Rock and Roll

Originally, there was an entire band called "Alice Cooper " led by a singer named Vincent Damon Furnier. Under his direction, Alice Cooper pioneered a grandly theatrical and violent brand of heavy metal that was designed to shock. Drawing equally from horror movies, vaudeville, as well as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and the Stooges, the group created a stage show that featured electric chairs, guillotines, fake blood, and huge boa constrictors, all coordinated by the heavily made-up Furnier. By that time, Furnier had adopted the band's name for his androgynous onstage personality. While the visuals were extremely important to the group's impact, the band's music was nearly as distinctive. Driven by raw, simple riffs and melodies that derived from '60s guitar pop as well as showtunes, it was rock & roll at its most basic and catchy, even when the band ventured into psychedelic and art rock.
After the original group broke up and Furnier began a solo career as Alice Cooper, his actual music lost most of its theatrical flourishes, becoming straightforward heavy metal, yet his stage show retained all of the trademark props that made him the king of shock rock.

Furnier formed his first group, the Earwigs, as an Arizona teenager in the early '60s. Changing the band's name to the Spiders in 1965, the group was eventually called the Nazz (not to be confused with Todd Rundgren's band of the same name). The Spiders and the Nazz both released local singles that were moderately popular. After discovering there was another band called the Nazz in 1968, the group changed its name to Alice Cooper. According to band legend, the name came to Furnier during a ouija board session, where he was told he was the reincarnation of a 17th-century witch of the same name. Comprised of vocalist Furnier, guitarist Mike Bruce, guitarist Glen Buxton, bassist Dennis Dunaway and drummer Neal Smith, the group moved to California in 1968. In California, the group met Frank Zappa and his manager Shep Gordon who signed Alice Cooper to their new label, Straight Records.

Alice Cooper released their first album, "Pretties for You" in 1969. "Easy Action" followed early in 1970, yet it failed to chart. The group's reputation in Los Angeles was slowly shrinking, so the band moved to Furnier's hometown of Detroit. For the next year, the group refined their bizarre stage show. Late in 1970, the group signed with Warner Brothers and began recording their third album with producer Bob Ezrin.

With Ezrin's assistance, Alice Cooper developed their classic heavy-metal crunch on 1971's "Love It to Death ", which featured the number 21 hit single "Eighteen"; the album peaked at number 35 and went gold. The success enabled the group to develop a more impressive, elaborate live show, which made them highly popular concert attractions across the U.S. and eventually the U.K. "Killer", released late in 1971, was another gold album. Released in the summer of 1972, "School's Out" was Alice Cooper's breakthrough record, peaking at number two and selling over a million copies. The title song became a Top Ten hit in the US and a number one single in the UK. "Billion Dollar Babies", released the following year, was the group's biggest hit, reaching number one in both America and Britain; the album's first single, "No More Mr. Nice Guy," became a Top Ten hit in Britain, peaking at number 25 in the U.S. "Muscle of Love" appeared late in 1973, yet it failed to capitalize on the success of "Billion Dollar Babies".

After "Muscle of Love", Furnier fired the rest of Alice Cooper, retaining the name for a solo career; the rest of the band released one unsuccessful album under the name Billion Dollar Babies. In the fall of 1974, a compilation of Alice Cooper's five Warner albums, entitled "Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits", became a Top Ten hit.

For his first solo album, Cooper hired Lou Reed's backing band from Rock 'N' Roll Animal -- guitarists Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, bassist Prakash John , keyboardist Joseph Chrowski , and drummer Penti Glan, as his supporting group. "Welcome to My Nightmare" , Alice Cooper's first solo album, was released in the spring of 1975. The record wasn't a great departure from his previous work and it became a Top Ten smash in America, launching the hit acoustic ballad "Only Women Bleed." Its follow-up, 1976's "Alice Cooper Goes to Hell", was another success, going gold in the U.S. After "Alice Cooper Goes to Hell", Cooper 's career began to slip, partially due to changing trends and partially due to his alcoholism. Cooper entered rehabilitation in 1978, writing an album called "From the Inside" (1978) about his treatment with Bernie Taupin, Elton John's lyricist. During the early '80s, Cooper continued to release albums and tour, yet he was no longer as popular as he was during his early '70s heyday.

Cooper made a successful comeback in the late '80s, sparked by his appearances in horror films and a series of pop/metal bands that paid musical homage to his classic early records and concerts. "Constrictor", released in 1986, began his comeback, but it was 1989's "Trash" that returned Cooper to the spotlight. Produced by the proven hit maker Desmond Child, "Trash" featured guest appearances by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and most of Aerosmith. The record became a Top Ten hit in Britain and peaked at number 20 in the U.S., going platinum. "Poison", a ballad featured on the album, became Coopers first Top Ten hit since 1977.

The Coop has also made many a movie and television appearance -- alongside such stars as Helen Hayes, Mae West, and Gene Wilder, among others -- including, most notably, "Wayne's World," "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare," "Roadie," "John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness," and "Something Wilder."

His Guardian Records release "A Fistful Of Alice," was a paint-blistering live album recorded in Mexico that features special guests Slash, Rob Zombie, and Sammy Hagar, and is guaranteed to break leases and shatter noise by-laws every time it's cranked up to full volume.

Also in release is "Prime Cuts: The Alice Cooper Story," a 90 minute home video shockumentary of Alice's career. This was followed in 1999 by the long-awaited release of the definitive multi-CD box set, "The Life & Crimes of Alice Cooper," an authoritative and comprehensive chronicle of Alice's entire musical history.

Modeled roughly on the three-guitar, three-part vocal harmony sound of the San Francisco band Moby Grape, The Doobie Brothers were founded in San Jose, California in 1970. The blending of the folk-style finger-picking of Pat Simmons with the rough-hewn rock licks of Tom Johnston, whose soulful lead vocals gave the band its initial distinctive sound, helped to define what would become known as the California sound of the 70s.

The band's self-titled 1971 debut album, "The Doobie Brothers", yielded no hit singles, but the subsequent "Toulouse Street" of 1972 burst out with Johnston's "Listen To The Music" (#11) and "Jesus Is Just Alright" (#35) in the last three months of the year. The third album, "The Captain and Me" (1973) established the Doobies as concert headliners on the strength of the hits "Long Train Runnin'" (#8) and "China Grove" (#15) (both penned by Johnston).

The fourth album, "What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" (1974), included "Black Water," the band's first #1 record which eventually sold more than 2 million copies, and was the first hit to feature Simmons as lead vocalist (he also wrote the song). By 1975, with the release of "Stampede", which included the remake of the Motown classic "Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)" (#11) and the addition of former Steely Dan guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, The Doobies had become one of the most popular rock bands in the country.

That same year, when illness forced Johnston out of The Doobies line-up, Baxter suggested another Steely Dan alumnus to fill his spot, and Michael McDonald was drafted. His presence was felt immediately as The Doobie Brothers scored a platinum million-selling album in 1976, propelled by the title-tune single "Takin' It To The Streets" (#13) written by McDonald. In the summer of the year, the band backed up Carly Simon on her version of the McDonald composition, "It Keeps You Runnin'," which hit #46 on the chart. Ironically, the Doobies' own version of the song released five months later did even better for them, hitting #37.

Johnston returned briefly to help record the next album, "Livin' On the Fault Line" (1977), but for all intents and purposes McDonald had taken over the lead vocal chair, launching a second golden era of hits for The Doobie Brothers. "What A Fool Believes," a song McDonald wrote with Kenny Loggins, gave the band its second #1 hit. It was included on "Minute By Minute" LP (1979), whose title tune notched up another hit (#14), followed in turn by "Dependin' On You" (#25). In September, the Doobies appeared alongside Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne and others at the all-star MUSE (Musicians United for Safe Energy) Concert, and were prominently featured in the "NO Nukes" concert film released the following year

1979 found Baxter also leaving the Doobies, to be replaced by steel guitarist John McFee, a veteran of Clover, the Marin County country-rockers who not only backed up Elvis Costello on his debut album (before the Attractions were formed), but also nurtured the early career of singer-songwriter Huey Lewis.

1980 began with The Doobie Brothers nailing three Grammy awards for "What A Fool Believes" (Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Vocal Arrangement) and a fourth Grammy going to "Minute By Minute" (Best Pop Vocal Performance, Duo/Group). The year ended with a new album, "One Step Closer", and another pair of hits, "Real Love" (#5) and the title tune "One Step Closer" (#24).

The Doobie Brothers had now become little more than Michael McDonald's back up band. The group embarked on their final tour in 1982, highlights of which were released the following year on the double-LP set, "Farewell Tour", which included Johnston's guest appearance with the band at U.C. Berkeley's Greek Theater. The musicians then went their separate ways, with Johnston, Simmons and McDonald all releasing successful solo albums. The band would reconvene once a year for a traditional concert at the Lucille Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University in Palo Alto, not far from their hometown of San Jose.

Years passed, until twelve alumni of the Doobies (including Johnston and Simmons but without McDonald) reformed for an 11-city tour that raised more than $1 million for a variety of charities, including a fundraiser at the Hollywood Bowl for the Vietnam Veterans Aid Foundation that was the second quickest sell-out in the venue's history, second only to the Beatles. The tour culminated on July 4th in Moscow, at a peace concert featuring Soviet and American rock bands.

The tour re-ignited interest in The Doobie Brothers both from the audience's viewpoint and the musicians themselves and the band finally returned to the recording studio for Capitol Records. The resulting album, "Cycles" (1989), included a major new hit, "The Doctor" (#9), a chugging, driving song that returned the signature sound of the early Doobies to the radio. A second album called "Brotherhood" was subsequently issued by the reunited band in 1991.

All 12 past and present members of The Doobie Brothers came together in October 1992, for two shows to raise money for a trust fund for the children of the band's percussionist Bobby LaKind, diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died on Christmas Eve that year.

With over two decades worth of great music to feed their hungry fans, the five core members Johnston, Simmons, McFee, drummer Mike Hossack and drummer/vocalist Keith Knudsen, continued to rock, playing 47 dates with Foreigner in the summer of 1994 alone. This included tours of Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

The Doobie Brothers 25th anniversary celebration kicked into high gear in July 1996, when "Rockin' Down the Highway: The Wildlife Concert", a special benefit reunion concert for the Wildlife Conservation Society, was released as a double-album . The 1996 summer tour featured The Doobie Brothers with Lynyrd Skynyrd.

As they entered their second quarter century together, The Doobies Brothers continued the musicianship and showmanship that made them into one of the most popular American rock bands of all time. They continued to play about 90 shows a year and in October of 2000, released a new album called "Sibling Rivalry".

As of late 2001, Michael McDonald had retired from the rock scene and settled in Franklin, Tennessee, just outside Nashville. Having parted company with Warner Brothers in 1994 when his record sales started to fall, he released his music on his own "Ramp Records", before signing with MCA to fulfill his lifetime ambition of recording Gospel Music.

The Doobie Brothers have released a total of 15 albums. They have earned 13 RIAA gold and 11 multi-platinum sales awards, and have performed around the world for more than 35 million fans.

The Parliaments began as a doo-wop quintet in Plainfield, NJ. Former barber George Clinton and crew -- Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, Grady Thomas, Ray Davis -- moved to Detroit in the mid-'60s. They landed a Motown contract, only to wind up on the bench. The group finally got a single out on Revilot Records; "(I Wanna) Testify" hit on the R&B and pop charts in 1967, but lousy distribution and an ensu-ing contractual dispute prevented a followup. In the meantime, Clinton was busy immersing himself in Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix, studying the Beatles and Bob Dylan. Once he discovered the power in those big amplifiers, soul -- and rock -- would change forever.

Unable to use the Parliaments name, Clinton renamed the band Funkadelic and signed it to Westbound records. At the same time, the exact same band was rechristened Parliament and recorded Osmium for Holland-Dozier-Holland's Invictus label in 1970. (First Thangs collects all the Parliament recordings done for Invictus between 1970 and 1972.) Many of the Parliament songs recorded during these sessions showed up later, confusingly, on Funkadelic records ("Red Hot Mama," "Loose Booty," "I Call My Baby Pussycat"), proving the two bands weren't exactly two bands, not yet. The furious funk rock is in place, as is Clinton's self-conscious humor ("Little Old Country Boy") and skill with vocal arrangements ("Come In Out of the Rain"). It's not a footnote, and works better as an album than several Funkadelic records.

Up for the Down Stroke was the moment when Clinton decided what made this band distinct from Funkadelic: punchline vocals and intricate harmony arrangements; Bernie Worrell's keyboard as bass line, melody, and Harpo-like vocal respondent; an easy-going sense of humor; horns, keyboards, and interlocking percussion rather than rock aesthetics and guitar solos. Veteran James Brown sidemen like bassist Bootsy Collins and the newly named Horny Horns (Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley) pump up the beat, with an ever-shifting cast of singers. The title track is one for the time capsule, as Clinton plays ringmaster with end to end hooks and beats that won't stop. The group's first single, "Testify," gets a decent reworking, and "All Your Goodies Are Gone" is a funky left turn that became a hip-hop sample. From there, the forays into ballads ("Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good") and drum machines ("The Goose") range from atmospheric to negligible but don't stop the flow. (The 2003 remastered reissue adds two alternate mixes and one very strong unreleased track, "Singing Another Song.")

The title track of Chocolate City is one of Clinton's most successful political concepts; an AM radio DJ trying to paint the White House black with the best band in town. The funk stays strong for five songs and then Clinton leads the band into some pleasant, if thin, male vocal harmony tracks that sound more like the old doo-wop style than Clinton's new approach, which used female voices to better effect. The Isaac HayesÐstyle funeral funk of the underrated "I Misjudged You" sounds like trip-hop now, and "Big Footin' " brings back the bottom with a crazed Fuzzy Haskins vocal (and a quote from Funkadelic's "A Joyful Process"!). The reissue adds 2 alternate mixes and one unreleased comedy track, "Common Law Wife."

That was it for fine-tuning. Parliament began a serious run. Mothership Connection featured Clinton as MC, rapping, teasing, and herding his band through a new pop music with links to Africa, deep space, and urban politics. The balance here is perfect -- the endless manifesto "P. Funk," the knee-buckling sweetness of the horns and vocals calling back and forth across the aisle on the title track, and their best-known sing-along, "Give Up the Funk," which probably started as many bands as the Ramones' first album. The groove undergirds everything, so that comedy tracks ("Unfunky UFO" and "Handcuffs") flow into the whole without a drop in bumpativity.

On The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein, the band is in its prime and knows it. The Funky Trinity of George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, and Bernie Worrell are almost the Beatles of funk on this one, stringing sex, funk, and mad science into a seamless thing that doesn't know how to not please. The horns echo '40s swing without threatening the funk, and the vocal interplay is playful and deeply embedded. Choose any track -- the low-slung title track, which is pure hip-hop attitude before the fact, or the lovely "Everything Is on the One," a slower, sweeter blend -- and you'll be rewarded.

Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome goes heavier on space travel than sex and introduces a new Clinton character, Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk, enemy of all things danceable (and a stand-in for the rock and pop audiences not understanding Clinton's too-black, too-strong circus crew). Again, the flow from track to track is impeccable, with Bootsy's watery, enveloped bass running like a live wire through everything. They're having such a good time in their atomized cloud of riffs and funny voices, you can't help but get carried along. "Wizard of Finance" is one of Clinton's best nonfunk tunes, a Broadway-ready slow tune about finance and romance. The album ends with one of the 20th century's greatest songs about absolutely nothing, "Flash Light," which is criminally short at 5:46. (Go to the 12" Collection for the full 10:42 version.) Bernie Worrell will one day be elected Emperor of the World for his work on this song. So it has been written, so shall it be done!

Motor-Booty Affair is a slight step backward, with Clinton concentrating on the cartoon characters and offering the first weak opening track in Parliament history: "Mr. Wiggles." "Aqua Boogie" is a masterpiece, but again, go for the longer version. The band is good enough to dress everything up nicely, but there are too many longueurs and too few hooks to make this a good ride. (There is some fascinating comedy and musical madness buried in the last track, "Deep," possibly their oddest track ever.) You'd be better off at this stage in P-Funk history with spinoffs like Parlet (responsible for one of P-Funks' most monstrous moments, "Huff 'n' Puff") or Bootsy's excellent solo LPs.

Gloryhallastoopid and Trombipulation boast general product quality but few killer tracks, especially on Trombipulation. (Gloryhallastoopid does have the obscene but pretty great "Theme From the Black Hole," and "The Big Bang Theory," featuring the synth bass line that showed up the next year in Stevie Wonder's "Master Blaster.") Tear the Roof Off is a two-disc best-of, while Funked Up is one, long, remastered best-of. Both are excellent, as is The 12" Collection, which presents the long versions of some of their masterpieces, plus lesser-known tracks like Parlet's "Ridin' High" and the original version of "Testify," which reveals a very strong Sly Stone influence. (SASHA FRERE-JONES)

From the 2004 The New Rolling Stone Album Guide

35 Years And Counting…

From their first LP in 1973, to their powerful stage presence today, the Marshall Tucker Band has played countless concert venues around the world. With the success of the Volunteer Jam Tour, and 1999 release of Gospel, the good ol’ boys from Spartanburg, South Carolina remain as a powerful force in the world of music.

The year 2003 should provide even more excitement as the band has added a “new” member to its lineup. David Muse has rejoined the Marshall Tucker Band after a three year absence. As a founding member of Firefall, David took sometime away from MTB to reunite with his bandmates. David originally joined MTB in 1996. We are truly grateful to have such a tremendous talent return on flute, sax and keys.

Tony Heatherly, a native of Greer, SC, joined the MTB on bass during the summer of 2001. He brings with him over four years of experience playing with the Toy Caldwell Band from 1988 to 1992. Also in August of 2001, Chris Hicks, a former member of the Outlaws, brought a scorching third guitar (not to mention killer vocals) to the Marshall Tucker line-up.

Doug Gray, lead singer, is quick to credit the band’s current dynamic members with carrying on the everlasting Marshall Tucker Band sound. In 1989, slide guitarist Stuart Swanlund joined the lineup of talented musicians. They also added the highly respected B.B. Borden, who is a former member of both Mother’s Finest and The Outlaws, on drums in the early 90’s.

“The buying public never really cared whether we were country or rock and roll” says founding member Doug Gray. “They called us a Southern rock band, but we have always played everything from country to blues and all things in-between. We’re still playing all of the classic songs, but we are moving ahead into other styles as well. We’re also playing for a younger audience than we have in the past, perhaps to the kids of the fans we played in front of in the 70’s and 80’s.”

Gray also notes that people have gotten “married and buried” to classic MTB songs like “Desert Skies” and “Can’t You See”. After nearly 30 years, The Marshall Tucker Band continues to be played on classic rock and country radio, and they have never stopped touring.

“We never play less than 150 shows a year, and sometimes we play as many as 200 shows. We feel we owe it to the fans who have supported us through the years to deliver the music in person,” says Gray.

Years of rigorous tour schedules earned the band the respect of critics and countless dedicated fans. With hit singles like “Heard It In a Love Song,” “Fire On The Mountain,” “Can’t You See,” and “Take The Highway,” The Marshall Tucker Band earned seven gold and three platinum albums while they were on the Capricorn Records label. During the 90’s, the MTB scored four hit singles on Billboard’s country chart and one on Billboard’s gospel chart. Their music has also been featured on the soundtracks of movies such as Smokey and the Bandit, The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, and Shipwrecked.

The Marshall Tucker Band got its start in Spartanburg, S.C. when Gray teamed up with Tommy Caldwell and Toy Caldwell, Paul T. Riddle, George McCorkle and Jerry Eubanks, borrowing the name “Marshall Tucker” from a piano tuner who’s name was found on a key ring in their old rehearsal space. In 1972, they signed with Capricorn Records, the same label that guided The Allman Brothers Band, Wet Willie, and others to national fame. The MTB opened shows for The Allman Brothers in 1973, and the following year, they began to headline their own shows across America due to the platinum-plus sales of their debut album.

In years to come, The Marshall Tucker Band would wow critics and influence major country acts like Alabama, The Kentucky Headhunters, Confederate Railroad, and Travis Tritt with its definitive blend of rock, rhythm & blues, jazz, country, and gospel. Now, thanks to the expanding scope of today’s music, a new generation of fans is learning what the rest of their fans have known for so long- that good music knows no boundaries.

“As we’ve become older,” Gray grins, eyes twinkling, “our Southern heritage seems to come out even more. But no matter how old we get, we can still rock your socks off.”

The Marshall Tucker Band is:
Doug Gray – Lead Vocals
Tony Heatherly– Bass Guitar
Chris Hicks - Guitars
Stuart Swanlund – Slide Guitar
B.B. Borden – Drums
David Muse – Keyboards, Saxophone & Flute, Vocals