Golden Smog is an

alternative country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

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 ...

supergroup of loosely connected musicians mostly from the

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

area. At various times members of

Soul Asylum Soul Asylum is an American rock band formed in 1981 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their 1993 hit " Runaway Train" won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The band was originally called Loud Fast Rules, with a lineup consisting of Dave Pirner ...

, The Replacements,

Wilco Wilco is an American Rock music, rock band based in Chicago. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo after singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently during its fir ...

The Jayhawks The Jayhawks are an American alternative country and country rock band that emerged from the Twin Cities music scene in the mid-1980s. Led by vocalists/guitarists/songwriters Gary Louris and Mark Olson, their country rock sound was influentia ...

, Run Westy Run,

The Honeydogs The Honeydogs is a band from Saint Paul, Minnesota that opened at First Avenue in 1994. History The band's popularity grew after signing with record label Mercury Records and their major label debut album release, '' Seen a Ghost'' in 1997.Hor ...

, and

Big Star Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1971 by Alex Chilton (vocals, guitar), Chris Bell (vocals, guitar), Jody Stephens (drums), and Andy Hummel (bass). They have been described as the "quintessential American ...

have worked with Golden Smog. Given the fluid collaborative nature of Golden Smog the lineup has often changed, but relative constant members who appear on all the recordings are guitarists Kraig Johnson (Run Westy Run), Dan Murphy (Soul Asylum), and

Gary Louris Gary Michael Louris (born March 10, 1955) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band the Jayhawks and their principal songwriter and vocalist a ...

(The Jayhawks) along with bassist Marc Perlman (The Jayhawks). The group took their name from a nickname given to

Fred Flintstone Fred Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom '' The Flintstones'', which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintst ...

in ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the R ...

'' episode "Hot Lips Hannigan", which, in turn, was a parody of singer

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "the Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arrangement, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roa ...

's nickname (The Velvet Fog).

History

Pre-history: The Take It To The Limit Band (1987) and Her Satanic Majesty's Paycheck (1989)

The definitive beginning of Golden Smog is hard to pinpoint given the mercurial nature of the band's lineup. However, some claim that the group that would evolve into Golden Smog debuted in January 1987, when a band billed as "The Take It To The Limit Band" played an (almost) all-

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

cover show at the Uptown Bar in

. The band consisted of Dan Murphy and

Dave Pirner David Anthony Pirner (born April 16, 1964) is an American songwriter, singer, and producer best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for the alternative rock band Soul Asylum. Early life and work Pirner was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and ...

(both of Soul Asylum), Jim Boquist (later of

Son Volt Son Volt is an American rock band formed in 1994 by Jay Farrar after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo. The band's current line-up consists of Farrar (vocals, guitar), Andrew DuPlantis (bass guitar), John Horton (guitar), Mark Patterson (drums), and ...

), and

Martin Zellar Martin Lee Zellar (born June 14, 1963) is a Minnesota-based musician and songwriter. Martin Zellar is the brother of writer Brad Zellar. Early career Zellar grew up in Austin, Minnesota. While still in high school, Zellar formed his first b ...

(

Gear Daddies The Gear Daddies are a rock band originally from Austin, Minnesota. Randy Broughten (electric and steel guitar), Nick Ciola (bass), Billy Dankert (drums and vocals), and Martin Zellar (guitar, harmonica and vocals) played their first shows t ...

). The show ended with a cover of then Bangles hit song "

Walk Like an Egyptian "Walk Like an Egyptian" is a song by the American pop rock band the Bangles. It was released in September 1986 as the third single from the band's second studio album, '' Different Light'' (1986). It was the band's first number one single, being ...

." That same group later played a

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

-themed show in 1989 under the band name "Her Satanic Majesty's Paycheck."

First incarnation (1989–1998)

The group first came together under the name "Golden Smog" in the

area in 1989. The band was conceived as a country-rock reaction to the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

music that dominated the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

' musical scene at the time. Eventually Golden Smog became something of a fixture at local clubs where they played a handful of shows annually, consisting almost entirely of cover songs. Membership in the early days of the band was loose and fluid, but in 1992, Murphy and Pirner of Soul Asylum, Louris and Perlman of The Jayhawks, Johnson of Run Westy Run, and drummer

Chris Mars Chris Mars (born April 26, 1961) is an American painter and musician. He was the drummer for the seminal Minneapolis-based alternative rock band The Replacements (band), the Replacements from 1979 to 1990; he later joined the informal supergroup ...

(of The Replacements) released Golden Smog's first CD, a covers EP entitled '' On Golden Smog''. All of the band members were credited under pseudonyms for this release as a result of contractual obligations to other record companies. Over the next few years, members of Golden Smog began adding original material to the group's repertoire, although cover songs would continue to be featured in concert and on record throughout their career. In 1995, the group released its full-length debut, '' Down by the Old Mainstream'' (recorded at Pachyderm Recording Studio), consisting of mostly original songs, with a handful of covers. By this time, Mars had left Golden Smog and the band consisted of Johnson, Murphy, Louris, and Perlman, along with two new members: Wilco frontman

Jeff Tweedy Jeffrey Scot Tweedy (born August 25, 1967) is an American musician, singer songwriter, author, and record producer best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Wilco. Tweedy, originally from Belleville, Illinois, began his music care ...

and Honeydogs drummer Noah Levy. As with the band's debut EP, all of the band members were credited under pseudonyms (which consisted of their middle names and the names of the streets where they grew up) as performers—although they all used their real names in the writing credits. At a New Year's Eve show in 1996/97

Jody Stephens Jody Stephens (born October 4, 1952) is an American musician and producer who has played drums in Big Star (with Alex Chilton of the Box Tops) and Golden Smog (with members of the Jayhawks and Wilco). After the deaths of Chris Bell in 1978, a ...

(of

) took over for Noah on the drums, and subsequently became a full band member. Golden Smog then released their second full-length studio album ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, printe ...

'' in 1998, with all band members credited under their real names as both writers and performers.

Second incarnation (2005–2007)

After a period of inactivity, in 2005 a new incarnation of Golden Smog formed and recorded the ''

Another Fine Day ''Another Fine Day'' is Golden Smog's third full-length album. It was released on July 18, 2006. It reached number 95 on the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Background Golden Smog's lineup was chiefly made up of Kraig Johnson (Run Westy R ...

'' album in the village of

El Puerto de Santa María El Puerto de Santa María (), locally known as El Puerto and historically in English as Port Saint Mary, is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. , the c ...

, Spain produced by Paco Loco. At that point the band consisted of Johnson, Louris, Murphy and Perlman; guest performers on several tracks included Tweedy, Spanish female vocalist Muni Camón, drummers

Linda Pitmon Linda Pitmon is an American drummer known for her work with the supergroup the Baseball Project (with Peter Buck and Mike Mills, both members of R.E.M., Scott McCaughey of the Young Fresh Fellows and Steve Wynn of the Dream Syndicate), Steve Wynn ...

and Jody Stephens, and multi-instrumentalist

Ed Ackerson Edwin C. Ackerson (July 18, 1965 – October 4, 2019) was an American musician and producer from Minneapolis. He produced or engineered dozens of records including works by prominent artists such as The Jayhawks, The Replacements (band), The Repl ...

. In the summer of 2006, the Johnson/Louris/Murphy/Perlman version of Golden Smog undertook a concert tour, augmented by a touring keyboardist and drummer. This same line-up of the band then issued '' Blood on the Slacks'' in 2007; with no permanent drummer, various drummers filled the position on this disc, including Pitmon, Ackerson, Peter Anderson and even Marc Perlman.

Third incarnation (2019-present)

Golden Smog reunited on July 12, 2019 to play a small "surprise" performance celebrating Dan Murphy's 57th birthday. The show marked Murphy's first public musical performance since his retirement from Soul Asylum in 2012. Murphy was joined onstage by Johnson, Louris, and Perlman as well as Miles Zuniga of the band

Fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

. A performance was scheduled for April 4, 2020, at First Avenue in Minneapolis however the show was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. The band reunited at First Avenue on April 2, 2022 with Tweedy and Stephens both rejoining the band. From 2022 forward, the group has held an annual show at First Avenue, always occurring near the end of the year. In December 2022 and again in December 2023, the group (still consisting of Gary Louris, Kraig Johnson, Dan Murphy, and Marc Perlman) played a special holiday show. The 2022 gig was billed as an "Unplugged" show; the 2023 date featured guest drummer Steve Gorman. For their 2024 gig, held in November, Golden Smog was now billed as a quintet, with Gorman as an official member.https://first-avenue.com/event/2024-11-golden-smog/

Discography

Albums

* '' Down by the Old Mainstream'' (1995) * ''

'' (1998) * ''

'' (2006) * '' Blood on the Slacks'' (2007)

Compilation albums

* ''Stay Golden, Smog: The Best of Golden Smog—The Rykodisc Years'' (2008)

EPs

* '' On Golden Smog'' (1992)

Compilation appearances

*"Shooting Star" (from ''On Golden Smog'') on the ''

Clerks A clerk is someone who works in an office. A retail clerk works in a store. Office holder Clerk(s) may also refer to a person who holds an office, most commonly in a local unit of government, or a court. *Barristers' clerk, a manager and administ ...

'' soundtrack (1994) *"Prison Wife" on ''Minnesota Modern Rock: The Pachyderm Sessions'', (1995) (previously unreleased song) *"Looking Forward to Seeing You" (from ''Weird Tales'') on the '' Alt.Country Exposed Roots'' compilation (1999) *"Looking Forward to Seeing You" (from ''Weird Tales'') on the ''Rykodisc 20th Anniversary'' compilation (2004)

References

External links

Official MySpace Page For Stay Golden, Smog: The Best Of Golden Smog -- The Rykodisc Years
*
Country Standard Time
Feature story and reviews of Golden Smog {{Authority control Rock music groups from Minnesota Musical collectives Rykodisc artists Lost Highway Records artists American supergroups Musical groups established in 1989 Wilco Musical groups from the Twin Cities Musical groups from Minneapolis 1989 establishments in Minnesota