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Jim Bob | |
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 Jim Bob performing at The Garage, 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | James Robert Morrison |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Labels |
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| Formerly of | |
| Website | jim-bob |
James Robert Morrison, [1] known as Jim Bob, is a British musician and author. He was the singer of indie punk band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine.
| This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification .(February 2018) |
Jim Bob played in various bands during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including Jamie Wednesday, who were performing between 1984 and 1987. In 1987 Jamie Wednesday split up just before a gig at the London Astoria. Morrison and Les "Fruitbat" Carter filled in, playing along to a backing tape, and Carter USM was born. Jim Bob and Les Carter had known each other since the late 1970s, when their bands The Ballpoints (featuring Jim on vocals) and Dead Clergy (Les on bass and vocals) used to rehearse at the same studio behind Streatham station. When The Ballpoints' bassist quit at the end of 1980, Carter joined the band, who than went on to play several gigs under the name Peter Pan's Playground.
He was a member of Carter USM. The band split up in 1997. Since Carter USM, Jim Bob has released two albums and three singles with his disco-pop-punk group Jim's Super Stereoworld, seven solo albums as Jim Bob or James Robert Morrison, and played various live shows both with his band and solo. In 2001, he joined his old Carter bandmate Fruitbat on stage once again, as part of the group Who's The Daddy Now?.
In 2005, Cherry Red released a DVD of a live solo acoustic performance, titled Live From London , featuring songs from his solo career as well as many Carter USM tracks. This was followed by a concept album, School, released in March 2006.
A best-of album was released in the autumn of 2006, accompanied by a UK tour. This was originally intended as a download-only release, but a physical CD was produced. The album was accompanied by a free CD of Jim Bob and Jim's Super Stereoworld rarities. The cover design was re-worked by Jim Bob from an image by Jim Connolly.
The album A Humpty Dumpty Thing was released in November 2007 by Cherry Red Records. The album came with a Jim Bob-penned-mini novel, "Word Count". A single from the album, "Battling The Bottle", was released with Jim Bob's re-working of the children's song "The Wheels on the Bus" on the B-side.
Jim Bob's next solo record, Goffam, was a semi-concept album about a city in the grip of crime, deserted by its superheroes. He toured the UK in April and September 2009 promoting the album.
In December 2009 Jim Bob performed his 2004 song "Angelstrike!" as part of the shows The Return of 9 Lessons and Carols for Godless People for two nights at the Bloomsbury Theatre and at Hammersmith Apollo. This was broadcast on BBC4 television under the title 'Nerdstack'.
His debut novel Storage Stories was released [2] on the day of a UK general election, 6 May 2010, by Ten Forty Books. This was followed by three novels with major publishers: Driving Jarvis Ham, The Extra Ordinary Life of Frank Derrick, Age 81 and Frank Derrick's Holiday of a Lifetime.
Jim Bob's autobiography, Goodnight Jim Bob – On The Road With Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, was published by Cherry Red Books in 2004. The sequel, Jim Bob from Carter, was published by Cherry Red Books on 23 March 2019. The double novel A Godawful Small Affair and Harvey King Unboxes His Family, written under the name J.B. Morrison, was published by Cherry Red Books in March 2020.
The 26-second song "2020 WTF!" was released in March 2020 on Cherry Red Records. It was the first single from Jim Bob's August 2020 album, Pop Up Jim Bob. The second single, "Jo's Got Papercuts", followed in June, and a third, "If it Ain't Broke", was released in July.
The album Pop Up Jim Bob was released on Cherry Red Records on 14 August 2020. Entering the official UK album chart at number 26, it was Jim Bob's first top-30 LP since Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine.
Jim Bob's 13th solo album, Who Do We Hate Today, was released on Cherry Red Records on 20 August 2021 and reached 34 in the UK album charts, his second top-40 solo LP.
His 14th solo album, 'Thanks For Reaching Out' was released on Cherry Red Records on 30 June 2023.
Jim Bob's 9th book ‘Where Songs Come From – The Lyrics and Origin Stories of 150 Solo and Carter USM Songs’, in which Jim Bob attempts to explain where his lyrics come from, how they got here, and maybe even why, is published by Cherry Red Books in October 2024.
All releases credited as Jim Bob unless otherwise stated. See Carter USM and Jamie Wednesday for those bands' discographies.
A Free CD recorded by Morrison at home and given away to the first 10 people to visit the T-shirt stall and ask for Marc or Neil on the October 2003 tour
25 readers of Morrison's book won a copy of the CD 'Stolen From Westlife' – 8 cover versions recorded by Morrison – after answering some questions posed by the author on page 95.
A free CD recorded by Morrison and containing six acoustic covers, the CD is currently being issued only to members of Morrison's "street team".[ clarification needed ][ citation needed ] The CD includes a cover of a track originally written and recorded by his former Carter bandmate Les Carter.
A DVD featuring a live acoustic performance of Jim Bob songs and Carter USM songs. Bonus features include an interview with Morrison, Morrison reading excerpts from his autobiography and the video for the Jim's Super Stereoworld song "Bubblegum".
Non-fiction
Fiction
Morrison Hotel is the fifth studio album by American rock band the Doors, released on February 9, 1970, by Elektra Records. After the use of brass and string arrangements recommended by producer Paul A. Rothchild on their previous album, The Soft Parade (1969), the Doors returned to their blues rock style and this album was largely seen as a return to form for the band. The group entered Elektra Sound Recorders in Los Angeles in November 1969 to record the album which is divided into two separately titled sides, namely: "Hard Rock Café" and "Morrison Hotel". Blues rock guitar pioneer Lonnie Mack and Ray Neapolitan also contributed to the album as session bassists.
Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine were an English indie rock band formed in 1987 by singer Jim "Jim Bob" Morrison and guitarist Les "Fruitbat" Carter. They made their name with a distinctive style of power pop, fusing samples, sequenced basses and drum machines with rock 'n' roll guitars and off-beat wordplay-loaded lyrics. They reached the height of their fame in 1992. Over the following years the band took on new members, reaching a six-piece, but struggled to regain their earlier popularity. They initially split up in 1998 after releasing seven albums.
Luke Michael Haines is an English musician, songwriter and author. He has recorded music under various names and with various bands, including The Auteurs, Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder.
Jamie Wednesday were a British 1980s jangle pop band, formed in Streatham, South London in 1984, that released eight songs on three records between 1985 and 1986. Previously they had been called The Ballpoints, and then they became Peter Pan's Playground, later deciding on the name Jamie Wednesday.
Leslie George Carter, known as Fruitbat is an English musician who was a member of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine.
Abdoujaparov are a punk band formed on 19 October 1998 by ex-Carter USM guitarist Les Carter. Abdoujaparov's musical foundation is in 1977 punk rock.
Chris T-T is a retired English singer-songwriter based in Brighton. In a 20-year career he released 10 studio albums, two live collections and a number of collaborations. He is also a speaker, piano accompanist, activist and radio presenter, and he has written for a range of publications. For several years he contributed a weekly column on the arts to the left-wing newspaper The Morning Star. T-T's most recent album is Best Of Chris T-T, a career retrospective double-CD released on 19 May 2017 by London-based independent label Xtra Mile Recordings.
Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well as the compilation album Pillows & Prayers. In addition to releasing new music, Cherry Red also acts as an umbrella for individual imprints and catalogue specialists.
The Sultans of Ping are an Irish band formed in 1988 by Niall O'Flaherty, Pat O'Connell, Paul Fennelly and Ger Lyons. The band's name is a play on the 1978 Dire Straits song "Sultans of Swing", dating from a time when "it was sacrilege to say anything whatsoever funny or nasty about Dire Straits".
I Blame the Government is the final studio album by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. It was released on Cooking Vinyl Records in 1998, and reached #92 on the UK charts.
30 Something is the second album by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, released in 1991 on Rough Trade Records. It was recorded in 20 days on 8-track, costing only £4,000. The album was given a 10/10 review in NME, which described 30 Something as a "brilliant, bold record". It was prefaced with a single "Anytime Anyplace Anywhere", which was a major indie hit and also included on the album.
Post Historic Monsters is the fourth album by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. It reached No. 5 on the UK Charts becoming the band's second highest album after 1992 - The Love Album which reached No. 1. The album featured two singles "Lean On Me I Won't Fall Over", which reached No. 16 on the UK charts, and "Lenny And Terence," which reached number 40. The band recorded the album with co-producer and engineer Simon Painter and worked in a much more spontaneous approach than before, to an extent that even saw the band crafting songs from accidental pieces.
1992 – The Love Album is an album by English band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. Released on Chrysalis Records, following the demise of Rough Trade Records, the album achieved commercial success and became the band's first and only Number 1 album on the UK Albums Chart. It also contained their only Top 10 hit, "The Only Living Boy in New Cross", which reached No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart. The album also included two further singles, "Do Re Me So Far So Good" and "The Impossible Dream". An earlier single, "After the Watershed" was originally planned to be included on the album, but due to an injunction from the publishers of The Rolling Stones over a line in the lyrics quoted from their single "Ruby Tuesday"), the band had to credit the composition to Morrison / Carter / Richards / Jagger. It was omitted from the album as they would otherwise have had to forgo publishing royalties for every copy of the album sold.
Nine on a Ten Scale is the debut studio album by American musician and songwriter Sammy Hagar, released in May 1976 by Capitol Records. It was his first release as a solo artist after his departure from Montrose in 1975. It was announced in Billboard magazine that Hagar was signed to Capitol Records in January 1976. Nine on a Ten Scale was slated for a February 9 release date.
Starry Eyed and Bollock Naked was the first b-side collection by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. It was released in March 1994 and reached 22nd place on the UK charts. The album artwork features an orange Volkswagen Beetle which belonged to Jim Bob at the time of release.
Worry Bomb is the fifth studio album by English indie rock band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, released in 1995. It reached number nine on the UK Albums Chart. It included a limited-edition CD of the live show Doma Sportova...Live at Zagreb, recorded on 20 May 1994.
In a Big Flash Car on a Saturday Night is a solo album by the former Carter USM singer/guitarist Jim Bob, released with the "Jim's Super Stereoworld" nickname in 2002. A fellow Carter USM member, Fruitbat, is credited in the album's liner notes as shouting on "Big Flash Car" and "Heads Will Rock".
101 Damnations is the debut studio album by English rock band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, released on 15 January 1990 through Big Cat Records. After playing in different bands, James Robert "Jim Bob" Morrison and Les "Fruitbat" Carter formed Bob and played their first show in August 1987, before changing the name to Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. Over the next year, they played various shows across London before signing to Big Cat; with shows further north of the city in early 1989, a fanbase started building. The duo recorded their debut album with producer Simon Painter at Important Notice Studios, which was a garage on Painter's property, in Mitcham, South London. 101 Damnations is a punk rock and glam rock album that merges the styles of David Bowie and Pet Shop Boys, alongside loud guitars, drum machines and samples taken from films and TV shows.
A Humpty Dumpty Thing is the title of the 2007 solo album by Jim Bob, formerly of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. It was released on Cherry Red Records and included a free book. "The story is set in the not-too-distant future when all art is commissioned by the State. It's about a man chosen to write an 80,000-word novel or face a jail term. He's never written anything before and finds himself with instant writer's block."
"After the Watershed" is a 1991 single by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. Although never featured on any original album by the band, it is included on several later compilations.
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