Jayhawks (band)
Encyclopedia
The Jayhawks are an American alternative country
and rock
band that emerged from the Twin Cities
music scene during the mid 1980s. Their country rock sound was influential on many bands who played the Twin Cities circuit during the 80s and 90s like Uncle Tupelo
, The Gear Daddies
and The Honeydogs. They have released several studio albums, including five on the American Recordings label. On hiatus from 2005 to 2009, the band has since reunited and released a new album, "Mockingbird Time," in September 2011.
with Mark Olson
(acoustic guitar and vocals), Gary Louris
(electric guitar and vocals), Marc Perlman (bass) and Norm Rogers (drums). Their first album The Jayhawks was released by Bunkhouse Records, a small independent label, in 1986. Their music at the time, mostly written by Olson, showed a strong roots/country-rock influence. Rogers left to be replaced by Thad Spencer and the band worked for the next years on demo tapes in search of a major label
recording contract
. During this period, Louris left the band briefly (following a car accident) and Dan Gaarder replaced him. Louris returned and the sum of the collected demos from 1986-1989 were brought together to create Blue Earth, released on the Minneapolis label Twin Tone in 1989. On this album Gary Louris shared more of the songwriting with Olson. After touring the U.S. in support of Blue Earth, Spencer left the band due to commitments at home with his business. He was replaced by Ken Callahan in 1988 who stayed with the band until 1993.
In 1991, Dave Ayers, the president of Twin Tone, was on a phone call with A&R representative George Drakoulias
from Def American while Blue Earth played in the background. Drakoulias asked about the music, and eventually met with and signed the band to the label later that year.
In 1992 the Jayhawks had their major label release, Hollywood Town Hall
, on Def American. The album was produced by Drakoulias and recorded primarily in Los Angeles and at Pachyderm Recording Studio
in Minnesota. Though Louris' fuzzy guitar was at the forefront, a clear folksy influence was also emerging in Olson and Louris' songwriting. The album was a hit
, powered by the single "Waiting for the Sun", and it brought the Jayhawks a wider fanbase.
Adding Karen Grotberg on the keyboards and vocals, the band toured extensively. In 1995 they went into the studio to produce Tomorrow the Green Grass
on the renamed American Recordings label. Lead track "Blue" turned out to be a Top 40 hit in Canada
(peaking at #33), but the record's production had been very expensive and the album failed to sell as expected in the U.S. Among the album's songs is "Miss Williams' Guitar," a love song for Olson's then-girlfriend, singer-songwriter Victoria Williams
(the pair later married, but divorced in February, 2006). Drummer, singer and songwriter Tim O'Reagan joined the band for the 1995 tour; session drummer Don Heffington had played on the album.
By the end of 1995, Olson unexpectedly left the band to spend more time with Williams (with whom he would later form the Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers
). The band continued to record as The Jayhawks, adding Kraig Johnson on guitar. Johnson, another Minneapolis musical fixture, played in seminal SST band Run Westy Run, Iffy and Golden Smog
.
The Jayhawks released Sound of Lies
in 1997, with Louris composing most of the songs and allowing all of his influences a share in the proceedings. The result mixed straight rock (the ironic "Big Star"), psychedelic, acoustic (the title track) and even some dub elements, taking the band far from its country-influenced origins. Although the band's sound was often described as Alt-country
, or Americana
, the majority of its music bore more of a resemblance to the vast oeuvre of Neil Young than to Hank Williams.
Smile
(2000), produced by Bob Ezrin
, had more of a pop music feel (which utilized new sounds for the band like drum loops and synthesizers), jarring some of the band's long-time fans. The New York Times positively reviewed the album, but in a nod to the band's lack of widespread recognition, titled the review "What If You Made A Classic And No One Cared?" Though still a member through the recording of the album, Grotberg left the band before the Smile tour, and was replaced by Jen Gunderman. The song "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" appeared in a Ralph Lauren
commercial, the second soundtrack released from Dawson's Creek "Songs from Dawson's Creek Volume 2", and the 2001 film All Over the Guy
.
Rainy Day Music
(2003), the band's last studio album to date, was stripped down, more acoustic, and generally seen as a return to their alt-country roots ("Tailspin," "Stumbling Through the Dark," "You Look So Young"). The band now consisted of founding members Louris and Perlman, along with drummer O'Reagan, and touring band member ex-Long Ryder
Stephen McCarthy, from Richmond, VA who also played with Johnny Hott
and The Piedmont Surprise. McCarthy added pedal steel, lap steel, banjo, guitar and backing vocals to the album and subsequent live shows. This lineup toured in 2003 and early 2004, including their first ever appearance on PBS's long running series, Austin City Limits
. The band's final show was in Valencia, Spain
.
In addition to their studio albums, the Jayhawks released Live From the Women's Club, an all-acoustic live recording of Louris/Perlman/O'Reagan from 2002. It was sold only at concerts as an "Official Jayhawks Bootleg." It includes the demo to the original version of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" called "Someone Will", and includes a cover of David Wiffen's
"(Lost My) Driving Wheel", originally popularized by Tom Rush
. A follow-up, Live From the Women's Club 2, contains the rest of the concert, including a cover of Tim Hardin
's "Reason To Believe
" and a rendition of "Jennifer Save Me" from Golden Smog
, the alt/country supergroup of which Louris was a founding member (and which Perlman later joined).
Olson and Louris toured together in the winter of 2005 and spring of 2006, billed as "From the Jayhawks: An Evening with Mark Olson
& Gary Louris
, Together Again." Both old and new Jayhawks members progressed to solo efforts and side projects, and the band as a whole was generally considered to be broken up, and not expected to produce new material soon. However, the band members appear to keep in touch, tour together in their other projects, and have been known to "reunite" on occasion.
In September 2008, the 1995 lineup of Louris, Olson, O'Reagan, Grotberg and Perlman reunited for the Azkena Rock Festival in Vitoria-Gasteiz
, Spain.
In January 2009, Olson and Louris released an acoustic album titled Ready for the Flood.
In April 2009, Billboard
reported that the Jayhawks have reunited. The band's mid 1990s lineup will play two shows this summer: One at Barcelona
's Primavera Sound Festival
on May 30 and one at Minneapolis's Basilica Block Party on July 10. Band co-leader Gary Louris told Billboard that the reunion will be a part-time thing: "I think the plan is that we're going to play festivals. Next year, we're hoping to play Bonnaroo and things like that. We'll see if it grows from there."
In July 2009, Sony Legacy and American Recordings released Music from the North Country, The Jayhawks Anthology a project supervised by Louris. The standard CD features highlights from the band's studio albums, while a deluxe version adds rarities, B-sides, and unreleased material, as well as a DVD of the band's music videos.
On May 18, 2010, the initial release The Jayhawks was digitally remastered from reel-to-reel and reissued on Lost Highway Records. The re-release features an eleven-page booklet designed by Mark Olson. At its release, it was also featured as a $4.99 digital download from Amazon. In fall 2010, the Jayhawks returned to the recording studio, planning to have a new album out by spring or early summer 2011.
In January 2011, Legacy Recordings
reissued collector's editions of both Hollywood Town Hall
and Tomorrow the Green Grass
, each featuring outtakes and B-sides. Tomorrow the Green Grass
features a second disc entitled The Mystery Demos, featuring tracks from two Olson/Louris recording sessions that took place in 1992. Prior to the release of The Mystery Demos, several of the featured tracks had been re-recorded and released on various Jayhawks related albums, such as Mark Olson's solo release, The Salvation Blues
and the Olson/Louris collaboration Ready for the Flood
. To celebrate the release of the reissues, The Jayhawks - Louris, Olson, Perlman, Grotberg, and O'Reagan - launched a concert mini-tour in January 2011, with shows in Toronto
(1/18), New York City
(1/20-21), Philadelphia (1/22), Chicago
(1/27-28), and Minneapolis (1/29). For the Jan. 20 show at New York's Webster Hall
, the band performed Hollywood Town Hall
in its entirety, followed by the complete Tomorrow the Green Grass
the following evening.
After a hiatus, in 2011 the band reunited and recorded a new album. The lineup consists of Mark Olson, Gary Louris, Marc Perlman, Karen Grotberg, and Tim O'Reagan, and, as Louris says, "Our goal is to make the best Jayhawks album that's ever been done". 18 songs had been recorded, 16 of them new, but only 12 will be on the record. The album, Mockingbird Time
, was released September 20.
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
and 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 that emerged from the Twin Cities
Twin cities
Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time...
music scene during the mid 1980s. Their country rock sound was influential on many bands who played the Twin Cities circuit during the 80s and 90s like Uncle Tupelo
Uncle Tupelo
Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend college. The trio recorded three albums for Rockville...
, The Gear Daddies
Gear Daddies
The Gear Daddies are a band from Austin, Minnesota that enjoyed moderate success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Its members were Randy Broughten , Nick Ciola , Billy Dankert , and Martin Zellar...
and The Honeydogs. They have released several studio albums, including five on the American Recordings label. On hiatus from 2005 to 2009, the band has since reunited and released a new album, "Mockingbird Time," in September 2011.
History
The band formed in 1985 in Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
with Mark Olson
Mark Olson (musician)
Mark Olson is an American musician. He is one of the founding members of acclaimed alternative country bands The Jayhawks and The Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers and a respected singer/songwriter in his own right....
(acoustic guitar and vocals), Gary Louris
Gary Louris
Gary Louris is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band The Jayhawks, and their principal songwriter and vocalist after the departure of Mark Olson; he is often credited with the band's subsequent move from...
(electric guitar and vocals), Marc Perlman (bass) and Norm Rogers (drums). Their first album The Jayhawks was released by Bunkhouse Records, a small independent label, in 1986. Their music at the time, mostly written by Olson, showed a strong roots/country-rock influence. Rogers left to be replaced by Thad Spencer and the band worked for the next years on demo tapes in search of a major label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
. During this period, Louris left the band briefly (following a car accident) and Dan Gaarder replaced him. Louris returned and the sum of the collected demos from 1986-1989 were brought together to create Blue Earth, released on the Minneapolis label Twin Tone in 1989. On this album Gary Louris shared more of the songwriting with Olson. After touring the U.S. in support of Blue Earth, Spencer left the band due to commitments at home with his business. He was replaced by Ken Callahan in 1988 who stayed with the band until 1993.
In 1991, Dave Ayers, the president of Twin Tone, was on a phone call with A&R representative George Drakoulias
George Drakoulias
George Drakoulias is a Greek-American music producer and A&R executive at the American Recordings label. He is often considered a protege of Rick Rubin....
from Def American while Blue Earth played in the background. Drakoulias asked about the music, and eventually met with and signed the band to the label later that year.
In 1992 the Jayhawks had their major label release, Hollywood Town Hall
Hollywood Town Hall
Hollywood Town Hall is a 1992 album by country rock revivalists The Jayhawks. It peaked at #11 on the Billboard Heatseekers and #192 on the Billboard 200...
, on Def American. The album was produced by Drakoulias and recorded primarily in Los Angeles and at Pachyderm Recording Studio
Pachyderm Studio
Pachyderm Recording Studio is a residential recording studio located in rural Cannon Falls, Minnesota, United States, 35.8 mi southeast of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. It is located in a secluded old-growth forest with a vibrant trout stream. The studio was founded in 1988...
in Minnesota. Though Louris' fuzzy guitar was at the forefront, a clear folksy influence was also emerging in Olson and Louris' songwriting. The album was a hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, powered by the single "Waiting for the Sun", and it brought the Jayhawks a wider fanbase.
Adding Karen Grotberg on the keyboards and vocals, the band toured extensively. In 1995 they went into the studio to produce Tomorrow the Green Grass
Tomorrow the Green Grass
Tomorrow the Green Grass is an album by the American alternative country and rock band The Jayhawks, released in 1995. It peaked at number 92 on The Billboard 200 charts.-History:...
on the renamed American Recordings label. Lead track "Blue" turned out to be a Top 40 hit in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(peaking at #33), but the record's production had been very expensive and the album failed to sell as expected in the U.S. Among the album's songs is "Miss Williams' Guitar," a love song for Olson's then-girlfriend, singer-songwriter Victoria Williams
Victoria Williams
Victoria Williams is an American singer-songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. She is noted for her descriptive songwriting talent, which she has used to immerse the listener of her songs into a...
(the pair later married, but divorced in February, 2006). Drummer, singer and songwriter Tim O'Reagan joined the band for the 1995 tour; session drummer Don Heffington had played on the album.
By the end of 1995, Olson unexpectedly left the band to spend more time with Williams (with whom he would later form the Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers
Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers
The Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers are an Americana group formed by songwriter Mark Olson and his wife Victoria Williams after Olson left his previous band The Jayhawks...
). The band continued to record as The Jayhawks, adding Kraig Johnson on guitar. Johnson, another Minneapolis musical fixture, played in seminal SST band Run Westy Run, Iffy and Golden Smog
Golden Smog
Golden Smog is a loosely connected group of musicians comprised, at various times, of members of Soul Asylum, The Replacements, Wilco, The Jayhawks, Run Westy Run, The Honeydogs and Big Star...
.
The Jayhawks released Sound of Lies
Sound of Lies
Sound of Lies is a 1997 album released by Minneapolis music group Jayhawks. It peaked at #112 on the Billboard 200.With the departure of Mark Olson, Gary Louris becomes the principal songwriter for Sound of Lies with an occasional co-write with bassist Marc Perlman...
in 1997, with Louris composing most of the songs and allowing all of his influences a share in the proceedings. The result mixed straight rock (the ironic "Big Star"), psychedelic, acoustic (the title track) and even some dub elements, taking the band far from its country-influenced origins. Although the band's sound was often described as Alt-country
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
, or Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
, the majority of its music bore more of a resemblance to the vast oeuvre of Neil Young than to Hank Williams.
Smile
Smile (Jayhawks album)
Smile is an album by the American alternative country and rock band The Jayhawks, released in 2000. It reached #129 on the Billboard 200 and #14 on Billboard's Top Internet Albums chart....
(2000), produced by Bob Ezrin
Bob Ezrin
Robert Alan "Bob" Ezrin is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, known for his work with artists including Alice Cooper, Kiss and Pink Floyd. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2004.-Biography:...
, had more of a pop music feel (which utilized new sounds for the band like drum loops and synthesizers), jarring some of the band's long-time fans. The New York Times positively reviewed the album, but in a nod to the band's lack of widespread recognition, titled the review "What If You Made A Classic And No One Cared?" Though still a member through the recording of the album, Grotberg left the band before the Smile tour, and was replaced by Jen Gunderman. The song "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" appeared in a Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive; best known for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...
commercial, the second soundtrack released from Dawson's Creek "Songs from Dawson's Creek Volume 2", and the 2001 film All Over the Guy
All Over the Guy
All Over the Guy is an American gay-themed romantic comedy film directed by Julie Davis in 2001.-Plot:All Over the Guy is about Eli and Tom . The film is told mostly in flashback, with Eli recounting his side to Esther , an HIV clinic worker as he waits for test results and Tom to a guy he meets...
.
Rainy Day Music
Rainy Day Music
Rainy Day Music is an album by the American alternative country and rock band The Jayhawks, released in 2003. It debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 51, selling 19,000 copies that week.-History:...
(2003), the band's last studio album to date, was stripped down, more acoustic, and generally seen as a return to their alt-country roots ("Tailspin," "Stumbling Through the Dark," "You Look So Young"). The band now consisted of founding members Louris and Perlman, along with drummer O'Reagan, and touring band member ex-Long Ryder
The Long Ryders
The Long Ryders are an American alternative country and Paisley Underground band, principally active between 1983 and 1987, and which reformed in 2004 to do a reunion tour...
Stephen McCarthy, from Richmond, VA who also played with Johnny Hott
Johnny Hott
Johnny Hott was the drummer for the House of Freaks, a musical duo with singer/guitarist Bryan Harvey. He was also one of three drummers for the band Cracker. He has also played drums for indie supergroup Gutterball, Sparklehorse, and Timothy Bailey and The Humans.Hott currently lives in Richmond,...
and The Piedmont Surprise. McCarthy added pedal steel, lap steel, banjo, guitar and backing vocals to the album and subsequent live shows. This lineup toured in 2003 and early 2004, including their first ever appearance on PBS's long running series, Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States...
. The band's final show was in Valencia, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
In addition to their studio albums, the Jayhawks released Live From the Women's Club, an all-acoustic live recording of Louris/Perlman/O'Reagan from 2002. It was sold only at concerts as an "Official Jayhawks Bootleg." It includes the demo to the original version of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" called "Someone Will", and includes a cover of David Wiffen's
David Wiffen
David Wiffen is a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter. Two of his songs, "Driving Wheel" and "More Often Than Not", have become cover standards.- Career :...
"(Lost My) Driving Wheel", originally popularized by Tom Rush
Tom Rush
Tom Rush is an American folk and blues singer, songwriter, musician and recording artist.- Life and career :Rush was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. His father was a teacher at St. Paul's School, in Concord, New Hampshire. Tom began performing in 1961 while studying at Harvard University after...
. A follow-up, Live From the Women's Club 2, contains the rest of the concert, including a cover of Tim Hardin
Tim Hardin
James Timothy "Tim" Hardin was an American folk musician and composer. He wrote the Top 40 hits "If I Were a Carpenter", covered by, among others, Joan Baez, Bobby Darin, Johnny Cash, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Robert Plant, and "Reason to Believe", covered by many, including Rod Stewart, as well...
's "Reason To Believe
Reason to Believe
"Reason to Believe" is a song written and first recorded by American folk singer Tim Hardin in 1965, which has since been recorded by a number of other artists, the most known of which is by Rod Stewart in 1971 and 1993...
" and a rendition of "Jennifer Save Me" from Golden Smog
Golden Smog
Golden Smog is a loosely connected group of musicians comprised, at various times, of members of Soul Asylum, The Replacements, Wilco, The Jayhawks, Run Westy Run, The Honeydogs and Big Star...
, the alt/country supergroup of which Louris was a founding member (and which Perlman later joined).
Olson and Louris toured together in the winter of 2005 and spring of 2006, billed as "From the Jayhawks: An Evening with Mark Olson
Mark Olson (musician)
Mark Olson is an American musician. He is one of the founding members of acclaimed alternative country bands The Jayhawks and The Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers and a respected singer/songwriter in his own right....
& Gary Louris
Gary Louris
Gary Louris is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band The Jayhawks, and their principal songwriter and vocalist after the departure of Mark Olson; he is often credited with the band's subsequent move from...
, Together Again." Both old and new Jayhawks members progressed to solo efforts and side projects, and the band as a whole was generally considered to be broken up, and not expected to produce new material soon. However, the band members appear to keep in touch, tour together in their other projects, and have been known to "reunite" on occasion.
In September 2008, the 1995 lineup of Louris, Olson, O'Reagan, Grotberg and Perlman reunited for the Azkena Rock Festival in Vitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital city of the province of Álava and of the autonomous community of the Basque Country in northern Spain with a population of 235,661 people. It is the second largest Basque city...
, Spain.
In January 2009, Olson and Louris released an acoustic album titled Ready for the Flood.
In April 2009, Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
reported that the Jayhawks have reunited. The band's mid 1990s lineup will play two shows this summer: One at Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
's Primavera Sound Festival
Primavera Sound Festival
San Miguel Primavera Sound, commonly known as Primavera Sound or simply Primavera, is an annual music festival which takes place in Barcelona, Spain in late May and, in some years, early June...
on May 30 and one at Minneapolis's Basilica Block Party on July 10. Band co-leader Gary Louris told Billboard that the reunion will be a part-time thing: "I think the plan is that we're going to play festivals. Next year, we're hoping to play Bonnaroo and things like that. We'll see if it grows from there."
In July 2009, Sony Legacy and American Recordings released Music from the North Country, The Jayhawks Anthology a project supervised by Louris. The standard CD features highlights from the band's studio albums, while a deluxe version adds rarities, B-sides, and unreleased material, as well as a DVD of the band's music videos.
On May 18, 2010, the initial release The Jayhawks was digitally remastered from reel-to-reel and reissued on Lost Highway Records. The re-release features an eleven-page booklet designed by Mark Olson. At its release, it was also featured as a $4.99 digital download from Amazon. In fall 2010, the Jayhawks returned to the recording studio, planning to have a new album out by spring or early summer 2011.
In January 2011, Legacy Recordings
Legacy Recordings
Legacy Recordings is Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division. It was founded in 1990 by CBS Records under the leadership of Jerry Shulman, Richard Bauer, Gary Pacheco and Amy Herot to handle reissues of recordings from the vast catalogues of Columbia Records, Epic Records and associated...
reissued collector's editions of both Hollywood Town Hall
Hollywood Town Hall
Hollywood Town Hall is a 1992 album by country rock revivalists The Jayhawks. It peaked at #11 on the Billboard Heatseekers and #192 on the Billboard 200...
and Tomorrow the Green Grass
Tomorrow the Green Grass
Tomorrow the Green Grass is an album by the American alternative country and rock band The Jayhawks, released in 1995. It peaked at number 92 on The Billboard 200 charts.-History:...
, each featuring outtakes and B-sides. Tomorrow the Green Grass
Tomorrow the Green Grass
Tomorrow the Green Grass is an album by the American alternative country and rock band The Jayhawks, released in 1995. It peaked at number 92 on The Billboard 200 charts.-History:...
features a second disc entitled The Mystery Demos, featuring tracks from two Olson/Louris recording sessions that took place in 1992. Prior to the release of The Mystery Demos, several of the featured tracks had been re-recorded and released on various Jayhawks related albums, such as Mark Olson's solo release, The Salvation Blues
The Salvation Blues
The Salvation Blues is a 2007 solo album by singer/songwriter Mark Olson.-Reception:-Track listing:All songs by Mark Olson unless otherwise noted.#"My Carol"#"Clifton Bridge"#"Poor Michael's Boat"...
and the Olson/Louris collaboration Ready for the Flood
Ready for the Flood
Ready for the Flood is an album by former Jayhawks bandmates Mark Olson and Gary Louris.-Reception:-Track listing:All songs by Mark Olson & Gary Louris#"Rose Society" – 3:12#"Bicycle" – 3:52#"Turn Your Pretty Name Around" – 4:51...
. To celebrate the release of the reissues, The Jayhawks - Louris, Olson, Perlman, Grotberg, and O'Reagan - launched a concert mini-tour in January 2011, with shows in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
(1/18), 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...
(1/20-21), Philadelphia (1/22), Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
(1/27-28), and Minneapolis (1/29). For the Jan. 20 show at New York's Webster Hall
Webster Hall
Webster Hall is a nightclub located at 125 East 11th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, near Astor Place, in Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1886, its current incarnation was opened by the Ballinger Brothers in 1992...
, the band performed Hollywood Town Hall
Hollywood Town Hall
Hollywood Town Hall is a 1992 album by country rock revivalists The Jayhawks. It peaked at #11 on the Billboard Heatseekers and #192 on the Billboard 200...
in its entirety, followed by the complete Tomorrow the Green Grass
Tomorrow the Green Grass
Tomorrow the Green Grass is an album by the American alternative country and rock band The Jayhawks, released in 1995. It peaked at number 92 on The Billboard 200 charts.-History:...
the following evening.
After a hiatus, in 2011 the band reunited and recorded a new album. The lineup consists of Mark Olson, Gary Louris, Marc Perlman, Karen Grotberg, and Tim O'Reagan, and, as Louris says, "Our goal is to make the best Jayhawks album that's ever been done". 18 songs had been recorded, 16 of them new, but only 12 will be on the record. The album, Mockingbird Time
Mockingbird Time
-Deluxe Edition:...
, was released September 20.
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions |
Label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
US Folk Folk Albums Folk Albums is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the top selling "current releases by traditional folk artists, as well as appropriate titles by acoustic-based singer-songwriters" in the United States. The chart debuted on the issue dated December 5, 2009... |
UK UK Albums Chart The 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... |
|||
| 1986 | The Jayhawks The Jayhawks (album) The Jayhawks is a 1986 album by The Jayhawks. It is also known as the Bunkhouse Tapes.-History:Out of print for many years, the album was digitally remastered from reel-to-reel and reissued by Lost Highway Records on May 18, 2010... |
Bunkhouse | ||||
| 1989 | Blue Earth Blue Earth (Jayhawks album) Blue Earth is an album by the American alternative country and rock band The Jayhawks, released in 1989.-History:After the local release of their debut album The Jayhawks, the band recorded a set of demos in order to attract a major label deal. Singer/guitarist Gary Louris was injured in a car... |
Twin/Tone | ||||
| 1992 | Hollywood Town Hall Hollywood Town Hall Hollywood Town Hall is a 1992 album by country rock revivalists The Jayhawks. It peaked at #11 on the Billboard Heatseekers and #192 on the Billboard 200... |
192 | 11 | American | ||
| 1995 | Tomorrow the Green Grass Tomorrow the Green Grass Tomorrow the Green Grass is an album by the American alternative country and rock band The Jayhawks, released in 1995. It peaked at number 92 on The Billboard 200 charts.-History:... |
92 | 41 | |||
| 1997 | Sound of Lies Sound of Lies Sound of Lies is a 1997 album released by Minneapolis music group Jayhawks. It peaked at #112 on the Billboard 200.With the departure of Mark Olson, Gary Louris becomes the principal songwriter for Sound of Lies with an occasional co-write with bassist Marc Perlman... |
112 | 61 | |||
| 2000 | Smile Smile (Jayhawks album) Smile is an album by the American alternative country and rock band The Jayhawks, released in 2000. It reached #129 on the Billboard 200 and #14 on Billboard's Top Internet Albums chart.... |
129 | 60 | |||
| 2003 | Rainy Day Music Rainy Day Music Rainy Day Music is an album by the American alternative country and rock band The Jayhawks, released in 2003. It debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 51, selling 19,000 copies that week.-History:... |
51 | 70 | |||
| 2011 | Mockingbird Time Mockingbird Time -Deluxe Edition:... |
38 | 2 | 92 | Rounder | |
Compilation albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2009 | Music From The North Country - The Jayhawks Anthology Music From The North Country - The Jayhawks Anthology Music From The North Country – The Jayhawks Anthology is a compilation album by The Jayhawks, released in 2009.An expanded version was also released with a DVD of videos and a disc of demos, b-sides, and out-takes.-Reception:-Disc one:... |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Main | US Mod | US AC | Canada (RPM 100) | UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||
| 1992 | "Waiting for the Sun" | 20 | 29 | Hollywood Town Hall | |||
| 1995 | "Blue" | 33 | 83 | Tomorrow the Green Grass | |||
| "Bad Time" | 70 | ||||||
| 1997 | "Big Star" | 162 | Sound of Lies | ||||
| 2000 | "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" | 40 | 163 | Smile | |||
| 2003 | "Save It for a Rainy Day" | Rainy Day Music | |||||
Other appearances
| Year | Song | Album | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Waiting for the Sun" | ONXRT: Live from the Archives Volume 3 | Recorded at The Vic Theatre, Chicago, 7/15/1995 |