My Morning Jacket
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| My Morning Jacket | |
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| Origin | Louisville, Kentucky, USA |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Genres | Rock, alternative rock |
| Labels | Darla Records (1998-2003) ATO (2003-present) |
| Members | Jim James Two-Tone Tommy Patrick Hallahan Bo Koster Carl Broemel |
| Website(s) | Official Site |
My Morning Jacket is an American rock band known for their reverb-soaked sound and their enthusiastic live shows. Formed in 1998 in Louisville, Kentucky, the band signed with ATO Records four years later.
The band's moniker comes from a discarded coat lead singer Jim James found while sifting through the remains of his favourite bar after it burned down. The coat was embroidered with the letters "MMJ" on it. [1]
Singer/songwriter/guitarist James' bandmates include bassist "Two Tone" Tommy, drummer Patrick Hallahan, guitarist/pedal steel guitarist/saxophonist/vocalist Carl Broemel and keyboardist Bo Koster.
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[edit] History
The original line-up of MMJ in 1998 consisted of James on guitar, "Two Tone" on bass, J. Glenn on drums, and Johnny Quaid on guitar. In 2000 Danny Cash (layout and keyboards) also joined.
By late 2000, J. Glenn had left the band and was briefly replaced by Chris Guetig, and then later (in May 2002) by James' childhood friend Hallahan.
In 2004, Quaid and Cash both amicably left the band, and were replaced by Broemel and Koster.
The Tennessee Fire, the band's debut, was released in 1999 on Darla Records, as was At Dawn two years later. In 2003, they released It Still Moves, their major-label debut. After the release of the album, the band rewarded fans with the live EP Acoustic Citsuoca. This EP displayed James' vocal talents complemented by minimal instrumentation and a total absence of reverb. After three albums and multiple EPs, the band released two collections of early work, which included old demos, live versions, and covers. These discs, entitled Early Recordings Chapter 1 - The Sandworm Cometh and Early Recordings Chapter 2 - Learning, document the formation and progress in the band's early years.
My Morning Jacket performed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, making them the only band to be invited to the festival four years in a row. The band's 2004 Bonnaroo performance has been cited by many fans as one of the most legendary in the band's history. It has been dubbed "Return to Thunderdome" due to the massive thunderstorm that rolled in as the band closed their set with "Steam Engine." Both the 2004 and 2005 sets have been released as official downloads at the Bonnaroo website.
The band played a marathon three-and-a-half hour Bonnaroo set beginning at midnight June 16, 2006. Artists whose songs were covered for this show include The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Velvet Underground, The Who, The Band, The Rolling Stones, and The Misfits. A video of the show was available via webcast the following evening.
In early 2005, James was featured on the Bright Eyes album I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and on two tracks off of the M. Ward album Transistor Radio. In October of that year, the band released Z, which greatly displayed the evolution of the band, as the album itself received critical acclaim.
My Morning Jacket also made a cameo appearance in the 2005 Cameron Crowe film, Elizabethtown, as the fictitious southern rock band, Ruckus, performing an almost note-for-note rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird". Their songs "Where to Begin" & "Same In Any Language" were also featured in the film's soundtrack.
Austin City Limits aired a My Morning Jacket performance on February 11, 2006, and on April 30, 2006, they appeared at the Coachella Valley Music Festival. MMJ also performed at the 2006 High Sierra Music Festival on June 30 and July 1, 2006. James was given an "Esky" for best songwriter in Esquire's 2006 Esky Music Awards in the April issue.
My Morning Jacket opened for Pearl Jam during the first leg of their 2006 tour which began May 9 in Toronto, Ontario and ended June 3 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. They were invited to return the opening slot on the European leg of the tour, beginning in September. My Morning Jacket will play several solo dates in Europe before and after the tour.
On June 8th, they were the musical guest on The Late Show with David Letterman. During this performance they were joined by several members of the Boston Pops, with whom they played two shows at Boston Symphony Hall later in the month.
They will perform for their third time on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on November 29th.
[edit] Trivia
- In the November 2004 issue of Wired Magazine, a CD with 16 songs in the Creative Commons was bundled. "One Big Holiday" by My Morning Jacket was on this CD.
- The song "Mahgeetah" appeared in an Aspen Edge beer commercial. When the band found out how the commercial came off they donated all the money they made from the commercial to charity.
- Jim James' real name is James Olliges, according to liner notes of bands he previously played in.
- Carl Broemel is a graduate of Indiana University, majoring in classical guitar.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- The Tennessee Fire (July 13, 1999)
- At Dawn (June 5, 2001)
- It Still Moves (September 9, 2003)
- Early Recordings Chapter 1 - The Sandworm Cometh (November 23, 2004)
- Early Recordings Chapter 2 - Learning (November 23, 2004)
- Z (October 4, 2005)
- Okonokos (September 26, 2006)
- Okonokos (DVD) (October 31, 2006)
[edit] EPs
- Heartbreakin Man (2000)
- Split EP (with Songs: Ohia) (2002)
- Chocolate and Ice (2002)
- Sweatbees (2002)
- My Morning Jacket Does Xmas Fiasco Style (2002)
- Acoustic Citsuoca (2004)
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- MMJ Official Website
- Myspace
- Guitar Tabs and Chords
- Interview with Jim James, September 2005
- "Strong on the Horizon", PopMatters interview (10/2005)
- My Morning Jacket Lyrics
- Interview with Jim James in The Marquee, October 2005
- Rolling Stone feature
- Rolling Stone article The band's manager, Mike Martinovich, on Digital Rights Management (DRM)
- My Morning Jacket collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
- Musical Family Tree MP3 archiveCarl Broemel's solo recordings
