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Henry Rollins
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Henry Rollins
Total Media Plays: 2,962
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In the '90s,
Henry Rollins
emerged as a post-punk renaissance man, without the self-conscious trappings that plagued such '80s artists as
David Byrne
. Following
Black Flag
's breakup in 1986,
Rollins
was been relentlessly busy, recording albums with
the Rollins Band
, writing books and poetry, performing spoken word tours, writing a magazine column in Details, acting in several movies, and appearing on radio programs and, less frequently, as an MTV VJ.
The Rollins Band
's records are uncompromising, intense, cathartic fusions of hard rock,
funk, post-punk noise, and jazz experimentalism, with
Rollins
shouting angry, biting self-examinations and accusations over the grind. On his spoken word albums, he is remarkably more relaxed, showcasing a hilariously self-deprecating sense of humor that is often absent in his music. All the while, he has kept his artistic integrity, becoming a kind of father figure for many alternative bands of the '90s.
Rollins
was born Henry Garfield in Washington, D.C., on February 13, 1961. He performed in local hardcore bands as a teenager, and one night when his heroes
Black Flag
came to town, he leaped up on-stage and began singing with them. Shortly thereafter, when
Flag
vocalist
Dez Cadena
decided to switch to guitar, the band invited
Rollins
to audition, and he became their new lead singer. By the time
Black Flag
broke up in 1986,
Rollins
had not only garnered a reputation as one of the fiercest performers in hardcore punk, but had already begun touring as a spoken word performer.
Rollins
made his recording debut as a solo artist in 1987 with
Hot Animal Machine
and also issued his first spoken word album,
Big Ugly Mouth
, that year (as well as the
Drive by Shooting
EP, recorded as
Henrietta Collins & the Wifebeating Childhaters
).
Following
Hot Animal Machine
,
Rollins
assembled a backing unit,
the Rollins Band
, which featured soundman
Theo Van Ronk
, guitarist
Chris Haskett
, and the former rhythm section of
Black Flag
guitarist
Greg Ginn
's side project
Gone
: bassist
Andrew Weiss
and drummer
Simeon "Sim" Cain
. Not counting several live recordings made in Holland in 1987,
the Rollins Band
made their studio debut with 1988's
Life Time
, followed quickly by the outtakes/live collection
Do It
. 1989 saw the release of a new
Rollins Band
album,
Hard Volume
, and the spoken word set
Sweatbox
; they were followed in 1990 by the live set
Turned On
and yet another lengthy spoken word release,
Live at McCabe's
.
1991 was a pivotal year for
Rollins
, for better and worse.
The Rollins Band
inked a deal with Imago that promised much-improved distribution, and they also appeared on the Lollapalooza tour. But in December of that year,
Rollins
and his best friend,
Joe Cole
, were held up by gunmen waiting outside of
Rollins
' L.A. home.
Cole
was fatally shot in the head; the devastating trauma of the incident never quite left
Rollins
and occasionally (though indirectly) informed his subsequent work. In 1992, with
Human Butt
,
Rollins
began releasing his spoken word albums through 2.13.61, the publishing imprint he'd founded in 1984. In addition to
Rollins
' own work, both recorded and written, 2.13.61 grew during the '90s to include literary works by rock artists like
Exene Cervenka
and
Nick Cave
, plus material by acclaimed authors like Henry Miller and Hubert Selby, Jr., among others. 1992 also saw
the Rollins Band
debut for Imago with
The End of Silence
, which some found to be his most focused music yet and gave
Rollins
his first charting album. The spoken word double disc
The Boxed Life
appeared in 1993, and toward the end of the year,
Rollins Band
bassist
Weiss
was replaced by
Melvin Gibbs
.
1994 became
Rollins
' breakout year thanks to the one-two punch of
Weight
-- the best-reviewed and most popular
Rollins Band
album to date, which cracked Billboard's Top 40 -- and
Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag
, a double-disc set of readings from
Rollins
' memoir of the same name that won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Recording. Additionally,
the Rollins Band
performed a well-received set at Woodstock '94. With all the increased visibility,
Rollins
became a genuine phenomenon; Details magazine chose him as their Man of the Year in 1994 and wound up making him a contributing columnist. Primed by appearances on MTV and VH1,
Rollins
also made his film debut that year in The Chase and went on to appear in movies like Johnny Mnemonic, Heat, and Lost Highway over the next few years.
Unfortunately, Imago was out of business by 1995, leaving
the Rollins Band
in temporary limbo until they secured a deal with DreamWorks in 1997. In the meantime,
Rollins
undertook a jazz/poetry experiment with
Everything
, which featured musical backing by avant-garde luminaries
Charles Gayle
(saxophone) and
Rashied Ali
(drums).
The Rollins Band
debuted for DreamWorks in 1997 with
Come in and Burn
, which failed to earn the acclaim of the group's previous few albums.
Black Coffee Blues
appeared the same year, and like
Get in the Van
, it featured a series of readings from a
Rollins
book of the same name. In 1998,
Rollins
released
Think Tank
, his first true set of non-book-related spoken word material in five years.
By this point,
Rollins
felt that his partnership with
the Rollins Band
had run its course, as their music grew more experimental and less unremittingly intense. He had been producing a Los Angeles hard rock trio called
Mother Superior
and wound up inviting the band -- guitarist
Jim Wilson
, bassist
Marcus Blake
, and drummer
Jason Mackenroth
-- to back him as a brand-new incarnation of
the Rollins Band
. The first fruits of this new collaboration were released in 2000 as the album
Get Some Go Again
. It was followed in 2004 by
Weighting
. A new spoken word release,
Rollins in the Wry
, followed in 2001, culling performances from
Rollins
' residency at the L.A. club Luna Park during the summer of 1999. Another live album,
The Only Way to Know for Sure
, appeared in the summer of 2002. Three volumes of
Talk Is Cheap
, taken from a two-night stand in Sydney, Australia, were released in 2003 and 2006. A fourth volume followed in 2007, this time recorded at San Jose State University in California. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
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Listeners
Upcoming Shows
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Venue:
Stephens Auditorium
Location: Ames, IA
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Friday, September 19, 2008
Venue:
Zellerbach Auditorium
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Saturday, September 20, 2008
Venue:
Sleep Train Pavilion At Concord
Location: Concord, CA
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Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Venue:
Tennessee Performing Arts Center
Location: Nashville, TN
more info
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Venue:
Variety Playhouse
Location: Atlanta, GA
more info
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