And what of Phil? How did he view this tragedy that had nearly taken his life? “How bad was I? Very. I was hooked up to Demerol morphine and it was administered every three hours. I was fucked with a ruptured bladder and all kinds of horrible things, but the drugs were grrrrreeaat.”
Rushed into the nearest General Hospital it was touch and go for a night, with Phil hooked up in intensive care with ice being dropped onto his tongue. Jim explains: “They would not give him medication for
have smarted, and they were unaware of the new fan that they had gained who would later further their career.
Dark Days: Soul, Glitter & Sin Sinful: Jim Jones circa 1990
By the time Phil returned home the group were drinking more, taking more heroin than before and oddly finding creativity from the life-changing and destructive turn of events caused by the accident. “It was a very messy full stop for that chapter of the band,” claims Jim. “I think this segues into [our next album] Soul, Glitter & Sin. During
not entirely gone, mirroring the past in a purist manner was not the objective. Ray in particular had become very tuned into Thurston Moore’s crafted dissonance in Sonic Youth, the early ’60s tremolo driven guitar of Vic Flick of The John Barry Seven and the late ’60s and ’70s soundtracks of Lalo Schifrin. “It was cinematic and different,” says Ray of this progression. “We had done the first three Stooges and MC5 albums. There’s only so much you can do with a blues scale. I’d also been through all of the long-haired Detroit style; so there was the dyed hair, slicking it back and the Frank Sinatra romantic vibe.” A number of followers however were not keen on the move away from the more grounded rock sound and felt at odds with the new, clearly heroin-laced style. Critics on the other hand were more forthcoming.
Phil recollects this uncertain time: “When I was better we went to Italy on tour to get in shape. This was one of our most bad-ass moments: we were really irresponsible, drank a lot and [were] just out for blood. The funny thing about these shows is that we became really good and a lot more musical, and a lot more focused on the music. And a lot more focused on Soul, Glitter & Sin. It was weird with John Leckie as we weren’t sure, but there was something a bit special in there that we liked.”
the first day as they were waiting to see if he had brain damage.”
“I was crying, man,” stifles Ray. “I thought he was gonna die as Will Pepper (our bassist) told me that he was sure Phil was not going to make the night.” Miraculously he did, but it was a lengthy recuperation that saw Phil holed up in hospital for months after his band mates had returned home with their tails between their legs and their hopes dashed.
Yet Phil was making a steady recovery. “I can remember sitting in a bed in the hospital that featured in the Cohen brothers’ film Fargo,” he explains. “I had a view of the ground where The Minnesota Vikings played, which is where The Black Crowes supported Robert Plant whilst I was in hospital. Now, somehow, this was the gig where Chris Robinson was handed Come Down Heavy. They later told me that on the way back to Atlanta they did some acid and listened to it. After that they just played it over and over on the long journey home. By the time they were back they had played it over 20 times and fallen in love with it.” Having returned home to support new 12” single ‘Half Man, Half Boy’ ( from Come Down Heavy) with Rat Scabies deputising, the rest of the band were clearly feeling down on their luck. The eruption of a US tour that could have made them must
70
“During that dark period came a lot of other stuff we were listening to. Downer music... a more noir side of music that reflected our predicament.”
that dark period came a lot of other stuff we were listening to. Downer music. Big Star Third, The Gun Club, Sonic Youth, Nick Cave and Tom Waits... a more noir side of music that reflected our predicament.” Having had enough time off touring, the narcotic haze of literature, crime film and a wide array of music saw them looking inwards, aware of how newer bands had messed with the formula. Next single ‘Floatin’ In My Hoodoo Dream’ was a slide guitar-dominated Ry Cooder-esque hallucinatory opium daze of song. Very Goats Head Soup and an indicator of what was to come. “You’d hear The Gun Club and it would connect Robert Johnson and this dusty old blues thing with punk.... there was an exotic side door into all of this amazing history. It was the same with The Cramps. Sure there was the rockabilly and garage, but they took it all back as far as a caveman hitting a stone on a rock. All were gateway bands.”
Soul, Glitter & Sin was recorded across the summer of ’91 with the legendary producer John Leckie in the driving seat. If
So what of the album? How does it hold up 20 years down the line? From its bold capital letters and its burlesque red and gold design to the inner sleeve depicting a boozy looking band with Ray in Panama hat and shades with a fag dangling out of his mouth and a mournful, shorter-haired Jim, it still looks the part. Musically, yes there are elements of The MC5 and Stooges to be heard. “Listen to ‘The Big Fix’,” remarks Ray. “It’s The MC5 yet cinematic. It’s quite original actually. It just wasn’t ‘retro rock’. There was an influence of dissonant chords, but formally it was not that different.” Opening track ‘Shakedown’ was practically drowned in reverb, with Jim’s drunken Iggy vocal cascading over Ray’s John Barry-inspired guitar motif and a wash of hard-boiled brass. “I remember when we were planning it on tour we
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140