Tav Falco's Panther Burns, sometimes shortened to (The) Panther Burns, is a rock band originally from Memphis,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, led by

Tav Falco Gustavo Antonio "Tav" Falco is an American-born filmmaker, actor, musician, author, photographer, and dancer. Falco has fronted the experimental band Tav Falco's Panther Burns since 1979, and founded a parallel solo career that incorporates ot ...

. They are best known for having been part of a set of bands emerging in the late 1970s and early 1980s who helped nationally popularise the blending of

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 ...

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, ...

, and other American

traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

styles with rock music among groups playing in

alternative music Alternative music may refer to the following types of music: *Independent music *Alternative rock *Alternative pop *Alternative R&B *Neo soul, sometimes known as alternative soul *Alternative reggaeton *Alternative hip hop *Alternative dance *Alter ...

and

punk music Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

venues of the time. The earliest and most renowned of these groups to imbue these styles with

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

theatricality and primitive spontaneity were

The Cramps The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2009. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. T ...

, largely influenced by

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

music. Forming just after them in 1979, Panther Burns drew on obscure

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

music,

Antonin Artaud Antoine Maria Joseph Paul Artaud (; ; 4September 18964March 1948), better known as Antonin Artaud, was a French artist who worked across a variety of media. He is best known for his writings, as well as his work in the theatre and cinema. Widely ...

's works like ''The Theatre and Its Double'',

beat poetry The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members o ...

, and Marshall McLuhan's media theories for their early inspiration. Alongside groups like The Cramps and

The Gun Club The Gun Club were an American post-punk band from Los Angeles that existed from 1979 to 1996. Created and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, they were notable as one of the first bands in the punk rock subculture to i ...

, Panther Burns is also considered a representative of the Southern Gothic-tinged roots music revival scene. After forming Tav Falco's Panther Burns and making their first recordings in Memphis, the group soon evolved as a rotating crew of additional musicians hailing mostly from Memphis,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Falco moved

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and later to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, at which time he began working more with European musicians.

Background and early history

In 1977 and 1979,

Alex Chilton William Alexander Chilton (December 28, 1950March 17, 2010) was an American musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock bands the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops ...

, attracted by The Cramps' feral, flamboyant rockabilly style, had brought them to Memphis to record sessions he produced that were later released as ''Gravest Hits'' and '' Songs the Lord Taught Us''. Chilton had initiated the development of a rockabilly and country-tinged alternative rock music scene in Memphis, beginning with his Cramps sessions and his off-kilter '' Like Flies on Sherbert'' sessions recorded in 1978 through August 1979, following a stint working in New York's

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

scene as a solo artist after the breakup of

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 ...

. This New York period had somewhat converted him to a turbulent and chaotic "punk performance

ethos ''Ethos'' is a Greek word meaning 'character' that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the ...

", according to Ross Johnson, writing in ''The Memphis Flyer''. The Cramps sessions were the

catalyst Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...

s inspiring some of the young musicians who eventually helped launch Panther Burns to first start performing in public. Future Panther Burns drummer Johnson first performed publicly in a group called The Yard Dogs led by Alex Chilton in the summer of 1978; he made his first recording session appearance on ''Like Flies on Sherbert'', drumming and bantering off-the-cuff, comical lyrics to "Baron of Love". This Chilton album is sometimes panned in retrospective reviews today by writers expecting Big Star's chiming guitars and tight, power pop recordings, but at the time the album came out, it was praised by critic Robert Christgau and was influential among young Memphis alternative musicians breaking out of the late 1970s era of

disco music Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightlife, particularly in African-American, Italian-American, Gay and Latino communities. Its sound features four-on-the-floor ...

and slick, mainstream radio rock and starting to create their own punk rock/garage music scene unrestrained by industry

dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...

. Falco had focused his 1970s work on video and photographic documentation of blues performers and local culture in the Memphis area with fellow videographer Randall Lyon, in a partnership they called TeleVista Projects, Inc. Chilton, who first encountered Falco while Lyon and Falco were videotaping some of the ''Sherbert'' sessions, formally met Falco a couple of months later after witnessing his self-described "Art-Action

Happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow in 1959 to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happening" i ...

" during an October 1978 Mud Boy and the Neutrons "

Tennessee Waltz "Tennessee Waltz" is a popular country music song with lyrics by Redd Stewart and music by Pee Wee King written in 1946 and first released in January 1948. The song became a multimillion seller via a 1950 recording – as "The Tennessee Waltz" ...

" event in Memphis, at which Falco, untrained in music theory, surprised the audience by blowing a police whistle and chainsawing a guitar on stage halfway through a haywire rendition of

Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter ( ; January 1888 or 1889 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the ...

's " Bourgeois Blues". Falco's association with Chilton and a small circle of record-collecting musicians helped deepen their shared, longstanding interest in the

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 ...

form. Chilton became inspired to work more with his Blues 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 ...

roots, after having temporarily been focused more on rockabilly and country music by the late 1970s. At the same time, ''The Memphis Flyer'' piece viewed the origin of Chilton's interest in forming the band as stemming from a desire to find "enthusiastic amateurs to play with" in Memphis, due to his recent exposure to Manhattan's budding

music scene. "We were inept and offensive — just what Alex was looking for", wrote Johnson. After Chilton completed the ''Like Flies on Sherbert'' recordings (for which Falco created some cover art graphics), Tav Falco's Panther Burns group was formed in February 1979 in Memphis by Falco (vocals, guitar) with Chilton (lead guitar/drums/backing vocals), Ross Johnson (drums), and Eric Hill (synthesiser). In the first couple of years Rick Ivy (trumpet),

Jim Dickinson James Luther Dickinson (November 15, 1941 – August 15, 2009) was an American record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others, the band Mud Boy and the Neutrons, based in Memphis, Tennessee. Biography Dickinson was born in Li ...

(piano), Vincent Wrenn (synthesizer), Ron Miller (bass), Jim Duckworth (guitar/drums), and

Jim Sclavunos James Sclavunos is an American multi-instrumentalist, record producer and writer. He is best known for his work as a drummer, having been a member of two seminal no wave groups in the late 1970s, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks and 8 Eyed Spy, both a ...

(drums), soon joined to play important roles. The group took its name from th
Panther Burn
plantation south of

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, ninth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, and the largest city by population in the Mississippi Delta region. It is the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, Was ...

. The town, in turn, had taken the name in reference to a wild cat whose raids and nocturnal shrieks had so disturbed area residents in the 19th century that they set a canebrake on fire to keep it at bay after all attempts to trap or kill it had failed; the lore of the elusive animal shaking up a sleepy planters' hamlet appealed to the band. The attention Chilton's early presence brought the band led to an increased interest in blues music, along with the already emerging Cramps-influenced rockabilly interest, in Memphis' alternative music scene at that time. Falco's initial inclusive approach of mixing enthusiastic players without formal musical training together with professional musicians was in tune with those of noted primitive experimenters

Half Japanese Half Japanese is an American art punk band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair in 1974, after their family's relocation to Uniontown, Maryland. Half Japanese' original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playin ...

and the 1970s East Village alternative music movement of performers like

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

James Chance and the Contortions James Chance and the Contortions (initially known simply as Contortions, a spin-off group is called James White and the Blacks) was a musical group led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, formed in 1977. They were a central act of New York ...

, and

Klaus Nomi Klaus Sperber (January 24, 1944 – August 6, 1983), known professionally as Klaus Nomi, was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona. In the 1970s, Nomi immersed himself in the East Villag ...

in which visual artists and musicians formed bands together. In the beginning years of the band Falco told writers that because of his unschooled musical background, he represented "the possibility of anyone performing who wants to". Though confounding the expectations of some listeners, these musicians considered restoring a sense of unbridled enthusiasm to creative work to be more important than conforming to sterile, rigid industry standards, as reflected in the name choice for the small recording label moniker Falco soon adopted to release and co-release the group's future recordings: Frenzi.

Performance and recording notes

As interest in the band grew, Panther Burns soon played early gigs in Memphis and other cities, horrifying the host of a Memphis morning television talk show on which they performed. During the talk show performance, Lyon simultaneously encoded and transmitted an experimental, live, slow-scan feed to experimental artist groups OPEN SPACE in Victoria, Center for New Art Activities in New York, and RELAY in San Francisco. Falco explained to the disgusted host that the group was merely a "neo-rumorist orchestra" for a TeleVista experiment, creating what he termed an "anti-environment" to make visible cultural treasures and older, local performers overlooked in the daily environment by mainstream society and the establishment. The band's early

happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow in 1959 to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happening" i ...

-styled, so-called "art-action" performances at downtown Memphis cotton lofts at the time frequently included waggish

projected Projected is an American rock supergroup consisting of Sevendust members John Connolly and Vinnie Hornsby, Alter Bridge and Creed drummer Scott Phillips, and former Submersed and current Tremonti guitarist Eric Friedman. The band released the ...

images, like the group's trademark burning panther image, trained on the musicians, harking back to

Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionist Moe Tuc ...

-era,

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

days of the 1960s. A

screen-print Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen in a "flood stroke" to ...

artist since the 1970s, Falco promoted many of the early 1980s local live shows by using hand-

ed posters which band members and friends helped him create and paste around midtown Memphis. They performed many of these Memphis concerts at local new music dive The Well (later called Antenna Club) with other area bands of the period. They also opened for The Cramps and played double bills with

during this period in cities including New Orleans, New York, and Los Angeles. In the early 1980s they performed in an

anti-nuclear The Anti-nuclear war movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, n ...

rally with

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

at The Peppermint Lounge in New York. Reactions to the cacophonous, disjointed, amateurish side of the group's early performances varied from enthusiasm to disparaging ridicule. In 1980, New Orleans writer Bunny Matthews, explaining that he enjoyed the group's ability to put its audience "through changes", drolly summed up the experience: "No one is ever going to attend a Panther Burns recital and leave with mixed feelings". ''Behind the Magnolia Curtain'', the group's first album, was recorded in 1981 and released on the British

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis, who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. It is currently run by co-managing directors Travis and Jeannette Lee and ...

label in 1982. The album featured on some tracks, including " Bourgeois Blues", an appearance by a small, marching drum corps that included blues artist

Jessie Mae Hemphill Jessie Mae Hemphill (October 18, 1923 – July 22, 2006) was an American electric guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist specializing in the North Mississippi hill country blues traditions of her family and regional heritage. Life and career Hemp ...

, who had participated in her grandfather's Northern Mississippi

Fife and drum corps A fife and drum corps is a musical ensemble consisting of 2 Fife (instrument), fifes, a snare drum and a bass drum. In the United States of America, fife and drum corps specializing in colonial period impressions using 2 fifes, a snare drum and ...

groups as a child. The contrast between the strong, military beats of the drum corps dueling with Falco's occasionally out-of-sync vocals resulted in the wild, blues-rock chaos of songs on the album like the frenetic "Bourgeois Blues". "We were thrown off quite a few stages during that period", wrote Johnson. "Though we initially enjoyed the effect we had on club audiences, somewhere along the way we tried to clean up our sound". The recording was followed by the slicker rockabilly revival style of ''Blow Your Top'', without Chilton's participation, and in 1984, the Jim Dickinson-produced ''Sugar Ditch Revisited'' album was recorded, featuring a more subdued playing style by Chilton along with New Orleans bassist René Coman. That year, following a brief tour opening for

The Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

before irritable college audiences impatient for the main act, Chilton stopped touring regularly with the group to resume his increasingly

minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

solo touring and recording career. Chilton's restrained, evolving solo style was beginning to diverge from his previously fiery, strident Panther Burns guitar style that had often featured

reverb In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then decay as the sound is a ...

and

feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause and effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handle ...

; however, he continued to produce several of their later albums.

Transition to less primitive performance style

Since the more refined productions of ''Sugar Ditch Revisited'' and 1987's ''The World We Knew'', the band has concentrated less on raw, primitive sounds than in its early years. The group has developed into a combo working more with the feel and subtleties of the genres it explores, including tango and roots-oriented styles, with occasional forays into deranged, garage blues, as heard in ''Panther Phobia'' or in the frenzied guitar work performed in some of the 1980s and 1990s live shows by New Orleans musician George Reinecke, as also heard on ''Red Devil''. The main constant in the varied work remains Falco's provocative vocals and wordplay. Over the years, the group has recorded and toured with different lineups featuring a mix of energetic, alternative musicians working at times alongside seasoned rock and roll, soul, and jazz veterans to create its howling sounds, always centered around the presence of vocalist Falco. Panther Burns occasionally opened for major punk rock acts in the 1980s, appearing on double bills with some of their older heroes like Cordell Jackson, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and rockabilly great Charlie Feathers in the same time period, but usually headlined its own gigs at small clubs across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Venues the group has played at during its career have ranged from

no-wave No wave was an avant-garde music Music genre, genre and visual art scene that emerged in the late 1970s in music, 1970s in Downtown New York City. The term was a pun based on the rejection of commercial new wave music. Reacting against punk roc ...

clubs in the East Village to New Jersey

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

pits, music heritage festivals, alternative rock clubs, the

Ottawa Bluesfest The Ottawa Bluesfest (currently known as RBC Bluesfest under a naming rights sponsorship) is an annual outdoor music festival that takes place each July in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. While the festival's lineup historically focused on b ...

, Central Park Conservatory, and many others. In the early 2000s, the group began to play mostly in Europe due to Falco's relocation there. A 2006 minitour of Europe and the United States featured the main lineup from the previous several years performing with Falco: Roman drummer Giovanna Pizzorno with Parisians Grégoire Cat on guitar and Laurent Lo on bass. Panther Burns have released a number of recordings through the years on

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

labels like New Rose Records (France), In the Red, Au Go Go Records (Australia), Last Call Records (France), Triple X, Upstart, and

Sympathy for the Record Industry Sympathy for the Record Industry (also known as Sympathy Records or Sympathy 4 the R.I.) is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by John Mermis, known as Long Gone John. Notable artists who started on Sympathy and went ...

. The band's recordings have included raucous, yet controlled studio albums produced by Chilton and sometimes Dickinson; a live 10th anniversary show album was produced in 1989 by longtime group guitarist Ron Easley, followed the next year by a studio album, ''Return of the Blue Panther'', produced by former group bassist Coman. Coman, a jazz musician who leads The Iguanas rock group of New Orleans, recorded the album with guitarist Reinecke at the mixing board. The group has also recorded a tango-oriented album, a live concert mini-album, and a

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

studio album with Doug Easley of

Easley McCain Recording Easley McCain Recording is an American recording studio, based in Memphis, Tennessee, notable for recording musicians such as Tav Falco's Panther Burns, Oblivians, Grifters, Pavement, Sonic Youth, Come, White Stripes, Townes Van Zandt, ...

. Among the group's early recording engineers were Ardent Studios' John Hampton, as well as former

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee on February 1, 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Jo ...

session musicians Stan Kessler and Roland Janes of

Phillips Recording Phillips Recording Service is the short name widely used to refer to the Sam C. Phillips Recording Studio established in 1960 by Sun Records and Memphis Recording Service founder Sam Phillips at 639 Madison Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee to replace ...

. In August–September 2014, Falco recorded an album in Rome, Italy's Exit Studios. The album, titled ''Command Performance,'' was produced by Panther Burns guitarist Mario Monterosso and released in 2015 on the UK label Twenty Stone Blatt Records, with distribution by Proper Records. Also in 2014, Stag-O-Lee Records (Germany) compiled a double album of Falco's favorites from his personal music collection, released as ''Tav Falco's Wonderful World Of Musical & Exotic Obscurities''. Falco contributed to the varied artists album a liner notes essay and a Panther Burns song called "Real Cool Trash," which ''The Wire'' likened to "the rock 'n' roll energy" of The Cramps. ''The Wire'' described the album styles as ranging from rockabilly to "far-flung genres" that include "tangos, waltzes, and concertina music." In 2022, Tav Falco's Panther Burns undertook an extensive US Tour, which began in August 25 in San Francisco and featured dates in 34 US cities. The setlist included songs from throughout the Panther Burns' career, including songs from ''Command Performance'' and ''Cabaret of Daggers'' as well as covers of songs by Charlie Feathers,

and others. Falco's producer Mario Monterosso backed Falco on guitar for the tour, along with bassist Giuseppe Sangirardi and drummer Walter Brunetti.

Musical style

According to the band, Panther Burns is " a Southern Gothic, psychedelic country band influenced by Memphis music styles". The original band lineup featured two guitars, synthesizer, and drums, later usually omitting keyboards or synthesizers at live shows. The group's somewhat experimental recordings have embraced and

deconstructed Deconstruction is a philosophical theory. Deconstruction or Deconstructed may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Deconstructed'' (Bush album), a 1997 compilation album * ''Deconstructed'' (EP), an EP by Kesha * ''Deconstructed'' (Steve Swallow a ...

a number of influences and genres, including rockabilly,

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 ...

and Southern Gothic. With his signature

Höfner Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG is a German (originally Austro-Bohemian) manufacturer of musical instruments, with one division that manufactures guitars and basses, and another that manufactures other string instruments, such as violins, violas, ce ...

fuzz-tone guitar and a stage presence characterized by his Argentine-styled pompadour, pencil moustache, smoking jacket, and urbane manner, Falco infused his shows with theatrical antics and a reverence for the originators of country blues and rockabilly. The band's assorted song subjects and album photography themes have included Memphis scenery, Carroll Cloar's ''Panther Bourne'' painting, the occasional reference to historical figures like American rampage murderer Charles Starkweather, motorcycle imagery, denizens of Memphis neighborhoods, tango imagery, and blithe introspection, among other themes. Falco's treatment of the blues classic "Bourgeois Blues" adds a line from Ginsberg's famous beat poem "

Howl Howl most often refers to: * Howling, an animal vocalization in many canine species * "Howl" (poem), a 1956 poem by Allen Ginsberg Howl or The Howl may also refer to: Film * '' The Howl'', a 1970 Italian film * ''Howl'' (2010 film), a 2010 Am ...

". In a 1984 interview discussing his anti-environment concept and music, he said that many outstanding, but lesser known blues and rockabilly artists were "treated like the idiot wind". Similarly, he continued, "the beat writers and theorists like Antonin Artaud were treated like they were crazy. It wasn't until he died that everyone realized he was a genius". Two of his originals, "Agitator Blues" and "Panther Phobia Manifesto", evinced playful humor and a left-leaning,

Utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', which describes a fictional island soci ...

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

political stance. In "Panther Phobia Manifesto", Falco referenced lines from influences as disparate as

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major Postmodern literature, postmodern author who influen ...

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, shouting vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of s ...

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his Anthology series, anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone (1 ...

, French psychedelic band The Dum Dum Boys, and

Dadaist Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

poet

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (; 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the Surrealism, surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littératur ...

, in wishing a "huge firedamp explosion" to closed-minded members of society who blindly follow the dictates of the establishment. Proclaiming that everywhere the Panther Burns go, they are greeted with derision, he riffed from Aragon, "Laugh your fill, the Panther Burns are the ones who always hold out a hand to the enemy". The group's wide-ranging styles have included

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

tango music Tango ( or ; ) is a style of music in Time signature, or time that originated among Great European immigration wave to Argentina, European immigrants of the Great Wave to Argentina and Uruguay. It has mainly Culture of Spain, Spanish, Cultu ...

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

, rockabilly, R&B,

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

, novelty tunes, early

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, country blues, and

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standards of the 1950s and 1960s like

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

's "The World We Knew", among others. Set lists have included mutated covers of songs originally performed by such diverse artists as J. Blackfoot,

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, Bobby Lee Trammell,

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 h ...

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, Jessie Mae Hemphill, R. L. Burnside,

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, and Allen Page (of the small 1950s Moon Records label helmed by early rock-and-roll producer/songwriter Cordell Jackson), among others. The earliest description the band gave itself on a concert poster read simply: "Rock'n'Roll". Media confusion in categorizing led the band to eventually invent its own self-descriptive terms, such as "panther music" and "backwoods ballroom", also at times calling its tumultuous performance style "art damage".

Performing personnel

Current Lineup

: lead vocals, guitar (1979–current) *

Mario Monterosso Mario Monterosso is an Italian-born musician, producer, songwriter, and cabaret and theater, theater performer. Originally from Sicily, Monterosso worked professionally in Rome, and is currently based in Memphis, Tennessee in The United States. ...

: guitar, bass, producer (2014–current) * Giuseppe Sangirardi: bass (2016–current) * Walter Brunetti: drums (2018–current)

Past Members (in alphabetical order)

* Perry Michael Allen—keyboards, backing vocals: 1995 * David Berger—drums: 2002 * Barri Bob—percussion, rhythm guitar: some 1980s gigs * Orazio Brando—guest guitarist: 2005 * William Brandt; (also of "Beyond Einstein's Eulipion Bats") drums 1988 including live recording "Live at Vienna Messeplast" 24 May 1988 * Roy Brewer—violin: 1980s and 1990s * Benny Carter—drums: 1994 * Grégoire Cat (real name: Grégoire Garrigues)—lead guitar: early 2000s onwards * Ben Cauley (also of

The Bar-Kays The Bar-Kays is an American funk band formed in 1964. The band had dozens of charting singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including " Soul Finger" (US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number 17, R&B number 3) in 1967, "Son of Shaft" (R&B number 10) in ...

)—trumpet: 1990s * Raymond Cavaioli—lead guitar: some 1980s gigs *

(aka L X Chilton and Axel Chitlin)—lead guitar: 1979–early 1980s and occasional appearances thereafter; produced several of the albums * Riccardo Colasante—drums: 2016 * Rene Coman (also of The Iguanas/New Orleans)—bass: early to mid–1980s and occasionally thereafter * Francesco D'Agnolo—keyboards: 2015 * Toby Dammit—drums: 2015 (guest appearances in 2016, 2018) * Peter Dark (also of Bellmer Dolls, real name: Peter Mavrogeorgis)—guitar: early 2000s, 2011 onwards *

—producer and keyboardist: occasionally 1980s and 1990s * Peter Dopita—singing saw: 1991 * Jim Duckworth (also of

)—drums: 1981; lead guitar: early 1980s, 1989 * Doug Easley—bass: occasionally, including 1989 live album * Ron Easley (aka Durand Mysterion; also of the Country Rockers)—lead guitar: 1980s and 1990s sporadically; producer: 1989 * James Enck (later of Linda Heck and the Train Wreck)—lead guitar: 1984, 1991; bass on "Cuban Rebel Girl" from the 1984 ''Now!'' cassette release * Kai Eric (aka Red West)—bass: mid-1980s–2000 on most tours except some in the South U.S. * Cyd Fenwick—backing vocals, dancing: 1979–1981 * Kitty Fires 1 (real name: Sue Easley)—backing vocals: 1984; Kitty Fires 2 (different woman)—guitar: 2000 * Bob Fordyce (also of the Odd Jobs)—drums: 1989 * Lorenzo Francocci—drums, percussion: 2015 * Doug Garrison (also of The Iguanas/New Orleans)—drums: 1996 * Diane Green (also of The Hellcats/Memphis and the Odd Jobs)—theatrics, tambourine, dancing: occasional 1980s appearances * Alex Greene (also of Big Ass Truck and Reigning Sound)—organ: 1989–1990 * Stacy Hall and Dawn Hall—dancers: 1979 * Jim Harper—snare drum: 1981 * Mark Harrison—guitar: 1984–1985 * Linda Heck (later of Linda Heck and the Train Wreck)—bass: 1984 *

(as part of the Tate County Mississippi Drum Corps)—snare drum: 1981 * Eric Hill—synthesizer: 1979–1980, 1989 * Douglas Hodges (aka Tall Cash)—drums: 2001–2002 *

Teenie Hodges Mabon Lewis "Teenie" Hodges (November 16, 1945 – June 22, 2014) was an American musician known for his work as a rhythm and lead guitarist and songwriter on many of Al Green's soul hits, and those of other artists such as Ann Peebles and Syl ...

—lead guitar: 1990s * Michael Hurtt (also of The Royal Pendletons)—bass: 1999 * Rick Ivy—trumpet, vocals: 1979 * Cathy Johnson—backing vocals, dancing: 1979–1981 * Ross Johnson—drums: since 1979 on a number of albums and live shows * Amanda Jones—backing vocals: 1984 * Jules Jones—backing vocals in studio and live shows: 1979 * Via Kali—tango dancer at live shows: 2006 onwards * Kye Kennedy—lead guitar: mid-1980s touring * Gabriele Kepplinger—backing vocals: 1991 * Little Victor—guitar, harmonica: 2005 * Laurent Lanouzière—bass: 2002–onwards * Michael Lo (real name: Michael Rafalowich)—bass: early 2000s, 2011–onwards * Andrew Love (also of

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)—saxophone: 1990s * Vickie Loveland—backing vocals: 1991 * Tammo Lüers—guitar: 1995 * Randall Lyon—theremin: 1991 * Olivier Manoury—bandoneon: 1995 * Bob Marbach—piano: 1991, 1995 * Lisa McGaughran (also of The Hellcats/Memphis including in one compilation as Lisa Burnette)—backing vocals, bass: 1984–1990 * Ron Miller—bass: early 1980s * Billy Mitchell—drums: 2013 * Robert Palmer—clarinet: 1989 * Giovanna Pizzorno (also of The Hellcats/Memphis)—drums: first sporadic tours began 1986; steady member since the early 2000s; duet vocals: 2015 * Jon Ramos—bass: 2002 * George Reinecke (also of Busted Flush)—lead guitar: 1980s and 1990s * Will Rigby (also of

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) – drums: 1980, 1999 * Jimmy Ripp—guitar: 1983 * Roland Robinson—bass: 1992 * Kurt Ruleman—drums: 1984–1989 * Raffaele Santoro—keyboards: 2010 onwards * Harris Scheuner—drums: 1989 *

—drums: since about 1982 on a few albums, beginning with ''Blow Your Top'' * Jim Spake—saxophone: 1984, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1995, and occasional live appearances * Brendan Lee Spengler—keyboards: 2000 *

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—bass: 2011 * Nokie Taylor—trumpet: 1991, 1995 * Nina Tischler—backing vocals: 1991 * Lorette Velvette (real name: Lori Greene; also of The Hellcats/Memphis and The Kropotkins)—backing vocals: 1984–1990; guitar: 1984 briefly *

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ca ...

—bass: 2015 (guest appearances in 2016, 2018) * Misty White (also of The Hellcats/Memphis and Alluring Strange)—drums: 1988 * Vincent Wrenn—synthesizer: 1979–1980 * Jack Yarber (aka Jack Oblivian)—bass, organ: 2000 * Abe Young—bass drum: 1981

Discography

Notes

References

* Ambrose, Joe (2005)
"By the Time I Get to Memphis".
''Outsideleft''. Accessed May 3, 2005. * Christgau, Robert (2000)
"Alex Chilton: Consumer Guide Reviews".
''Robert Christgau: Dean of American Rock Critics''. Accessed Apr. 26, 2005. * Cleary, David. "Like Flies on Sherbert (released 1979) album review and song list".''Allmusic.'' Accessed Apr. 25, 2005. * Dawson, Walter (October 25, 1981). "Album Captures the Untamed Fire of Panther Burns". ''The Commercial Appeal''. * Deming, Mark. "Tav Falco biography" ''Allmusic''. Accessed Dec. 9, 2004. * Donahue, Michael (February 19, 1995). "THE ANTENNA: Weirdo club's a 'trash hole,' but consider the alternative". ''The Commercial Appeal.'' * Duane, Paul (October 5, 2004)
"Tuesday, October 5, 2004 blog entry".
''It Came From Memphis blogspot site''. Accessed May 3, 2005. * Duckworth, Jim

''The Gun Club and Jeffrey Lee Pierce website''. Accessed Dec. 9, 2004. * Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Alex Chilton Live in London (recorded 1980/released 1982) review and song list".''Allmusic.'' Accessed Apr. 25, 2005. * Falco, Tav
"Tav Falco Biography: Tav Falco/Panther Burns"
''Tav Falco/Panther Burns fan website''. Accessed Dec. 9, 2004. * Gordon, Robert (1995). ''It Came From Memphis''. New York: Pocket Books. . * Hart, Gabe (November 10, 2011)
"Tav Falco: Sexual, Abandoned, Political"
''LA Record''. Accessed Mar. 31, 2015.

''The Barbican website''. Accessed May 2, 2005.

''Tav Falco/Panther Burns fan website". Accessed May 2, 2005. * Johnson, Ross (February 1–7, 1996). "Bad Decisions and Busted Eardrums: an Insider's Retrospective on Tav Falco's Panther Burns, the Band That Won't Go Away". ''The Memphis Flyer''. * Johnson, Ross (October 22, 1997)

''Memphis Flyer online''. Accessed Apr. 26, 2005. * Jordan, Mark (February 11, 1999)

''Memphis Flyer online''. Accessed Dec. 9, 2004. * Jurek, Thom "Command Performance (released 2015) review and song list".''Allmusic.'' Accessed Mar. 31, 2015. * Lisle, Andria (May 2005). "Unsung Heroes: The Underbelly of the Memphis Sound". ''MOJO'' magazine. * Matthews, Bunny (September 1, 1980)
"Tav Falco Sizzles While Panther Burns".
''Figaro'' (now defunct; reprinted in Tav Falco fan website). Accessed Apr. 24, 2005. * McGaughran, Lisa (May 1984; revised 2005)

''Tav Falco/Panther Burns fan site''. Accessed May 14, 2005. * O'Brien, Glenn (August 1988). "Memphis blues again; Tennessee's most evasive R&B man — Tav Falco of Panther Burns". ''Interview'' magazine, pp. 50–51. * Palmer, Robert (January 15, 1982). "Beat generation lives in a night of rock and poetry". ''The New York Times'', p. C6.

''In the Red website''. Accessed May 1, 2005. * Sprague, David (April 17, 2001). "Panther Burns". ''Variety''.
"Tav Falco's Wild And Exotic World Of Musical Obscurities."
(November 2014). ''The Wire'', issue 369, p. 83. Accessed Dec. 25, 2014. * Turner, Jeremy (December 2003)

''Outer Space: The Past, Present and Future of Telematic Art''. Accessed Apr. 28, 2005.

External links

* Panther Burns overview and discography, Allmusic
Panther Burns' personal reissue label, Frenzi, run by the band

Panther Burns' 2015 CD release page at the CD distributor ProperMusic's website on behalf of the TSB record label

Tav Falco/Panther Burns fan site

Tav Falco Biography at Trümmer Booking and Promotion

Tav Falco and Panther Burns site at Myspace
{{Authority control American blues rock musical groups Gothic country groups Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups from Memphis, Tennessee Rock music groups from Tennessee American rockabilly music groups Rough Trade Records artists