Miracle Workers

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Miracle Workers , a rock band from Portland (Oregon) , was active between 1982 and 1992 and formed the local garage rock and psychedelic rock scene there with other bands such as Dead Moon or the Surf Trio . Their name was derived from the song "I Ain't No Miracle Worker" by the Chocolate Watch Band .

history

founding

The Miracle Workers were founded in January 1982 by Gerry Mohr (vocals, harmonica, maraccas, tambourine) and Joel W. Barnett (bass), together with two friends of Gerry as guitarist and drummer, who left the band after a short time. Matt Rogers took their places as guitarist and Ron Sheridan (and temporarily Jeff Grassi) on drums. In 1984 a permanent lineup was formed with the arrival of drummer Gene Trautmann, when Ron Sheridan left the band for professional reasons, and Danny Demiankow (organ, guitar), who was guitarist in the band "Aftermath" in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s had played.

1982-1986: The early years in Portland

The early musical style of the Miracle Workers was closely related to numerous similarly oriented bands such as The Fuzztones , The Chesterfield Kings or The Lyres , which initiated a revival of garage rock and psychedelic rock in the USA at the beginning of the 1980s . The early recordings of the Miracle Workers were entirely in the tradition of this style, but also clearly showed the great potential of songwriting in the band. In addition, the Miracle Workers were considered an excellent live band from an early age, which, thanks to their energetic appearances and strong stage presence, belonged to the best in their field.

The Miracle Workers' sphere of activity was limited to their homeland Portland (Oregon) and parts of the west coast of the USA until the mid-1980s , where they gave more than a hundred concerts by the beginning of 1986. Their first LP "Inside Out" (1985), recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Greg Shaw , gave the band a major breakthrough in the garage rock scene and received good reviews in the US and Europe. The LP was then released under license in Europe by the French label Closer Records .

1986 - 1990: Move to Los Angeles and great success in Europe

In early 1986 the band decided to move from Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles in order to pursue a bigger musical career. The move also resulted in personnel changes when Danny Demiankow and Joel Barnett left the band. Demiankow as keyboardist was not replaced, and in place of Barnett was bassist Robert Butler (founder of the band The Untold Fables from Portland).

With the new lineup, the band orientated itself more musically towards the proto-punk bands of the late 1960s / early 1970s such as the Stooges , MC5 or The Flamin 'Groovies . The music was also influenced by hard rock and alternative rock , such as the emerging grunge from Seattle . This made The Miracle Workers early forerunners of the later Stoner Rock movement. This musical change was resented by purists and accused of selling out: The otherwise well-deserved observer of garage rock , Timothy Gassen, counted "Inside Out" among the five best records of the genre in his standard work "Echoes In Time", but ignored his Consistent discography of all recent recordings made by the band after 1986.

When the garage rock revival spilled over from the USA to Europe, new opportunities arose for the Miracle Workers after 1986. Like many other American garage rock bands, they toured Europe frequently in the late 1980s. The band made long tours in April / May 1988 and in spring 1990 through Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain and Switzerland and gathered a large fan base through their energetic appearances. The band also released their next three albums in Europe on the German label Glitterhouse.

On the 1988 tour, cartoonist Joe Sacco accompanied them as a roadie , where he also sold shirts and homemade comics. These works appeared for sale in 2006 under the name Fantagraphics .

1990 - 1992: crises and the end

Gene Trautmann left the band around 1990 due to personal differences and was replaced by Aaron Sperske, who recorded the album "Roll Out The Red Carpet" with Gerry, Matt and Robert. Rumors of drug problems among the musicians began to circulate, and in 1992 The Miracle Workers finally broke up. The recordings for the last album "Anatomy Of A Creep" with the returned Gene Trautmann took place after the official breakup, as the band still had to fulfill their record deal with Triple X. The CD was only released in 1995 and only in small numbers, on which you can also hear the arguments of the musicians in the studio.

Later musical activities

Joel Barnett formed "The Bo Diddley Headhunters" in April 1986 with his first wife Linda (Vox organ), Brian Ingram (vocals) and Terrence Kerrigan (drums). He later played in the band "The Wicked Ones". Barnett still lives in Portland, remarried, works in IT and presents "The Boss Hoss Rock N Roll Revival Hour" every Thursday evening on the Internet station Radio Enigma.

Robert Butler moved to Switzerland in the early 1990s, where he played in the Bernese bands Bishop's Daughter , "In Sekt" and (under the pseudonym Dink Winkerton) in various band projects by Lightning Beat-Man (aka Reverend Beat-Man ) played and recorded some records. Robert also works as a draftsman and illustrator and has exhibited his works on various occasions. He now has his own band "The Shit" and plays bass on "Come n 'Go". He also works as a screen printer under the name "Panti Christ" and sells printed women's panties, among other things. Together with Beat-Man he runs the store "The Voodoo Rhythm & Pantichrist Hardware Store" in Bern

Gerry Mohr played for a few years under the pseudonym "Malcom Crowne" in the band "Cavemannish Boys" before he also moved to Switzerland in the summer of 2000. Together with Robert Butler and drummer Chris Rosales, he currently forms the band The Get Lost in Bern , which is based on Beat-Man's label Voodoo Rhythm .

Gene Trautmann played with the Queens of the Stone Age between 1999 and 2001and then became the drummer for the Eagles of Death Metal .

Matt Rogers and Danny Demiankow have apparently withdrawn from active musical life.

Discography

7 "

  • Miracle Workers (EP with 4 songs on Moxie Records 1984). Moxie Records was the small record company of Dave Gibson from Springfield (Oregon) , who was also the editor of the garage rock compilation "Boulders" and who died in 1999. The song Out Of My Head was produced by Fred Cole ( Dead Moon ), and Jeff Grassi played drums on these recordings.
  • Blue Girl (7 "of Lost Trail Magazine, Italy, 1987). No additional information.
  • When a Woman Calls My Name / Rock 'n Roll Revolution In The Streets, Part 2 (LSD ("Love's Simple Dreams") Records 1987). Single from the album "Overdose".
  • Dirt / Looking At You (Audiodrome). Bootleg with two cover versions of Stooges (Dirt) and MC5 (Looking At You), recorded in the Hully Gully Studio, Los Angeles, on March 17, 1988 while preparing for the European tour in early summer 1988. Both songs are on the CD - Version of the album Overdose included as bonus tracks.
  • Strange Little Girl / Green Fuz ( Get Hip 1989). Re-release of two recordings from the early days. Strange Little Girl is an early studio recording in the Gerry, Matt, Joel, Danny and Jeff Grassi lineup. Green Fuz (a cover of garage rock -Klassikers Green Fuzz ) a live version from the Pine Street Theater, Portland of 25 March 1983 lineup Gerry, Matt, Joel and Ron Sheridan.
  • Mary Jane / Memory Lane / Señor Amor Theme ( Glitterhouse 1990, green vinyl). Single from the album Primary Domain.
  • Way Back When / Rock'N'Roll Revolution In The Streets, Part One ( Sympathy For The Record Industry 1990, blue vinyl). Recorded on Westbeach Recorders, Los Angeles, March 1990, cover artwork by Bernese artist Dirk Bonsma .

12 "

  • A Thousand Micrograms Of The Miracle Workers (Mini-album with 6 songs on Sounds Interesting Records 1984). SIR in Stone Harbor, New Jersey , was owned by Chip Lamey and was a record company that released the first recordings of American bands of the garage rock revival in the early 1980s.
  • Inside Out (LP on Voxx Bomp 1985, produced by Greg Shaw and recorded in Los Angeles ).
  • Overdose (LP on LSD ("Love's Simple Dreams") Records 1987). Recorded in May 1987 in the Tritonus Studio in Berlin
  • Live At The Forum ( Glitterhouse 1988). Live album, recorded in the Forum in Enger (Germany) in May 1988. Cover drawn by the band roadie Joe Sacco .
  • Moxie's Revenge ( Get Hip 1989). Compilation of the EP and parts of the mini-LP on Moxie Records as well as some unreleased recordings from the same period.
  • Primary Domain (LP on Glitterhouse 1989).
  • Roll Out The Red Carpet (LP on Triple X 1991).
  • Anatomy Of A Creep (LP on Triple X, recorded in Portland 1992, released only 1995). Circulated only in small numbers, as it was a posthumous record by the band, which broke up in 1992.

Tapes

  • Halloween Wake (90-minute tape, Miracle Workers Fan Club, USA, 1985). No more information.

Compilations

  • The Rebel Kind (Sounds Interesting Records 1983) with a song by Miracle Workers.
  • Battle Of The Garages, Volume 2 ( Voxx Bomp 1984) with a song by the Miracle Workers.
  • Declaration Of Fuzz ( Glitterhouse 1986). Miracle Workers with the song LOVE
  • This House Is Not A Motel ( Glitterhouse circa 1989). The Miracle Workers contributed the song Take It In, an outtake of their live album Live At the Forum.
  • Beatschuppen ( Panatomic 2004). The Miracle Workers contributed the song "When a woman calls my name".

Bootlegs

  • Live at Wow Hall, Eugene (Oregon), 1985 (video)
  • Live at the Swedish-American Hall, San Francisco , September 28, 1985 (audio)
  • Live at Bümpliz Castle, Bern , June 19, 1987 (audio)
  • Live in the Jazzhaus , Freiburg im Breisgau , April 24, 1988 (video)
  • Live in the Sala Paganini, Genoa , May 1st, 1988 (audio)
  • Live at Circus Gammelsdorf, Gammelsdorf (Germany), May 19, 1989 (audio)
  • Live in Chez Paulette, Toul (France), April or May 1990 (audio)

Web links

literature

  • Timothy Gassen: Echoes In Time - The Garage and Psychedelic Music Explosion 1980 - 1990, Borderline Productions, Wolverhampton, England 1991.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/event/joe-sacco-i-it-fantagraphics