G. Love & Special Sauce is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. They are known for their unique, "sloppy", and "laid back" sound that encompasses

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 ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, rock, and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

. The band features

Garrett Dutton Garrett Dutton (born October 3, 1972), better known as G. Love, is an American singer, rapper and musician best known as the frontman for the band G. Love & Special Sauce. Biography Dutton, the son of a banking lawyer, was born in the Socie ...

, better known as G. Love; Jeffrey Clemens on drums; and Jim Prescott on bass.

History

The band formed in January 1993, when Dutton was performing at a

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

bar, The Tam O'Shanter. There he met drummer Jeffrey Clemens. Dutton and Clemens began working as a duo, and were joined a few months later by bassist Jim Prescott, and became the house band at The Plough and Stars in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. In 1994, they released their self-titled debut album on

Okeh Records OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

. On the strength of the single "Cold Beverage", due in part to the song's rotation on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

, the album nearly went

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. Trying to capitalize on the success of the album, the group subsequently toured heavily, eventually landing a spot on the

H.O.R.D.E. Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere or H.O.R.D.E. Festival was a concert tour, touring summer rock music festival originated by the musical group Blues Traveler in 1992. In addition to travelling headliners, the festival gave exposure to bands ...

tour. In 1995, they released their follow-up album ''

Coast to Coast Motel ''Coast to Coast Motel'' is the second album by G. Love & Special Sauce, released in 1995. Critical reception The ''Dallas Observer'' called ''Coast to Coast Motel'' "almost completely stripped of the hip-hop that so pleasantly tempered the str ...

''. Although it did not sell as well as the first album, it is considered by many critics as the stronger of the two. On tour following the release of the second album, the group nearly broke up, due to disagreements about the group's finances. Deciding on a hiatus the three members went their separate ways, working on various side projects. G-love

By October 1997, the group had reconciled their differences and released their third album, ''

Yeah, It's That Easy ''Yeah, It's That Easy'' is the third album by G. Love & Special Sauce, released in 1997. Dr. John contributed to the album. "Stepping Stones" was a minor modern rock radio hit. Critical reception ''Entertainment Weekly'' thought that "songs l ...

'', which along with their own work, showcased their collaboration with several other bands and musicians, including All Fellas Band, Philly Cartel, King's Court, and

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. His music combined New Orleans blues, jazz, R&B, soul and funk. Active as a session mus ...

. This soul-influenced album was more similar to their debut album than their previous release. Soon after G. Love & Special Sauce set out on another world tour, returning to Philadelphia in 1999 for the release of their fourth album, ''

Philadelphonic ''Philadelphonic'' is the fourth album by G. Love & Special Sauce, released in 1999. Critical reception ''Spin'' wrote that the album's "beach-bound grooves are well-trodden." ''Entertainment Weekly'' called it "sleeker and more streamlined th ...

''. ''Philadelphonic'' was followed up with ''

Electric Mile ''Electric Mile'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band G. Love & Special Sauce. It was released on April 24, 2001 via Epic Records. Recorded at Long View Farm Studios in North Brookfield, it was produced by the band themselves with ...

'' in 2001, an album that shows the wide-ranging influences of the trio, incorporating

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

, psychedelica,

, and

in equal and ambitious measure. Ever the road band, ''Mile'' was followed by extensive touring. During this time they performed as the

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

for

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

's show ''Turn Ben Stein On'', which ran from 1999–2001. In summer 2005, the band featured in an advertisement for the launch of

Coca-Cola Zero Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, commonly known as Coke Zero, is a diet soda produced by the Coca-Cola Company. The drink was introduced in 2005 as Coca-Cola Zero as a new no-calorie cola. In 2017, the formula was modified and the name updated, the announc ...

, featuring the group's own unique version of the noted

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

advertising song "

I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" is a pop song (originally known as "True Love and Apple Pie") by British hit songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, and sung by Susan Shirley. The lyrics were rewritten by the ...

". On June 24, 2008, ''

Superhero Brother ''Superhero Brother'' (2008) is the eighth studio album released by American trio G. Love and Special Sauce. Track listing # "Communication" (3:21) # "City Livin'" (4:05) # "Wiggle Worm" (4:05) # "Peace, Love, and Happiness" (3:42) # "Soft and ...

'' was released. On January 15, 2009, G. Love announced on the band's website that

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

Jimi "Jazz" Prescott is no longer a member of the band. On January 21, 2014, G. Love posted a release containing the announcement of the album ''Sugar'', and stating that Jimi Prescott had returned to the band. In 2014

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

released a commercial featuring "Come Up Man".

Solo albums

G. Love has released four solo albums. His first, '' The Hustle'', was the first G. Love release under Jack Johnson's

Brushfire Records Brushfire Records is a record label owned by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson. Formerly known as '' The Moonshine Conspiracy Records'', the label was founded to release soundtracks for Woodshed Films, a company owned by Johnson, Emmett Malloy, and ...

banner. Johnson had been a guest on the Special Sauce album ''

''. G. Love performed a series of shows in 2004 with Jack Johnson and fellow Brushfire Records artist

Donavon Frankenreiter Donavon Frankenreiter (born December 10, 1972) is an American musician and surfer. His debut self-titled album was released in 2004 on Brushfire Records through Universal Music. Career Frankenreiter was born in Downey, California, United Stat ...

, and the trio also found time to issue a live EP. His solo albums include: *''The Hustle'' (Brushfire Records – 2004) #100 US *''

Lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored drink. There are many varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In some parts of the world, lemonade refers to an un-carbonated, traditionally, homemade drink, using lemon juice, water, and a sw ...

'' (Brushfire Records – 2006) #39 US *'' Fixin' to Die'' (Brushfire Records – 2011) #36 US * ''The Juice'' (Philadelphonic Records – January 17, 2020)

Musical style

The band's music encompasses

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

Philadelphia soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP), is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The ...

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

and

Members

Current

* Garrett Dutton as " G. Love" –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

(1993–present) *

Chuck Treece Chuck Treece (born May 30, 1964) is an American musician and professional skateboarder from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1984, he became famous for being the first African-American skateboarder to be featured on the cover of ''Thrasher'' maga ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, vocals (2022–present) * Jim Prescott as "Jimi Jazz" –

string bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

(1993–2009, 2014–present)

Former

* Jeffrey Clemens as "Houseman" –

, vocals (1993–2020) * Mark Boyce – keyboards (2006–2011) * Timo Shanko –

(2009–2013)

Tech credits

* Randy Grosclaude – lighting designer for ''The Hustle'' tour

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:200 bottom:120 top:0 right:0 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1993 till:12/31/2016 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1993 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1993 Colors = id:v value:red legend:Vocals id:h value:yellow legend:Harmonica id:g value:green legend:Guitar id:b value:blue legend:String_bass id:k value:purple legend:Keyboards id:d value:orange legend:Drums id:alb value:black legend:G._Love_&_Special_Sauce_albums id:solo value:gray(0.4) legend:G._Love_solo_albums LineData = layer:back at:05/10/1994 color:alb at:09/19/1995 color:alb at:10/28/1997 color:alb at:08/03/1999 color:alb at:04/24/2001 color:alb at:08/24/2004 color:solo at:08/01/2006 color:solo at:06/24/2008 color:alb at:03/02/2011 color:solo at:04/24/2014 color:alb at:10/30/2015 color:alb PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,–4) bar:Garrett "G. Love" Dutton from:start till:end color:v bar:Garrett "G. Love" Dutton from:start till:end color:h width:7 bar:Garrett "G. Love" Dutton from:start till:end color:g width:3 bar:Jeffrey "The Houseman" Clemens from:start till:end color:d bar:Jeffrey "The Houseman" Clemens from:start till:end color:v width:3 bar:Jim "Jimi Jazz" Prescott from:05/01/1993 till:01/15/2009 color:b bar:Jim "Jimi Jazz" Prescott from:01/21/2014 till:end color:b bar:Timo Shanko from:01/16/2009 till:01/20/2014 color:b bar:Mark Boyce from:01/01/2006 till:09/01/2011 color:k

Discography

Studio albums – with Special Sauce

* '' G. Love and Special Sauce'' (

Okeh OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

– 1994) #32 Heatseekers * ''

'' (Okeh – 1995) #122 US #3 Heatseekers * ''

'' (Okeh – 1997) #120 US #3 Heatseekers * ''

'' (

550 Music 550 Music (originally known as Sony 550 Music) was a unit of Sony Music Entertainment, which operated through Sony Music's Epic Records division while in activity. Launched in 1992, the "550" name was inspired by the address of the Sony building ...

– 1999) #113 US #1 Heatseekers * ''

'' (550 Music – 2001) #138 US #4 Heatseekers * ''

'' (

– 2008) #63 US * ''Sugar'' (Brushfire Records – 2014) #49 US * ''Love Saves the Day'' (Brushfire Records – October 30, 2015) * ''Philadelphia Mississippi'' (Philadelphonic Records – June 24, 2022)

Studio albums – solo

* '' The Hustle'' (Brushfire Records – 2004) #100 US * ''

'' (Brushfire Records – 2006) #39 US * ''Fixin' to Die'' (Brushfire Records – 2011) #36 US * ''The Juice'' (Philadelphonic Records – January 17, 2020)

Bootlegs, demos or outtake albums

* ''Back in the Day'' (1993) * ''In the Kings Court'' (1996/1998) * ''Oh Yeah'' (1998) olo* ''G. Love Has Gone Country'' (1998) * ''Rappin' Blues EP'' (1999) * ''Front Porch Loungin (2000) * ''

Long Way Down ''Long Way Down'' is a television series and book documenting a motorcycle journey undertaken in 2007 by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, from John o' Groats in Scotland through eighteen countries in Europe and Africa to Cape Town in South ...

'' (Philadelphonic Records – 2009)

Compilation albums

* ''The Best of G. Love and Special Sauce'' (Sony – 2002) * ''Playlist: The Very Best of G. Love & Special Sauce (The Okeh Years)'' (Epic/Legacy – 2013)

Live albums

* ''A Year and a Night with G. Love and Special Sauce'' CD/DVD (2007) * ''Live at Boulder Theater'' 2xLP Limited Edition(2019)

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

Philadelphonic.com

G. Love & Special Sauce
at

All Music AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the datab ...

G. Love & Special Sauce 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
Timo Shanko's website

Cadillac ATS commercial featuring Come Up Man

Garrett sits down with Ira Haberman of The Sound Podcast for a feature interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:G. Love and Special Sauce American blues musical groups Rock music groups from Pennsylvania American soul musical groups Brushfire Records artists Hip-hop groups from Philadelphia Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups from Pennsylvania Okeh Records artists