The Scruffs

Last updated
The Scruffs
Scruffs.jpg
Scruffs in 2001, Japanese tour Photo: Masao Nakagami
Background information
Origin Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres Power pop [1]
Years active1974–present
Labels Verve
MembersStephen Burns, Adam Hill, Bobby Kildea, Mark Rodgers
Past membersDavid Branyan, Zeph Paulson, Rick Branyan, Tommy Hoehn, Bill Mathieu, Bill Godley, Steve O'Rourke, Alex Chilton, Stevie Jackson, Stuart Murdoch, Zachary Ware, Francis MacDonald, Wil O’Brien

The Scruffs are an American power pop group formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1974 by writer/guitarist/vocalist Stephen Burns along with guitarist David Branyan, bassist Rick Branyan, and drummer Zeph Paulson. [2] Although their line-up has changed many times over the years, The Scruffs, centered around Burns, have continued to release records up through the 2010s. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

History

Formation and early years (1974–1976)

Formed in 1974 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Stephen Burns, who would cut classes at the University of Memphis to rehearse and record, the group spent a two-year period in which it would write music and rehearse in a warehouse at Shoe Studio and then record at Ardent Studios when it had enough songs. [6] Rick Branyan left the band in 1976, and Andy Tanus, Ken Woodley, and Van Duren were brought into the studio to play bass, with Bill Godley ultimately filling the role until Branyan's return a year later. Burns' high school friend, Tommy Hoehn, who led the power pop group Prix, was brought in for backing vocals.

During this period, the band recorded many of the songs (most penned by Burns or Burns co-writing with David Branyan) that would later appear on its first album. The songs from this period were collected and released more than twenty years later on the anthology Angst: The Early Recordings 1974-1976. Big Star producer Jim Dickinson, who was working on Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers at Ardent when The Scruffs began recording there, and who heard The Scruffs' demos in their earliest stages, recalled that people on the local scene expected The Scruffs to take the radio by storm. Dickinson said of these early recordings, "If there's going to be a Scruffs history, that's it . . . . It really does represent, if not the end, then the beginning of the end of something in Memphis music. After that, nobody even tried to do that again." [6]

Wanna Meet the Scruffs? and initial breakup

In early 1977, the Scruffs released their first single, "Break the Ice," on Power Play records. The record received local airplay in Memphis. The Scruffs then returned to Ardent to re-record a selection of their material and, later in 1977, released the new recordings as their first LP, Wanna Meet the Scruffs? .

Those critics who heard the album were unanimous in their praise. [2] Village Voice rock critic Robert Christgau wrote:

Only a sucker for rock and roll could love this record, and I am that sucker. A middle-period Beatles extrapolation in the manner of Big Star (another out-of-step Memphis power-pop group on a small, out-of-step Memphis label), it bursts with off harmonies, left hooks, and jolts of random energy. The trouble is, these serve a shamelessly and perhaps permanently post-adolescent vision of life's pain, most of which would appear to involve gurls. To which objection the rockin' formalist in me responds, "I wanna hear 'Revenge' again." [7]

The album, however, received only local airplay and little more. In August 1978, the group began recording a follow-up album. After completing six songs, the band moved to New York City and played at CBGB and Max's Kansas City. In 1979, Rick Branyan moved back to Memphis, and was replaced by Steve Wood. [2] Several months later, Dave Branyan quit mid-performance and was replaced by a local guitarist, Steve O'Rourke. [2] In October 1979, the group recorded the rest of the follow-up album at Ardent Studios in Memphis. Returning to New York, the band opened for acts as disparate as Chuck Berry, Johnny Thunders, and Peter Noone. [2]

Although they received major label interest, they were unable to secure a record deal for their second album. That album, Teenage Gurls, would finally be released almost twenty years later. As one critic would write of the album, "the band is in great form throughout, sounding tighter and fuller than on the debut, and there are more than a few excellent songs here, especially 'Alice, Please Don't Go,' 'Danger,' and 'Go Faster.'" [8]

By 1981, having only released the single Shakin’ from the album, the group disbanded. [2]

1980s

After the group's initial break-up, many of the members pursued other careers. Rick Branyan became a Latin teacher at a local private high school in Memphis. David Branyan pursued a solo career recording again at Ardent Studios, before attending Columbia and Yale universities.

Burns returned to Memphis from New York in 1982, and continued to record sporadically as The Scruffs with various musicians throughout the rest of the 1980s while finishing his liberal arts degree at the University of Memphis and obtaining a second degree in business and accounting. [9] These recordings were eventually released as The Scruffs' third album, MidTown. Noting the influence of Memphis's seminal power pop group, Robert Christgau wrote of the album, "it's Memphis, it's the '80s, and darn it, Big Star lives ('Machiavellian Eyes,' 'Judy [She Put the Devil in Me]')." [10]

1990s–2000s

Burns took a hiatus from recording, during which time he worked in his father's insurance business and married and divorced. [9] Burns then regrouped with a new lineup of musicians and, in 1997, released the album Signs & Symbols under the group name "Messenger 45." The album was re-released with a different track order in 2013 as The Scruffs' album Back from the Grave, and is considered the group's fourth studio album chronologically. Writing in AllMusic, critic Mark Deming observed that the album "marked a creative departure for Burns," finding him "writing lusher and more complex music . . . . But Burns' fondness for British-influenced pop hasn't left him, and if [the album] is a very different kettle of fish from the classic Wanna Meet the Scruffs?, it suggests that he still believes a nice melody and a good hook are the keys to the universe -- and who knows, he may well be right." [11]

In the late 1990s, Big Star co-founder Alex Chilton convinced Burns to follow him to Glasgow, Scotland, [9] where Big Star and The Scruffs themselves had been proclaimed a major influence by Scottish bands constituting what the press had dubbed "The Bellshill Sound." [2] Burns reformed The Scruffs in Glasgow with local musicians Bobby Kildea, Stevie Jackson and Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian renown, Zachary Ware, guitarist with The Proclaimers, Francis MacDonald of Teenage Fanclub and BMX Bandits fame, and Wil O’Brien, guitarist for Los Angeles-based power pop bands The Andersons!, and Receiver. The group began recording at CaVa Studios in Glasgow. The new material was mixed at Ardent in Memphis. It was released in 2002 as The Scruffs' fifth album, Love, The Scruffs, initially only in Japan, where The Scruffs enjoyed a loyal following. [2] Two tours in Japan followed over the next two years. [2]

In 2003, The Scruffs released their sixth album, Swingin' Singles. Although now principally living back in the United States, Burns continued to work in, variously, Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as Memphis. Although The Scruffs primarily toured in Europe and Japan, the group played its first concert in Memphis in over 20 years in 2006 while working on a new album at Ardent. [12]

At the end of 2006, The Scruffs released their seventh album, Pop Manifesto, to many favorable reviews. One critic wrote that "Burns is still writing terrific songs with glorious melodies and superb hooks, which is the real link between this music and his past," calling the album "a fine and well-crafted visit to smart pop heaven that proves Stephen Burns isn't running out of interesting ideas." [13] David Bash, CEO of International Pop Overthrow annual music festivals, ranked the album at number 5 on his top 125 albums of 2007 list. [14]

2010s–present

In 2009, The Scruffs began recording songs for their eighth studio album, first in Glasgow and later in Memphis. Conquest was released in January 2010 to, once more, many favorable reviews. In his AllMusic review, critic William Ruhlman wrote that "Burns retains his talent for catchy melodies and his lyrical fascination with young women . . . while as a record-maker he evokes mid-‘60s Beach Boys and Beatles, along with mid-‘70s Electric Light Orchestra." [15]

Encouraged by the response to Conquest, The Scruffs reconvened in Edinburgh in early 2010 to commence rehearsals for another album, recording the material at Ardent in November 2010. The Scruffs' principal line-up for these recordings was Burns (guitar, vocals, producer), Adam Hill (guitars, backing vocals, additional bass), Bobby Kildea (bass, backing vocals, percussion) and Mark Rodgers (drums, percussion), with the Vest Brothers (also from Memphis) providing backing vocals and guitar. Peter Buck of R.E.M. also made a guest appearance on one song.

Mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London, England, Kill! Kill!, The Scruffs' ninth studio album, was released in February 2011. One critic described it as "a McCartney-esque pop tour de force that sounds fresh and surprisingly fierce coming from a band in its 36th year of existence," stating that it showed why Burns "might be the most vital remaining member of the now somewhat legendary Memphis power-pop scene of the 1970s." [16]

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Compilation albums

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Star</span> American rock band

Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens (drums), and Andy Hummel (bass). The group broke up in late 1974, and reorganized with a new lineup 18 years later following a reunion concert at the University of Missouri. In its first era, the band's musical style drew on the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Byrds. Big Star produced a style that foreshadowed the alternative rock of the 1980s and 1990s. Before they broke up, Big Star created a "seminal body of work that never stopped inspiring succeeding generations", in the words of Rolling Stone, as the "quintessential American power pop band", and "one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll". Three of Big Star's studio albums are included in Rolling Stone's list of the Top 500 Albums of All-Time.

<i>Radio City</i> (album) 1974 studio album by Big Star

Radio City is the second studio album by the American rock group Big Star. Released February 20, 1974, Radio City was recorded during 1973 at Memphis' Ardent Studios. Though not a commercial success at the time, it is now recognized as a milestone album in the history of power pop music. Critically acclaimed upon its release, the record sold poorly, partly due to a lack of promotion and the distribution problems of the band's struggling record label, Ardent Records. The album included "September Gurls" and "Back of a Car", which remain among the most famous Big Star songs; both the Searchers and the Bangles have covered "September Gurls".

<i>Vs.</i> (Mission of Burma album) 1982 studio album by Mission of Burma

Vs. is the debut studio album by American post-punk band Mission of Burma, following their 1981 EP, Signals, Calls, and Marches. It was released in October 1982 by record label Ace of Hearts. It is the only full-length studio album the band released during the 1980s – and until 2004, as soon afterward they disbanded due to guitarist Roger Miller's worsening tinnitus.

Ardent Records is an American record label based in Memphis, which was founded by John Fry in 1959. Ardent of the 1960s and 1970s featured pop music acts and was distributed by Stax Records from 1972 until 1975. It is best remembered today for Big Star, whose first two albums, released in 1972 and 1974, helped define the style known as power pop. The label was initially an attempt by the R&B-focused Stax to move into rock music, but distribution problems prevented any releases from succeeding. Big Star became widely known through 1980s reissues and the long delayed first release of Third/Sister Lovers, recorded in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Bell (American musician)</span> American singer

Christopher Branford Bell was an American musician and singer-songwriter. Along with Alex Chilton, he led the power pop band Big Star through its first album #1 Record (1972). He also pursued a solo career throughout the mid-1970s, resulting in the posthumous I Am the Cosmos LP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tav Falco's Panther Burns</span> American rock band

Tav Falco's Panther Burns, sometimes shortened to (The) Panther Burns, is a rock band originally from Memphis, Tennessee, United States, led by Tav Falco. They are best known for having been part of a set of bands emerging in the late 1970s and early 1980s who helped nationally popularize the blending of blues, country, and other American traditional music styles with rock music among groups playing in alternative music and punk music venues of the time. The earliest and most renowned of these groups to imbue these styles with expressionist theatricality and primitive spontaneity were The Cramps, largely influenced by rockabilly music. Forming just after them in 1979, Panther Burns drew on obscure country blues music, Antonin Artaud's works like The Theater and Its Double, beat poetry, and Marshall McLuhan's media theories for their early inspiration. Alongside groups like The Cramps and The Gun Club, Panther Burns is also considered a representative of the Southern Gothic-tinged roots music revival scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Snider</span> American singer-songwriter

Todd Daniel Snider is an American singer-songwriter whose music incorporates elements of folk, rock, blues, alt country, and funk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ardent Studios</span> Recording studio

Ardent Studios is an American recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The studio opened in late 1950s by a group of amateurs, but has moved on to be a commercially successful recording studio.

<i>Pleased to Meet Me</i> 1987 album by the Replacements

Pleased to Meet Me is the fifth studio album by the American rock band The Replacements, released in 1987 by Sire Records. The album was acclaimed by music critics.

<i>Gentlemen</i> (album) 1993 studio album by the Afghan Whigs

Gentlemen is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band the Afghan Whigs. It was recorded primarily at Ardent Studios in Memphis, with the band's frontman Greg Dulli producing, and released on October 5, 1993, by Elektra Records.

<i>Number 1 Record</i> 1972 studio album by Big Star

#1 Record is the debut album by the American rock band Big Star. It was released on April 24, 1972, by Memphis-based Ardent Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucero (band)</span> American rock band

Lucero is an American country-punk/alternative country/alternative rock band based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Lucero's sound has been described as a "synthesis of soul, rock, and country [that] is distinctly Memphisian." They have released 11 albums and one live DVD, mostly through their own label. The band mainly tours around North America.

<i>Shake Some Action</i> 1976 studio album by Flamin Groovies

Shake Some Action is the fourth studio album by American rock band the Flamin' Groovies. The album was released in June 1976 by Sire Records. The title Shake Some Action originates from a line in the 1965 film None but the Brave.

<i>Wanna Meet the Scruffs?</i> 1977 studio album by The Scruffs

Wanna Meet the Scruffs? is the debut studio album by American power pop band The Scruffs, released in 1977 by record label Power Play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">September Gurls</span> Song by Big Star released in 1974

"September Gurls" is a song written by Alex Chilton that was first released by Big Star on their second studio album Radio City in 1974. "September Gurls" was also released as a single.

<i>In Space</i> 2005 studio album by Big Star

In Space is the fourth and final studio album by American rock group Big Star, released in 2005. It was the first new Big Star studio album since Third/Sister Lovers, recorded in 1974 and released in 1978.

<i>Like Flies on Sherbert</i> 1979 studio album by Alex Chilton

Like Flies on Sherbert is the first solo album released by American pop rock musician Alex Chilton. He had previously recorded a collection of songs in 1969 and 1970, ultimately titled 1970, but this was not released until 1996. Released in 1979, Like Flies on Sherbert was recorded at two Memphis studios, Phillips Recording and Ardent Studios, in 1978 and 1979. Chilton had previously been a member of the Box Tops and Big Star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Chilton</span> American songwriter, guitarist, singer & producer

Alex Chilton was an American musician, singer-songwriter and record producer, best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops was never repeated in later years with Big Star and in his subsequent indie music solo career on small labels, but he drew an intense following among indie and alternative rock musicians. He is frequently cited as a seminal influence by influential rock artists and bands, some of whose testimonials appeared in the 2012 documentary Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me.

Scruffy The Cat was a roots rock/pop/cowpunk band from Boston, active from 1983 to 1990. They also played a few reunion shows in 2011, prior to the death of lead singer and guitarist Charlie Chesterman in 2013.

Thomas Forbes Hoehn Jr. was an American singer, songwriter, keyboard player, and guitarist. Along with Jon Tiven, he led the Memphis power pop group Prix before embarking on a solo career. He also provided backing vocals on Big Star's third album, Third/Sister Lovers, and collaborated with Big Star members Alex Chilton and Chris Bell as well as Memphis power pop group The Scruffs.

References

  1. ↑ "Found Sound 2005". Pitchfork Media. 23 January 2006. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Brightwell, Eric. "The Scruffs - Biography". Amoeba Music. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  3. ↑ SXSW.com
  4. ↑ The Aquarian
  5. ↑ Yahoo.com
  6. 1 2 Nelson, Chris (July 17, 1998). "The Scruffs Stage Second-Coming With Reissue". MTV . Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  7. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved March 12, 2019– via robertchristgau.com.
  8. ↑ Deming, Mark. "Teenage Gurls review". Allmusic . Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 "Some Q&A with Stephen Burns of The Scruffs". Dagger . January 27, 2007. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012.
  10. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "The Scruffs". Village Voice . Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  11. ↑ Deming, Mark. "Signs & Symbols review". Allmusic . Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  12. ↑ Herrington, Chris (July 1, 2006). "Coming Home". Memphis Magazine. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  13. ↑ Deming, Mark. "Pop Manifesto review". Allmusic . Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  14. ↑ Bash, David (January 18, 2008). "David Bash's Top 125 of 2007 (and more).". Absolute Powerpop. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  15. ↑ Ruhlman, William. "Conquest review". Allmusic . Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  16. ↑ Reager, J.D. (September 1, 2011). "Kill! Kill! by The Scruffs". Memphis Flyer . Retrieved November 2, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.