family's garage, where he recorded his first Ardent Records 45's. In 1966 the operation moved...
in Memphis. The band split up afterwards; Cacavas began recording albums under his own name. When Stuart returned to recording, with the 1989 Here Come the Snakes, it was essentially as a duo with Prophet, using hired backing. Three more albums were released before the pair called it quits, after the 1992 Too Much Fun. Stuart essentially quit music afterwards; Prophet maintains a career as a solo artist and semi-celebrity sideman.
However, in September 2005, the band reformed in "golden era" line-up, Stuart, Cacavas, Prophet and Waterson, with Jim Bogios filling in for Alex McNicol (who had died in the meantime) to play a one-off show as part of the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of Club Congress in Tucson. This was followed up by a show in London on 10 January 2006 (ostensibly to complete their aborted 1987 European tour). A second "Danny and Dusty" album came into production, followed by a 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....
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on Blue Rose Records.
Discography
- Two Bibles (EP, Green on Red, 1981)
- Green on Red (EP, Down There, 1982)
- Gravity TalksGravity Talks-Track listing:#"Gravity Talks"#"Old Chief"#"5 Easy Pieces"#"Deliverance"#"Over My Head"#"Snake Bit"#"Alice"#"Blue Parade"#"That's What You're Here For"#"Brave Generation"#"Abigail's Ghost"#"Cheap Wine"#"Narcolepsy"-Personnel:...
(Slash, 1983) - Gas Food Lodging (Enigma, 1985)
- No Free Lunch (EP, Mercury, 1985) - UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#99 - The Killer Inside Me (Mercury, 1987)
- Here Come the Snakes (Mercury, 1988)
- This Time Around (Mercury, 1989)
- Scapegoats (China, 1991)
- The Little Things in Life (China Records 1991)
- Too Much Fun (Off Beat, 1992)
- Archives: What We Were Thinking (Normal Records, 1998)
- Valley Fever - Live at the Rialto (Blue Rose Records - CD + DVD 2006)
- BBC Sessions (Maida Vale Records, 2007)
Danny & Dusty
- The Lost Weekend (A&M Rec. – 395 075-1) CCD + LP 1985
- Cast Iron Soul (Blue Rose Rec. – BLUDP 0418) CD + DVD 2007
- Here's To You, Max Morlock (Blue Rose Rec. – BLUDP 0531) DCD + DVD 2007