Pell Mell
Encyclopedia
Pell Mell was an instrumental
rock
combo
, formed in 1980 in Portland, Oregon
.
The original members were Arni May, guitar, and Jon-Lars Sorenson, bass, from the Portland avant-garde group UHF, and from local Reed College
Bill Owen
on guitar, and Bob Beerman on drums. This iteration of the group performed and recorded the songs on their first EP release in 1981, Rhyming Guitars, which gave the group exposure over the nation's college radio network. In 1982 the foursome hired a manager, Bruce Pavitt
in his pre-Sub Pop
mogrification, and did a summer tour of the US, visiting colleges and punk clubs on both coasts. Arni May left the group just as the tour was ready to hit the road, re-birthing Pell Mell as a power trio. This version of the band can be heard on the album Live Cassette, recorded in a Portland club.
With the tour over and a desire to keep playing, the entire group moved to a single house near Berkeley, California
, to continue writing and recording the next album, Bumper Crop. Some of the unreleased songs from the Rhyming Guitars recording session, added to those from a later session with new member Greg Freeman, were released in 1985 on an album named For Years We Stood Clearly As One Thing. While in Berkeley, more personnel changes took place. Steve Fisk
joined as keyboardist, and after making the recordings for the second album, Jon-Lars returned to his career in engineering.
Over the seventeen years the band existed, it experienced a number of line-up changes and recorded for no less than five labels. The drummer, Bob Beerman remained the only constant member of Pell Mell, but its most permanent and final lineup included other notable musicians like keyboardist Steve Fisk, bassist Greg Freeman and guitarist David Spalding. Fisk is known for his extensive production work as well as his solo music career and work in Pigeonhed
and the Halo Benders. Freeman — formerly a member of the Call
— was also a producer outside of Pell Mell. David Spalding was the guitar tech for the Call.
Pell Mell's song titled "Nothing Lies Still Long" from the "Interstate" album featured on HBO's "Six Feet Under" as recap music. The song was used this way for the entire first and second season, and for most of the third season.
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
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...
combo
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 1980 in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
.
The original members were Arni May, guitar, and Jon-Lars Sorenson, bass, from the Portland avant-garde group UHF, and from local Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
Bill Owen
Bill Owen
William John Owen Rowbotham MBE , better known as Bill Owen, was an English actor and songwriter.-Career:...
on guitar, and Bob Beerman on drums. This iteration of the group performed and recorded the songs on their first EP release in 1981, Rhyming Guitars, which gave the group exposure over the nation's college radio network. In 1982 the foursome hired a manager, Bruce Pavitt
Bruce Pavitt
-History:After briefly attending Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois and subsequently transferring to The Evergreen State College in Washington State, Pavitt started a fanzine entitled Subterranean Pop in Olympia, Washington in 1980, about American independent rock bands. Three cassette...
in his pre-Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
mogrification, and did a summer tour of the US, visiting colleges and punk clubs on both coasts. Arni May left the group just as the tour was ready to hit the road, re-birthing Pell Mell as a power trio. This version of the band can be heard on the album Live Cassette, recorded in a Portland club.
With the tour over and a desire to keep playing, the entire group moved to a single house near Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, to continue writing and recording the next album, Bumper Crop. Some of the unreleased songs from the Rhyming Guitars recording session, added to those from a later session with new member Greg Freeman, were released in 1985 on an album named For Years We Stood Clearly As One Thing. While in Berkeley, more personnel changes took place. Steve Fisk
Steve Fisk
Steve Fisk is a Washington-based audio engineer, record producer and musician.Fisk joined the instrumental rock band Pell Mell in 1982. With vocalist Shawn Smith, he formed Pigeonhed, which released its first album in 1993....
joined as keyboardist, and after making the recordings for the second album, Jon-Lars returned to his career in engineering.
Over the seventeen years the band existed, it experienced a number of line-up changes and recorded for no less than five labels. The drummer, Bob Beerman remained the only constant member of Pell Mell, but its most permanent and final lineup included other notable musicians like keyboardist Steve Fisk, bassist Greg Freeman and guitarist David Spalding. Fisk is known for his extensive production work as well as his solo music career and work in Pigeonhed
Pigeonhed
Pigeonhed was a Seattle-area band that combined elements of funk, soul, trip hop, and lo-fi. The band was a collaboration of Shawn Smith and Steve Fisk that lasted from 1993 to 1997 and produced three albums. Soundgarden's Kim Thayil provided significant instrumental contributions to each album...
and the Halo Benders. Freeman — formerly a member of the Call
The Call
- Publications :* The Call , a newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri, serving the Black American community* The New York Call, sometimes simply called The Call, a Socialist newspapter published by the Socialist Party of America...
— was also a producer outside of Pell Mell. David Spalding was the guitar tech for the Call.
Pell Mell's song titled "Nothing Lies Still Long" from the "Interstate" album featured on HBO's "Six Feet Under" as recap music. The song was used this way for the entire first and second season, and for most of the third season.
Discography
- Rhyming Guitars EP (Indoor Records, 1981/ SSTSST RecordsSST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
, 1990) - Live Cassette (Indoor Records, 1982/ Starlight Furniture Company, 2001)
- For Years We Stood Clearly as One Thing (K RecordsK RecordsK Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers...
, 1985) - The Bumper Crop (SST, 1987)
- Flow (SST, 1991)
- Interstate (DGCGeffen RecordsGeffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
, 1995) - Star City (Matador RecordsMatador RecordsMatador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
, 1997)
Singles and Compilations
- "Catwalk" and "Red Rhythm" on Trap Sampler compilation LP (Trap Records, 1981)
- "The Country and the City" on The Lives of Lhasa compilation LP (Lhasa Productions, 1984)
- "Don The Beachcomber" on Rock Stars KillRock Stars KillRock Stars Kill is a compilation of various artists released by Kill Rock Stars on August 1, 1994. The compilation was released simultaneously as a vinyl LP with accompanying 7″ single, and as a CD.-LP:Side one#Tourettes – "Horse Girl"...
compilation CD (Kill Rock StarsKill Rock StarsKill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and based in both Olympia, Washington and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, making it difficult to pigeonhole as having any one artistic mission...
, 1994) - "Bring on the China" (demo version) on Step, Step, Steppin' On Satan's Foot compilation CD (Tedium House Publications, 1994)
- "Swoon" on Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy film soundtrack (Matador Records, 1996)
- "Conversation" on Nigh compilation CD (Castle Von Buhler, 1997)
- Cloverleaf split 7", w/ Acme Rocket Quartet (Lather Records, 1998)