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Mark Lanegan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mark Lanegan | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mark Lanegan |
| Born | November 25, 1964 |
| Origin | Ellensburg, Washington, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Grunge Rock Alternative rock Folk Blues Stoner Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Vocalist, Musician |
| Years active | 1985 - Present |
| Label(s) | Sub Pop Epic Records SST Records Beggars Banquet |
| Associated acts |
Screaming Trees Mad Season Queens of the Stone Age The Twilight Singers The Gutter Twins Soulsavers Isobel Campbell |
Mark Lanegan (born November 25, 1964 in Ellensburg, Washington) is a singer and songwriter. He has had a noteworthy career as a solo artist, but until recently was best known for his tenure as the lead singer of Screaming Trees, a band that was part of the Seattle grunge phenomenon of the 1990s.
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Lanegan rarely talks about his childhood years. He mentioned in a 1996 interview printed in Pacific Northwest periodical "The Rocket" that he drove a combine.[1] It is known that he came from a 'dysfunctional' family that he tried to avoid, and was heavily into drugs by the age of 18, having already been arrested and sentenced to one year's imprisonment for drug-related crimes.[2] He managed to get out of actual jail by taking a year-long rehab course. Around this time he met and befriended Van Conner with whom he would eventually form the Screaming Trees. At this point his relationship with the Conner brothers was restricted to talking about music and working for their parents' electronics hardware store. This job apparently largely involved repossessing televisions, microwaves and toasters from nearby trailer parks and having guns pulled on him. [3]
Screaming Trees put out their first electric album to good review, Clairvoyance in 1986 and recorded 9 albums and EPs of original material between 1986 and 1996. The band was among the pioneers of Seattle's grunge music phenomenon, but never achieved the fame or commercial success of Seattle's "Big 4": Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, or Soundgarden. Lanegan's solo career began while he was still working with Screaming Trees, but has continued beyond the band's dissolution in 1997.
In 1990, Lanegan released his first solo album, The Winding Sheet, on the legendary label Sub Pop, which also hosted Nirvana, Soundgarden and many others. Around this time, Lanegan had a blues-based side-project which featured Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana fame on guitar and bass respectively, with then Screaming Trees drummer Mark Pickerel on drums. A number of tracks were recorded, including a cover of Leadbelly's version of Where Did You Sleep Last Night?, appearing on The Winding Sheet, and "Ain't It A Shame," which is available on the Nirvana box set With The Lights Out. Cobain also supplied backing vocals on "Down In The Dark" on Lanegan's debut. Nirvana would later go on to perform Where Did You Sleep Last Night at their famous Unplugged performance in New York. [4]In the end, the majority of the album was recorded with Pickerel on drums, Mike Johnson (who would later go on to play bass with Dinosaur Jr.) on guitar and Jack Endino on bass.[5]
The second record, 1994's Whiskey for the Holy Ghost, was a far more cohesive recording, with such ethereal songs like "The River Rise," "Kingdoms of Rain," "Riding the Nightingale," and "Beggar's Blues." Nearly taking three years to make, the album came close to not seeing the light of day as Lanegan was set to throw the master tapes in a pond outside of the recording studio, only to be stopped by Producer Jack Endino at the last moment.
In 1995 Lanegan appeared on Above, an album by the "grunge supergroup" Mad Season. The group was formed in late 1994 by Layne Staley of Alice in Chains, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees and John Baker Saunders of The Walkabouts. Lanegan appeared on "Long Gone Day" and "I'm Above".
Lanegan then returned to his day job with Screaming Trees. 1996 brought the release of Dust. Often seen as the band's best record, it would also turn out to be their swan song. The record featured Mike McCready of Pearl Jam and Mad Season playing the guitar solo on 'Dying Days', a track commemorating the death of several of Lanegan's close friends, and of the grunge scene in general.
In 1998 Scraps At Midnight was released. The album was recorded the previous winter after completing a tour with his band the Screaming Trees, which was unfortunately plagued by great inner-turmoil. It was recorded in Joshua Tree, California and produced by long-time friend and collaborator Mike Johnson, immediately after Lanegan was released from rehab.
The fourth of his solo recordings was 1999's I'll Take Care of You, on which Lanegan covers songs by prominent folk and R&B artists such as Tim Hardin and Booker T. and the MGs, as well as country icon Buck Owens.
In 2000, Lanegan appeared on Rated R, the second album from Queens of the Stone Age, singing lead vocals on the track "In The Fade" and backup vocals on a number of others.
2001 saw the release of his fourth album proper, Field Songs. This album had a more low-key feel than its predecessors and also featured friend Duff McKagan, as well as major contributions from former Soundgarden bassist, Ben Shepherd.
Shortly after releasing Field Songs, Lanegan became a full-time member of QOTSA. Lanegan appeared on the 2002 release from QOTSA entitled Songs for the Deaf, once again singing lead on the tracks "Song for the Dead," "Hangin' Tree," and "God is in the Radio". He also toured in support for the album over the next two years.
2003 saw him appear on Greg Dulli's The Twilight Singers record Blackberry Belle, sharing lead vocal duties on the epic closing track, Number Nine. This would be the first in many collaborations with The Twilight Singers and Dulli.
On his latest solo album, Bubblegum (2004), Lanegan was joined by a cadre of prominent artists, including P. J. Harvey, Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age, Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs and Twilight Singers, and Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin, previously of Guns N' Roses. Also appearing on Bubblegum is Lanegan's ex-wife, Wendy Rae Fowler. The favorably reviewed album is his most commercially successful to date, reaching number 39 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart. Some would assume this is due to the appearance of several prominent musical figures, although the album did receive glowing review by critics.
Lanegan also frequently appears as a guest on other artists' records. As previously alluded, he toured full-time as a third vocalist for Queens of the Stone Age between 2001 and 2005 before leaving due to health issues. Joining his friend Joshua Homme, who supported the Screaming Trees as their touring guitarist in 1996, Lanegan's distinctive vocals were a welcome accompaniment to bassist Nick Oliveri's screaming nature and Homme's straightforward delivery. The 2005 Queens of the Stone Age album Lullabies to Paralyze began with Mark Lanegan singing accompanied only by Homme's acoustic guitar on the track "This Lullaby". Improbably, he also recorded a song by Sandra Boynton, "Sneakers", for her 2005 rock-and-roll children's album, "Dog Train." He has also worked with Masters of Reality, Melissa Auf der Maur, Martina Topley-Bird, The Walkabouts, and Mondo Generator.
Isobel Campbell
In December of 2005, he released an EP with Isobel Campbell, formerly of Belle & Sebastian, titled Ramblin' Man (the title track itself a cover of the Hank Williams track). This served as a precursor to their full-length album, Ballad of the Broken Seas. Campbell wrote and recorded the majority of the album's tracks in Glasgow. Lanegan then added vocals in Los Angeles. The record was received well by critics who likened the duo to Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra.
Aside from providing vocals, Lanegan also wrote the song Revolver. Different versions of this song appear on Ramblin' Man and Ballad of the Broken Seas. Ballad of the Broken Seas was put on the shortlist for the 2006 Mercury Prize.
Lanegan played four UK dates in January 2007 with Isobel Campbell. The London concert was moved to a larger venue due to a high demand for tickets.
Lanegan and Campbell recorded a second collaboration in 2007, to be released within early 2008.
The Twilight Singers
Lanegan appeared on three albums with The Twilight Singers (Blackberry Belle, She Loves You, and A Stitch in Time). In 2006 Lanegan toured with The Twilight Singers in Europe and Israel followed by a fall tour throughout the United States.
Soulsavers' It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land (2007)
In October 2006, Soulsavers announced on their Myspace site that they were putting the finishing touches to their new album It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land, which featured Mark Lanegan on 8 of the album's tracks.
Although the album is not credited as Soulsavers And Mark Lanegan, he did have a significant input. As well as appearing as vocalist, the tracks "Revival", "Ghosts Of You And Me", "Paper Money" and "Jesus Of Nothing" are credited as written by Mark Lanegan and Soulsavers. The album also features a re-working of "Kingdoms Of Rain", which was initially released on Lanegan's second solo album, Whiskey for the Holy Ghost.
Soulsavers recorded the tracks in England in 2005 & 2006, with Lanegan recording the vocal parts at Conway Studios in Los Angeles.
The single, "Revival", has received significant airplay and can be streamed on the band's Myspace (as well as the video for the track).
On March 9th 2007, a blog entry on Soulsavers' Myspace stated that they had "just confirmed 2 shows on 13 & 14 July in Madrid & Barcelona". On March 15th 2007, Onewhiskey, the Mark Lanegan fan site was updated to state that Lanegan would be touring with Soulsavers.
Lanegan has continued to work with Queens of the Stone Age. In 2007, he appeared on their album, Era Vulgaris, singing backup vocals for the track River in the Road.
Lanegan has also contributed his vocals to a cover of Bob Dylan's "Man in the Long Black Coat" on the 2007 soundtrack to "I'm Not There.
The Gutter Twins is the long awaited collaboration between Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli. The friends have also been collaborators since 2000 and an album from the pair has been rumored since 2003. In September of 2005, Lanegan performed with Dulli in Italy as the Gutter Twins for the first, and so far only time.
On September 22, 2007 it was announced on the pairs' MySpace that the long awaited Gutter Twins album has been completed. Saturnalia by The Gutter Twins will be released March 4, 2008 on Sub Pop, a label both Dulli and Lanegan have worked with before.
- Grunge music
- Screaming Trees
- Queens of the Stone Age
- Mad Season
- The Twilight Singers
- Greg Dulli
- Soulsavers
- The Gutter Twins
- Mark Lanegan Official Site
- onewhiskey: dedicated to the music and fans of Mark Lanegan
- Mark Lanegan discography
- Mark Lanegan: Sub Pop
- Mark Lanegan: allmusic
- Review of "It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land"
| Mark Lanegan |
| Discography |
|---|
| Studio albums: The Winding Sheet | Whiskey for the Holy Ghost | Scraps At Midnight | I'll Take Care Of You | Field Songs | Here Comes That Weird Chill | Bubblegum | Ramblin' Man | Ballad of the Broken Seas |
| Related articles |
| Screaming Trees | Mad Season | Queens of the Stone Age | Twilight Singers | Soulsavers | The Gutter Twins |
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| Screaming Trees: Main Article |
| Band Members: Mark Lanegan | Gary Lee Conner | Van Conner | Barrett Martin | Mark Pickerel |
| Touring Members: Donna Dresch | Josh Homme | Dan Peters | Sean Hollister |
| Discography |
| Studio Albums: Clairvoyance | Even If and Especially When | Invisible Lantern | Buzz Factory | Uncle Anesthesia | Sweet Oblivion | Dust |
| EPs: Other Worlds | Beat Happening/Screaming Trees EP | Change Has Come | Something About Today | Winter Songs Tour Tracks |
| Compilations: Anthology: SST Years 1985-1989 | Nearly Lost You | Ocean of Confusion: Songs of Screaming Trees 1989-1996 |
| Related Articles |
| Mad Season | Truly | Grunge music | VALIS | Queens of the Stone Age |
| Categories |
| Screaming Trees Albums | Screaming Trees Songs |
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| Layne Staley · Mike McCready · John Baker Saunders · Barrett Martin · Mark Lanegan · Skerik | |
| Albums | Above |
| Singles | "River of Deceit" · "I Don't Know Anything" · "Long Gone Day" |
| Videos | Live at the Moore |
| Related articles | Grunge music · Screaming Trees · Alice in Chains · Pearl Jam · List of grunge supergroups |