Cowboy Mouth is an American band based in New Orleans, Louisiana known for fusing alternative rock with album-oriented rock, roots rock, and jam band influences.[1] Formed in 1992, the band saw early mainstream success in the 1990s, including the hit single "Jenny Says". After disappointing album sales in 2000, they were dropped by their label, but the band has succeeded since then by focusing on live performances and independent-label releases.[1] In 2011, the band was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
The band name "Cowboy Mouth" — taken from an early play by Sam Shepard and Patti Smith — usually means "One with a loud and raucous voice".[2] The nucleus of the band formed in the 1990s, and they have become a powerhouse live act whose performances have been likened to "a religious experience".[3]
After initially releasing independent albums, in 1996 Cowboy Mouth signed with MCA Records, who released Are You with Me?. "Jenny Says", an existing song that the band re-recorded on Are You With Me?, was released as a single.[1] "Jenny Says" reached #26 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and #33 on the Billboard Alternative Rock chart, making it the band's biggest hit.[4][5] The band released additional records, but their label dropped them after 2000's Easy failed to meet their label's sales expectations.[1] Undeterred by the lack of a major label, the band continued producing albums and releasing them through independent labels through the 2000s and to the present day.[1]
Some of their most popular songs include "Love Of My Life", "Everybody Loves Jill" (where the audience throws red spoons on stage),[6] "Easy," "Disconnected", "How Do You Tell Someone", and "Jenny Says".[7] They also perform a version of "Born to Run" on the Light of Day tribute album to Bruce Springsteen, a version of "The Pusher" on the soundtrack to Half Baked, and several of their own songs on the soundtrack to the 1995 film The Underneath (two of which they perform onscreen in the film). Their single "This Much Fun" from their 2006 album Voodoo Shoppe is featured in the trailer for the Disney animated feature Meet the Robinsons.
They maintain a very active touring schedule, primarily through the United States. The album Voodoo Shoppe is in part a tribute to city of New Orleans, Louisiana in the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina— in particular, the tracks "Home," a defiant vow to rebuild the city, and "The Avenue", an emotional plea for the continued vibrance of the city. "The Avenue" features the lyrics "Because the marching bands will roll/I'll find my city in my soul/Because I plan on growing old on the avenue," a reference to watching Mardi Gras parades on New Orleans' famed St. Charles Avenue. A portion of the album was recorded with producer Mitch Allan and features engineers Stewart Cararas and Danny Kadar at their studio Paradigm Park Studios in New Orleans. Just seven months after the record's completion the studio suffered the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. They performed "The Avenue" on Mardi Gras Day 2006 live on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[8] The album also features the song "Joe Strummer", a semi-tribute to the late Clash frontman. The band released its first full-length live DVD, The Name of the Band Is Cowboy Mouth, on November 20, 2007. The DVD, which was recorded in front of a packed house at the Roxy On Sunset in Hollywood, CA during the summer of 2007, features much of the band's classic material like "Light it on Fire" as well as some songs to be released on the band's new album, Fearless, in September 2008. Among the new songs of the DVD set, "Kelly Ripa" was released in a very different studio version as a single on iTunes in early March 2008 followed by an appearance and performance on the Live with Regis and Kelly television show on March 13, 2008.
On May 14, 2011, during a performance at Bon Ton Louisianne in Houston, Texas, Cowboy Mouth was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame.
Cowboy Mouth performing "Everybody Loves Jill" on Mardi Gras night in Houston, 2010, with fans waving red spoons in anticipation of their cue to throw them at the band.
Founding member. Formerly of the Red Rockers, purveyors of the 1980s "China" and "Good As Gold" as well as subsequent tourmates with U2, the Go-Go's, and Men at Work.[9]
Credits include New Orleans band The Cold and The Backbeats, television writer and producer, former correspondent of The Daily Show, and brother of Ellen DeGeneres. DeGeneres played with Cowboy Mouth from December 2006 through September 2007, when he left to pursue additional television projects.[10]
Note: Although both "The Name Of The Band Is..." albums are subtitled "The Best Of (So Far!)" they are not compilation albums. Both are a combination of previously unreleased material and existing material re-recorded by the band's 2016-2018 lineup.
Live albums and EPs
Mouthin' Off (Live & More) • 1993
Mouthin' Off (Live & More) (Remastered) • 1997
Cowboy Mouth Live! (limited edition 5-song EP issued with Mercyland) • 1998
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