Keith Morris

Last updated
Keith Morris
CircleJerksBySteveHopson.jpg
Morris performing with the Circle Jerks in 2006.
Background information
Born (1955-09-18) September 18, 1955 (age 69)
Hermosa Beach, California, United States
Genres Hardcore punk
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
InstrumentVocals
Years active1976–present
Labels
Member of
Formerly of

Keith Morris (born September 18, 1955) [1] is an American singer and songwriter known for his role as frontman of the hardcore punk bands Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Off!. Born and raised in Hermosa Beach, California, he formed Black Flag at the age of 21 with guitarist Greg Ginn and performed on the band's 1979 debut EP Nervous Breakdown . Shortly after leaving Black Flag in 1979, he formed the Circle Jerks with guitarist Greg Hetson; the band released seven albums between 1980 and 1995 and have broken up and reformed on numerous occasions. In 2009 Morris formed the supergroup Off! with guitarist Dimitri Coats, bassist Steven Shane McDonald, and drummer Mario Rubalcaba. Morris has also appeared as a guest vocalist on several albums by other artists. [2]

Contents

Biography

Early life

Morris in Los Angeles, 2017 Punk icon Keith Morris in Los Angeles 2017 photograph by Ithaka Darin Pappas.jpg
Morris in Los Angeles, 2017

Morris was born September 18, 1955, and grew up in Hermosa Beach, California. [3] Morris is Jewish. [4] His father, Jerry, had been a budding jazz drummer in his youth and practiced with visiting jazz groups at the Lighthouse Café. Jerry later opened a bait shop in the 1970s and struck up a friendship with jazz record producer Ozzie Cadena (both men's sons, Keith and Dez, later became singers in Black Flag). [5] Keith attended Mira Costa High School, where brothers Greg and Raymond Ginn were also students, and graduated in 1973. [3] [6] He then studied fine art and painting at the Pasadena Arts Center while working at his father's bait shop. [7] One of his co-workers at the shop was Bill Stevenson, a Mira Costa student eight years Morris' junior who would also go on to be a member of Black Flag. [8]

Morris and his friends spent their spare time hanging out by the Strand under Hermosa Beach pier, where they took drugs: "I'd get off work, and we'd get up to trouble," he later recalled, "smoking angel dust, snorting elephant tranquilizers. Just real goofy, 'why-would-you-want-to-do-that?' kinda stuff, the kind of thing you get up to when you're young, and into experimenting. If it was a good experience, then cool; if not, well, then it was just a real hard lesson learned." [9] His early musical tastes included various rock acts such as Bob Seger, Foreigner, Montrose, Styx, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Queen, Ten Years After, Status Quo, Uriah Heep, UFO, the Scorpions, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, and the MC5, "any kind of fist-pumping, 'flick-your-bic' rock. I was into anything that was loud". [10] He became a freely opinionated and passionate fan of heavy rock and protopunk, and took a job working at local record store Rubicon Records. [11]

Black Flag

In 1976, Morris co-founded Black Flag (then-known as Panic) along with guitarist Greg Ginn. Their work ethic proved too challenging for some early members; Ginn and Morris had an especially hard time finding a reliable bass guitarist, and often rehearsed without a bassist, a factor that contributed to the development of Ginn's distinctive, often low-pitched guitar sound. The band went through three bass players before Chuck Dukowski joined and then Robo answered a Pennysaver ad and became their drummer. [12]

After a number of line-up changes, Morris recorded vocals for the first Black Flag EP Nervous Breakdown . After two years in the band, Morris left the band citing, among other reasons, creative differences with Ginn and Dukowski and his own "freaking out on cocaine and speed." [12] [13] Morris stated in his autobiography he had also become disillusioned with what he saw as Black Flag's "militaristic" approach to practicing, despite not getting many shows at the time, and being left "out of the loop" on decisions for the band. [14]

Circle Jerks

After leaving Black Flag in 1979, Morris founded the Circle Jerks, along with former Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson. [12] They were soon joined by Roger Rogerson (bass) and Lucky Lehrer (drums). In contrast to the top-down decision-making of Black Flag, the Circle Jerks agreed on collective decisions for material and performances. [15] Morris and the band increased their global popularity after being featured in the Penelope Spheeris 1981 documentary The Decline of Western Civilization . [16] Cited as one of the most important hardcore punk groups, the Circle Jerks were active until 1990, when Hetson left the band to continue playing guitar and release a number of albums with Bad Religion.

The Circle Jerks reunited in 1994 and released their last studio album to date in 1995. The group performed on and off until 2011, when they went back on hiatus. In November 2019, plans were announced for a 2020 reunion tour in support of the 40th anniversary of their 1980 album, Group Sex , [17] however the tour was postponed until September 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [18] The band continued touring North and South America with the Descendents in 2023 and 2024. [19] [20]

Off!

In 2010, Morris formed Off! with Dimitri Coats from Burning Brides when the Circle Jerks could not agree on material for a new album. [21] They were soon joined by bassist Steven Shane McDonald from Redd Kross and drummer Mario Rubalcaba from Earthless/Rocket From The Crypt/Hot Snakes. [22]

Morris stated in a 2011 interview that Off! was asked to open future dates for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and were agreeable despite potential criticism from their fans. [23] Ultimately, Off! ended up not touring with Red Hot Chili Peppers, though singer Anthony Kiedis wore an Off! hat at every show of the band's I'm with You World Tour , as well as some of their music videos. [24] [13] Morris had performed in place of Kiedis in 1984 when the latter was a no-show for an early RHCP concert in Los Angeles. [25] [26]

Off! released a compilation of their first years' work on Vice Records, followed by three studio albums. Their final album, Free LSD , released in 2022, is to be used as the soundtrack to a science fiction film of the same name due for release in 2024, written and directed by guitarist Dimitri Coats, with band members in starring roles. [27] The band announced their breakup in 2024, performing three farewell shows in July of that year to promote the film and album. [28]

FLAG

In 2013, Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski, Dez Cadena, Bill Stevenson and Descendents member Stephen Egerton, created FLAG as an offshoot of Black Flag. [29] As of 2013, they were only touring. No plans for an album have been announced. [30]

FLAG
Genres
Years active2013-
Spinoff of Black Flag
Members

Other works

After the Circle Jerks' first break-up in 1990, Morris led the bands Bug Lamp [31] and Midget Handjob. [32] He also provided backing vocals on "Operation Rescue", from Bad Religion's album Against the Grain (1990).

Morris also narrated Chris Fuller's 2007 Gotham Award-nominated independent film Loren Cass .

Morris appeared as the DJ for the West Coast Punk Rock station Channel X in the video game Grand Theft Auto V released on September 17, 2013.

In 2016, Morris released an autobiography called My Damage: The Story of a Punk Rock Survivor. [33]

Personal life

After years of addiction to drugs and alcohol, Morris has been sober since 1988. [34] In 1999, he was diagnosed with adult onset diabetes. [35] [36]

On April 13, 2022, it was revealed on the Circle Jerks' Facebook page that Morris had contracted and was recovering from COVID-19. [37]

Discography

With Black Flag

With Circle Jerks

With Bug Lamp

With Midget Handjob

With Off!

Guest appearances

YearArtistTitleCredits
1990 Bad Religion Against the Grain backing vocals on "Operation Rescue"
1996TreeDownsizing the American Dreambacking vocals on "This Land"
2001 Fu Manchu California Crossing lead vocals on "Bultaco"
2002 Rollins Band Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three lead vocals on "Nervous Breakdown"
2003 Alkaline Trio Good Mourning backing vocals on "We've Had Enough"
2004 My Chemical Romance Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge backing vocals on "Hang 'Em High"
2004 Wrangler Brutes Zulubacking vocals on "Driving"
2005 Turbonegro Party Animals backing vocals on "Wasted Again"
2006 The Bronx Social Club Issue No. Onelead vocals on "Witness (Can I Get A)"
2008ChingaleraDosebacking vocals on "Twenty Three"
2008KloverDosebacking vocals on "Brain"
2009 Trash Talk East of Edenbacking vocals on "East of Eden" and "Son of a Bitch"
2017The ShrineNever More Than Nowlead vocals
2020 T.S.O.L. Sweet Transvestite (single)shared lead vocals

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References

Footnotes
  1. ↑ Morris & Ruland 2017, p. 4.
  2. ↑ "Protonic Reversal Ep114: Keith Morris (OFF!, Circle Jerks, Black Flag)". radioneutron.com. 12 March 2018. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  3. 1 2 Chick 2009, p. 10.
  4. ↑ Brannon, Bella. "Keith Morris- A Jewish Perspective from the Punk Rock Legend". Ha'Am: UCLA's Jewish Newsmagazine. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  5. ↑ Chick 2009, pp. 9–10.
  6. ↑ Chick 2009, pp. 14–15.
  7. ↑ Chick 2009, p. 11.
  8. ↑ Chick 2009, p. 13.
  9. ↑ Chick 2009, p. 12.
  10. ↑ Chick 2009, pp. 12–13.
  11. ↑ Chick 2009, p. 14.
  12. 1 2 3 McNeil, Legs (August 11, 2015). "Keith Morris: Black Flag!". Please Kill Me . Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  13. 1 2 Comaratta, Lee (May 14, 2012). "Interview: Keith Morris (of OFF!)". Consequence of Sound . Archived from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  14. ↑ Morris & Ruland 2017, pp. 84–87.
  15. ↑ Morris & Ruland 2017, pp. 96–97.
  16. ↑ Morris & Ruland 2017, pp. 118–119.
  17. ↑ "Circle Jerks reforming for 40th anniversary of 'Group Sex,' playing Punk Rock Bowling". Brooklyn Vegan . November 22, 2019. Archived from the original on November 23, 2019. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Circle Jerks Unveil Rescheduled 40th Anniversary Tour". Exclaim! . July 19, 2021. Archived from the original on April 3, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  19. ↑ Biagiotti, James (April 3, 2024). "Concert Review: Descendents at Revolution Live". Boca Magazine. Archived from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  20. ↑ Hatfield, Amanda (April 16, 2024). "Descendents & Circle Jerks announce fall co-headlining tour". Brooklyn Vegan. Archived from the original on May 11, 2024. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Keith Morris (OFF!, Black Flag, Circle Jerks)". Punknews.org. May 31, 2010. Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
  22. ↑ Hann, Michael (July 5, 2012). "Black Flag's Keith Morris: why I formed Off!". The Guardian . Archived from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Getting "Off!" with Keith Morris | The Cluster". Mercercluster.com. 2013-06-16. Archived from the original on 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  24. ↑ "OFF! | Summer 2013". Bigdayout.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013.
  25. ↑ Schimkowitz, Matt (2023-10-26). "Flea explains how Keith Morris fronted the Red Hot Chili Peppers for one hot minute". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2024-02-14. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  26. ↑ Sloman & Kiedis 2004, pp. 219–225.
  27. ↑ Appleford, Steve (July 22, 2022). "OFF!'s Cosmic Comeback". SPIN . Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  28. ↑ Appleford, Steve (July 26, 2024). "Off!'s final act: Punk legend Keith Morris and company go out with a bang onstage and on film". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  29. ↑ Woodhead, Adam (June 8, 2016). "Capture the FLAG: Keith Morris on growing up in punk, and his autobiography 'My Damage'". Metro Times . Archived from the original on October 1, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  30. ↑ Greg Prato (2013-01-28). "Black Flag Reunite for Album, Live Dates | Music News". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  31. ↑ BILL LOCEY (1991-04-11). "MUSIC BUG LAMP : A Jerk No More : Keith Morris' new band will hit Santa Barbara tonight. It might be a good idea to bring along some earplugs". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2020-01-30. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  32. ↑ John D. Luerssen (2000-09-27). "Keith Morris Comes Full Circle with Midget Handjob". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 2017-06-03. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  33. ↑ Young, Simon (September 1, 2016). "14 things we learned from punk legend Keith Morris' new book". Louder Sound . Archived from the original on October 6, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  34. ↑ Norton, Justin (September 15, 2016). "Q&A: Keith Morris (Black Flag/Circle Jerks) on His New Memoir". Decibel . Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  35. ↑ Sellers, John (November 22, 2010). "Tough Questions for Keith Morris of OFF!". Spin . Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  36. ↑ Prindle, Mark. "Keith Morris – 2003". Archived from the original on March 4, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  37. ↑ "CIRCLE JERKS Postpone Shows After Singer KEITH MORRIS Tests Positive For COVID-19". Blabbermouth. 13 April 2022. Archived from the original on 14 April 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  38. ↑ "Off! – 1st EP". Interpunk.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  39. ↑ "RSD 2014 Exclusive Off! x Obey Giant "Learn To Obey" 7" Single Vinyl Record". The Blot Says.com. March 21, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-03-25. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
Bibliography
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