Asylum Street Spankers was an American acoustic blues and roots rock band from

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, United States. The band played

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

s of early

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

and comical, often risqué original songs. In 2006, the band's satirical antiwar video "Stick Magnetic Ribbons on Your SUV" surpassed 1 million views in two months on YouTube. In January 2011 the band won the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in the Gospel category for ''God's Favorite Band''. The band dissolved after a final tour in spring 2011.

History

Founding

The band was founded by Christina Marrs, William David "Wammo" Walker, and

Guy Forsyth Guy Forsyth (born November 30, 1968) is an American blues rock singer and songwriter. He has toured in the U.S. and Europe and has been the opening act for Ray Charles, Robert Cray, Dr. John, B.B. King, Jimmie Vaughan, and Lucinda William ...

after a party at the Dabbs Hotel near the

Llano River The Llano River ( ) is a tributary of the Colorado River, about long, in Texas in the United States. It drains part of the Edwards Plateau in Texas Hill Country northwest of Austin. Two spring-fed tributaries, the North and South Llano, stret ...

in Texas in 1994. The band began by

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pra ...

on the streets of Austin and playing for tips in bars. In their earliest days, the Spankers' repertoire consisted almost entirely of

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

, blues,

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...

, and

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

songs from the 1890s to the 1950s, with an emphasis on the 1920s and 1930s. The band developed a raucous and irreverent sound, focusing on musicianship and theatricality. Several early members were actors and nearly all members have been multi-instrumentalists. Until 2004 they played most of their concerts without amplification. The band derived its name from Austin's Guadalupe Street, where they would often busk and where they played early shows. At one time Guadalupe Street was nicknamed "Asylum Street" because it led to a state psychiatric hospital. According to Christina Marrs, spanking' is an old jazz term for playing your instrument vigorously. But we still like the other connotation of spanking as well."

Lineup changes, studio albums

With the departure of

in 1997 the Spankers began playing their own songs, most of them in the roots styles the band was familiar with. By 1999 only Marrs and Wammo remained of the original line-up. Reconstructing the band, Marrs and Wammo began including more cross-genre experimentation, intricate arrangements, vocal harmonies, and humorous songs, sometimes with pointed social and cultural commentary. Also in 1999, Marrs and Wammo founded Spanks-a-Lot Records to release their music. In 2006, the satirical antiwar video "Stick Magnetic Ribbons on Your SUV" received 1,054,743 views on YouTube. The video was directed by Morgan Higby Night. In January 2008 the group premiered its stage show '' What? And Give Up Show Biz?'' off-Broadway at the Barrow Street Theatre. In January 2011, Asylum Street Spankers won the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in the Gospel category for ''God's Favorite Band''.

Breakup, farewell tour

After the band broke up in 2010, the remaining members announced one last tour, nine months in 50 cities: "Spanks for the Memories! The Farewell Tour." Down to one founding member, the band built a new show around Marrs, Newman, and returning member Charlie King. The "Spanks for Everything" Farewell Tour concluded with a series of final shows in Austin on April 20–23, 2011. In March 2011, the band raised over $20,000 from fans in order to create a DVD retrospective and documentary centered around their final performances in Austin. In April 2014, an album with previous unreleased recordings of their last shows, ''The Last Laugh'', was released. In 2015, ''The Last Laugh'' won the award for the "Live Performance Album" category at The 14th Annual Independent Music Awards.

Style

''Spanker Madness'' is an album of country blues songs that praise marijuana use and criticize the

War on Drugs The war on drugs is a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States.Cockburn and St. Clair, ...

, though other songs look at the negative side of recreational drugs. ''Mercurial'' was recorded using technology from the 1940s. ''My Favorite Record'' is about their love of music. ''Mommy Says No!'' is an album of songs about children and childhood that was inspired by children's authors

Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, singer / songwriter, musician, and playwright. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before ...

and

Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. He became most widely known for his book ''Where the Wild Things Are'', first published in 1963.Turan, Kenneth (October 16, 200 ...

. The Spankers have covered songs by

Prince A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, Beastie Boys,

The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, ...

, Black Flag, Louis Armstrong,

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the " Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock an ...

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ov ...

, The Jazz Butcher,

The Violent Femmes Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza (joined 20 ...

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song " He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo. ...

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blue ...

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the ban ...

Oingo Boingo Oingo Boingo () was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the ...

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blue ...

Screamin' Jay Hawkins Jalacy J. "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins (July 18, 1929 – February 12, 2000) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, film producer, and boxer. Famed chiefly for his powerful, operatic vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of ...

, and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American Country music, country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later s ...

People

Final band members (2011 tour)

*Christina Marrs *Charlie King *Nevada Newman *Mark Henne *Morgan Patrick Thompson *Shawn Dean (The Unknown Wrestler) *Trevor Smith *Thrad Lee

Former members

*"Colonel" Josh Arnson *Greg "Pops" Bayless *Dave "Leroy" Biller *Adam "Tiny" Booker *Jakob Breitbach *Garreth Broesche *Cade Callahan *Justin "Sick" Carr *Jimmie Dean *"Mysterious" John Dodson *Jonathan Doyle *Jake Erwin *

*Olivier Giraud *Reese Gray *Westen Borghesi *Mike Henry *Josh Hoag *Billy Horton *Scott Marcus *Brent Martens *Eamon McLaughlin *Django Porter *Charlie Rose *"Salty" John Salmon *Paul Schlichting *PB Shane *Korey Simeone *Kevin Smith *Stanley Smith *John Thomasson *William David "Wammo" Walker *Matt Weiner *Jeffrey Ross

Discography

Albums

*''Live'' (1995, out of print) *''Spanks for the Memories'' (1996) *''Nasty Novelties'' (EP, 1997) *''Hot Lunch'' (1999) *''Spanker Madness'' (2001) *''A Christmas Spanking'' (2001) *''Dirty Ditties'' (EP, 2002) *"Stinkin b/w "Goodbye Cousin Early" (single, 2002) *''My Favorite Record'' (2002) *''Strawberry'' (Live) (2003, recorded 1998) *''Mercurial'' (2004) *''Pussycat'' (2005) *''

Mommy Says No! ''Mommy Says No!'' (stylized as ''MOMMY Says NO!'') is an album by the Asylum Street Spankers, released on February 6, 2007. It is the group's first album meant for children. Track listing #"Be Like You" (3:36) #"Training Wheel Rag" (2:28) #"Yo ...

'' (2007) *'' What? And Give Up Show Biz?'' (two-disc live set, 2008) *''God's Favorite Band'' (2009) *''The Last Laugh'' (2014) ;Solo albums by members *''Why Do it Right?'' (Nevada Newman) *''Lowriders On the Storm'' (Wammo) *''In the Land of Dreams'' (Stanley Smith) *''Fat Headed Stranger'' (Wammo) *''Faster Than the Speed of Suck'' (Wammo)

Videos

*''Sideshow Fez'' (DVD) *''Re-Assembly (2005)'' (DVD) *''Stick Magnetic Ribbons on Your SUV''

References

External links

*
Asylum Street Spankers collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...

's live music archive
''The Asylum Street Spankers, Sounding Off''
– interview at ''All Things Considered'' on 31 July 2005 (

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from othe ...

, audio, 8:40 mins)
''The Asylum Street Spankers: Going Gospel''
– interview at studio 4A on 7 February 2010 (''Weekend Sessions'' des

, audio, 12:08 mins) {{Authority control Musical groups from Austin, Texas American street performers Musical groups established in 1994 1994 establishments in Texas Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Yellow Dog Records artists