Rhythm Pigs
Encyclopedia
This article is about the Texan punk rock band, for the Californian Rock band see Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs
The Rhythm Pigs were a punk
band, originally from El Paso, Texas
, later relocated to San Francisco. Their first two albums were among the first to be released by the influential independent Mordam Records
label. Their first 7" EP is a classic example of early hardcore, welding driving rock and roll with broad melodies and varied tempos and hooks. Their first two studio albums showed more "big tent" punk, with varied musical styles (such as the foray into rap in "Break or We'll Break Your Face" on their self-titled LP) happily shoehorned into melodic punk songs.
Touring extensively throughout Europe and North America throughout the mid-1980s, the Rhythm Pigs were one of the most sophisticated and musically diverse hardcore bands, and remained so throughout the 1980s as hardcore became more and more musically conservative. That the wistful and melodic power-ballads of El Paso would not be considered punk by most adherents has as much to do with the shifting definition of punk as it does with the mellowing of the band's sound. Baby Falcon Getaway saw a return to a more raw, fast-paced hard rock sound (the three out-and-out hardcore songs on El Paso are collected into a single track titled "The Fast Three") combined with the more humorous tone seen on the first album. Baby Falcon Getaway included a hardcore cover of the Gordon Lightfoot
classic "Sundown" and a furiously paced rendition of Charles Mingus
's "Boogie Stop Shuffle," which recalled the Peanuts theme (Vince Guaraldi
's Linus and Lucy
) from the first album.
Ed Ivey currently plays sousaphone in San Francisco's Brass Monkey Brass Band. Ed and Billy Atwell appear as themselves in the documentary "A Texas Tale of Treason" about the making of Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday
, a Repo Man sequel film http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462600/. Billy Atwell is a composer/producer for hire in the NYC metro area.
Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs
Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs were a rock and rhythm and blues band that emerged out of the Los Angeles punk/roots music scene of the late 1970s and early-mid 1980s...
The Rhythm Pigs were a punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band, originally from El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
, later relocated to San Francisco. Their first two albums were among the first to be released by the influential independent Mordam Records
Mordam Records
Mordam Records was a Sacramento, California record distribution company for independent record labels. It was originally founded in San Francisco in 1983 as an independent punk distribution company by Ruth Schwartz...
label. Their first 7" EP is a classic example of early hardcore, welding driving rock and roll with broad melodies and varied tempos and hooks. Their first two studio albums showed more "big tent" punk, with varied musical styles (such as the foray into rap in "Break or We'll Break Your Face" on their self-titled LP) happily shoehorned into melodic punk songs.
Touring extensively throughout Europe and North America throughout the mid-1980s, the Rhythm Pigs were one of the most sophisticated and musically diverse hardcore bands, and remained so throughout the 1980s as hardcore became more and more musically conservative. That the wistful and melodic power-ballads of El Paso would not be considered punk by most adherents has as much to do with the shifting definition of punk as it does with the mellowing of the band's sound. Baby Falcon Getaway saw a return to a more raw, fast-paced hard rock sound (the three out-and-out hardcore songs on El Paso are collected into a single track titled "The Fast Three") combined with the more humorous tone seen on the first album. Baby Falcon Getaway included a hardcore cover of the Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...
classic "Sundown" and a furiously paced rendition of Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
's "Boogie Stop Shuffle," which recalled the Peanuts theme (Vince Guaraldi
Vince Guaraldi
Vincent Anthony "Vince" Guaraldi was an Italian American jazz musician and pianist noted for his innovative compositions and arrangements and for composing music for animated adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip...
's Linus and Lucy
Linus and Lucy
"Linus and Lucy" is a popular jazz piano tune written by Vince Guaraldi appearing in many of the Peanuts animated television specials. Named for the fictional siblings Linus and Lucy van Pelt, it was released in 1964 on the Vince Guaraldi Trio's album Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown...
) from the first album.
Personnel
- 1st LP: Jay Smith, Greg Adams, Ed Ivey
- 2nd LP: Kenny Craun, Greg Adams, Ed Ivey (Don Holmes, "Main Man", LP engineered by Spot)
- I'm Not Crazy, I'm an Airplane Billy Atwell from th' InbredTh' InbredTh' Inbred is a hardcore punk/jazzcore band from Morgantown, West Virginia. They released two albums, A Family Affair and Kissing Cousins, and an EP, Reproduction.The original idea was of a punk band that incorporated a banjo into the band...
replaces Kenny on drums. - El Paso: Jay Smith, Greg Adams, Ed Ivey
- Baby Falcon Getaway Shmeckie, Jay Smith, Ed Ivey
Ed Ivey currently plays sousaphone in San Francisco's Brass Monkey Brass Band. Ed and Billy Atwell appear as themselves in the documentary "A Texas Tale of Treason" about the making of Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday
Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday
Waldo's Hawaiian Holiday is a graphic novel from Gestalt Publishing written by Alex Cox and illustrated by Christopher Bones and Justin Randall. It is supposed to be a sequel to the 1984 cult film Repo Man.-Publication history:...
, a Repo Man sequel film http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462600/. Billy Atwell is a composer/producer for hire in the NYC metro area.
Discography
- An American Activity 1984. 6 song 7" EP unclean records (cat# ur 004)
- War Between the States: South, 1985 cassette compilation. 2 songs; "Arson" and "Van Halen Hater" (cat# TPOS 042)
- The Rhythm Pigs, 1986 LP Mordam RecordsMordam RecordsMordam Records was a Sacramento, California record distribution company for independent record labels. It was originally founded in San Francisco in 1983 as an independent punk distribution company by Ruth Schwartz...
(cat # 2) - Choke on This, 1987 LP Mordam RecordsMordam RecordsMordam Records was a Sacramento, California record distribution company for independent record labels. It was originally founded in San Francisco in 1983 as an independent punk distribution company by Ruth Schwartz...
(cat # 4) - I'm Not Crazy, I'm an Airplane. 1988 LP Konkurrel (cat # 001-107) Recorded live at Donkiesjot (Don Quixote) Sittard Holland Nov 1987)
- El Paso 1994. CD Westworld Enterprises (cat# 13)
- Baby Falcon Getaway. 1996 CD Cool Beans Records (cat# 4)