Out of all of the bands that were buzzbin worthy of the 1990s, I followed the Gin Blossoms more than the others simply of the fact that they came from my old stompin ground of Tempe Arizona and I came across them by accident of being the last second replacement of the beloved Sand Rubies/Sidewinders at Chuy's. So seating in front of them with some super fans and part of the opening act band Echo House I got to see and hear the majority of the Gin Blossoms songs to which their A and M debut was slated to be released later that summer of 1992.
They had a connection with the Sidewinders by releasing their debut on the San Jacinto Label which was owned by Rich Hopkins of that band. The GBs had a great songwriter with another Hopkins, the late genius Doug whose fondness for the outrageous and booze led to his parting of the GBs. The first album Dusted is in that Arizona pop rock that the Sidewinders was famous for and a lot of the songs off that album got remade for New Miserable Experience. Dusted was out of print and highly sought after till the GB's reissued it for a brief time on their Gin Blossom label.
If you want to know about 90s power pop from Arizona, New Miserable Experience remains one of the best albums of the 1990s with songs such as Hey Jealousy, Mrs. Rita, Untill I Fall Away, Found Out About You and Alison Road. It was that rare album that the label picked no fewer than five songs for singles and all got airplay bigtime in 1992-1993. But also the GBs also had minor hits with a nice cover of Soul Deep and another concert favorite Idiot Summer. New Miserable Expierence can be found in the dollar bins but I still think it remains their most perfect album and A and M expanded it with a bonus cd of choice live cuts and a couple from Dusted and other tracks that didn't make it on the album. Critics didn't care much for it, in fact old crank Robert Christgau gave NME a C plus and dismissed it but I believe that record went above him. In the classic rock of the 90s, Mrs Rita or Hey Jealousey is playing somewhere.
But what was supposed to be their shining moment, they never quite recaptured the pop magic of that album after Doug Hopkins departed (Hopkins later formed The Chimeras and wrote songs that would be become Mistaken For Granted before committing suicide). True they continue to have radio hits with Follow You Down and the Marshall Crenshaw cowrite Till I Hear It From You but Congratulations I'm Sorry, while good wasn't great. While A&M backed them wholeheartedly, there are actually more best of Gin Blossoms then there are actual albums. Outside Looking In, pretty much cherry picks the best of both albums and that got replaced by the 20th Century Masters Series.
The Gin Blossoms broke up, Robin Wilson formed the more darker rocking Gas Giants and did a decent album and then did a cartoon recording with famed cult guitarist Tommy Keene. Jesse Valenzula made two decent albums as a soloist and with The Odd's Craig Northney. And then in 2006 The GB's reformed and made Major Lodge Victory on Hybrid, this time with help from Danny Wilde. But Hybrid went bellyup but the Gin Blossoms continue to tour and have a new album coming out on SLG's 429 Records in September.
But I still continue to have good memories of this Tempe band that continues to play up here in Iowa in the summertime. Saw them during the Flood Festival of 1993 and they will be playing at the Bar B Q festival on June 25, 2010. And they still remain one of the best live acts to see, even 18 years after encountering them at Chuy's. And still despite so so recordings remains one of my favorites acts to come out of the 1990s.
"Hello, we are the Gin Blossoms from Tempe Arizona, ready to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and we all out of bubble gum............................."
Update 2020: The Gin Blossoms are still around and in 2018 dropped off Mixed Reality, yet another good effort with long time collaborator Danny Wilde helping out on words and music and having Don Dixon and Mitch Easter (REM, Smithereens) producing. But the record is hard to find. The lineup of Robin Wilson, Jesse Valenzula Bill Leen and Scott Johnson has been intact since Doug Hopkins was replaced tho they have changed drummers every so often. Scott Hessel has been providing the beats since 2012. New Miserable Exp will forever remain their classic moment. For thirty years, they only had six proper albums and a buttload of best ofs The Sony live album I'm guessing is a truncated version of the Cleopatra live album, The 20th Century Masters and Icon are basically the same except ICON deletes one song.
The In Bloom live album is a bootleg copy but the soundboard recording is quite fine and not as messed up as the official Cleopatra live album. In Bloom comes from two 1993 shows and we get two live versions of Mrs. Rita, Just South Of Nowhere and Cheatin' Some of the live recordings from In Bloom did make it on the expanded edition of New Miserable Exp, an album that defined the power pop 90s era. While Jesse, Bill and Robin did write songs on that album, it is the Doug Hopkins songs that make the album what it is and a shame that Hopkins couldn't control his demons that would eventually take his life with a gun in 1993 and his ashes scattered off the old Ash Ave Bridge in downtown Tempe. He did get a gold record for Hey Jealousy to which he eventually would destroy in a rage. However that song remains in the Gin Blossoms staple as well as other Hopkins originals such as Found Out About You and Lost Horizons. Hopkins is still fondly remembered, but the Gin Blossoms continue on with Scott Johnson picking up where Doug left off. The Gin Blossoms have worked with a few notable artists, namely Marshall Crenshaw on the number 1 hit Till I Hear It From You (and in the process changed Marshall's music into something the GB's were doing) and the late great Tommy Keene to which they borrowed Keene's drummer for one album. But in the demise of MTV, the Gin Blossoms were one of the last bands to benefit for music videos but they have been one of the most dedicated live bands out there. Next to Los Lobos, all the guys are approachable and very friendly to talk to after a gig. They really did made a great impression on me when they were started out in 1992 at the local bar in Tempe.
The albums:
Dusted (San Jacinto/Gin Blossoms Records 1989) A-
New Miserable Expierence (A&M 1992) A-
Up And Crumblin' (A&M EP) B+
In Bloom (KTS 1996) B+
Congratulations I'm Sorry (A&M 1996) C+
Outside Looking In-The Best Of (A&M 1999) B+
Major Lodge Victory (Hybrid 2006) B
In Concert (Cleopatra 2009) B
New Miserable Experience Expanded Edition (A&M 2009) A-
No Chocolate Cake (629/Savoy 2010) B
Playlist; Gin Blossoms Live (Sony 2016) NR
Mixed Reality (Cleopatra 2018) B
No comments:
Post a Comment