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

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, 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 release ...

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

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 ''Wammo'' is an album by New Zealand band Bailter Space, released in 1995. It reached number 31 in New Zealand upon original release. Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but ...

" 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 Williams. Fo ...

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 gratuity, 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 performa ...

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. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, swing, and

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

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 A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...

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? ''What? And Give Up Show Biz?'' is a live double album by Austin, Texas-based band Asylum Street Spankers, which documents the band's performance of a revue of the same name at Barrow Street Theatre during a two-week period in January 2008. The a ...

'' off-Broadway at the

Barrow Street Theatre Barrow Street Theatre is the name of both a 199-seat Off-Broadway theatre located in New York City's historic Greenwich house, Greenwich House at 27 Barrow Street and a production company of the same name. From 2003 to 2018, the venue was leased ...

. 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, 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, cartoonist, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before being drafted into ...

and

Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was impacted by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Send ...

. The Spankers have covered songs by

Prince A prince is a 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, in some European states. The ...

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

The B-52's The B-52s, originally presented as the B-52's (with an errant apostrophe; used until 2008), are an American band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, k ...

, Black Flag,

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1892 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Empress of the Blues" and formerly Queen of the Blues, she was t ...

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 success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experi ...

The Jazz Butcher The Jazz Butcher was the alias of British singer/songwriter Pat Fish (20 December 1957 – 5 October 2021). It also served as the name of the band, though adjuncts were frequently used to distinguish between Fish's persona and band itself (The J ...

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 music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

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, and

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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! Asylum Street Spankers was an American acoustic blues and roots rock band from Austin, Texas, United States. The band played cover versions of early jazz and comical, often risqué original songs. In 2006, the band's satirical antiwar video "Sti ...

'' (2007) *''

'' (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 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

'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) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, 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 Buffalo Records artists