Tav Falco
Encyclopedia
Tav Falco is an American
-born musical performer, performance artist, actor
, filmmaker, and photographer. He has led the psychedelic
rock-and-roll
group Tav Falco's Panther Burns
(named after a plantation
in Mississippi
) since 1979. He moved to Europe
in the late 1990s and since 2002 has been touring with a stable formation of musicians from Paris and Rome in his Panther Burns group.
, and moved to Memphis, Tennessee
, in 1973. He started the nonprofit Televista "art-action" video group in Memphis to document local musicians and artists in the mid 1970s with fellow Arkansas poet, performance artist, and videographer Randall Lyon. Falco and Lyon were both heavily influenced by the work of their mentor and friend, noted Memphis color photographer William Eggleston
. Alex Chilton
was impressed by a 1978 performance of Falco's at The Orpheum in Memphis that culminated in the chainsawing of a guitar. The two teamed up musically and evolved into the self-styled "art damage" band, Tav Falco's Panther Burns. The group recorded a first album
for Rough Trade
at Ardent Studios
in Memphis, after a previous 1980 session for the label at Phillips Recording
was temporarily shelved (later rereleased on Marilyn Records as The Unreleased Sessions in 1992).
Just as he began his early career documenting other artists using video and photography, Falco devoted some of his musical career trying to bring attention to great traditional artists obscured from the media's view. He introduced their work to his audiences and to writers following his work by performing Panther Burns shows on billings with these artists, recording interpretations of their songs, and occasionally collaborating with some of them on projects for small record labels he's been associated with, like Au Go Go and New Rose. Among these artists were blueswoman Jessie Mae Hemphill
and rockabilly pioneer Charlie Feathers
. Falco and Lux Interior of The Cramps
worked on the photography and liner notes, respectively, for the 1982 Honky Tonk Man album by Feathers, whose energetic, hiccup-styled vocals from the 1950s influenced both vocalists. Others of his area music heroes who have performed at Panther Burns events include Cordell Jackson
, R. L. Burnside
, Mose Vinson
, and Van Zula Hunt. While releasing numerous Panther Burns albums on small international indie labels, Falco also has co-released some recordings by his band and other Memphis-area artists on his own Frenzi label.
Falco has appeared as an actor with small parts in film
s such as Great Balls of Fire!
(1989 - USA), The Big Post Office Robbery (1992 - Hungary), Highway 61 (1991 - Canada), Downtown 81
(2001 - USA), and Wayne County Rambling (2002 - USA). Long a student of the tango under European and Argentine instructors, he also appeared in Dans Le Rouge du Couchant (2003 - France) as a tango dancer, choreographing his part in the film. Several short films he has appeared in, most of which he also produced and in some cases served as the filmmaker, have been shown in underground arts venues like The Horse Hospital in London. In 2003 six of Falco's short films were accepted and archived into the permanent collection of the Cinémathèque Française
in Paris. The short films archived are Love's Last Warning (1996), Born Too Late (1993), Helene of Memphis (1991), Memphis Beat (1989), Shadetree Mechanic (1986), and 71 Salvage (1971). A selection of Falco's short films were shown in a retrospective at the Cinémathèque Française in 2006.
Tav Falco has collaborated with the American underground author, rock writer and journalist Erik Morse
on a dual, 450-page encyclopedic history and psychogeography
of the city of Memphis, Tennessee
. The two volumes together are entitled MONDO MEMPHIS. Falco's book is a study of Memphis beginning with the Civil War
up to more recent autobiographical accounts in the city. Morse's roman noir follows a West Coast graduate student and his encounters with a Memphis secret society
. The volumes are published by Creation Books
, and the paperback edition of Falco's volume is set to be published in November, 2011.
Falco has said his main artistic purpose is "to stir up the dark waters of the unconscious."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-born musical performer, performance artist, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, filmmaker, and photographer. He has led the psychedelic
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt 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 the...
rock-and-roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
group Tav Falco's Panther Burns
Tav Falco's Panther Burns
Tav Falco's Panther Burns, sometimes shortened to Panther Burns, is a rock band originally from Memphis, Tennessee, United States, led by Tav Falco...
(named after a plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
) since 1979. He moved to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in the late 1990s and since 2002 has been touring with a stable formation of musicians from Paris and Rome in his Panther Burns group.
Biography
Born Gustavo Antonio Falco, he eventually chose the stage name "Tav Falco." Falco was raised in the country, between Whelen Springs and Gurdon, ArkansasGurdon, Arkansas
Gurdon is a city in Clark County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 2,276 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Gurdon is located at ....
, and moved to Memphis, Tennessee
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....
, in 1973. He started the nonprofit Televista "art-action" video group in Memphis to document local musicians and artists in the mid 1970s with fellow Arkansas poet, performance artist, and videographer Randall Lyon. Falco and Lyon were both heavily influenced by the work of their mentor and friend, noted Memphis color photographer William Eggleston
William Eggleston
William Eggleston , is an American photographer. He is widely credited with increasing recognition for color photography as a legitimate artistic medium to display in art galleries—which, until the 1970s, often tended to privilege work by photographers making black-and-white prints.- Early years...
. Alex Chilton
Alex Chilton
William Alexander "Alex" Chilton was an American songwriter, guitarist, singer and producer, best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star...
was impressed by a 1978 performance of Falco's at The Orpheum in Memphis that culminated in the chainsawing of a guitar. The two teamed up musically and evolved into the self-styled "art damage" band, Tav Falco's Panther Burns. The group recorded a first album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
for Rough Trade
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
at Ardent Studios
Ardent Studios
Ardent Studios is a recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee. Ardent Records/Ardent Music is the in-house label.- History :Ardent Studios was founded by John Fry and was initially a studio in his family's garage, where he recorded his first Ardent Records 45's. In 1966 the operation moved...
in Memphis, after a previous 1980 session for the label at Phillips Recording
Phillips Recording
Phillips Recording is the short name widely used to refer to the Sam C. Phillips Recording Studio opened at 639 Madison Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee by Sam Phillips in 1960...
was temporarily shelved (later rereleased on Marilyn Records as The Unreleased Sessions in 1992).
Just as he began his early career documenting other artists using video and photography, Falco devoted some of his musical career trying to bring attention to great traditional artists obscured from the media's view. He introduced their work to his audiences and to writers following his work by performing Panther Burns shows on billings with these artists, recording interpretations of their songs, and occasionally collaborating with some of them on projects for small record labels he's been associated with, like Au Go Go and New Rose. Among these artists were blueswoman Jessie Mae Hemphill
Jessie Mae Hemphill
Jessie Mae Hemphill was an American award-winning electric guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist specializing in the primal, northern Mississippi country blues traditions of her family and regional heritage....
and rockabilly pioneer Charlie Feathers
Charlie Feathers
Charles Arthur "Charlie" Feathers was an influential American rockabilly and country music performer.-Biography:...
. Falco and Lux Interior of The Cramps
The Cramps
The Cramps were an American rock band, formed in 1976 and active until 2009. The band split after the death of lead singer Lux Interior. Their line-up rotated much over their existence, with the husband and wife duo of Interior and lead guitarist Poison Ivy the only permanent members...
worked on the photography and liner notes, respectively, for the 1982 Honky Tonk Man album by Feathers, whose energetic, hiccup-styled vocals from the 1950s influenced both vocalists. Others of his area music heroes who have performed at Panther Burns events include Cordell Jackson
Cordell Jackson
Cordell Jackson was an American guitarist thought to be the first woman to produce, engineer, arrange and promote music on her own rock and roll music label...
, R. L. Burnside
R. L. Burnside
Not to be confused with R. H. Burnside, stage director.R. L. Burnside , born Robert Lee Burnside, was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist who lived much of his life in and around Holly Springs, Mississippi. He played music for much of his life, but did not receive much attention...
, Mose Vinson
Mose Vinson
Mose Vinson was an American boogie-woogie, blues and jazz pianist and singer. His best known recordings were "Blues With A Feeling" and "Sweet Root Man". Over his lengthy career, Vinson worked with various musicians including Booker T. Laury and James Cotton.-Biography:Vinson was born in Holly...
, and Van Zula Hunt. While releasing numerous Panther Burns albums on small international indie labels, Falco also has co-released some recordings by his band and other Memphis-area artists on his own Frenzi label.
Falco has appeared as an actor with small parts in film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s such as Great Balls of Fire!
Great Balls of Fire! (film)
Great Balls of Fire! is a 1989 American biographical film directed by Jim McBride and starring Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis. Based on a biography by Myra Lewis and Murray M. Silver Jr., the screenplay is written by McBride and Jack Baran...
(1989 - USA), The Big Post Office Robbery (1992 - Hungary), Highway 61 (1991 - Canada), Downtown 81
Downtown 81
Downtown 81 is a film that was shot in 1980-1981.This film, directed by Edo Bertoglio, written and produced by Glenn O'Brien with post-production in 1999-2000 by Maripol, is a rare real-life snapshot of ultra-hip subculture of post-punk era Manhattan...
(2001 - USA), and Wayne County Rambling (2002 - USA). Long a student of the tango under European and Argentine instructors, he also appeared in Dans Le Rouge du Couchant (2003 - France) as a tango dancer, choreographing his part in the film. Several short films he has appeared in, most of which he also produced and in some cases served as the filmmaker, have been shown in underground arts venues like The Horse Hospital in London. In 2003 six of Falco's short films were accepted and archived into the permanent collection of the Cinémathèque Française
Cinémathèque Française
The Cinémathèque Française holds one of the largest archives of films, movie documents and film-related objects in the world. Located in Paris, the Cinémathèque holds daily screenings of films from around the world.-History:...
in Paris. The short films archived are Love's Last Warning (1996), Born Too Late (1993), Helene of Memphis (1991), Memphis Beat (1989), Shadetree Mechanic (1986), and 71 Salvage (1971). A selection of Falco's short films were shown in a retrospective at the Cinémathèque Française in 2006.
Tav Falco has collaborated with the American underground author, rock writer and journalist Erik Morse
Erik Morse
Erik Morse , is an American underground author, rock writer and journalist.Morse was born and grew up in the small town of Conroe, Texas near a farm site where Beat writers Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs once lived in the 1940s...
on a dual, 450-page encyclopedic history and psychogeography
Psychogeography
Psychogeography was defined in 1955 by Guy Debord as "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals." Another definition is "a whole toy box full of playful, inventive strategies for...
of the city of Memphis, 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...
. The two volumes together are entitled MONDO MEMPHIS. Falco's book is a study of Memphis beginning with the Civil War
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
up to more recent autobiographical accounts in the city. Morse's roman noir follows a West Coast graduate student and his encounters with a Memphis secret society
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
. The volumes are published by Creation Books
Creation Books
Creation Books is a British publishing house specializing in experimental literature, surrealism, erotic and decadent literature. Creation also publish non-fiction, with books on magic, subcultures, and taboo topics such as suicide and serial killers. They are best known for publishing a number of...
, and the paperback edition of Falco's volume is set to be published in November, 2011.
Falco has said his main artistic purpose is "to stir up the dark waters of the unconscious."
External links
- Tav Falco and Panther Burns fan site
- Tav Falco and Panther Burns site at Myspace
- [ Panther Burns overview and discography, Allmusic]
- Tav Falco Biography at Trümmer Booking and Promotion
- Grunnen Rocks Tav Falco & Panther Burns pages
- Tav Falco - The Happy Shopper at Outsideleft