Southern Culture on the Skids - Nashville Toupee - 1992from the Plan 9/Caroline cd - For Lovers Only
from the SCOTS.com web site:
Southern Culture on the Skids, the NC-based swamp-rock, trashabilly rock & roll trio whose odyssey started out with tiny clubs and DIY releases two decades back, just get better with age. Frontman Rick Miller is recognized as one of the finest players in the swamp/surf/rockabilly tradition, just ask any guitar geek, and on these nights he was playing like his soul was on the line. Bassist Mary Huff (she of the hi-style wighats) and stand-up drummer Dave Hartman (he of the “Mama Tried” t-shirt) are as solid and intuitive as any rhythm section in rock. With Doublewide and Live, SCOTS deliver a sweaty rock & roll party that fires on all cylinders, takes it into high gear and damn near jumps outta the speakers. This is what a live album is all about – capturing a band at the top of their game doing what they love in a place they call home.
Now with that in mind, pop a top and put on SCOTS’ latest, Doublewide and Live, and throw a party. That’s what SCOTS did - they threw one for 3 days in November 2004 at Chapel Hill’s Local 506. To record the revelry for posterity the band hauled in longtime co-producer Mark Williams and locked him up upstairs in a closet (aka "control room") and made him pay hi-fi attention to the lo-fi sounds blasting away downstairs. Each night had a different set list and a different crowd. The band played songs from each of their records going back to 1991's Too Much Pork through Ditch Diggin,' Dirt Track Date, Plastic Seat Sweat, Liquored Up and Lacquered Down and their latest, Mojo Box. All the spices and fine ingredients that make up the band’s musical stew are represented on Doublewide. When Rick yells out, "Come and get it!" at the top of the set, get ready to chow down on a heapin’ helping of the guitar-driven, swamp-rockin’, toe-suckin' geek-rock sounds that have made SCOTS a unique taste treat.
So there you have it, gentle reader, Doublewide and Live: the licks are sick, the crowd is wound and the band is tighter than Dick’s hatband. Instant dance party, all you gotta bring is your own drinks and cheese puffs …
Band Members:
Rick Miller - Guitar, Vocals
Mary Huff - Bass, Vocals
Dave Hartman - Drums, Vocals
1 comment:
michael--I wanted to add a little follow up, "unofficial" history of SCOTS..but that picture came from a series of promos shot in 1991--I'm not even sure ifthey were used as promos though, but a similar shot appears on the back cover of the sleeve for the imported (Giant Claw records) "Come & Get It"/"Cicada Rock" 45--a great, sloppy time capsule of what SCOTS sounded like in reality at that time...talk about "live" recordings--outside of Ditch Diggin', that 45 is the closest to a "pure" SCOTS sound.
The band was formed at UNC-CH in 1983. There are several versions of the story, but a popular one is that Chip Shelby (drums) along with Leslie Land (bass) were putting together a band, and Land recruited Miller--along with his roommate, Stan Lewis. Miller was there working on an MFA at the time--and by all accounts was a novice guitar player. Stan was the frontman at that time--and the whole sound of the band was quite different than they are today, but the performances were always fueled with energy and audience interaction as well, and they had a large fanbase at this time.
This original lineup recorded three releases--"Love in 4D" was the first--appeared on one of those More Mondo/Comboland comps. Then came, "Live to Two Tracks" in 1984, followed by "First Album" in 1985.
After the album came out--Derek Huston (later of the Iguanas) started playing sax & accordion with them. By 1986--Stan was out--they added Tim Smith on second guitar, and they were a 5 pc. for a while, then Derek left, and they became a 4 piece. By 1987--Tim & Leslie were gone, and Mary Huff came down from Roanoke, replacing Leslie on bass. Michael Kelsh also joined, and took on more of a central guitar role, and also played lap steel.
This period of time was especially fruitful as far as Miller developing more stage presence, he was becoming a better guitarist, and was a prolific songwriter--such that many of the songs being recorded now, actually came out of this period. Like Just How Lonely, Fried Chicken & Gasoline, Voodoo Cadillac, Where is the Moon Tonight, Drunk & Lonesome, Link's Lung etc.
One neat thing they did at this time, was to open their shows as an accoustic version of SCOTS called the Pine Cones. They would slowly add electric instruments through a small set and culminate into a tremelo/feedback/lapsteel fusion version of Fried Chicken & Gasoline...take a break...come back and thank the opening band, and perform as SCOTS.
When Kelsh left--Greg Bell had a short stint, and then ultimately Chip left. Mary Huff had been longtime friends with Dave Hartman--who came down from VA as well, to fill in as drummer. In 1989--the "new" SCOTS was reborn as a much grungier, tougher version of the band than the previous few years and the rest is history.
Some of the other people who played as sidemen off & on would be Spencer Adams, Roy Gittens, Chris Bess--who had the longest stint, some considered him to be a member, but SCOTS always funcitoned best as a 3 pc., so his departure came as no surprise really to this bystander...and then edfromohio as well.
I also probably need to add Fred Mills for his appearance as Blind Penis Trousersnake singing on the Ballad of Jim Bakker. I'm sure there are others reading your blog who might be able to fill in the gaps or set the story straight--thsi is just sort of the way I saw it from the sidelines.
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