Reigning Sound
Encyclopedia
The Reigning Sound is an American garage punk
band originally based out of Memphis
, Tennessee
, now located in Asheville, North Carolina
. The band's current lineup includes former Oblivians
and Compulsive Gamblers
frontman Greg Cartwright
on lead vocals and guitar, David Wayne Gay on bass, Lance Wille on drums, and Dave Amels
on organ.
and the Oblivians
. Originally the band featured Cartwright, Jeremy Scott (bass), Greg Roberson (drums) and Alex Greene (keyboards and guitar.) However, after Cartwright re-located his family to Asheville, North Carolina
in 2004, bassist David Wayne Gay, drummer Lance Wille and keyboardist Dave Amels
joined Cartwright to complete the current line-up.
The Reigning Sound’s debut was "Two Sides to Every Man," a three-song 7", released in May 2001. One month later came their first full-length album "Break Up, Break Down
" (Sympathy for the Record Industry
.) With its country-folk melodies, the first album was to be an early blueprint of where Cartwright’s songwriting was headed.
"Time Bomb High School
", (In the Red
) was released in August 2002, and is known for its polished sound, pop hooks and delicate balance of classic R&B and rock & roll. Aside from the originals on the album, Cartwright blended in cover songs like “Stormy Weather” and “Brown Paper Sack”, producing them in the same, recognisable sound the band had developed.
Reigning Sound’s third album “Too Much Guitar
,” (In the Red) was released in May 2004 with recording help from fellow Memphians Jay Reatard
and Alicja Trout
from the Lost Sounds
; with a noticeably louder and noisier sound than previous recordings. Songs laced with psych-pop, garage, soul, country and (of course) too-much guitar compete with Cartwright’s vocals at times in the loud fuzzy mix. An opening slot on a huge American tour with the Swedish garage band The Hives
helped to promote the album shortly after its release. A misprint in the album credits gives the impression that founding member Alex Greene appeared on only one song. In fact, he played on half the album: "You Got Me Hummin'", "When You Touch Me," "Get It," "Drowning," "Uptight Tonight," "Let Yourself Go," and "Medication."
“The Reigning Sound: Live at Maxwell’s” (Telstar/Spoonful) was released in July 2005. The notorious end of the gig features Cartwright (with no back-up set) breaking all but three guitar strings but still finishing the show for the rowdy crowd. This rough-sounding live album is the only record featuring the Sam Cooke
cover track “I Need You Now,” as a homage by Cartwright to one of his favorite singers.
In September 2005 The Reigning Sound released a rarities comp Home For Orphans
(Sympathy for the Record Industry
.) The album features slower, moodier alternate versions of tunes from “Too Much Guitar” along with some other unreleased tracks.
Late in January 2006, Memphis based Goner Records released “The Reigning Sound: Live at Goner Records,” a daytime in-store performance recorded in June 2005. The album also hosts cover songs like “Black Sheep” by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, “Tennessee” by Carl Perkins
and “Do Something” by The Swingin' Yo-Yo's.
After spending a portion of 2005 recording an album for George Soule with legends Dan Penn
and Spooner Oldham
, the band once again began recording with Mary Weiss
, of the legendary 60s band The Shangri-Las
, widely known for their hit “Leader of the Pack
.” Reigning Sound was the backing band on the first new Mary Weiss album in over three decades. Cartwright also co-produced the album with Billy Miller and wrote nine of the 14 songs featured on the record. Norton Records released “Dangerous Game” in March 2007, receiving favorable reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone Magazine as well as performing with Weiss on NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
The Reigning Sound released a new full length album, "Love & Curses," on In the Red Records in August 2009, featuring 14 songs including one cover, "Stick Over Me", originally recorded by The Glass Sun (interpreted on the album as "Stick Up For Me"). The band also recorded a "Mind Over Matter, '50s R&B cover, for the compilation Daddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos
.
track: As Long As You Come Home
track: Straight Shooter
track: Medication
track: I'll Cry
track: Drowning
track: Mind Over Matter
Garage punk
Garage punk is a fusion of garage rock and punk rock. It is fast-paced lo-fi music characterized by a dirty, choppy guitar sound—usually played by bands who are on independent record labels or who are unsigned...
band originally based out of Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, now located in Asheville, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. The band's current lineup includes former Oblivians
Oblivians
The Oblivians were an American punk rock trio that existed from 1993 to 1998. In the 1990s, their blues-infused brand of bravado, crudely-recorded music made them one of the most popular and prominent bands within the underground garage rock scene....
and Compulsive Gamblers
Compulsive Gamblers
Compulsive Gamblers were a garage-rock group formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1990 by Greg Cartwright and Jack Yarber, both future members of the Oblivians.-First incarnation:...
frontman Greg Cartwright
Greg Cartwright
Greg Cartwright, also known by his stage name Greg Oblivian, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Memphis, Tennessee. He currently fronts Reigning Sound and lives in Asheville, North Carolina...
on lead vocals and guitar, David Wayne Gay on bass, Lance Wille on drums, and Dave Amels
Dave Amels
Dave Amels co-founded music technology companies Voce musical instruments and Bomb Factory. Both companies are known for detailed and realistic mathematical models of complex physical systems...
on organ.
History
The Reigning Sound was formed in 2001 by Memphis garage punk legend Greg Cartwright (vocals/guitar), who is also known for his previous bands Compulsive GamblersCompulsive Gamblers
Compulsive Gamblers were a garage-rock group formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1990 by Greg Cartwright and Jack Yarber, both future members of the Oblivians.-First incarnation:...
and the Oblivians
Oblivians
The Oblivians were an American punk rock trio that existed from 1993 to 1998. In the 1990s, their blues-infused brand of bravado, crudely-recorded music made them one of the most popular and prominent bands within the underground garage rock scene....
. Originally the band featured Cartwright, Jeremy Scott (bass), Greg Roberson (drums) and Alex Greene (keyboards and guitar.) However, after Cartwright re-located his family to Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...
in 2004, bassist David Wayne Gay, drummer Lance Wille and keyboardist Dave Amels
Dave Amels
Dave Amels co-founded music technology companies Voce musical instruments and Bomb Factory. Both companies are known for detailed and realistic mathematical models of complex physical systems...
joined Cartwright to complete the current line-up.
The Reigning Sound’s debut was "Two Sides to Every Man," a three-song 7", released in May 2001. One month later came their first full-length album "Break Up, Break Down
Break Up, Break Down
Break Up, Break Down is the first LP by the Reigning Sound. It was released on May 15, 2001 by Sympathy for the Record Industry. The album was the band's second release, following their debut 7" single "Two Sides to Every Man," by three months...
" (Sympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by record industry anti-mogul Long Gone John...
.) With its country-folk melodies, the first album was to be an early blueprint of where Cartwright’s songwriting was headed.
"Time Bomb High School
Time Bomb High School
Time Bomb High School is the second album by the Reigning Sound. It was released in 2002 on In the Red Records. The album featured the original Reigning Sound lineup of Greg Cartwright on lead vocals and guitar; Alex Greene on organ, piano, guitar, and backing vocals; Jeremy Scott on bass, and...
", (In the Red
In the Red Records
In the Red Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, CA formed in 1991 by Larry Hardy. It is known for hosting garage punk related bands on its label....
) was released in August 2002, and is known for its polished sound, pop hooks and delicate balance of classic R&B and rock & roll. Aside from the originals on the album, Cartwright blended in cover songs like “Stormy Weather” and “Brown Paper Sack”, producing them in the same, recognisable sound the band had developed.
Reigning Sound’s third album “Too Much Guitar
Too Much Guitar
Too Much Guitar is the third album by the Reigning Sound. It was released in 2004 by In the Red Records. Originally, bandleader Greg Cartwright toyed with the idea of calling the album PILL-POPPING MOM ONLY TAKING WHAT SHE NEEDS TO GET BY, a headline which he had seen in a Commercial Appeal medical...
,” (In the Red) was released in May 2004 with recording help from fellow Memphians Jay Reatard
Jay Reatard
Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr. , better known by the stage name Jay Reatard, was an American musician from Memphis, Tennessee. Lindsey was signed to Matador Records...
and Alicja Trout
Alicja Trout
Alicja Trout is a Memphis-based American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and artist.She is best known for her work with the synth-heavy Lost Sounds, which she started with Jay Reatard...
from the Lost Sounds
Lost Sounds
Lost Sounds was a rock band from Memphis, Tennessee. Starting in March 1999, the band was made up of Rich Crook on drums, Patrick Jordan on bass, Jay Reatard on synth, guitar and vocals, and Alicja Trout also on synth, guitar and vocals. The band, originally working within the garage rock genre,...
; with a noticeably louder and noisier sound than previous recordings. Songs laced with psych-pop, garage, soul, country and (of course) too-much guitar compete with Cartwright’s vocals at times in the loud fuzzy mix. An opening slot on a huge American tour with the Swedish garage band The Hives
The Hives
The Hives are a Swedish garage rock band that first garnered attention in the early 2000s as a prominent group of the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the "greatest hits" album Your New Favourite Band, featuring their most well-known song "Hate to Say I Told...
helped to promote the album shortly after its release. A misprint in the album credits gives the impression that founding member Alex Greene appeared on only one song. In fact, he played on half the album: "You Got Me Hummin'", "When You Touch Me," "Get It," "Drowning," "Uptight Tonight," "Let Yourself Go," and "Medication."
“The Reigning Sound: Live at Maxwell’s” (Telstar/Spoonful) was released in July 2005. The notorious end of the gig features Cartwright (with no back-up set) breaking all but three guitar strings but still finishing the show for the rowdy crowd. This rough-sounding live album is the only record featuring the Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
cover track “I Need You Now,” as a homage by Cartwright to one of his favorite singers.
In September 2005 The Reigning Sound released a rarities comp Home For Orphans
Home for Orphans
Home For Orphans is a compilation album by the Reigning Sound. It was released in 2005 on Sympathy for the Record Industry. The album features the original Reigning Sound lineup of Greg Cartwright on lead vocals and guitar; Alex Greene on organ, piano, guitar, and backing vocals; Jeremy Scott on...
(Sympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by record industry anti-mogul Long Gone John...
.) The album features slower, moodier alternate versions of tunes from “Too Much Guitar” along with some other unreleased tracks.
Late in January 2006, Memphis based Goner Records released “The Reigning Sound: Live at Goner Records,” a daytime in-store performance recorded in June 2005. The album also hosts cover songs like “Black Sheep” by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, “Tennessee” by Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
and “Do Something” by The Swingin' Yo-Yo's.
After spending a portion of 2005 recording an album for George Soule with legends Dan Penn
Dan Penn
Dan Penn is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and sometime guitar player who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s including "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and "Out of Left Field" & "Cry Like A Baby"...
and Spooner Oldham
Spooner Oldham
Dewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and at FAME Studios on such hit R&B songs as "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge, "Mustang Sally" by Wilson Pickett and "I Never Loved a Man" by Aretha...
, the band once again began recording with Mary Weiss
Mary Weiss
Mary Weiss, born on December 28 in Queens, New York, found fame in the 1960s as the lead singer of The Shangri-Las. She then vanished from the music scene for decades, returning in 2007 to record her first solo album with Norton Records....
, of the legendary 60s band The Shangri-Las
The Shangri-Las
The Shangri-Las were an American pop girl group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966 they charted with often heartbreaking teen melodramas, and remain best known for "Leader of the Pack" and "Remember ".- Early career :...
, widely known for their hit “Leader of the Pack
Leader of the Pack
"Leader of the Pack" is a 1964 pop song recorded by girl group The Shangri-Las. It became number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 28, 1964.-Original Shangri-Las recording:...
.” Reigning Sound was the backing band on the first new Mary Weiss album in over three decades. Cartwright also co-produced the album with Billy Miller and wrote nine of the 14 songs featured on the record. Norton Records released “Dangerous Game” in March 2007, receiving favorable reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone Magazine as well as performing with Weiss on NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
The Reigning Sound released a new full length album, "Love & Curses," on In the Red Records in August 2009, featuring 14 songs including one cover, "Stick Over Me", originally recorded by The Glass Sun (interpreted on the album as "Stick Up For Me"). The band also recorded a "Mind Over Matter, '50s R&B cover, for the compilation Daddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos
Daddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos
Daddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos is a vinyl-only tribute album released by The Wind Records and distributed by Norton Records....
.
Singles
- Here Without You 7" (Sympathy For The Record Industry, 2001, SFTRI 656)
- If Christmas Won't Bring You Home 7"(Norton Records, 2004, 45-121)
- I'll Cry 7" (Slovenly Recordings, 2005, 702-50)
- Don't Come Back 7" (Norton Records 2007)- Mary Weiss ft. Reigning Sound
Albums
- Break Up, Break DownBreak Up, Break DownBreak Up, Break Down is the first LP by the Reigning Sound. It was released on May 15, 2001 by Sympathy for the Record Industry. The album was the band's second release, following their debut 7" single "Two Sides to Every Man," by three months...
LP/CD (Sympathy For The Record Industry, 2001, SFTRI 654) - Time Bomb High SchoolTime Bomb High SchoolTime Bomb High School is the second album by the Reigning Sound. It was released in 2002 on In the Red Records. The album featured the original Reigning Sound lineup of Greg Cartwright on lead vocals and guitar; Alex Greene on organ, piano, guitar, and backing vocals; Jeremy Scott on bass, and...
- Vinyl LP (In The Red, 2002, ITR 084) - sleeve is different from CD - Time Bomb High SchoolTime Bomb High SchoolTime Bomb High School is the second album by the Reigning Sound. It was released in 2002 on In the Red Records. The album featured the original Reigning Sound lineup of Greg Cartwright on lead vocals and guitar; Alex Greene on organ, piano, guitar, and backing vocals; Jeremy Scott on bass, and...
CD (In The Red, 2002, ITR 084) - Too Much GuitarToo Much GuitarToo Much Guitar is the third album by the Reigning Sound. It was released in 2004 by In the Red Records. Originally, bandleader Greg Cartwright toyed with the idea of calling the album PILL-POPPING MOM ONLY TAKING WHAT SHE NEEDS TO GET BY, a headline which he had seen in a Commercial Appeal medical...
LP/CD (In The Red, 2004, ITR 107) - Home For OrphansHome for OrphansHome For Orphans is a compilation album by the Reigning Sound. It was released in 2005 on Sympathy for the Record Industry. The album features the original Reigning Sound lineup of Greg Cartwright on lead vocals and guitar; Alex Greene on organ, piano, guitar, and backing vocals; Jeremy Scott on...
LP/CD (Sympathy For The Record Industry, 2005, SFTRI 736) - Live At Maxwell's LP (Spoonful Records, 2005, LP-SR-005)
- Live At Maxwell's CD (Telstar Records, 2005, TR 049)
- LIVE AT GONER RECORDS CD (limited of 200)
- LIVE AT GONER RECORDS LP (21Gone)
- Dangerous Game LP & CD (Norton Records 2007)- Mary Weiss ft. Reigning Sound
- Love & Curses LP (ITR, 2009)
7" Vinyl Splits
- The Hentchmen / Reigning Sound "Rolling Stones Sereies" 45rpm(Norton Records, 2003, 9642)
Compilations
- Root Damage 2xLP/2xCD (Sympathy For The Record Industry, 2003, SFTRI 713)
track: As Long As You Come Home
- Revolver Sampler Winter 2003 CD (Revolver, 2003, cat.no.?)
track: Straight Shooter
- Broad Daylight Soundtrack CD (Guerrilla Monster Films, 2003, #12300)
track: Medication
- Superfuzz CD (Lowfly Records, 2005, LF 061)
track: I'll Cry
- Static Disaster The U.K.: In The Red Records Sampler CD (In The Red, 2005, ITR 1313)
track: Drowning
- Daddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The DiablosDaddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The DiablosDaddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos is a vinyl-only tribute album released by The Wind Records and distributed by Norton Records....
(The Wind / Norton RecordsNorton RecordsFor the Canadian independent record label of the same name, see Matt Minglewood.Norton Records, a New York City based independent record label founded by musicians Miriam Linna and Billy Miller, maintains a focus on primitive, retro rock'n'roll, rockabilly, garage punk, garage rock, lounge music...
, 2010, TWR002 LP)
track: Mind Over Matter