Jody Harris
Encyclopedia
Jody Harris is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer who was born in Kansas and became a central figure in the seminal No Wave
scene in New York City
in the 1970s.
, perhaps the most influential of the No Wave
bands. He was also a key member of a number of bands that emerged from the No Wave
scene, including the Raybeats
and the Golden Palominos
.
Harris has also recorded as a solo artist and with guitarist Robert Quine
. In 1977, he joined Quine in a band backing rock critic Lester Bangs
on Bangs' album, Let It Blurt, produced by John Cale
. He was also briefly a member of the Voidoids
and played on many recordings by a wide range of artists, including Matthew Sweet
, Syd Straw
, Kip Hanrahan
and John Zorn
.
With Quine, he composed all the music on their collaborative album, Escape, as well as co-writing virtually all the Raybeats
' material. He also composed all the songs and instrumentals on his one solo album, except for one song co-written with Don Christensen. As part of Anton Fier
's supergroup the Golden Palominos
, he co-wrote the majority of the songs on the band's acclaimed second album, Visions of Excess
.
Robert Palmer
, writing in the New York Times in 1987, praised "the luminous clarity" of Harris's lead guitar work for the Golden Palominos, while the Village Voice's Robert Christgau
obliquely criticized what he called a "weakness for the genre exercise". Quine himself, however, declared Harris's work "tragically underrated -- he's so far advanced, way past me and people can't hear it".
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
scene in 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...
in the 1970s.
Career history
Harris was lead guitarist in the ContortionsJames Chance and the Contortions
James Chance and the Contortions, led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, were one of the original punk jazz groups of the New York No Wave music scene. Their first recording, credited solely as Contortions, was on the 1978 compilation, No New York, produced by Brain Eno...
, perhaps the most influential of the No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
bands. He was also a key member of a number of bands that emerged from the No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
scene, including the Raybeats
Raybeats
The Raybeats were an instrumental neo-surf rock combo from New York City that arose from the No Wave musical scene. The original line-up consisted of Don Christensen , Jody Harris , Pat Irwin , and George Scott III .- History :The Raybeats formed in 1979, brought together by George Scott...
and the Golden Palominos
The Golden Palominos
The Golden Palominos was an American musical group headed by drummer and composer Anton Fier, first formed in 1981. Aside from Fier, the Palominos membership was wildly elastic, with only bassist Bill Laswell and guitarist Nicky Skopelitis appearing on every album.While the Palominos' records...
.
Harris has also recorded as a solo artist and with guitarist Robert Quine
Robert Quine
Robert Wolfe Quine was an American guitarist, known for his innovative guitar solos.A native of Akron, Ohio, Quine worked with a wide range of musicians, though he himself remained relatively unknown in comparison...
. In 1977, he joined Quine in a band backing rock critic Lester Bangs
Lester Bangs
Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist, author and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock 'n' roll criticism....
on Bangs' album, Let It Blurt, produced by John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
. He was also briefly a member of the Voidoids
The Voidoids
The Voidoids, also known as Richard Hell & The Voidoids, were an American rock band from the first wave of punk rock, fronted by Richard Hell, a former member of the Neon Boys, Television and the Heartbreakers...
and played on many recordings by a wide range of artists, including Matthew Sweet
Matthew Sweet
Sidney Matthew Sweet is an American alternative rock/power pop musician. He was part of the burgeoning Athens, Georgia music scene in the early and mid-1980s before gaining commercial success during the early 1990s...
, Syd Straw
Syd Straw
Syd Straw is an American rock singer and songwriter. The daughter of actor Jack Straw , she began her career singing backup for Pat Benatar, then took her distinct voice to the indie/alternative scene and joined the Golden Palominos...
, Kip Hanrahan
Kip Hanrahan
Kip Hanrahan is an American jazz music impresario, record producer and percussionist.-Biography:Hanrahan was born in a Puerto Rican neighborhood in the Bronx to an Irish-Jewish family. He has an unusual role in the albums released under his name, one which he has analogized to that of a film...
and John Zorn
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
.
With Quine, he composed all the music on their collaborative album, Escape, as well as co-writing virtually all the Raybeats
Raybeats
The Raybeats were an instrumental neo-surf rock combo from New York City that arose from the No Wave musical scene. The original line-up consisted of Don Christensen , Jody Harris , Pat Irwin , and George Scott III .- History :The Raybeats formed in 1979, brought together by George Scott...
' material. He also composed all the songs and instrumentals on his one solo album, except for one song co-written with Don Christensen. As part of Anton Fier
Anton Fier
Anton Fier, , is an American drummer, composer and bandleader. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio.Fier was an early member of The Lounge Lizards and The Feelies. He was in The Lodge , worked with Pere Ubu, was briefly in the Voidoids and founded The Golden Palominos...
's supergroup the Golden Palominos
The Golden Palominos
The Golden Palominos was an American musical group headed by drummer and composer Anton Fier, first formed in 1981. Aside from Fier, the Palominos membership was wildly elastic, with only bassist Bill Laswell and guitarist Nicky Skopelitis appearing on every album.While the Palominos' records...
, he co-wrote the majority of the songs on the band's acclaimed second album, Visions of Excess
Visions of Excess
Visions of Excess is the second album by the Golden Palominos, which were composed of a largely different line-up than appeared on their first album...
.
Critical appraisals
One esteemed critic described Harris as a "seasoned campaigner from the late-70's flowering of American postpunk", while another called him "one of the most underrated guitarists" on the New York scene.Robert Palmer
Robert Palmer (author/producer)
Robert Franklin Palmer Jr. was a 20th century American writer, musicologist, clarinetist, saxophonist, and blues producer...
, writing in the New York Times in 1987, praised "the luminous clarity" of Harris's lead guitar work for the Golden Palominos, while the Village Voice's Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
obliquely criticized what he called a "weakness for the genre exercise". Quine himself, however, declared Harris's work "tragically underrated -- he's so far advanced, way past me and people can't hear it".
The Contortions
- No New YorkNo New YorkNo New York is a compilation album released in 1978 by Antilles Records under the curation of producer Brian Eno. Although it only contained songs by four different artists, it is considered by many to be the definitive single album documenting New York City's late-1970s No Wave...
(AntillesAntilles RecordsAntilles Records was an American record label that was a subsidiary of Island Records.Its jazz catalog is now managed by Verve Records.-Discography:*1001 Joanne Brackeen - Special Identity 1981*1002 Biréli Lagrène- Routes To Django 1980...
1978) - BuyBuy (album)Buy is a 1979 album by James Chance and the Contortions released under the name Contortions. Buy was Contortions' debut album, originally released by the indie label ZE, while at the same time the album Off White under the alias of James White, was also released.-Track listing:All tracks by James...
(1979) - Paris 1980 Live Aux Bains Douches (1980)
- Live in New York (1981)
- NY No Wave (ZEZE RecordsZE Records was originally a New York-based record label, started in 1978 by Michael Zilkha and Michel Esteban. It has been re-established by Esteban since 2003.-History:Michael Zilkha ZE Records (always written with two capital letters) was originally a New York-based record label, started in...
2003)
The Raybeats
- Start Swimming (StiffStiff RecordsStiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....
1981) (live compilation) - Roping Wild Bears (Don't Fall Off the Mountain 1981)
- Guitar BeatGuitar BeatGuitar Beat is the debut album by neo-surf combo the Raybeats. It was produced by Martin Rushent. The album features ten original instrumentals, plus a Jan and Dean cover....
(PVC/Passport 1981) - It's Only A Movie! (ShanachieShanachie RecordsShanachie Records was founded in 1976 by Richard Nevins and Dan Collins. According to Harvey Pekar , it is one of the largest independent record labels in the world, and is currently distributed by E1 Music. Starting as a label that specialized in fiddle music, they began releasing work by Celtic...
1983) - Children of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era, 1976-1995Children of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The Second Psychedelic Era, 1976-1995Children of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era, 1976–1995 is a four compact disc compilation album of alternative pop music recorded between 1976 and 1995, although most of the recordings are from the 1980s. It was released on Rhino Records in 2005...
(Rhino 2005)
Jody Harris & Robert Quine
- Escape (Infidelity \ Lust/Unlust Music 1981)
- Come Together: Guitar Tribute to the Beatles, Vol. 2 (NYC 1995) (compilation)
The Golden Palominos
- Visions of ExcessVisions of ExcessVisions of Excess is the second album by the Golden Palominos, which were composed of a largely different line-up than appeared on their first album...
(CelluloidCelluloid RecordsCelluloid Records, a French/American record label, founded by Jean Georgakarakos operated from 1976 to 1989 in New York, and produced a series of eclectic and ground-breaking releases, particularly in the early to late 1980s, largely under the auspices of de facto in-house producer Bill...
1985) - Blast of Silence (Celluloid 1986)
Other artists
- Let It Blurt - Lester BangsLester BangsLeslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist, author and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock 'n' roll criticism....
(SPY 1977) - Off WhiteOff WhiteOff White is a 1979 No Wave album by James White, also known as James Chance.-Side one:# "Contort Yourself" – 6:15 # "Stained Sheets" – 5:51# " Heat Wave" – 3:55...
- James White & The BlacksJames ChanceJames Chance, also known as James White , is an American saxophonist, songwriter and singer....
(ZE 1979) - Lizzy Mercier DesclouxLizzy Mercier DesclouxLizzy Mercier Descloux was a French singer and musician, a pioneer in the worldbeat genre, as well as a writer and painter....
(ZE 1980) - Stop Vicious Cycles - Jill Kroesen (Vital 1982)
- Desire Develops an Edge - Kip HanrahanKip HanrahanKip Hanrahan is an American jazz music impresario, record producer and percussionist.-Biography:Hanrahan was born in a Puerto Rican neighborhood in the Bronx to an Irish-Jewish family. He has an unusual role in the albums released under his name, one which he has analogized to that of a film...
(American Clavé) - The Big GundownThe Big Gundown (album)The Big Gundown is an album by American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist John Zorn. It comprises radically reworked covers of tracks by the Italian film composer Ennio Morricone....
- John ZornJohn ZornJohn Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
(NonesuchNonesuch RecordsNonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
1986) - Inside - Matthew SweetMatthew SweetSidney Matthew Sweet is an American alternative rock/power pop musician. He was part of the burgeoning Athens, Georgia music scene in the early and mid-1980s before gaining commercial success during the early 1990s...
(ColumbiaColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
1986) - Surprise - Syd StrawSyd StrawSyd Straw is an American rock singer and songwriter. The daughter of actor Jack Straw , she began her career singing backup for Pat Benatar, then took her distinct voice to the indie/alternative scene and joined the Golden Palominos...
(1989) - The Trouble Tree - Freedy JohnstonFreedy JohnstonFreedy Johnston is a New York City-based singer-songwriter originally from Kinsley, Kansas.Having scored several minor hits since the early 1990s, Johnston's songs are often about troubled loners, and cover topics like heartbreak, alienation and disappointment...
(Bar/None 1990) - Music for Films (TzadikTzadik RecordsTzadik Records is a record label based in New York City specialising in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by the eclectic composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995; Zorn is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases...
)
External links
- http://www.furious.com/PERFECT/quine/jodyharris.htmlJody Harris-penned tribute to Robert QuineRobert QuineRobert Wolfe Quine was an American guitarist, known for his innovative guitar solos.A native of Akron, Ohio, Quine worked with a wide range of musicians, though he himself remained relatively unknown in comparison...
in Perfect Sound Forever], May 2007 - Interview with Dusted webzine