Don't Call It Nothing - Episode 9 - 1996 (Alt.Country, Pt 1)

Join host Lance Uehara Davis on the final Don't Call It Nothing podcast. We finish our four-part look at Mark Lanegan and the Screaming Trees in the 1990s. This time we hit the final two years of the decade—1998-99—as the Trees sputter to the finish line and Lanegan cleans himself up and releases a solid, if flawed effort (Scraps At Midnight) and a stone-cold masterpiece (I'll Take Care Of You). Thank you friends for your support along the way. It's been a helluva ride.

See ya on the flippety flop, LD

Join Mark Lanegan and the Screaming Trees in 1994, run ragged from the road and poor lifestyle choices. That said, we're treated to a solid Lanegan effort from that year (Whiskey From The Holy Ghost), followed by collaborations with Mad Season and Mike Watt, pay tribute to Willie Nelson and Jim Reeves, and embrace the Trees' heroically flawed swan song (Dust).

Don't Call It Nothing continues its tribute to the Screaming Trees and the late Mark Lanegan by reviewing the years 1990-93. The decade began with Lanegan releasing his solo debut, The Winding Sheet, with help from Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana. Both Conner brothers released records in 1990 through New Alliance Records, a subsidiary of SST that began life as an outlet for D Boon and Mike Watt of the Minutemen. In 1991, the Trees released their major label debut and final album with original drummer Mark Pickerel, Uncle Anesthesia. Barrett Martin then replaced Pickerel in time to record the band's masterpiece, 1992's Sweet Oblivion. We end the episode in 1993 as Mark Lanegan joins The Walkabouts for a soulful walk through the Charlie Rich catalog.

Don't Call It Nothing pays tribute to the late Mark Lanegan by discussing the Screaming Trees in the 1980s. Everyone, even all-time greats, has to start somewhere and this episode tracks the Trees early years, when they went from faithful sons of Nuggets, Sabbath, and The Stooges to masters of melodic acid rock.

Don't Call It Nothing gets personal as I talk about my maternal grandparents, Okinawa, plantations, and the Korean concept of han. I also discuss John Lee, aMiniature, the Casbah, and healthy competition in the mid-'90s San Diego scene. 

Welcome to Part 2 of my song-for-song interpretation of Exile On Main St where I provide my explanations for each selection. I wanted to think about the album differently, as if its 18 songs were 18 individual ideas that influenced thousands of future bands in sometimes not so obvious ways. Instead of the Black Crowes, Pearl Jam, and White Stripes, we get You Am I, Wilco, and Maria McKee.

I spent over three years writing and editing Don't Call It Nothing: The Lost History of '90s Roots, Rap & Rock 'n' Roll and the book is now available to you for the low, low cost of free! The book is part autobiography, part biography, part social history, and all music history. It’s an excellent reference tool for the best American music of the decade, largely driven underground in favor of terrible grunge, emo, Britpop, nu metal, and rap rock.

And as a reward (punishment?) for finishing his damn book, LD created a song-for-song interpretation of Exile On Main St. 18 songs that individually match the aesthetic of the 18 songs on Exile. Oh, and to add a level of difficulty, most of the songs are from the 1990s — this makes sense given this podcast — and even the 3-4 that were recorded in the 2000s are by bands who began in the ‘90s. Enjoy!

Don't Call It Nothing returns to Pinkpop '93 to pay tribute to The Jayhawks and Bettie Serveert, two bands who should've been bigger, but America hates nice things. At least they left us a ton of great music, so tune in to get the bird.

An extended discussion of Thelonious Monster's "Colorblind" and how John Carpenter's The Thing is an allegory for white supremacy . Also, is it possible that the events in "Colorblind" intersect with my life?

This was originally the first bonus episode for Don't Call It Nothing family members. But, given that it's the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, it seemed like an appropriate time to release the episode into the wild. I discuss my mom growing up in Hawaii during World War 2 and her subsequent assimilation in southern California.

Much love and aloha, LD