The Verve Pipe - I've Suffered a Brain Injury (1992)

"Even the Score" by The Verve Pipe


Marzuki were local favorites in Holland, Michigan (and the Hope College, Calvin College, Grand Valley State University area) that also heralded another, more successful nineties band.  Building off the framework of a cleaner mix of alternative rock with a grunge aesthetic, The Verve Pipe was headed by retired Army man Brian Vander Ark (lead songwriter, guitar, vocals) with his brother Brad (bass, vocals), other Brian Stout (lead guitar, vocals), and Donny Brown (percussion, vocals).  They toured the university circuit in Michigan in 1992 on a grassroots campaign for their independently released debut album I've Suffered a Head Injury.  The album, and particularly the acoustic cut of The Freshmen, was enough to garner the attention record labels and a potential wider audience for their music.  After getting the big record deal with RCA, their debut would be re-released as an EP (minus a couple tracks) to cash in on the success of their subsequent recordings.

Here is the discography surrounding The Verve Pipe's debut album:

I've Suffered a Brain Injury
I've Suffered a Brain Injury (1992 EP)

"The Freshmen" by The Verve Pipe


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Marzuki - Marzuki (1996)

"Mouse" by Marzuki


Willie Dixon was born on Canada Day as was singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens as was the author for this blog.  Birthday buddies.  Sufjan Stevens's first foray into recorded music was with his Hope College band Marzuki, named for Sufjan's brother.  Marzuki formed in the mid nineties and featured Shannon Stephens (vocals, guitar, no relation), Jamie Kempkers (cello), Matthew Haseltine (guitar, bass), and Sufjan (guitar, percussion, recorder).  They released their first album Marzuki in 1996 on MS Records.

Here is the discography surrounding Marzuki's debut album:

Marzuki

"Phillip and the Ethiopian" by Marzuki


Pass the Headphones!!

Willie Dixon - Willie's Blues (1959)

"Walking the Blues" by Willie Dixon


Willie Dixon signed as a recording artist to Chess Records while he still played with Big Three Trio in 1951, so when the band broke up he wasn't out of a job.  That said, he didn't record much under his own name with Chess.  He had a couple singles in the late fifties, but he was much more renown for his work as producer, talent scout, session bassist, and songwriter.  He would eventually record his debut album for Prestige and release Willie's Blues in 1959.  Although it is considered his first solo album, a prominent role (and place on the cover) was given to pianist Memphis Slim.  The two would continue to play together for years to come as Dixon started performing his own songs more often.

Here is the discography surrounding Willie Dixon's debut album:

Walking the Blues (1955 single)
Crazy for My Baby (1956 single)
29 Ways (1957 single)
Willie's Blues
Nervous (1960 single)

"Nervous" by Willie Dixon


"Weak Brain, Narrow Mind" by Willie Dixon


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Big Three Trio - The Big Three Trio (1952)

"Reno Blues" by Big Three Trio


The centerpiece of these next two entries is Chess Records talent scout, session bassist (including for Chuck Berry), and the most-covered blues songwriter of all time (and it's not even close):  Willie Dixon.  Originally, I was only going to do one entry on Dixon's first solo album and just lump in the recordings he made with blues groups decades before.  However, Big Three Trio, Dixon's third group, left such a considerable backlog of singles and such a palpable influence on the Chicago scene and the development of Rock and Roll that I felt obliged to make an emergency stop in order to highlight this three-piece blues band.

Although a retrospective importance has been placed upon the role of Willie Dixon because of his imminence in the growth of the recording industry and rock and roll, his bass playing and bass vocals would be nothing without the Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston's piano and Ollie Crawford's guitar.  Together, they'd found their sound on the interplay of their instruments and the three-part harmonies of their voices.  They were a major presence in the Chicago blues scene and would join it as it went electric by the late forties.  All of the members were established in the community and had been jumping between blues groups starting before World War II in The Five Breezes, Four Jumps of Jive, and The Rhythm Rascals Trio.

The band formed in 1946 and broke up by 1952 with the departure of Caston from lineup.  Their singles have since been gathered in a couple of incomplete compilations including the Willie Dixon-centric The Big Three Trio from 1990 that compiles a majority of the Trio's body of work up until their dissolution.

Here is the complete discography for Big Three Trio:

Sweet Louise (1940 single with The Five Breezes)
Laundry Man (1941 single with The Five Breezes)
My Buddy Blues (1941 single with The Five Breezes)
What's the Matter With Love? (1941 single with The Five Breezes)
Satchelmouth Baby (1946 single with Four Jumps of Jive)
Cigarettes, Whiskey & Wild Wild Women (1947 single)
Signifying Monkey (1947 single)
Lonely Roamin' (1947 single)
Baby, I Can Go Without You (1947 single)
No More Sweet Potatoes (1947 single)
You Sure Look Good to Me (1947 single)
Big Three Boogie (1947 single)
Reno Blues (1947 single)
Since My Baby's Been Gone (1947 single)
Hard Notch Boogie Beat (1949 single)
Big Three Stomp (1949 single)
No One to Love Me (1949 single)
Don't Let That Music Die (1949 single)
Goodbye Mr. Blues (1949 single)
Why Do You Do Me Like You Do (1949 single)
Blip Blip (1949 single)
Lonesome (1951 single)
It's All Over Now (1951 single)
Blue Because of you (1952 single)
You Don't Love Me No More (1952 single)
Come Here Baby (1953 single)
I Feel Like Steppin' Out (compilation album of songs up to 1952)
The Big Three Trio

"Big Three Boogie" by Big Three Trio


"My Love Will Never Die" by Big Three Trio


"My Buddy Blues" by The Five Breezes


Pass the Headphones!!

Chuck Berry - One Dozen Berrys (1958)

"Rock and Roll Music" by Chuck Berry


The Beach Boys's hit song "Surfin' USA" was originally credited as simply a Brian Wilson composition.  He did write the lyrics, but the melody was taken straight from Chuck Berry's single 1958 "Sweet Little Sixteen" for which Berry was later given credit.  Still at the height of his popularity, 1958 met with another one of Berry's iconic singles "Rock and Roll Music" and his second full length album One Dozen Berrys.

The second second album in a row.  What a roll!

Here is the discography surrounding Chuck Berry's second album:

Oh Baby Doll (1957 single)
Rock and Roll Music (1957 single)
Rock and Roll Music (1957 EP)
Sweet Little Sixteen (1958 single)
Sweet Little 16 (1958 EP)
One Dozen Berrys

"Sweet Little Sixteen" by Chuck Berry


"Rockin' at the Philharmonic" by Chuck Berry


Pass the Headphones!!

The Beach Boys - Surfin' USA (1963)

"Surfin' USA" by The Beach Boys


The Allman's first band The Escorts didn't really leave much of a name for itself, but the group did have one triumphant moment when it opened for The Beach Boys.  This means for the first time in the three year existence of this blog, I get to do the second album of a band.  How fitting, too, that this band is the same one that opened this blog with the first tour stop.  There are two other times before this that I came very, very close to choosing a second album:  the first at stop number 59 when I chose P.P. Arnold's backing band, The Nice, over The Rolling Stones who helped give her her start; the second much more recently at stop number 148 where I chose Relient K's K Car connection over The Beach Boys through Barenaked Ladies's homage "Brian Wilson".  I keep track of these things.

The first Beach Boys blog entry was so long ago, too, that it went without any historical backdrop (as has gradually become the norm), so I'll do a quick little bit of catch up.  The Beach Boys start in Southern California and surround the musical talent and interest of Brian Wilson and his brothers, Carl and Dennis, imparted to them through their musical father Murry Wilson.  Brian proved to have an ear (and only one as he was deaf in the other) for music and, in particular harmonies.  He built up different variations of musical groups to try and find the right sound until he settled on the definitive line-up:  Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson with their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine.  Although most of them didn't play any instruments, they'd pick them up over time: Brian (bass, piano), Carl (guitar), Dennis (drums), Mike (lead vocals, saxophone), Al (guitar).

The boys, then known as The Pendeltones, were locally successful and Murry, who became the group's de facto manager, set them up a try out for a local record company.  Their initial rehearsal fell flat until Dennis Wilson interjected that the boys were writing their own material called "Surfin'" despite the fact that Brian's song had yet to be finished.  This song would be The Pendeltones first single in 1961, except that the publishing company changed the group's name to The Beach Boys in order to cash in even more on the surfing craze of the 1960s.  "Surfin'", effectively an independent and local release, became a surprise national hit and started off The Beach Boys into a very long career.  1962 had most of the boys finishing off high school (all members were around 18 or younger at the time) and recording their debut album Surfin' Safari.  Another friend, David Marks, would join the band in these early years.  Their unique sound, although grouped as surf rock, combined the intricate vocal harmonies of doo-wop groups, the guitar-driven songwriting of early rock and roll, and the popular subject matter of surf, sun, cars, and girls.

Their first album came out in late 1962 and their contract with Liberty Records quickly had The Beach Boys back in the recording studio early the next year.  This recording session had the boys better solidify their sound and improve all around on their instruments, harmonies, and songwriting.  They also recorded more surf instrumentals in order to combat the impression that The Beach Boys were not a real surf rock band.  It is also said that Brian Wilson, for the first time, worked on producing the group's work with Nick Venet and got credit for the band's first use of double-tracking on the single, "Surfin' USA".  The album, also titled Surfin' USA, would come out in March of 1963 hardly six months after their first album.

Now, that I have my first second album out of the way the possibilities are endless!!  I could do a third album, or 137 other second albums, or some infinite amount of other debut albums... ridiculous.  I keep track of these things.

Here is the discography surrounding The Beach Boys's second album:

Surfin' USA (1963 single)
Surfin'USA

"Shut Down" by The Beach Boys


"Surf Jam" by The Beach Boys


Pass the Headphones!!

The Hour Glass - Hour Glass (1967)

"Nothing but Tears" by The Hour Glass

Casting Crowns originated as a band in Daytona Beach, Florida, a home they'd shared with legendary blues-rock brothers Duane and Gregg Allman.  Growing up, the younger Gregg took to the guitar whereas Duane was more interested in motorbikes.  The music bug took Duane, too, eventually and the two would fight over Gregg's guitar until the family bought a second.  Despite picking up the instrument later, Duane took to it faster than Gregg or any normal person would.  His skill grew exponentially, and he'd eventually drop out of high school just to spend more time practicing.  Gregg, knowing he'd fallen well behind his brother on the guitar, opted to switch instruments to the piano, and his young voice would develop a soulful but gritty tenor beyond his years.

The boys formed a band in and out of high school dubbed The Escorts, whose named would change to The Allman Joys.  They were locally successful with one single in 1966 but would soon break up.  The brothers formed a new band with the remnants of another, The Men-its, and quickly garnered attention from record labels.  Having the fortune of meeting manager Bill McEuen and seen as a band with potential, they signed to Liberty Records and moved out to California where they'd open for acts like The Doors and Buffalo Springfield under the new moniker of The Hour Glass.  Besides being give one, they also made a name for themselves as one of the best live blues-rock acts in the Los Angeles area.  Unlike their live sound, The Hour Glass were pushed by the record label into recording pop soul (with a light blues-rock tint) for their 1967 debut album Hour Glass.  The album did not meet the expectations led by the band's live shows perhaps due to the incongruity of genre between the two.

Here is the discography surrounding The Hour Glass's debut album:

Batman and Robin (1966 single by The Spotlights)

Dick Tracy (1966 single by The Spotlights)

The Green Hornet (1966 single by The Super Dupers)

March of Tarzan (1966 single by The Super Dupers)

The Super Duper Record of Super Heroes (1966 album by The Super Dupers)
Early Allman (Featuring Duane and Gregg Allman) (1966 compilation material as The Allman Joys)
Spoonful (1966 single as The Allman Joys)

Hour Glass
Nothing But Tears (1967 single)

It's All Right (You're Just in Love) (1967 single as the Bleus)

I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself (1968 single as the Bleus)

Milk and Honey (1968 single as The Bleus)
Good Morning, Love (1969 single as The Bleus)

Julianna's Gone (1969 single as The Bleus)

"Love Makes the World Go 'Round" by The Hour Glass

"Crossroads" by The Allman Joys

Pass the Headphones!!

Casting Crowns - Casting Crowns (2001)

"Blinded Eyes" by Casting Crowns


dc Talk formed at Liberty University, a school with a reputation for funneling student-musicians into the Contemporary Christian Music scene.  One of the these students is Hector Cervantes who was one of the founding members of and lead guitarist for Casting Crowns.  Other members included founder, lead singer, and songwriter Mark Hall, guitarist Juan DeVevo, and violinist Melodee DeVevo.  The band started as a youth worship band in Daytona Beach then moved to Stockbridge, Georgia where Mark Hall and the rest of the band members took roles as youth pastors with the band central to their outreach.  Chris Huffman (bass), Megan Garrett (piano, backing vocals), and Andy Williams (drums) joined the group after the move.  As part of church discipleship and youth outreach, Casting Crowns recorded independent albums as simply a tool of evangelism with no intention of seeking record labels, money, or fame.  The first of these albums was the eponymous Casting Crowns released in 2001.

Here is the discography surrounding Casting Crowns's debut album:

Casting Crowns

"Shadow of Your Wings" by Casting Crowns


Pass the Headphones!!

dc Talk - dc Talk (1989)

"Spinnin' Round" by dc Talk


Relient K's label Gotee Records is founded by Christian rapper (one of the first) TobyMac, or Kevin (Toby) Michael McKeehan.  McKeehan's first nickname, however, was DC Talk named for his origins in Washington D.C.  He attended Liberty University where he met gospel singer Michael Tait.  The two began collaborating in 1987 performing Toby's songs at Liberty.  Their performances went over well enough that they were able to sell over 3,000 copies of their demo Christian Rhymes to a Rhythm.  The demo also made it to Christian label ForeFront Records who signed them in 1988.  Fellow student Kevin Max joined as the third member (on backing vocals) of what was at first "dc Talk and the One Way Crew" but then shortened to just dc Talk.  The three dropped out, the "dc" was reappropriated to mean "direct Christian", and the crew released their debut album dc Talk a year later.  The album is filled to the brim with Christian hip hop anthems that combine McKeehan's message-driven rapping and Tait's soulful choruses while maintaining the popular aesthetic of the hip hop scene at the time.  dc Talk broke ground as one of the first major hip hop groups in the contemporary Christian music scene and would quickly become, by far, the most successful.

Here is the discography surrounding dc Talk's debut album:

dc Talk
Heavenbound  (1989 single)

"Heavenbound" by dc Talk


Pass the Headphones!!