I watch the Grammy Awards every year. I usually enjoy very little, and recall even less. Faint memories include Elton John symbolically joining Eminem on stage to perform “Stan” in 2001 and Paula Cole sporting more armpit hair than I was prepared for while accepting an award in 1998. But my most indelible Grammy memory is a performance by Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard in 2008 (also joined on stage by John Fogerty). For some reason, watching and listening to two very old guys on pianos struck a chord. Maybe I got a kick out of seeing a 78 year old Little Richard still hit the high notes on “Good Golly Miss Molly” with surprising success. I’m not sure.
Considered two of the godfathers of rock music, Lewis and Richard, hailed during a time when the piano played rival to the guitar at the top in the rock n roll pecking order. As time went on, Hendrix, Lennon, Clapton and the like arrived, ensuring that the guitar would reign supreme as the foundation of modern pop-rock.
Fast forward 50 or so years to The Jim Jones Revue, a five piece outfit from the UK, bringing the piano and the sound of Lewis and Richard back in a big way. Best known for their frenetic live shows, The Jim Jones Revue has managed to cultivate a sound that is most often compared to the piano gods named above. And that is no accident. As Jim Jones, the Band’s namesake and forceful front man, told Watchtower, “Little Richard and Jerry Lee are the forefathers of this Band.”
Flanked by guitarist Rupert Orton, bassist Gavin Jay, drummer Nick Jones, and piano man Elliot Mortimer, Jones formed the Band in 2007 as a collection of rock veterans in their thirties and forties with the goal of, “finding the same power and insanity and swing of (Richard and Lewis).” Once the Band was able to nail that down it, the key became finding its own voice in the midst of it.
With their self-titled debut in 2008, The Jim Jones Revue unleashed a brand of fast-paced punk, marked by heavy guitar riffs and a violent, yet soulful piano that lay the backdrop for Jones’ irrefutable energy and presence. Songs like the Princess and the Frog which include separate guitar and piano solos that hit equally hard, and verses that include extended pauses from the Band so Jones can uncork his melodic screams, untethered, embody the Jim Jones experience.
My first listen to the album evoked images of a 1957 high school prom; except beer bottles are being smashed and girls are making out in front of the teachers. Heck, the Band even looks the part; from the leather jackets they often don to Orton’s perfectly slicked back head of hair.
The Jim Jones Revue found itself nestled in its own genre; making music that is so evidently (and without shame) rooted in the past but manages to feel unique, original and exciting at the same time. In 2010, the Band enlisted Jim Sclavunos of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (affectionately referred to as “The Vun” by the Band) whose production resume includes work with Sonic Youth, to produce their sophomore album. Staying true to the identity the Band crafted on their debut; Burning Your House Down further solidified their ability to harness its chaos and aggressiveness to make catchy tunes. The album garnered positive critical acclaim and was followed by heavy touring that included stops in the US and Australia, as well as a lengthy tour of the UK.
The Band spent its first few years constantly on the road. Jones explained to me, “If you don’t have the industry behind you, and you're (not) part of a current trend, and you're (not) easy to market…the only thing you have left is to work hard and go out there.” The brutal schedule led to the departure of Mortimer, who struggled to reconcile the incessant touring with his life at home.
Enter Henri Herbert, a pianist in his 20’s who had previously been playing in more traditional cover bands that didn’t provide the creative platform Herbert needed. Says Jones, “He was playing with people that were constantly trying to get him to tone it down so when he came and worked with us, and we said “play louder” it was like a dream come true for him.” (To see Herbert’s skills firsthand and get a good laugh, check him out on YouTube with an impromptu performance in the middle of a crowded London train station).
Jones also credits Herbert for helping the Band stretch its boundaries on its third and most recent album, Savage Heart (released in 2012). With Sclavunos back at the helm, the objective upon entering the studio was to play as raw and stripped down as possible. “The way the music sounded the most credible and real and convincing was when we stripped away anything superfluous and experimented to see how far we could break this down until there’s nothing left at all,” explained Jones. The result was the Band’s most ambitious work to date. Invoking more gospel and rockabilly than their previous releases, Savage Heart, shows Jones channeling his inner Tom Waits as he growls his way through the plodding yet spirited “Chain Gang.” The bluesy “Seven Times Around the Sun” removes Orton and Jay from their strings and plants them strictly on backup vocals as they provide a chilling setting for Jones to work his magic.
The album still plays to the Band’s roots, and ultimately its influences. Jones belts out, “Love it tender, you can love it tough, she can hunt you down til’ you’ve had enough” with Orton’s guitar working feverishly and Herbert hammering piano keys behind him on “Never Let You Go” providing a reminder that The Jim Jones Revue is more than capable of finding the, “power and insanity and swing”, of its predecessors, which is what makes this Band so captivating.
The Jim Jones Revue has the wonderful ability to be so fresh and new. Even though their music is so heavily influenced by work that predates rock n roll as we know it, or at least as I know it. Maybe that’s what grabbed my attention during that 2008 Grammy performance.It is for that reason, I surmise, that in 2013, a bunch of dudes in their forties, playing with the energy of dudes in their twenties, can really only be compared to a couple dudes in their eighties.