James Gurley
Encyclopedia
James Gurley was an American
musician
. He is best known as the guitar player of Big Brother and the Holding Company
, a psychedelic
/acid rock
band from San Francisco
which was fronted by singer Janis Joplin
from 1966 to 1968.
on December 22, 1939. As a boy he sometimes worked with his father who was a stunt car driver. Occasionally this work entailed performing as a human hood ornament with a helmet as his father sped through a flaming plywood wall. The stunt was popular with crowds but not with James - particularly not the day he knocked out his two front teeth and singed his hair to the point where he had to shave his head completely.
At the age of nineteen James took up the guitar and began practicing long hours while listening to old Lightnin' Hopkins
records. He never had a guitar lesson, preferring to learn by ear. He spent four years at Detroit's Catholic Brothers of the Holy Cross, studying to be a priest
.
with his wife Nancy and became part of the coffee-house circuit, playing in the folk and country blues tradition. For a time, he played with J.P. Pickens and the Progressive Bluegrass Boys.
In the summer of 1965, Chet Helms
brought James to 1090 Page Street to meet Peter Albin and Sam Andrew
of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and shortly thereafter, he joined the band. His fearlessly wild guitar playing made the band's reputation for "far-out" psychedelic experimentation. He said it developed from his admiration of John Coltrane's barrier-breaking saxophone solos.
joined the band, James began having an affair
with her. Once James and Janis became involved, he moved out of the apartment he shared with his wife and moved in with Janis. According to Janis, that arrangement ended the day Nancy came barging through the front door of Janis's apartment. "What an embarrassing situation," Janis told Jim Langdon later. "His old lady comes marching into my bedroom with the kid and the dog and confronts us." James continued his affair with Janis for a while, but eventually returned to Nancy, who forgave both him and Janis, with whom she had a close friendship. In 1966, the members of Big Brother, along with their wives and children, all moved into a single house in Lagunitas, California
.
He was known as the first Guitarist in 'space', due to his progressive 'acid' style, and one of the most influential of the San Francisco Sound
.
for injecting the drugs, and spent two years fighting the charges before being sentenced to probation
. He remarried and had another child in 1972.
After he was involved in a number of independent projects. In 1981, he started a New Wave band, Red Robin and The Worms. He played bass with Robin Reed on vocals, Mitch McKendry aka Mitch Master on lead guitar
, Jerome Jim Holt on Sax
, and James's son Hongo Gurley (from first wife Nancy) on drums. He recorded with New Age drummer Muruga Booker
and was actively involved in writing and recording solo work. In May 1997, he stopped touring with Big Brother to devote his full attention to these projects. The first offering was entitled "Pipe Dreams" and was released in January 2000.
Gurley, with fellow members of Big Brother, played at the induction ceremony for the late Janis Joplin at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, although he deeply regretted that the band members were not inducted themselves.
James Gurley died on December 20, 2009 from a heart attack at his home in Palm Desert, California
, just two days before his 70th birthday. His wife, Margaret, survived him, as did his two sons, Django and Hongo.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. He is best known as the guitar player of Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane. They are best known as the band that featured Janis Joplin as their...
, a psychedelic
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
/acid rock
Acid rock
Acid rock is a form of psychedelic rock, which is characterized with long instrumental solos, few lyrics and musical improvisation. Tom Wolfe describes the LSD-influenced music of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Iron Butterfly, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Cream,...
band from San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
which was fronted by singer Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
from 1966 to 1968.
Early life
James Gurley was born in Detroit, MichiganDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
on December 22, 1939. As a boy he sometimes worked with his father who was a stunt car driver. Occasionally this work entailed performing as a human hood ornament with a helmet as his father sped through a flaming plywood wall. The stunt was popular with crowds but not with James - particularly not the day he knocked out his two front teeth and singed his hair to the point where he had to shave his head completely.
At the age of nineteen James took up the guitar and began practicing long hours while listening to old Lightnin' Hopkins
Lightnin' Hopkins
Sam John Hopkins better known as Lightnin’ Hopkins, was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, from Houston, Texas...
records. He never had a guitar lesson, preferring to learn by ear. He spent four years at Detroit's Catholic Brothers of the Holy Cross, studying to be a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
.
Years with Big Brother
In 1962, he moved to San FranciscoSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
with his wife Nancy and became part of the coffee-house circuit, playing in the folk and country blues tradition. For a time, he played with J.P. Pickens and the Progressive Bluegrass Boys.
In the summer of 1965, Chet Helms
Chet Helms
Chester Leo "Chet" Helms , often called the father of San Francisco's "1967 Summer of Love," was a music promoter and a cultural figure in San Francisco during its hippie period in the late Sixties....
brought James to 1090 Page Street to meet Peter Albin and Sam Andrew
Sam Andrew
Sam Andrew is an American musician, singer, songwriter, composer, artist and founding member and guitarist of Big Brother and the Holding Company. During his career as musician and composer, Andrew has had three platinum albums and two hit singles...
of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and shortly thereafter, he joined the band. His fearlessly wild guitar playing made the band's reputation for "far-out" psychedelic experimentation. He said it developed from his admiration of John Coltrane's barrier-breaking saxophone solos.
Relationship with Janis Joplin
A few weeks after Janis JoplinJanis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
joined the band, James began having an affair
Affair
Affair may refer to professional, personal, or public business matters or to a particular business or private activity of a temporary duration, as in family affair, a private affair, or a romantic affair.-Political affair:...
with her. Once James and Janis became involved, he moved out of the apartment he shared with his wife and moved in with Janis. According to Janis, that arrangement ended the day Nancy came barging through the front door of Janis's apartment. "What an embarrassing situation," Janis told Jim Langdon later. "His old lady comes marching into my bedroom with the kid and the dog and confronts us." James continued his affair with Janis for a while, but eventually returned to Nancy, who forgave both him and Janis, with whom she had a close friendship. In 1966, the members of Big Brother, along with their wives and children, all moved into a single house in Lagunitas, California
Lagunitas, California
Lagunitas is an unincorporated community in Marin County, California. It is located southwest of Novato, at an elevation of 217 feet . For census purposes, Lagunitas is aggregated with Forest Knolls into the census-designated place Lagunitas-Forest Knolls.The first post office at Lagunitas opened...
.
He was known as the first Guitarist in 'space', due to his progressive 'acid' style, and one of the most influential of the San Francisco Sound
San Francisco Sound
The San Francisco Sound refers to rock music performed live and recorded by San Francisco-based rock groups of the mid 1960s to early 1970s. It was associated with the counterculture community in San Francisco during these years.- Stylistic Dimensions :...
.
After Big Brother
In 1970, James' wife Nancy died of a heroin overdose. James was charged with murderMurder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
for injecting the drugs, and spent two years fighting the charges before being sentenced to probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
. He remarried and had another child in 1972.
After he was involved in a number of independent projects. In 1981, he started a New Wave band, Red Robin and The Worms. He played bass with Robin Reed on vocals, Mitch McKendry aka Mitch Master on lead guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Jerome Jim Holt on Sax
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, and James's son Hongo Gurley (from first wife Nancy) on drums. He recorded with New Age drummer Muruga Booker
Muruga Booker
Muruga Booker is an American drummer, recording artist, and Orthodox priest.- Biography :Booker was born Steven Bookvich in Detroit, Michigan on December 27, 1942 and is of Serbian decent. His father, Melvin Bookvich, was a shoemaker who played accordion. He has a wife, Shakti; a son, Aaron; and a...
and was actively involved in writing and recording solo work. In May 1997, he stopped touring with Big Brother to devote his full attention to these projects. The first offering was entitled "Pipe Dreams" and was released in January 2000.
Gurley, with fellow members of Big Brother, played at the induction ceremony for the late Janis Joplin at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, although he deeply regretted that the band members were not inducted themselves.
James Gurley died on December 20, 2009 from a heart attack at his home in Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census, up from 41,155 at the 2000 census...
, just two days before his 70th birthday. His wife, Margaret, survived him, as did his two sons, Django and Hongo.
External links
- Spörke, Michael. Living with the myth of Janis Joplin: The History of Big Brother & the Holding Co.. LULU Press. ISBN 1409284999.
- Biography on the official Big Brother and the Holding Company website
- [ Allmusic: James Gurley]
- Interview with PT Quinn from the year 2000