Primal Scream Biography

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Biography Primal Scream

Primal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock group formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie. The current lineup consist of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Martin Duffy (keyboards), Gary "Mani" Mounfield (bass), and Darrin Mooney (drums). Barrie Coddigan toured with the band in 2006 as a temporary replacement after the departure guitarist Robert "Throb" Young. Young's permanent replacement has not yet been announced.

The band performed throughout 1982-1984, but their career didn't especially take off until Gillespie left his position as drummer of The Jesus and Mary Chain. The band became associated with the C86 scene, but eventually moved away from their more jangly sound and developed a more psychedelic sound. Their 1991 album Screamadelica broke the band into the mainstream. Despite multiple lineup changes, the band has remained commercially successful and continues to tour and record to this day.

History

Formation (1982 - 1985)

Bobby Gillespie moved to Mount Florida, the southeastern area of Glasgow. There he attended Kings Park Secondary School, where he first met Robert Young. Another school friend was Alan McGee, who took Gillespie to his first gig, a Thin Lizzy concert. McGee and Gillespie were heavily influenced by punk rock, and they joined a local punk band, The Drains, in 1978. The Drains guitarist was a 15-year old Andrew Innes. The Drains did not last long, and Innes and McGee relocated to London while Gillespie chose to remain in Glasgow.

After the punk movement ended Gillespie became disenchanted with mainstream New Wave music. He met up with another school friend who shared his outlook, Jim Beattie, and recorded "elemental noise tapes", in which Gillespie would bang two dustbin lids and Jim playing fuzz-guitar. They soon moved on to Velvet Underground and Byrds cover songs before starting to write their own songs, based around Jah Wobble and Peter Hook basslines. Gillespie later said that the band "didn't really exist, but we did it every night for something to do." They named themselves Primal Scream, a term used to describe a cry heard in Janovian psychotherapy treatment. Still essentially a partnership, Primal Scream first played live in 1982.

Their first recording session, for McGee's independent label Essential Records, was a single track entitled "The Orchard". Beattie later claimed that they burned the master tape. After the aborted recording, Gillespie joined The Jesus and Mary Chain as their drummer, and alternated between both bands. While the Mary Chain became notorious for their chaotic gigs, Gillespie and Beattie expanded Primal Scream's lineup to include school friend Young on bass, rhythm guitarist Stuart May, drummer Tom McGurk and tambourine player Martin St. John. This lineup was signed to Creation Records, an independent record label founded by Alan McGee, and released the group's debut single, "All Fall Down", which received posistive reviews.

First recordings (1986 - 1990)

After the release of the single Gillespie was told by Mary Chain leaders William and Jim Reid that he was to either to dissolve Primal Scream to join the Mary Chain full-time or resign. Gillespie chose to remain with Primal Scream. Stuart May was replaced by Paul Harte, and the group then released a new single, "Crystal Crescent". The b-side, "Velocity Girl", was released on the C86 compliation, and associated them with the scene of the same name. The band strongly disliked this, with Gillespie saying that "[1]hey can't play their instruments and they can't write songs."

The band toured throughout 1986, and Gillespie became disenchanted with their performance quality. He said that there "was always something missing, musically or in attitude." The band switched from Creation to Warner Bros. subsidiary Elevation Records. Before the band entered the band entered Rockfield studios in Wales to record their first album, McGurk was asked to leave the band, and they subsequently began recording using session players. They spent four weeks recording with producer Stephen Street before deciding to halt the sessions.

May was subsequently dismissed and Gillespie's former bandmate Innes was brought in as his replacement,and the band finally found a new drummer, Gavin Skinner. With their new lineup the band re-entered the studio, this time with in London with producer Mayo Thompson. By the time Sonic Flower Groove was completed it had cost £100,000. The album reached #62 on the British charts and received poor reviews, with All Music Guide calling it "pristine but dull." allmusic }. Retrieved on December 27, 2007. The backlash from the album caused internal strife within the band. Beattie subsequently resigned and Skinner was fired.

The band, now consisting of only Gillespie, Innes and Young, relocated to Brighton to regroup. Young switched to guitar, and they recruited bassist Henry Olsen and drummer Phillip "Toby" Tomanov, who had both in Nico's backing band, The Faction. They traded in their jangle pop sound for a harder rock edge, or as Gillespie said, "[2]e had found rock 'n' roll." The band's re-signed to Creation Records and released their first single two years, "Ivy, Ivy, Ivy". This was followed by a full album, Primal Scream. The band's new sound was met with poor reviews, NME called it "confused and lacking in cohesion". Fan reaction was as poor as the critical, as many of their old fans were simply confused by their new sound.

Screamadelica (1991 - 1993)

The band were first introduced to the acid house scene by McGee in . They were at first skeptical, Gillespie said: "I always remember being quite fascinated by it but not quite getting it." However, the band quickly developped a taste for it and began attending raves and taking ecstasy. The band met up with DJ Andrew Weatherall at a rave, and he was given a copy of "I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have", a track from Primal Scream, to remix for one of his shows. Weatherall added a drum loop from an Italian bootleg mix of Edie Brickell's "What I Am", a sample of Gillespie singing a line from Robert Johnson's "Terraplane Blues" and the central introductory sample from the Peter Fonda B-movie The Wild Angels. The resulting track, "Loaded", became the band's first major hit, reaching #16 on the UK Singles Chart. Top 40 Singles: 1990 This was followed by another single, "Come Togther", which reached #19.

The band entered the studio with Weatherall, Hugo Nicholson, The Orb, and Jimmy Miller producing and new member Martin Duffy on keyboards. They released two more singles, "Higher Than Sun" and "Don't Fight It, Feel It", both of which were successful. The album, Screamadelica, was released in the fall to ecstatic reviews. allmusic } Ink Blot Magazine said that the album was "both of its time and timeless." Primal Scream: Screamadelica --Ink Blot Magazine. Retrieved on December 29, 2007 The album was also a massive commercial success, reaching #8 on the British charts and #31 on the US Billboard charts. allmusic }

In 1992 the band won the inaugural Mercury Music Prize for Screamadelica, beating out Gillespie's former band The Jesus and Mary Chain. The band then began celebrating their success in typical excess. The bands drug habits have often been publicised, journalist James Brown reported a now infamous story: the band were arguing with one another about whether to get Vietnamese, Chinese or Indian, When one of Brown's colleagues asked them if they'd settle for a burger the band informed him: "It's heroin we're discussing, not food!". Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day: The Primal Scream diet

Give Out But Don't Give Up and Vanishing Point (1994 - 1999)

Give Out But Don't Give Up, recorded in Nashville, was another radical departure from the early Scream sound. While Screamadelica blended dance with rock music, this album was closer to a pure rock and roll record; critics compared it in style and sound to the early Rolling Stones. The album also included a heavy funk influence, and George Clinton featured as a collaborator/producer. When released, the album was widely panned by critics as a "tired," self-indulgent effort, especially as a follow up to the innovative Screamadelica. It did, however, yield a # 7 UK single with "Rocks".

More line up changes ensued. The band's new bassist, Mani, was a key addition to the group. Starting with the Vanishing Point album (influenced by the film of the same name), a complex dance/dub rhythm was present in most of the tracks, harking back to the crossover success of Screamadelica, yet sounding significantly darker and more sinister. Some see this as Primal Scream's reaction to the money-driven perversion and eventual death of the Madchester scene: though Primal Scream were not from Manchester, they were seen as part of a stylistic brethren with bands who were.

XTRMNTR and Evil Heat (2000 - 2004)

Vanishing Point saw the addition of Kevin Shields of shoegazing group My Bloody Valentine as a third guitarist to the live band. They have since produced XTRMNTR and Evil Heat, within a short period of time with Shields. Shields was never an official member of the band but toured and recorded with them consistently from the late 1990s until 2005.

In June 2005, Primal Scream played a controversial set at the Glastonbury Festival, throughout which Gillespie was playfully abusive to the crowd and was alleged to have made Nazi salutes (during the song 'Swastika Eyes'). They were eventually forced off by officials after overrunning their allotted time; the festival organizers were at that point already annoyed at the band when, in response to their invitation to join other recording artists in signing a Make Poverty History poster which would be auctioned off for charity, lead singer Bobby Gillespie instead altered the poster so that it would read "Make Israel History". Webadelica - A Fucking Nazi Gillespie later said that this was merely to show his support for Palestine, and in no way anti-Semitic.

Riot City Blues (2005 - 2006)

, 2006 cover of NME]]In an interview with NME, Gillespie said that the band had written "euphoric rock n roll songs" for their next album. Primal Scream reveal all about new album | News | NME.com. Interviewed on 11 March, 2006. They intended to capture the energy of their live performances. The band chose Youth as their producer, which led to specualtion that they had fallen out with Shields. Although the band themselves admitted that they were unsure of the situation, Shields subsequently joined them on tour.

The album's first single, "Country Girl", was released on May 22, 2006, and received regular airplay in 2006 resulting in a chart entry of number 5, their highest ever. Top 40 Singles 2006 It was also used by the BBC in the closing credits of the Grand National 2007. The album, Riot City Blues, was released in June and reached #5 on the UK Album Charts. However, it received mixed reviews: Pitchfork called it "flat and dead", Riot City Blues review and All Music Guide called it "a refreshingly retro rock & roll album" allmusic

In support of the album, the band toured exclusively in the UK, with select dates in Europe. The band released their first DVD, Riot City Blues Tour, in August 2007. The DVD featured clips of the band's performance in London, as well as all their music videos and an interview with Gillespie and Mani.

On the 26 August 2006, bassist Mani was reportedly arrested at the Leeds music festival, after what was said to be a drunken brawl. However, he was soon released and the band's appearance at the festival went ahead. Also around this time, Young left the band to go on "sabbatical",[3] failing to appear on their November 2006 UK tour. It has since been stated by Bobby Gillespie that Young is unlikely to make a return. He has been temporarily replaced by Barrie Cadogan of Little Barrie.

The Future (2007 - Present)

On April 26, 2007 they said on their official MySpace blog that they were working on a new album in their studio. The band released another message on their website stating simply that "the band are currently in the studio working on their next album due for release in 2008." New Album A new song has been premiered at gigs called "Can't Get Back".

They also mixed Queens of the Stone Age's track "I'm Designer" (from Era Vulgaris) along with their long-time collaborator Adrian Sherwood, known for his dub remixes.

In mid 2007, Kevin Shields returned to the line up playing during their V Festival appearances. It is unlikely, however, that Shields will return, as My Bloody Valentine have reunited and are currently recording a new album. Kevin Shields: MBV Will "100%" Make Another Album

In Popular Culture

Several of their songs have appeared on movie soundtracks including "Trainspotting" in the film Trainspotting, "Miss Lucifer" and "Swastika Eyes" in The Football Factory, "Star" in The Jackal, "Movin' On Up" in Grand Theft Parsons and the game San Andreas (on fictional Alternative station Radio X), and "Come Together" in Human Traffic. Primal Scream also played "Movin' On Up" live for Michael Winterbottom's movie "9 Songs".