Jerry Harrison
Encyclopedia
Jerry Harrison is an American songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

 and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

. He achieved fame as the keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...

 and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

 for the pioneering New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 band Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...

 and as an original member of The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers were an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s. The original band existed from 1970–74 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks with drummer David Robinson and keyboardist Jerry Harrison...

.

Career

Harrison played with Jonathan Richman
Jonathan Richman
Jonathan Michael Richman is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970 he founded The Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key, generally acoustic backing...

 in The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers were an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s. The original band existed from 1970–74 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks with drummer David Robinson and keyboardist Jerry Harrison...

 when he was an architectural
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 student at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

. Harrison was introduced to Richman by mutual friend and journalist Danny Fields
Danny Fields
Danny Fields is an American journalist and author. As a music-industry executive in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, he was one of the most influential figures in the underground and punk rock scenes.- Early life :...

 and the pair bonded over their shared love of the Velvet Underground. He joined the Modern Lovers in early 1971, playing on their debut album
The Modern Lovers (album)
The Modern Lovers is the first album recorded by the Boston-based band The Modern Lovers. It was released on Beserkley Records in 1976, although the original nine tracks had been recorded in 1972 . Six of the original tracks were produced by John Cale...

 in 1972 (not released until 1976), and left in February 1974 when Richman wished to perform his songs more quietly.

Subsequent to his work with The Modern Lovers, Harrison joined Talking Heads; the latter band already had a single out when Harrison left the Modern Lovers to join them.

Harrison's solo albums include The Red and the Black
The Red and the Black (album)
The Red and the Black was the first solo album by Jerry Harrison, formerly of The Modern Lovers and Talking Heads.The album has been remastered and is available via download at Amazon MP3 and iTunes.-Track listing:...

, Casual Gods
Casual Gods
Casual Gods was the second solo album by Jerry Harrison. His third, Walk on Water, also bore the Casual Gods name as a proxy for the band.The instrumental track to "Man with A Gun" was featured in the Jonathan Demme film Something Wild....

, and Walk on Water
Walk on Water (Jerry Harrison album)
Walk on Water was the third and last solo album by Talking Heads keyboardist/guitarist Jerry Harrison.-Track listing:# "Flying Under Radar" Produced by Harrison/Hartman/Brooks...

.

After the 1991 break-up of Talking Heads, Harrison turned to producing
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 and worked on successful albums by bands including the Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes were an American alternative rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, initially active between 1980 and 1987 and again from 1988 to 2009...

, The Von Bondies
The Von Bondies
The Von Bondies were an American alternative rock band. The group disbanded in July 2011. Its most recent members were Jason Stollsteimer on vocals and lead guitar, Christy Hunt on rhythm guitar and Leann Banks on bass guitar...

, General Public
General Public
General Public were a band formed by The Beat vocalists, Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, and which included former members of Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Specials and The Clash...

, Live
Live (band)
Live is an American rock band from York, Pennsylvania, composed of Chad Taylor , Patrick Dahlheimer , and Chad Gracey . Lead singer and principal songwriter Ed Kowalczyk left the band in November 2009....

, Crash Test Dummies
Crash Test Dummies
The Crash Test Dummies is a Canadian folk rock/alternative rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, widely known for their 1993 single "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm".The band is most identifiable through Brad Roberts and his distinctive bass-baritone voice...

, The Verve Pipe
The Verve Pipe
The Verve Pipe is an American rock band from East Lansing, Michigan. It was formed in 1992 by Brian and Brad Vander Ark, Brian Stout and Donny Brown.-History:...

, Rusted Root
Rusted Root
Rusted Root is a band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania known for their unique fusion of acoustic, rock, world and other styles of music, with a strong percussion section that draws from African, Latin American, Native American, and Indian influences...

, The Bogmen
The Bogmen
The Bogmen are an indie rock band from Huntington, Long Island, New York. The band was formed in 1993 by Billy Campion, Bill Ryan, Brendan Ryan, Mark Wike, P.J. O'Connor and Clive Tucker. Though they were signed by major label Arista Records in 1995, they fell just short of mainstream success...

, Black 47
Black 47
Black 47 are a New York City based celtic rock band with Irish Republican sympathies, whose music also shows influence from reggae, hip hop, folk and jazz...

, Of A Revolution
Of a Revolution
O.A.R. is an American rock band composed of Marc Roberge , Chris Culos , Richard On , Benj Gershman , and Jerry DePizzo...

, No Doubt
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...

, Josh Joplin
Josh Joplin
-Biography:Joplin was born in Washington, D.C., but grew up in Conestoga Valley, in the heart of Lancaster, Pa., until at the age of 12, when his family relocated to Columbia, Md....

 and most recently The Black and White Years
The Black and White Years
The Black and White Years are an indie art rock band based in Austin, Texas. Formed in 2006, the band consists of Scott Butler, Landon Thompson and John Aldridge. Scott, Landon, and John met while attending college in Nashville, Tennessee...

, Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Kenny Wayne Shepherd is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He has released several studio albums and experienced a rare level of commercial success both as a blues artist and a young musician.-Biography:Shepherd graduated Caddo Magnet High School in Shreveport, Louisiana...

, and Bamboo Shoots
Bamboo Shoots
Bamboo Shoots is an American four-piece musical group based out of Brooklyn, New York and suburban New Jersey. They are known for their dueling, two-person rhythm section and their South Asian identity and influence...

. He was recently confirmed as the producer of the forthcoming debut album by The Gracious Few
The Gracious Few
The Gracious Few is an American rock supergroup featuring guitarist Chad Taylor, bassist Patrick Dahlheimer and drummer Chad Gracey from the band Live, along with lead vocalist Kevin Martin and guitarist Sean Hennesy from the band Candlebox....

.

Film work

Harrison also had a small part in the 2006 film The Darwin Awards
The Darwin Awards (film)
The Darwin Awards is a 2006 American adventure comedy film based on the website of the same name.Written and directed by Finn Taylor, the film premiered January 25, 2006, at the Sundance Film Festival...

as "Guy in Bar #1" alongside John Doe
John Doe (musician)
John Doe is an American singer, songwriter, actor, poet and bass player. Doe founded the much-praised L.A. punk band X, of which he is still an active member. His musical performances and compositions span the rock, country and folk music genres...

 of the band X.

Solo albums

  • 1981 - The Red and the Black
    The Red and the Black (album)
    The Red and the Black was the first solo album by Jerry Harrison, formerly of The Modern Lovers and Talking Heads.The album has been remastered and is available via download at Amazon MP3 and iTunes.-Track listing:...

  • 1988 - Casual Gods
    Casual Gods
    Casual Gods was the second solo album by Jerry Harrison. His third, Walk on Water, also bore the Casual Gods name as a proxy for the band.The instrumental track to "Man with A Gun" was featured in the Jonathan Demme film Something Wild....

  • 1990 - Walk on Water
    Walk on Water (Jerry Harrison album)
    Walk on Water was the third and last solo album by Talking Heads keyboardist/guitarist Jerry Harrison.-Track listing:# "Flying Under Radar" Produced by Harrison/Hartman/Brooks...


Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
U.S. Modern Rock
1984 "Five Minutes
Five Minutes (Bonzo Goes to Washington song)
"Five Minutes" is a song by Jerry Harrison, Bootsy Collins and producer Daniel Lazerus, and credited to Bonzo Goes to Washington. It was released on the Sleeping Bag Records label in 1984....

"
-
1988 "Rev it Up" 7 http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=376&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+Mainstream+Rock+Tracks&ci=3007231&cdi=6355659&cid=03%2F19%2F1988 Casual Gods
Casual Gods
Casual Gods was the second solo album by Jerry Harrison. His third, Walk on Water, also bore the Casual Gods name as a proxy for the band.The instrumental track to "Man with A Gun" was featured in the Jonathan Demme film Something Wild....

1990 "Flying Under Radar" 13 Walk on Water
Walk on Water (Jerry Harrison album)
Walk on Water was the third and last solo album by Talking Heads keyboardist/guitarist Jerry Harrison.-Track listing:# "Flying Under Radar" Produced by Harrison/Hartman/Brooks...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK