The Troubled Troubador
Encyclopedia
The Troubled Troubador is a posthumous expanded compact disc
edition of punk rock
singer-songwriter
and musician
GG Allin
's original 1990 7" EP
of the same name.
With the 1,500-copy pressing of the original Troubled Troubador EP having long sold out by the time GG Allin had died of a drug overdose in 1993, Mountain Records
owner and president Stewart Brodian had been getting a large amount of requests from Allin fans who had missed out on the original recording.
In October 1995, Brodian gathered together the original master tape of the 7" EP, which was still in his possession, and with the help of Allin's friend and archivist Skeeter Rider, added an outtake from the same May 1989 session that originally produced the EP, a 1985 acoustic demo of an early Allin-composed and performed country song, two spoken word tracks recorded by Allin in 1988, two cover versions recorded with The Jabbers
in 1982 and with The Disappointments in July 1989, and - probably the most fascinating of the bonus tracks - three unedited phone conversations between GG Allin and Stewart Brodian, recorded on Brodian's answering machine in Pennsylvania and conducted from GG's end while he was serving his felonious assault sentence in Michigan.
, and Stonewall Jackson
("I could listen to that shit all day."), and for old blues recordings, as well as how proud Allin was of the recordings that became the original Troubled Troubador EP and how they first came about, even going so far as to predict, "It's one of those records that'll sell forever. As years go on, people want my stuff more, even the older stuff." Allin and Brodian, when not discussing business, found that they had a lot in common as artists that started pressing and releasing their own recordings.
' "Dead Flowers". The Jabbers recording was first released on the No Rules EP in 1982 by David Peel's Orange Records label, and would later turn up on a semi-bootleg 45 in 1993, while the Disappointments recording is one of the few Allin made with that backing group before his arrest by U.S. Secret Service agents and extradition to Michigan several weeks later.
In his liner notes for the CD, Brodian sums up his view of GG Allin by stating, "GG had his 'on stage' personality, but he was a really smart guy, and despite his faults, I really miss him."
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
edition of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
GG Allin
GG Allin
Kevin Michael "GG" Allin was an American punk rock singer-songwriter, who performed and recorded with many groups during his career. GG Allin is perhaps best remembered for his notorious live performances, which often featured transgressive acts, including coprophagia, self-mutilation, and...
's original 1990 7" EP
The Troubled Troubador (EP)
The Troubled Troubador is a 7" EP by punk rock singer/songwriter and performance artist GG Allin, on which Allin takes a deliberate excursion into country music.A longtime fan of Hank Williams Sr...
of the same name.
With the 1,500-copy pressing of the original Troubled Troubador EP having long sold out by the time GG Allin had died of a drug overdose in 1993, Mountain Records
Mountain Records
Mountain Records is a record label started in Cape Town, South Africa in 1980 by Patrick Lee-Thorp.The record label produces mostly South African music and is known as the home of Cape Jazz recordings, having issued a number of albums by such names as Basil Coetzee, Robbie Jansen, Jonathan Butler,...
owner and president Stewart Brodian had been getting a large amount of requests from Allin fans who had missed out on the original recording.
In October 1995, Brodian gathered together the original master tape of the 7" EP, which was still in his possession, and with the help of Allin's friend and archivist Skeeter Rider, added an outtake from the same May 1989 session that originally produced the EP, a 1985 acoustic demo of an early Allin-composed and performed country song, two spoken word tracks recorded by Allin in 1988, two cover versions recorded with The Jabbers
The Jabbers
The Jabbers are an American punk rock band. Once fronted by a young GG Allin at the beginning of his career in the late-'70s to mid-'80s, many of his most well known songs were recorded with this band, such as "Assface", "Don't Talk to Me" and "Bored to Death".Most notable, Allin's singing voice...
in 1982 and with The Disappointments in July 1989, and - probably the most fascinating of the bonus tracks - three unedited phone conversations between GG Allin and Stewart Brodian, recorded on Brodian's answering machine in Pennsylvania and conducted from GG's end while he was serving his felonious assault sentence in Michigan.
The phone conversations
On the phone conversations, Allin's public persona of an anti-social troublemaker is practically shattered. He laughs, makes jokes, rationally and intelligently discusses business with Brodian regarding the original EP as well as plans for Allin's first post-prison performances, and waxes rhapsodic about his love for the country music of Hank Williams Sr., Boxcar WillieBoxcar Willie
Boxcar Willie, born as Lecil Travis Martin was an American country music singer, who sang in the "old-time hobo" music style, complete with dirty face, overalls, and a floppy hat...
, and Stonewall Jackson
Stonewall Jackson (musician)
Stonewall Jackson is an American country singer and musician who achieved his greatest fame during country's "golden" honky tonk era in the 1950s and early 1960s.-Early years:...
("I could listen to that shit all day."), and for old blues recordings, as well as how proud Allin was of the recordings that became the original Troubled Troubador EP and how they first came about, even going so far as to predict, "It's one of those records that'll sell forever. As years go on, people want my stuff more, even the older stuff." Allin and Brodian, when not discussing business, found that they had a lot in common as artists that started pressing and releasing their own recordings.
The cover versions
The cover versions featured on the expanded CD edition are of GG and the Jabbers performing the Ohio Express obscurity "Up Against The Wall", and of GG and the Disappointments performing a rather chaotic version of The Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
' "Dead Flowers". The Jabbers recording was first released on the No Rules EP in 1982 by David Peel's Orange Records label, and would later turn up on a semi-bootleg 45 in 1993, while the Disappointments recording is one of the few Allin made with that backing group before his arrest by U.S. Secret Service agents and extradition to Michigan several weeks later.
The spoken word tracks
The two spoken word tracks on the album were supplied by Skeeter Rider. GG recorded them at a low tape speed, while drunk one night in Chicago 1988. To most ears these tracks sound rather evil or monstrous. Whatever Allin's motive or intention was behind the deliberate tape speed of these tracks, it is likely that the playback was done according to Allin's own specifications, an assumption backed up by the fact that Allin fully trusted and appreciated what Brodian had done with the original EP, and had discussed doing spoken word recordings and performances after Allin's release from prison. In the hours before his death, he was discussing plans for a spoken word album."Rowdy Beer Drinkin' Night"
"Rowdy Beer Drinkin' Night" is almost an anomaly to people who are only familiar with Allin's stage act and/or his less civilized recordings. A normal-sounding country and western song recorded as a demo in Allin's bathroom in 1985, Allin does not employ any profanities whatsoever in the recording - an instance rather astounding when one notes that Allin had released his infamous Eat My Fuc album the year before. Some people have speculated that Allin was considering abandoning punk rock entirely after Eat My Fuc and embracing country music in the style of Hank Williams Sr. and Jr. and David Allen Coe at the time he wrote and recorded this demo.In his liner notes for the CD, Brodian sums up his view of GG Allin by stating, "GG had his 'on stage' personality, but he was a really smart guy, and despite his faults, I really miss him."
Track listing
- When I Die (Allin's last will and testament, in which he requests that he be buried with a bottle of Jim BeamJim BeamJim Beam is a brand of bourbon whiskey produced in Clermont, Kentucky. It is currently one of the best selling brands of bourbon in the world. Since 1795 , seven generations of the Beam family have been involved in whiskey production for the company that produces the brand, which was given the name...
) - Liquor Slicked Highway
- Sitting In This Room
- Kissing The Flames
- Recorded on four-track cassette in Boston, MA in May 1989. Tracks 1-3 previously released as The Troubled TroubadorThe Troubled Troubador (EP)The Troubled Troubador is a 7" EP by punk rock singer/songwriter and performance artist GG Allin, on which Allin takes a deliberate excursion into country music.A longtime fan of Hank Williams Sr...
7" EP in 1990. Track 4 is an outtake from those sessions.
- Recorded on four-track cassette in Boston, MA in May 1989. Tracks 1-3 previously released as The Troubled Troubador
- Rowdy Beer Drinkin' Night
- 1985 acoustic demo performed and recorded by GG Allin, location unknown.
- Up Against The Wall (Ohio Express)
- 1982 recording with The JabbersThe JabbersThe Jabbers are an American punk rock band. Once fronted by a young GG Allin at the beginning of his career in the late-'70s to mid-'80s, many of his most well known songs were recorded with this band, such as "Assface", "Don't Talk to Me" and "Bored to Death".Most notable, Allin's singing voice...
, first released on the No Rules EP.
- 1982 recording with The Jabbers
- Conversation #1
- Recorded by Stewart Brodian in December 1990
- Conversation #2
- Recorded by Stewart Brodian in June 1990
- Conversation #3
- Recorded by Stewart Brodian in July 1990
- Spoken Word #1 - The Price
- Recorded by GG in Chicago 1988
- Dead Flowers (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards)
- Recorded in June 1989 with The Disappointments, Staches, Columbus, OH.
- Spoken Word #2 - I Will Not Act Civilized
- Recorded by GG in Chicago 1988
- All songs written by GG Allin except where noted.