119-461: My War is the second studio album by American band Black Flag . It was the first of three full-length albums the band released in 1984. The album polarized fans due to the LP's B-side, on which the band slowed down to a heavy, Black Sabbath -esque trudge after establishing expectations as a faster hardcore punk band on its first album, Damaged (1981). After a period of legal troubles which prohibited
238-432: A European tour in 1983 gave Dukowski an ultimatum to quit, or Ginn himself would leave. Dukowski left the band, but stayed on to co-run SST. With Unicorn's demise in 1983, Black Flag was able to release the material they had written since 1981. Eager to get back in the studio but still without a bassist, Ginn took on bass duties under the pseudonym "Dale Nixon" and practiced the new material with Stevenson up to eight hours
357-653: A band rather than as a stereotype ... A lot of what you call the punk scene is really backward, and it always has been." Following the release of Damaged , Black Flag absorbed a wider range of influences from the more experimental hardcore of Flipper , Void , and Fang . They listened to little contemporary punk. Ginn was drawn to Ronnie James Dio 's work in Black Sabbath and Dio , as well as earlier favorites from his pre-punk days, including Ted Nugent , Black Oak Arkansas , MC5 , ZZ Top , Deep Purple , Uriah Heep , and others. Music journalist Andrew Earles believes
476-671: A band, Black Flag's experiences became legendary, especially in the Southern California area. Much of the band's history is chronicled in Henry Rollins' own published tour diary Get in the Van . Black Flag were reportedly blacklisted by the LAPD and Hollywood rock clubs because of the destructiveness of their fans, though Rollins has claimed that police caused far more problems than they solved. SST Records, an independent American record label that
595-624: A barrier to their retaining an audience – Ginn was so creatively restless that Black Flag's albums were often very dissimilar. At one point, Rollins apparently said, "Why don't we make a record that was like the last one so people won't always be trying to catch up with what we're doing?" The next album, In My Head , with its powerful bluesy proto-grunge-metal, did seem to finally be a cohesive follow-up to their previous album Loose Nut , but it would be their last. Black Flag played its final show on June 27, 1986, in Detroit, Michigan . In his book Get in
714-452: A big baby / But I'll scream in your ear / 'Til I find out / Just what it is I am doing here". The closing track of Damaged , "Damaged I", presaged this dark, heavier style, and a slower pace that brings the track length to nearly four minutes, the longest on the album. ... within the hardcore scene, side two of My War was as heretical as Bob Dylan playing electric guitar on one side of Bringing It All Back Home . One of
833-522: A committed quartet with Ginn, Morris and drummer Brian Migdol . Dukowski insisted the band rehearse much more frequently, sometimes seven days per week. The band held their first performance in December 1977 in Redondo Beach, California . To avoid confusion with another band called Panic, they changed their name to Black Flag in late 1978. They played their first show under this name on January 27, 1979, at
952-430: A day, teaching the drummer to slow down and let the rhythm "ooze out" at a pace Stevenson was unused to; the band called this approach the "socialist groove", as all beats were equally spaced. With Spot as producer and $ 200,000 in debt, Ginn, Rollins, and Stevenson headed to the studio to record My War . The sides on the original LP divide the tracks into stylistic halves. The first half features five tracks that are in
1071-490: A distinctive take on funk music . Rollins was Black Flag's longest-lasting vocalist. When he joined Black Flag, he brought a different attitude and perspective than previous singers. Some earlier songs, such as " Six Pack " (a song written about original singer Keith Morris) blended a sense of black humor with driving punk rock. Rollins was an intense performer, who usually appeared onstage wearing only shorts. Ginn once stated that after Rollins joined, "We couldn't do songs with
1190-407: A federal judge denied the motion for a preliminary injunction, brought by Ginn and SST against Morris, Dukowski, Stevenson, Cadena, and Egerton. The court ruled that it was possible that the logo had fallen into "generic use", but did not rule specifically that it had done so. The court also ruled that Ginn and SST could not prevent the use of the band name "Flag", as it was likely that fans would know
1309-484: A formative influence on the grunge, stoner and sludge metal genres. The band would continue to evolve toward a more heavy metal sound, with 1985's Loose Nut featuring more polished production. Despite 1984–85 being the most fruitful period for the band and their record label, Ginn and Rollins would ultimately decide to eject Roessler from Black Flag, citing erratic behavior. It has also been suggested that Ginn's accommodating Roessler's college schedule created tension in
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#17330939949261428-617: A gig in Garden Grove a day before the No Values Festival in Pomona, California, Black Flag played a show featuring new bass player Matt Baxter, who Mike Vallely had released a folk single called "Sooner or Later" with in 2020 as a duo called The Morning Trail on which Baxter player guitar and Vallely sang. Matt Baxter is replacing previous bass player Harley Duggan. Black Flag are primarily a hardcore punk band and are considered to be one of
1547-448: A guitar player. British acoustic artist and punk rocker Frank Turner has a Black Flag icon tattoo on his wrist and cites the band as one of his primary inspirations, particularly in regards to their work ethic. With Million Dead , if anything went wrong with their tour, Turner said they would "Think Black Flag". Vocalist Maynard James Keenan of the bands Tool and A Perfect Circle , has described seeing Black Flag perform in 1986 as
1666-402: A lineup of original and current members. Reunited originals Jim "Dandy" Mangrum, Rickie Lee "Risky" Reynolds, Pat "Dirty" Daugherty, and Jimmy "Soybean" Henderson, were joined by current drummer Johnnie Bolin, bassist George Hughen, guitarist Buddy Church and lead guitarist Hal McCormack. The first single off the record "Plugged In And Wired" was released August 26, 2013. The band toured to support
1785-438: A major label: "Swimming in the mainstream / Is such a lame, lame dream". Dukowski's "I Love You" parodies pop ballads with lyrics of violence and dysfunction in a relationship gone wrong. Ginn and Rollins share credit on the metallic "Forever Time" and the noisy "Swinging Man". The second side's three tracks each clock in at over six minutes. Reviewers have described them as an early cross-pollination between punk and metal,
1904-482: A plodding Black Sabbath -esque sludge metal , or proto- noise rock style, depending on how they are viewed. On "Three Nights", Rollins compares himself to feces stuck to his shoe: "And I've been grinding that stink into the dirt / For a long time now". Against a slow, heavy, start-and-stop bass riff and a constant drum thudding, Rollins closes "Scream" with a bellow after delivering the Ginn-penned lines: "I may be
2023-407: A portion of which he played with his bare hands. The four new songs were originally recorded and intended to be included on the follow-up studio album to If an Angel Came to See You ... , but when Atco Records realized the band's true strong suit was their concert act, the live album resulted. Raunch 'n' Roll Live was re-issued in 2007 by Rhino Records as a 2-CD set containing both concerts that
2142-581: A pronounced change in the group's direction. The band had also become increasingly interested in music other than punk rock, such as the Jimi Hendrix Experience , and some of the members (particularly Ginn) used cannabis . Newer material (which can be heard on the 1982 Demos bootleg) was slower and less like typical punk music, with classic rock and blues influences seeping in. Cadena left in April 1983 to form his own band DC3 . He would take some of
2261-526: A sense of humor anymore; he got into the serious way-out poet thing." With Rollins, Black Flag began work on their first full-length album. The sessions for the album (chronicled in Michael Azerrad 's book Our Band Could Be Your Life ) were a source of conflict between the band and engineer/producer Spot , who had worked with the band and the SST label since their early years. Spot had already recorded many of
2380-637: A series of different Black Oak lineups, up to the present day. Black Oak Arkansas currently enjoys a loyal fan following. Jim Dandy is credited with inspiring Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth 's image and onstage persona. In addition, in the 1980s former Maine State Representative Chris Greeley once 'opened' for them as a member of the rock band Toyz . The band released an album for Atlantic Records / Atco Records on October 15, 2013, titled Back Thar N' Over Yonder . The album contained five newly recorded songs and 10 previously unreleased 1970s tracks which were produced by Tom Dowd . The new songs featured
2499-470: A set of ten demo tracks at Total Access studios in 1982 for a planned follow-up to Damaged on which Chuck Biscuits replaced Damaged drummer Robo . The rest of the lineup consisted of Ginn and former vocalist Dez Cadena on guitars, Rollins on vocals, and Dukowski on bass. The band explored new sounds on these tracks, which tended to feature a riff-heavy heavy-metal edge and noisy, energetic free guitar soloing from Ginn. The album never materialized, and
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#17330939949262618-413: A sound were rare, and the band rejected the classification. The ideology of many fans and critics demanded that hardcore punk bands remain true to the genre's roots, with short, fast songs, typically lacking solos. My War thus came across as a betrayal of those roots, and critics associated the differences with metal, a genre the hardcore punk community despised. Examples include Tim Yohannon disparaging
2737-519: A test than an album", and saying, "independent music is stronger because Black Flag formulated it". John Dougan at AllMusic called the A-side of the album "quite good", but described the B-side as "self-indulgence masquerading as inspiration and about as much fun as wading through a tar pit". Robert Christgau considered the B-side a "waste". Howard Hampton found it "unbearably boring", and Tim Yohannon called
2856-583: A young punk rocker in Grand Rapids, Michigan , as a "revelatory and life-changing" experience. A Perfect Circle also covered the Black Flag song "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie" on their Emotive album. Punk band Rise Against portrayed Black Flag in the 2005 Lords of Dogtown film, and their cover of "Nervous Breakdown" is on the Lords of Dogtown soundtrack. Rise Against also does a cover of the Black Flag song "Fix Me" in
2975-552: Is a pseudonym sometimes used by Ginn, most prominently as the bassist on My War ). The band would tour as well as release a new album, their first since 1985's In My Head . In March, it was announced that Screeching Weasel bassist Dave Klein had joined the band. On May 2, 2013, the band released a new song entitled "Down in the Dirt" through their website. After releasing two more singles ("The Chase" and "Wallow in Despair"), What The...
3094-479: Is chronicled in Our Band Could Be Your Life , a study of several important American underground rock bands. Many members of the grunge scene cited Black Flag's My War album as being influential in their departure from the standard punk model. Steve Turner of Mudhoney stated in an interview, "A lot of other people around the country hated the fact that Black Flag slowed down ... but up here it
3213-675: Is considered to be one of the first post-hardcore albums along with Hüsker Dü 's Zen Arcade and Minutemen 's Double Nickels on the Dime in the same year. The album reached no. 5 on the UK Indie Charts . Black Flag toured the My War material from March 1984, with the Nig-Heist and Meat Puppets as opening acts. It had been a year since the band had toured, and Rollins, Ginn, and Stevenson had grown out their hair; punks associated long hair with
3332-427: Is not a defined form." Ginn had long criticized the hardcore punk scene's narrowmindedness, and following Black Flag's breakup in 1986, and in reaction to criticism of Black Flag's later output following its breakup in 1986, Ginn derided the underground scene as "really conservative", whose audience "demands something familiar". The muffled sound of the album's production has attracted criticism; Stevie Chick disparaged
3451-575: The Billboard Hot 100 . Baker's song was recorded at the suggestion of Tom Dowd, who produced the album and was the engineer on the original LaVern Baker single. The band was riding high on the concert trail as well by this time, headlining large venues like Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium and Charlotte Motor Speedway , and the Royal Albert Hall in London, England. Black Oak Arkansas also played at
3570-579: The Damaged tracks with Dez Cadena on vocals (as well as Keith Morris and Ron Reyes) and felt that the band's sound was ruined with the two guitar line-up (these versions can be heard on the albums Everything Went Black and The First Four Years ). Whereas the earlier four-piece versions are more focused and much cleaner sounding, the Damaged recordings are more akin to a live recording, with little stereo separation of guitars, and somewhat muddy. When asked about
3689-560: The California Jam festival in Ontario, California , on April 6, 1974. The concert attracted over 200,000 fans, and BOA appeared alongside Black Sabbath ; Eagles ; Emerson, Lake & Palmer ; Deep Purple ; Earth, Wind & Fire ; Seals and Crofts ; and Rare Earth . Portions of the show were telecast on ABC Television in the US, exposing the band to a wider audience. The follow-up to High on
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3808-571: The Circle Jerks . After Morris's departure, Black Flag recruited fan Ron Reyes as singer. With Reyes, Black Flag recorded the Jealous Again 12-inch EP and appeared in the film The Decline of Western Civilization . This was also the line-up that toured up and down the West Coast for the first time, the version most fans outside of L.A. first saw. In 1980, Reyes quit Black Flag mid-performance at
3927-603: The Descendents , All , Only Crime , and the reformed Lemonheads . Kira Roessler continues to record and perform with the band dos , a duet with former husband and one time Minutemen bassist Mike Watt . In September 2003, Black Flag played three reunion shows, two at the Hollywood Palladium and one at Alex's Bar in Long Beach, California , to benefit cat rescue organizations (a current passion of Ginn's). The line-up for
4046-500: The Misfits as one of that band's last drummers before its 1983 breakup). The loss of Robo put an end to extensive touring for a while. Emil Johnson of Twisted Roots filled in for one tour, but it was clear he was only temporary. While on that tour in Vancouver, the band found out that drummer Chuck Biscuits was leaving D.O.A. He was quickly drafted on board, traveling with the band for
4165-589: The Moose Lodge Hall in Redondo Beach, California. Future Black Flag vocalists Dez Cadena and Ron Reyes were both in attendance at the Moose Lodge show. The name was suggested by Ginn's brother, artist Raymond Pettibon , who also designed the band's logo: a stylized black flag represented as four black bars. Pettibon stated "If a white flag means surrender, a black flag represents anarchy." Their new name
4284-537: The United States Naval Observatory . The band held their practices there, and would have to be let in by United States Secret Service agents. S.O.A. had corresponded with Black Flag, and met them when they performed on the U.S. east coast. At an impromptu show at A7 in New York City , Rollins had asked the band to perform "Clocked In", and the band offered to let him sing. Since vocalist Dez Cadena
4403-425: The front man . Ginn and Morris had trouble early on finding bandmates. They had an especially difficult time finding a reliable bass guitarist and often rehearsed without a bassist, a factor that contributed to the development of Ginn's distinctive guitar sound. Ginn's brother Raymond Pettibon and SST house record producer-to-be Spot filled in during rehearsals. In the beginning, Ginn and Morris were inspired by
4522-483: The hippies and metalheads they loathed and found it dissonant with Rollins' accepted image as a hardcore skinhead . My War polarized Black Flag fans; it alienated those who wanted the band to stay true to its simple hardcore roots and who were put off by the length of the songs, the riff-heaviness, and the solos—elements widely thought of as un-punk. Critics dissatisfied with the band's direction compared it to heavy metal, though contemporary metal bands with such
4641-655: The 1980s, Black Flag's sound, as well as their notoriety, evolved. In addition to being central to the creation of hardcore punk, they were innovators in the first wave of American West Coast punk rock and are considered a key influence on punk subculture in the United States and abroad. Along with being among the earliest punk rock groups to incorporate elements and the influence of heavy metal melodies and rhythm, there were often overt free jazz and contemporary classical elements in their sound, especially in Ginn's guitar playing, and
4760-404: The B-side "sheer torture". The album had a great influence on the "hardcore-meets-Sabbath" sounds of Mudhoney , Melvins , and Nirvana . The first punk concert Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain attended was a Black Flag show during the My War tour, and he listed My War on his list of top fifty albums. Mark Arm of Mudhoney related he was moved to tears at a Black Flag concert in 1983 when he
4879-582: The Beatles and the Byrds . The Knowbody Else moved to Memphis, Tennessee , in 1969 and signed a record deal with Stax Records . Their self-titled debut album (Hip Records #HIS-7003 [a subsidiary of Stax]) was largely ignored by the public. During this time the band became interested in psychedelia and Eastern spiritualism which, combined with their Southern Baptist upbringing, contributed to their sound. After several trips to Los Angeles, California , in 1970,
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4998-528: The Circle Jerks. (Later, Biscuits joined ex-Misfits singer Glenn Danzig's solo project Danzig ). Black Flag eventually got Bill Stevenson of Descendents to join permanently (he had filled in from time-to-time before). While the Unicorn Records court injunction prevented the group from releasing a new studio album, they nonetheless continued to work on new material, and embarked on a period which would mark
5117-475: The Fleetwood in Redondo Beach because of escalating violence. For the remainder of that gig, the band played an extended version of " Louie Louie " and invited audience members to take turns singing. Dez Cadena, another fan, then joined as a vocalist, and the band continued touring throughout the United States as well as England . By the summer of 1981, Cadena opted to play guitar rather than perform vocals, and
5236-618: The Hog , 1974's Street Party (featuring "Son of a Gun", "Brink of Creation", "Hey Ya'll" and "Dixie", as well as a cover of the Motown classic "Dancing in the Street"), may have failed to maintain the momentum, but another 1974 release entitled Early Times , a shelved Stax recording by The Knowbody Else (now released on the back of their success and under the BOA banner), made up for lost time. Guitarist Harvey Jett left
5355-455: The Horizon frontman Oliver Sykes also mentioned Black Flag as one of his biggest influences. Sykes has also had the tattoo of Black Flag logo showing the love for the band. American alternative rock band My Chemical Romance has also stated that the band has been heavily influenced by Black Flag. Black Oak Arkansas Black Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after
5474-593: The Minutemen made their first tour of the UK through late 1981 and early 1982. During that tour, the band met punk icon Richard Hell and opened a concert for him. Rollins later published his diaries from that tour in his book Get in the Van . As the front man, Rollins was a frequent target of violent audience members, and started getting involved in fist-fights. Rollins developed a distinct showmanship on stage, where he could entertain an audience just by talking to them. The rest of
5593-882: The Ron Reyes Band. On December 18, 2011, Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski, Bill Stevenson, and the Descendents' Stephen Egerton played the Nervous Breakdown EP in its entirety for the Goldenvoice 30th anniversary show called GV 30. This surprise gig at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium took place between sets by the Vandals and the Descendents. On January 25, 2013, it was announced that guitarist Greg Ginn and vocalist Ron Reyes would reform Black Flag, joined by Gregory Moore on drums, and 'Dale Nixon' on bass (Dale Nixon
5712-454: The Unicorn deal was not legally binding, while Unicorn disagreed and sued SST and Black Flag). Until the matter was sorted out, the band were prevented by a court injunction from using the name "Black Flag" on any recordings. They released a compilation record, Everything Went Black , which was credited to the individual musicians, not "Black Flag". In fact, wherever the original album artwork had
5831-571: The Van , Rollins wrote that Ginn telephoned him in August 1986: "He told me he was quitting the band. I thought that was strange considering it was his band and all. So in one short phone call, it was all over." Since Black Flag's break-up, Rollins has had the most visible public profile as a musician, writer, and actor. Most Black Flag members have also remained active in music, especially Ginn, who continued playing with bands such as Gone , October Faction , Screw Radio, and Stevenson , who continued on with
5950-927: The Victimology Tour, bringing along Ginn's own HOR and Brooklyn band Cinema Cinema, as openers. On January 28, 2019, it was announced that Black Flag would play their first show in five years at the Sabroso Craft Beer, Taco & Music Festival in Dana Point, California on April 7. The show would be the start of a U.S. tour. The band's first U.K. tour in 35 years was set to follow in October. The new lineup consisted of Greg Ginn on guitar, Mike Vallely on vocals, Tyler Smith on bass, and Isaias Gil on drums. On December 10, 2022, Black Flag announced that they would be touring North America, in which they will be performing their second studio album, My War , in its entirety. At
6069-563: The album cover (though "BOA"—the band's initials—did appear above the frontman's name). Like its predecessor, The Black Attack Is Back made no commercial headway. In 1992, the band released Rebound , this time under the band's aegis, with similar results. Things changed little with 1999's The Wild Bunch , which was released under the name "Jim Dandy's Black Oak Arkansas". However, an original member would rejoin Black Oak and appear on this album. Patrick "Dirty" Daugherty rejoined in 1995, rekindling
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#17330939949266188-526: The album in Maximumrocknroll as "like Black Flag doing an imitation of Iron Maiden imitating Black Flag on a bad day", and Howard Hampton at the Boston Phoenix deriding it for "resorting to standard [heavy metal] machinations". Rollins countered critics, stating, "Take the 'metal' out of 'heavy metal' and that's what we are—it's just heavy ... Heavy metal is a defined form. Black Flag
6307-501: The album in 1984, which along with the change in sound further alienated their hardcore skinhead fanbase. Despite mixed reception at the time of the album's release, My War has come to gain a reputation as one of Black Flag's seminal releases and had a major influence on the development of post-hardcore , sludge metal , grunge , and math rock . In 1978, Black Flag guitarist and cofounder Greg Ginn converted his ham radio business Solid State Transmitters to SST Records to release
6426-557: The album would prove influential to grunge music as the decade progressed. Lacking a bass player, Ginn played bass guitar, using the pseudonym Dale Nixon. On the May 1, 2007 episode of his radio program Harmony in My Head , Rollins reported that one of Ginn's favorite albums during this era was Mahavishnu Orchestra 's Birds of Fire (1973), and opined that John McLaughlin 's guitar work influenced Ginn. Freed legally to release albums, Black Flag
6545-596: The album. On May 24, 2019, Black Oak Arkansas released Underdog Heroes , their first album consisting of all new recordings in 30 years. The album featured founding members Jim Dandy Mangrum and Rickie Lee Reynolds, and Sammy B Seauphine. On September 22, 2023, the band released The Devil's Jukebox , a cover album, on Cleopatra Records. In 2024, the new lineup for Black Oak Arkansas was unveiled, featuring Jim Dandy on lead vocals, Sammy Seauphine on duet vocals, Kinley Wolfe on bass guitar, Josh Decker on rhythm guitar, and Chris Craig on drums. The lineup debuted on March 1st as
6664-467: The band after Street Party and was replaced by Jimmy "Soybean" Henderson in 1975 and he debuted on the band's final studio album for Atco Records, Ain't Life Grand . This album included a snarly remake of George Harrison 's Beatles classic " Taxman ", as well as new originals like "Fancy Nancy", "Rebel", "Good Stuff", "Cryin' Shame", and "Let Life Be Good to You". The band signed a contract with MCA and promptly released X-Rated later in 1975, which marked
6783-508: The band and Ronnie "Chicky Hawk" Smith agreed that a mutual friend named James "Jim Dandy" Mangrum would make a better front man, while Smith agreed that he himself would make a better stage production manager. The band's first PA system was stolen from Monette High School. The group then cleaned out an old galvanized grain bin on the edge of town and began blasting out ear-piercing sounds that echoed their special blend of music that came from rock, gospel, country and blues influences. Members of
6902-724: The band and was replaced by journeyman drummer Tommy Aldridge on BOA's next release If an Angel Came to See You, Would You Make Her Feel at Home? , which featured another enduring BOA concert favorite, "Mutants of the Monster" and expanded on the group's eclectic musical style. In 1973, Black Oak Arkansas released their fourth LP, Raunch 'n' Roll Live , and took the rather unorthodox tack of including previously unreleased new songs on their first live concert album like "Gigolo", "Gettin' Kinda Cocky", as well as two more BOA classics: "Hot Rod", which features Dandy's sly double-entendre lyrics, and "Up", which spotlights Aldridge's marathon drum solo,
7021-406: The band for four years. In the early 1980s, Dandy temporarily left the band for health reasons, but Reynolds kept the band going with former Zorro bassist Jack Brumby, AW Zeugner, and Les John. Bob Simpson took on lead vocals at first, but was later replaced by Randy Ruff for almost three years, until Mangrum's return. In 1984, the band released Ready as Hell . Though the name "Black Oak Arkansas"
7140-559: The band from releasing material under its own name. The double album Everything Went Black —a compilation of earlier, unreleased material—appeared from SST in 1982 without the band's name on it. Unicorn's bankruptcy in 1983 freed the band from the injunction. Ginn had grown frustrated with the hardcore punk scene, and told the Los Angeles Times in early 1983: "[W]e've never been out to create this punk scene" they had been credited with spearheading; "We want people to listen to us as
7259-400: The band from using its own name on recordings, Black Flag returned to the studio with a new approach to its music that incorporated a greater variety of styles, resulting in a sound orthodox punks found difficult to accept. The line-up had shrunk from five members to three: vocalist Henry Rollins , drummer Bill Stevenson , and co-founding guitarist Greg Ginn . Ginn doubled on bass guitar under
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#17330939949267378-428: The band interspersed records and performances with instrumentals throughout their career. They also played longer, slower, and more complex songs at a time when other bands in their milieu performed a raw, fast, three-chord format. Black Flag has been well-respected within the punk subculture , primarily for their tireless promotion of an autonomous DIY punk ethic and aesthetic. They are often regarded as pioneers in
7497-561: The band sought a new singer while on the East Coast of the United States . Twenty-year-old fan Henry Rollins (birth name Henry Garfield) was then living in Washington, D.C., and singing for hardcore band State of Alert (S.O.A.). S.O.A. drummer Ivor Hanson had a father who was a top admiral in the US Navy , and his family shared living quarters with the vice president of the United States in
7616-542: The band was influenced by the tiny but growing doom metal scene led by Saint Vitus (who released via SST). Ginn jealously guarded the new material, fearing other bands would capitalize on the new approach, and bemoaned that fans were unaware of how the band had progressed since they were unable to release recordings. The band toured extensively in North America and Europe to often hostile, violent hardcore punk crowds. The disciplined group rehearsed obsessively, but there
7735-453: The band was signed by Atco Records (whose parent label, Atlantic Records , once had a partnership with Stax) and rechristened Black Oak Arkansas. Their self-titled debut album Black Oak Arkansas was released in 1971. The record featured enduring BOA classics such as "Hot and Nasty", "Lord Have Mercy On My Soul", "Uncle Lijiah" (written in pseudo-tribute to Harvey Jett's real-life great uncle) and "When Electricity Came To Arkansas", which
7854-481: The band were targets too, with Greg Ginn getting hit by a thrown bullet shell while playing in Colwyn Bay . As Black Flag was about to return home, UK customs detained Colombian drummer Robo due to visa problems, and he was not able to return with the rest of the band. This would be the end of his tenure with the band (he was able to eventually re-enter the United States in mid-1982, at which point he would promptly join
7973-469: The band's early flyers and album covers through the 1980s. There were few opportunities for punk rock bands to perform in Southern California (Los Angeles club The Masque was the center of the L.A. punk scene, but was also rather parochial, and did not often admit bands from outside L.A. proper). Black Flag organized their own gigs, performing at picnics, house parties, schools; any place that
8092-412: The band's first EP Nervous Breakdown . Soon SST was releasing recordings by other bands as well, beginning with Minutemen 's Paranoid Time in 1980. Black Flag recorded its first album Damaged in 1981 at Unicorn Studios and arranged a deal with the studio's record label Unicorn Records, which had distribution with MCA Records . MCA label president Al Bergamo halted the release after hearing
8211-687: The band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas . The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970s, charting ten albums. Their style is punctuated by multiple guitar players and the raspy voice and on-stage antics of vocalist Jim "Dandy" Mangrum . Black Oak Arkansas, originally named "The Knowbody Else", was formed in 1963 by some "high school pals" living in the area around Black Oak, Arkansas. Original members included Ronnie "Chicky Hawk" Smith (vocals), Rickie Lee (alternately "Risky" or "Ricochet") Reynolds (guitar), Stanley "Goober Grin" Knight (guitar), Harvey "Burley" Jett (guitar), Pat "Dirty" Daugherty (bass), and Wayne "Squeezebox" Evans (drums). At some point
8330-486: The band. Her absence, and the lack of a steady drummer (Stevenson quit and was replaced by Anthony Martinez ), contributed to the comparatively weak reputation of the last few Black Flag tours. By 1986, Black Flag's members had grown tired of the tensions of their relentless touring schedule, infighting, and of living in near-poverty. The band had been together almost a decade, and true commercial success and stability had eluded them. The band's erratic artistic changes were
8449-404: The beginning of Black Oak Arkansas's decline. In 1976, they released two fairly nondescript and unsuccessful albums for MCA, Balls of Fire and 10 Yr Overnight Success , the latter as a five-piece band with the departure of Rickie Reynolds, who was more or less replaced on tour by keyboardist Marius Penczner during this period. Also in 1976, Atco released a final BOA contractual-obligation album,
8568-527: The city. In 1979, the band released their first recording, the Nervous Breakdown EP . It was the debut release by Ginn's SST Records , which he created due to the band's difficulty in securing a contract with existing labels due to their reputation. Though Ginn was the band's leader, he was more quiet than Dukowski, whose intelligent, fast-talking, high-energy persona attracted significant attention, and he often served as Black Flag's spokesman to
8687-454: The cusp of a commercial breakthrough. The record was to be distributed by now-defunct Unicorn Records, a subsidiary of MCA . Trouble began when MCA refused to handle Damaged after MCA executive Al Bergamo determined the album was an "Anti-Parent" record. However, according to longtime SST employee Joe Carducci the "Anti-Parent" statement was not the real reason for MCA's refusing to distribute Damaged ; Carducci reported that Unicorn Records
8806-495: The difference between the two acts, because of widespread publicity. During a show in November 2013 on Black Flag's Australian tour, pro skater and band manager Mike Vallely, who previously sang with the band in 2003, came on stage, took Reyes' microphone, ousted him from Black Flag and sang the band's last two songs. Reyes said he was relieved to be removed from the band, citing difficulties working with Ginn. In January 2014, Vallely
8925-400: The end, Rollins took it on himself to fire Dukowski. However, a few of Dukowski's songs were featured on later albums, and he continued acting in his capacity as tour manager. 1983 found Black Flag with fresh songs and a new direction, but without a bass player, and embroiled in a legal dispute over distribution due to SST's issuing Damaged (Ginn argued that since MCA was no longer involved,
9044-523: The first hardcore punk bands. According to Ryan Cooper of About.com and author Doyle Greene, Black Flag is one of the pioneers of the post-hardcore genre for the experimental style they later started playing. Black Flag experimented with a sludge metal sound on their album My War . Black Flag also have used elements of styles such as jazz , blues , spoken word , heavy metal , blues rock , free jazz , math rock , and instrumental music . Throughout their ten-year career as
9163-597: The group were subsequently charged in absentia with grand larceny and sentenced to 26 years at the Tucker Prison Farm , a sentence that was later suspended. This led to their retreat to the hills of rural north-central Arkansas where they lived off the land and refined their musical style. They also lived in Long Beach, Mississippi, and played at the local Lobe theater/dance hall and the short-lived venue, "The Black Rainbow". Some of their influences during this time were
9282-479: The heavily bootlegged demos have never been officially released; re-recordings of several of the tracks from the session were to feature on My War and other later albums. The line-up did not last long—frustrated with the band's legal troubles, Biscuits left in December 1982, replaced by Bill Stevenson , and in 1983 Cadena left to form DC3 . Ginn had been frustrated with Dukowski's sense of rhythm, and in Germany during
9401-401: The lack of character in Ginn's bass-playing on "My War" when compared to the 1982 demo of the same song with Dukowski on bass. Michael Azerrad praised the strength of the material while denigrating the "frustrating lack of ensemble feel" as the album was recorded without a full lineup. Critic Clay Jarvis commended the album, emphasizing the risks taken on it and its influence, calling it "more
9520-412: The late 1970s and early 1980s, Black Flag voiced an anti-authoritarian and nonconformist message, in songs punctuated with descriptions of social isolation , neurosis , poverty , and paranoia . These themes were explored further when Henry Rollins joined the band as lead singer in 1981. Most of the band's material was released on Ginn's independent record label SST Records . Over the course of
9639-405: The line between moronic punk and moronic metal"; another writes My War is "a pretentious mess of a record with a totally worthless second side." Rollins reports that Black Flag's set-lists in this era rarely included older crowd favorites like "Six Pack" or "Nervous Breakdown", and that audiences were often irritated by the new, slower Black Flag. Violence against the band (and especially Rollins)
9758-447: The lo-fidelity production, Spot has said "They wanted it to sound that way." As such, Damaged is generally regarded as Black Flag's most focused recording, as well as its most iconic. One critic has written that Damaged was "perhaps the best album to emerge from the quagmire that was early-'80s California punk ... the visceral, intensely physical presence of Damaged has yet to be equaled, although many bands have tried." Damaged
9877-483: The movement of underground do-it-yourself record labels . By way of constant touring throughout the United States and Canada, and occasionally Europe, Black Flag established a dedicated cult following . Initially called Panic, Black Flag was formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach by Greg Ginn and Keith Morris. Morris originally was to play drums for the band, until Ginn, impressed by his energy and charisma, insisted he be
9996-533: The name "Dale Nixon" for the recording as bassist Chuck Dukowski left the band shortly before recording; the album includes two tracks Dukowski wrote. The A-side of the LP is composed of six generally high-paced, thrashy hardcore tracks, featuring guitar solos unusual in punk music. On the B-side are three heavy tracks that each breach six-minutes with ponderously slow tempos and dark, unrelenting lyrics of self-hatred. The band members had grown their hair long when they toured
10115-609: The name Black Flag and the Black Flag logo on the 2013 Flag tour. In the same action, SST and Ginn also sued Henry Rollins and Keith Morris to oppose and cancel the trademark applications filed in September 2012 by Rollins and Morris. SST and Ginn alleged that Rollins and Morris lied to the Patent and Trademark Office on their trademark applications regarding claimed use of the Black Flag name and logo by Rollins and Morris on records, T-shirts, and with regard to live performances. In October 2013,
10234-406: The new songs he had written for Black Flag with him and record them for DC3's debut album. Additionally, by late 1983, Dukowski had retired from performing with Black Flag (some accounts report he was "edged out" by Ginn ); Azerrad reports that Ginn was dissatisfied with Dukowski's failure to progress as an instrumentalist, and made things difficult for Dukowski in an attempt to make him quit, but in
10353-419: The once-forgotten Black Oak Arkansas. This momentum brought on a surge of performances with other 70's greats such as Foghat, Iron Butterfly, Edgar Winter Group, and many more. During the early 2000s, original lead guitarist Stanley Knight would join them on the road, not playing guitar, but as their soundman. Pat left the band a second time in the mid-2000s. James Mangrum has continued recording and touring with
10472-510: The opening act for Rickey Medlocke in Medina, Minnesota. Note: all of BOA's original Atco albums have been reissued on CD by Wounded Bird Records in 2000/2001, except High On The Hog , which has been reissued by Rhino Records; also note that in 2013, the first five Atco studio albums ( BOA , Keep the Faith , If an Angel Came to See You , High on the Hog , and Street Party ) were collected/reissued in
10591-479: The original vinyl album was culled from. The band's fifth album, High on the Hog , also released in 1973, ended up being the high point of BOA's career, peaking at number 52 on the Billboard albums chart. Ruby Starr also toured intermittently with Black Oak during this period, and her raspy voice can be heard on the group's remake of LaVern Baker 's 1957 hit " Jim Dandy (To The Rescue)", which reached number 25 on
10710-458: The pioneer early hardcore bands, Black Flag, became one of the early leading post-hardcore bands by utilising slower tempos, odd time signatures (3/8, 5/4, 7/4), abrupt tempo and structural changes, dissonant riffs that border on 12-tone music ... and guitarist Greg Ginn's atonal, free-form solos. My War was the first of four Black Flag releases in 1984, a year that also saw Family Man , Slip It In , and Live '84 appear from SST. It
10829-617: The pioneers of post-hardcore . After breaking up in 1986, Black Flag reunited in 2003 and again in 2013. The second reunion lasted well over a year, during which they released their first studio album in nearly three decades, What The... (2013). The band announced their third reunion in January 2019. Black Flag's sound mixed the raw simplicity of the Ramones with atonal guitar solos and, in later years, frequent tempo shifts. The lyrics were written mostly by Ginn, and like other punk bands of
10948-539: The poorly-recorded but high-spirited Live! Mutha , recorded on Mother's Day, 1975, in Long Beach, California. This recording saw a reappearance of Ruby Starr. Following continued diminishing returns of the band's record sales (yet while still remaining a consistent concert draw), Mangrum dropped "Arkansas" from the group's name (in an attempt to downplay their Southern-ness) and replaced everyone except Henderson and even altering his own vocal style in an attempt to sound more mainstream (and ostensibly impress music critics in
11067-490: The press. Dukowski acted as the group's tour manager even after he no longer performed with them, and helped establish the band's DIY punk ethic and demanding work ethic. Dukowski's bass guitar was a vital part of the early Black Flag sound; " TV Party ", for instance, was one of many songs "driven more by Chuck Dukowski's percolating bass line than Ginn's stun-gun guitar." Morris performed as vocalist on Black Flag's earliest recordings, and his energized, manic stage presence
11186-458: The process). The other members of the "Black Oak" lineup were Greg Reding (guitar and keyboards), Jack Holder (guitar), Andy Tanas (bass), and Joel Williams (drums). Black Oak released two albums on the struggling Capricorn Records, Race with the Devil in 1977 and I'd Rather Be Sailing the following year. Neither album sold well. In 1978, guitarist Shawn Lane joined the band at age 14 and toured with
11305-636: The raw, stripped-down attitude of bands such as the Ramones and the Stooges . Ginn has said "We were influenced by the Stooges and then the Ramones; they inspired us. Keith and myself saw the Ramones when they first toured LA in 1976. After we saw them, I said if they could do it we could do it. I thought Keith would be a good singer and after seeing the Ramones, it made him think that he doesn't have to be some classical operatic singer." Chuck Dukowski , bassist of Würm , liked Ginn's band and eventually joined, forming
11424-541: The record, calling it "anti-parent"—though SST co-owner Joe Carducci asserts this was a pretense for MCA to sever relations with the financially troubled Unicorn. The band obtained and distributed the already-pressed 20 000 copies of Damaged and adorned it with a label displaying Bergamo's "anti-parent" quote. Legal troubles erupted when SST claimed unpaid royalties from Unicorn and Unicorn successfully counter-sued, resulting in five days in jail for Ginn and co-founding bassist Chuck Dukowski and an injunction prohibiting
11543-523: The rest of the tour (cut short because of Henry Rollins' injured knee) to learn the songs. This lineup recorded the later-bootlegged cassette 1982 Demos , showing the direction the band would go in for the My War album. However, due to personality conflicts—in Get in the Van , Rollins described Biscuits as a "fuck up"—and the Unicorn court injunction-forced inactivity of Black Flag, Biscuits left to join their rivals
11662-458: The same style that the band originated on their previous album Damaged and closes with a noisy freak-out, "The Swinging Man". Dukowski penned the opening title track. Ginn's "Can't Decide" follows, a gloomy ode to frustration: "I conceal my feelings / So I don't have to explain / What I can't explain anyway". "Beat My Head Against the Wall" rails at conformity and the band's experience with
11781-496: The shows was Dez Cadena on vocals and guitar, Greg Ginn on guitar, Robo on drums, and C'el Revuelta on bass. Professional skateboarder and singer Mike Vallely also sang all the songs from My War at these shows while Gregory Moore was on drums for the My War set. On July 24, 2010, in celebration of Ron Reyes 's 50th birthday, Greg Ginn and Reyes played a set of three Black Flag songs together in addition to his own set with
11900-423: The video game Tony Hawk's American Wasteland . Initial Records released a Black Flag cover album in 2002 (re-released with additional tracks in 2006 by ReIgnition Recordings), Black on Black: A Tribute to Black Flag . The compilation features 15 hardcore and metalcore bands – including Most Precious Blood , Converge , The Dillinger Escape Plan , American Nightmare , Drowningman , and Coalesce . Bring Me
12019-451: The words "Black Flag", they had been covered up with small slips of paper, thus adhering to the letter of the law. After Unicorn Records declared bankruptcy, Black Flag were released from the injunction, and returned with a vengeance, starting with the release of My War . The album was both a continuation of Damaged , and a vast leap forward. While the general mood and lyrics continue in the confrontational and emotional tone of Damaged ,
12138-435: The year, and about that many for 1985. With Dukowski gone, Ginn ceded much of the spotlight to Rollins, who had expressed some discomfort over being the group's de facto spokesman, while Ginn was the recognized leader (Ginn wrote the majority of the group's songs and lyrics). With Roessler on board, Black Flag began earnest experimentation, sometimes to critical and audience disdain: One critic writes that Slip It In "blurs
12257-546: Was a huge influence on us as well. Even in the Green River days." Black Flag (band) Black Flag is an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California . Initially called Panic , the band was established by Greg Ginn , the guitarist, primary songwriter, and sole continuous member, and singer Keith Morris . They are widely considered to be one of the first hardcore punk bands, as well as one of
12376-564: Was accused by fundamentalist religious groups of containing backward-masked "Satanic messages" (possibly from a live performance of the song in which Mangrum utters "dog si eh" and "natas" three times). The band toured extensively, gaining a reputation as a premier live act throughout the early 1970s all across America, and later even in Europe. Keep the Faith followed in 1972, featuring the manic concert staple "Fever in My Mind". Drummer Wayne Evans left
12495-516: Was available. They called club owners themselves to arrange appearances, and plastered hundreds of flyers—usually Pettibon's severe, haunting comic strip style panels—on any available surface to publicize performances. Dukowski reported that the "minimum [number of flyers] that went out was 500 for a show." Black Flag shows were regularly broken up by the LAPD, often violently, at the direction of Chief of Police Daryl Gates , who targeted punk rock shows in
12614-409: Was ever-present, although the vocalist was now an avid weight lifter, and more than able to defend himself. Furthermore, to Rollins' chagrin, Ginn's interest in marijuana steadily increased; as Rollins put it, "By '86 it was 'Cannot separate the man from his Anvil case with a big-ass stash.'" Despite the initial resistance to the new music and quasi-psychedelic direction, My War would later be cited as
12733-457: Was first exposed to "Nothing Left Inside", and the experience inspired him to seek out bands like Black Sabbath. Mudhoney guitarist Steve Turner has said of the album's impact on grunge , "I swear, that record instantly made the Melvins slow down to a crawl. Because The Melvins when they started, they were a fairly tight hardcore band and My War came out and they suddenly slowed down. And I know it
12852-415: Was initially founded to release Black Flag's debut single, released recordings by influential bands such as Bad Brains , Minutemen , Descendents , Meat Puppets , and Hüsker Dü . As well, SST released some albums by Negativland , Soundgarden , Sonic Youth , and Saint Vitus . SST was founded in 1966 by Greg as Solid State Transmitters – later rebranded to release Black Flag albums. Black Flag's career
12971-504: Was little friendship between members: vocalist Henry Rollins was introverted and Ginn cold and demanding. Dukowski felt that Rollins' vocal approach was better suited than that of the band's earlier three singers to the new material he was writing such as "I Love You" and "My War". Dukowski, who also wrote poetry and fiction, encouraged Rollins to write as well, and Rollins found inspiration in Dukowski's bleak lyrical style. The band recorded
13090-416: Was named the band's new lead singer. Vallely apologized for the band's antics in 2013 and revealed that the band had begun working on material for a new album with a tour to tentatively begin in May. Shortly after the announcement, Dave Klein announced he too was leaving the band. In 2014, Ginn filled out the line up with adding new members Tyler Smith on bass, and Brandon Pertzborn on drums. They embarked upon
13209-555: Was on the album cover, "Jim Dandy" appeared above it in larger type, almost as if it were a solo effort. Ready as Hell featured a heavier sound with pinch harmonics and keyboards featured throughout. The album was also Rickie Lee Reynolds's first recording with Mangrum since the MCA years. In 1986, The Black Attack Is Back continued the heavy style of the previous album and featured the particularly adventurous track "I Want A Woman With Big Titties". Again, "Jim Dandy" received top billing on
13328-573: Was pivotal in the band earning a reputation in Southern California. Migdol was replaced by the enigmatic Colombian drummer Robo , whose numerous clicking metallic bracelets became part of his drum sound. The band played with a speed and ferocity that was all but unprecedented in rock music; critic Ira Robbins declared that "Black Flag was, for all intents and purposes, America's first hardcore band." Morris quit in 1979, citing, among other reasons, creative differences with Ginn, and his own "freaking out on cocaine and speed." Morris would subsequently form
13447-455: Was re-energized and ready to continue full steam ahead. The band recruited bassist Kira Roessler (sister of punk keyboardist Paul Roessler , of 45 Grave ) to replace Dukowski, and began its most prolific period. 1984 saw Black Flag (and the SST label) at their most ambitious. This year they would release three full-length albums, and toured nearly constantly, with Rollins noting 178 performances for
13566-494: Was really great – we were like 'Yay!' They were weird and fucked-up sounding." Kurt Cobain listed both My War and Damaged in his top 50 albums in his journal in 1993. Jeff Hanneman and Dave Lombardo , both known for their work with Slayer , mentioned Black Flag among their influences. Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea has a Black Flag decal on one of his signature Modulus bass guitars, and guitarist John Frusciante has cited Greg Ginn as one of his early influences as
13685-415: Was released in 1981, and the group began an extensive tour in support of it, forging an independent network for touring independent music acts that would form a cornerstone of the independent music scene for the decade to come. The previous year 1980 saw the U.S. punk rock movement hitting a peak in popularity. With Damaged and their growing reputation as an impressive live band, Black Flag seemed poised on
13804-582: Was released on December 3, and was poorly received by critics and fans. Around the same time, it was announced that the lineup that played at GV 30, Morris, Dukowski, Stevenson and Egerton, would tour performing Black Flag songs, under the name FLAG. It was later announced that the lineup would be joined by Dez Cadena. On August 2, 2013, SST Records and Greg Ginn brought a trademark infringement action in Los Angeles federal court against Morris, Dukowski, Stevenson, Cadena, and Egerton, with regard to their use of
13923-546: Was reminiscent of the anarchist symbol , the insecticide of the same name , and of the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath , one of Ginn's favorite bands. Ginn suggested that he was "comfortable with all the implications of the name." The band spray painted the simple, striking logo all over Los Angeles, attracting attention from both supporters and the Los Angeles Police Department . Pettibon designed all of
14042-421: Was so poorly managed and so deeply in debt that MCA stood to lose money by distributing the album, regardless of its content. This was the beginning of a legal dispute that would, for several years, disallow Black Flag from using their own name on any record after Damaged was released on SST Records and a copy of the "Anti-Parent" statement was placed on the album's cover. With their new singer, Black Flag and
14161-613: Was switching to guitar, the band then invited Rollins to audition. Impressed by his stage demeanor, they asked him to become their permanent vocalist. Despite some doubts, he accepted, due in part to Ian MacKaye 's encouragement. Rollins acted as roadie for the remainder of the tour while learning Black Flag's songs during sound checks and encores, while Cadena crafted guitar parts that meshed with Ginn's. Rollins also impressed Black Flag with his broad musical interests during an era when punk rock music and fans were increasingly factionalized; he introduced Black Flag to Washington D.C.'s go-go ,
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