Sir Lord Baltimore

Last updated

Sir Lord Baltimore
Original SLB.jpg
Left to right: Louis Dambra, Gary Justin, John Garner, c. 1971
Background information
OriginNew York City, U.S.
Genres Heavy metal [1] [2] · stoner rock [3]
Years active1968–1976, 2006–2015
Labels Mercury, PolyGram, Red Fox, JG, Anthology
Past membersJohn Garner
Louis Dambra
Gary Justin
Joey Dambra

Sir Lord Baltimore was an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 1968 by lead vocalist and drummer John Garner, guitarist Louis Dambra, and bassist Gary Justin. Some have cited the 1971 review of their debut record, Kingdom Come , in Creem magazine as containing the first documented use of the term "heavy metal" to refer to a style of music. Sir Lord Baltimore featured a drumming lead singer, traditionally a rarity in rock and metal music. The group has been called "the godfathers of stoner rock." [3]

Contents

In 2006, Garner and Dambra reunited as Sir Lord Baltimore and released a new album, Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw . The reformed band featured an overt Christian focus and lyrics, an emphasis not found in their earlier work. [4] Justin, no longer an active musician, did not participate. [5] Garner died on December 5, 2015, of liver failure, ending the band. [6]

History

Original career

Kingdom Come (1970) SLB kingdom come.jpg
Kingdom Come (1970)

Having first met in high school, Garner (the band creator), Dambra, and Justin started rehearsing together in 1968. [7] At the time of their formation, Dambra (as Louis Caine) was also playing for a group called the Koala, who released an eponymous album in 1969. [8] Justin has cited Cream's Jack Bruce as an influence on his early career choice. [9]

After a relatively short time, the new band auditioned for Mike Appel, who was then working as a talent scout (he would later launch and manage the career of Bruce Springsteen). Appel agreed to mentor them and reportedly gave them the name Sir Lord Baltimore, taken from a character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid . For the group's debut album, Appel served as co-producer as well as contributing to arrangements and lyrics. [7]

That album, Kingdom Come , was recorded at Vantone Studios and engineered by Nick Masse, with Jim Cretecos serving as Appel's co-producer. Additional tracks, mixing and overdubbing were done at Electric Lady Studios with legendary engineer Eddie Kramer, better known for his work with Jimi Hendrix. According to Appel, Pink Floyd had the opportunity to hear Sir Lord Baltimore during these sessions, and were reportedly impressed. [10]

Sir Lord Baltimore (1971) Sir lord baltimore.jpg
Sir Lord Baltimore (1971)

Released on Mercury Records in 1970, Kingdom Come featured very fast-paced hard rock with high levels of distortion in the guitar and, in some cases, the bass, and extensive[ citation needed ] multi-tracking to further enhance the guitar sound. [11] Though this style would become popular in later years, it was considerably different from the majority of that era's contemporary rock music. [10]

On February 19–20, 1971, Sir Lord Baltimore played consecutive nights at New York's Fillmore East as the opening act on a bill that included the J. Geils Band and Black Sabbath, as part of the latter's Paranoid tour. (Sir Lord Baltimore played additional dates on this tour, as well.) [12] A photo of the band used in the Fillmore East's programs was later used as the cover of their 2006 reunion album, Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw . [5]

Legacy

In May 1971, Mike Saunders (of later Angry Samoans fame) wrote a favorable review of Kingdom Come for Creem. Of historical note was Saunders' assertion that "...Sir Lord Baltimore seems to have down pat most all the best heavy metal tricks in the book", one of the first printed uses of the term "heavy metal" to reference a musical genre. [9]

Issued in 1971, also on Mercury, Sir Lord Baltimore marked a change in direction, with Kingdom Come's frenetic pace giving way to slower tempos more reminiscent of music produced by the band's hard rock peers. Sir Lord Baltimore expanded to a quartet for this album, with Louis Dambra's brother, Joey Dambra, joining as a second guitarist. [11] Sir Lord Baltimore contains a supposed live recording, "Where Are We Going", which was actually recorded at Mercury Studios. The audience was dubbed in as the producer thought it was a good idea to include a "live" track. [13]

Their career started to fade after Sir Lord Baltimore's release, and Mercury dropped them shortly thereafter. The band publicly blamed drugs on its initial downfall, with low record sales and non-payment of royalties also being cited. [14] However, the band did start work in the mid-1970s on an unreleased third album, originally scheduled for 1976, and music written for that project was eventually used on Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw. [5]

In 1994, Kingdom Come and Sir Lord Baltimore were reissued on a single compact disc, Kingdom Come/Sir Lord Baltimore, by PolyGram, However, the track listing on the combined CD differed from the original recordings. Kingdom Come was issued again separately on digital in 2007, this time on Anthology Recordings.

In 2009 the Japanese band Church of Misery covered Sir Lord Baltimore's "Master Heartache" on their album Houses of the Unholy. [15]

Reunion

Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw (2006) Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw.jpg
Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw (2006)

Some 30 years after the band's breakup, Garner and Dambra reunited to record and self-distribute a new Sir Lord Baltimore album, Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw. Garner produced the album, issued on JG Records in July 2006 and available only via mail order. The majority of the album's bass guitar work was performed by Tony Franklin, with guitarist Anthony Guido bass player Sam Powell being credited as guest musicians. Although the album's music was originally written for the aborted 1976 release, the lyrics were modified to present more overt Christian viewpoint. [16]

In 2007, Garner and Swedish guitar player Janne Stark (formerly of Overdrive and Locomotive Breath) recorded a new version of "Woman Tamer" from SLB's second album. In March 2008, it was announced that Garner and Stark, with a selected bass player, would make an appearance at Sweden Rock Festival in June 2008, but lack of pay and other mitigating circumstances prevented them from performing. Dambra became a pastor, ministering to homeless families in Los Angeles, California. [4] He passed away in 2019.

Garner (born John Guarneri on February 2, 1952, in Brooklyn, New York) [17] died of liver failure on December 5, 2015, at the age of 63; effectively ending the band. [18] [19] [20]

Members

Discography

Studio albums

YearAlbumUS Top

200

1970 Kingdom Come 198
1971 Sir Lord Baltimore -
2006 Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw -

Compilation albums

YearAlbum
1994 Kingdom Come/Sir Lord Baltimore
2020 Complete Recordings 1970-2006

Singles

Related Research Articles

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a thick, monumental sound characterized by distorted guitars, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats and loudness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bathory (band)</span> Swedish black metal band

Bathory was a Swedish black metal band formed in Vällingby in March 1983. Named after Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory, they are considered pioneers of black metal and Viking metal. The book Lords of Chaos described Bathory's first four albums as "the blueprint for Scandinavian black metal." Acts influenced by their early records include Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone, Gorgoroth, Satyricon, Emperor, Dark Funeral, Enslaved, Immortal, Marduk, Moonsorrow and Dimmu Borgir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monster Magnet</span> American rock band

Monster Magnet is an American rock band. Hailing from Red Bank, New Jersey, the group was founded in 1989 by Dave Wyndorf, John McBain and Tim Cronin ; they have since gone through several lineup changes, leaving Wyndorf as the only constant member. Monster Magnet has released ten studio albums to date, and they are best known for their 1990s hits "Negasonic Teenage Warhead" and "Space Lord". The band has also been credited for developing and popularizing the stoner rock genre, along with Masters of Reality, Kyuss, Fu Manchu and Sleep.

Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres. Both the music and the lyrics are intended to evoke a sense of despair, dread, and impending doom. The genre is strongly influenced by the early work of Black Sabbath, who formed a prototype for doom metal. During the first half of the 1980s, a number of bands such as Witchfinder General and Pagan Altar from England, American bands Pentagram, Saint Vitus, the Obsessed, Trouble, and Cirith Ungol, and Swedish band Candlemass defined doom metal as a distinct genre. Pentagram, Saint Vitus, Trouble and Candlemass have been referred to as "the Big Four of Doom Metal".

The new wave of British heavy metal was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Editor Alan Lewis coined the term for an article by Geoff Barton in a May 1979 issue of the British music newspaper Sounds to describe the emergence of new heavy metal bands in the mid to late 1970s, during the period of punk rock's decline and the dominance of new wave music.

<i>Dopes to Infinity</i> 1995 studio album by Monster Magnet

Dopes to Infinity is the third album by American rock band Monster Magnet. It was released on March 21, 1995.

<i>Sin After Sin</i> 1977 studio album by Judas Priest

Sin After Sin is the third studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 8 April 1977 by Columbia Records. Produced by Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover, it was the band's major label debut, their first album for the label, and their only album to feature drummer Simon Phillips, a studio musician who replaced original drummer Alan Moore for the recording sessions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Weinrich</span> American heavy metal musician

Robert Scott Weinrich, better known as Wino, is an American singer and guitarist. He has been highly influential in helping develop and codify doom metal's trademark sound, and is also considered an influential figure in the stoner rock genre.

<i>Roxy Music</i> (album) 1972 studio album by Roxy Music

Roxy Music is the debut studio album by English rock band Roxy Music, released on 16 June 1972 by Island Records.

<i>Saxon</i> (album) 1979 studio album by Saxon

Saxon is the debut studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon, released in 1979.

<i>Make Them Die Slowly</i> (album) 1989 studio album by White Zombie

Make Them Die Slowly is the second studio album by American rock band White Zombie, released on March 22, 1989, by Caroline Records. It is named after the 1981 horror film Cannibal Ferox, which was originally released in the US as Make Them Die Slowly. There is a printing error on the CD's side saying "Let Them Die Slowly" instead of the album's correct title. Produced by composer Bill Laswell and featuring John Ricci on guitar, the album represented a transition from the noise rock influenced sound of White Zombie's previous releases to heavy metal, which informed much of their later work.

Michael Earl Saunders, also known as Metal Mike, is an American rock critic and the singer of the Californian punk band Angry Samoans. He is credited with coining the music genre label "heavy metal" in a record review for Humble Pie's As Safe as Yesterday Is in the November 12, 1970 issue of Rolling Stone. Six months later in 1971, he used the phrase again while reviewing Sir Lord Baltimore's first album, Kingdom Come, in the pages of Creem magazine.

<i>Sir Lord Baltimore</i> (album) 1971 studio album by Sir Lord Baltimore

Sir Lord Baltimore is the second studio album by American rock band Sir Lord Baltimore, released by Mercury Records in 1971. It was reissued on PolyGram in 1994, and on Red Fox in 2003. The 1994 and 2003 re-releases also contained 1970's Kingdom Come, and were titled Kingdom Come/Sir Lord Baltimore.

<i>Kingdom Come</i> (Sir Lord Baltimore album) 1970 studio album by Sir Lord Baltimore

Kingdom Come is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Sir Lord Baltimore, released on Mercury Records in 1970. The album is considered an important pioneer in stoner rock and heavy metal.

<i>Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw</i> 2006 studio album by Sir Lord Baltimore

Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw is the third and final studio album by American heavy metal band Sir Lord Baltimore, released in July 2006 on JG Records.

Iron Claw was a Scottish heavy metal band formed in 1969 and ended in 1974. In March 2007, the band were mentioned in an article in Classic Rock called "The Lost Pioneers of Heavy Metal".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naglfar (band)</span> Swedish melodic black metal band

Naglfar is a Swedish melodic black metal band formed in 1992. The group was formed by Jens Rydén and Kristoffer Olivius, originally under the name Uninterred.

<i>Call to Arms</i> (Saxon album) 2011 studio album by Saxon

Call To Arms is the nineteenth studio album by British heavy metal band Saxon. Call to Arms was released 3 June in Europe; 6 June in Denmark, Finland, and the UK; 8 June in Greece and Poland; 10 June in France. Previously, it was due to be released on 23 May 2011. The album was released on 27 September in North America by EMI. Current Deep Purple keyboardist Don Airey made a guest appearance on the album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lions (band)</span>

Lions were an American rock band from Austin, Texas, formed in 2005. The lineup consists of singer Matt Drenik, guitarist Austin Kalman and drummer Jake Perlman. Trevor Sutcliffe was Lions' bassist from their formation until his departure in 2009, where he was replaced by Mike Sellman. The band formed following the breakup of The Good Looks, the previous band of both Drenik and Perlman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats</span> English rock band

Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats are an English rock band, formed in Cambridge by Kevin Starrs. The band have released five albums – the most recent, Wasteland, was released in October 2018 – as well as a number of singles. The band appears regularly at festivals around Europe.

References

  1. ↑ "Sir Lord Baltimore – Biography". AllMusic .
  2. ↑ "Sir Lord Baltimore: 'We were the first band to be called heavy metal'". Loudersound.com. January 17, 2019.
  3. 1 2 "The Lost Pioneers of Stoner rock and Heavy Metal". Classic Rock. March 2007.
  4. 1 2 Freeman, "Godsmacked: Seventies heavy-metal pioneers Sir Lord Baltimore have returned with a new sound and a new master", The Village Voice.
  5. 1 2 3 Garner, SirLordBaltimore.com.
  6. ↑ Rivadavia, Eduardo (December 7, 2015). "Sir Lord Baltimore's Vocalist/Drummer John Garner Dies". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Freeman, "Godsmacked: Seventies heavy-metal pioneers Sir Lord Baltimore have returned with a new sound and a new master", The Village Voice
  8. ↑ The Koala biography, Bad Cat Records.
  9. 1 2 Saunders, Kingdom Come review, Creem.
  10. 1 2 Rivadavia, Sir Lord Baltimore biography, AnthologyRecordings.com.
  11. 1 2 Cope, Kingdom Come review, HeadHeritage.co.uk.
  12. ↑ "Paranoid Tour" tour dates, Black-Sabbath.com.
  13. ↑ Information from John Garner 2006
  14. ↑ Rivadavia, Sir Lord Baltimore biography, AnthologyRecordings.com.
    * Freeman, "Godsmacked: Seventies heavy-metal pioneers Sir Lord Baltimore have returned with a new sound and a new master", The Village Voice.
  15. ↑ Stone, Adam (April 10, 2009). "Church Of Misery 'Houses Of The Unholy' CD/LP". www.thesleepingshaman.com/. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  16. ↑ Seventies heavy-metal pioneers Sir Lord Baltimore have returned with a new sound and a new master", The Village Voice.
    * Rockwell, Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw review, AngelicWarlord.com.
  17. ↑ Jukebox, God's. "Listen to 'Chicago Lives by Sir Lord Baltimore, feat. John Garner, drums/vocals' on God's Jukebox". Godsjukebox.com.
  18. ↑ Doc Rock. "The Dead Rock Stars Club 2015 July to December". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  19. ↑ Eduardo Rivadavia (December 7, 2015). "Sir Lord Baltimore's Vocalist/Drummer John Garner Dies". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  20. ↑ "John Guarneri, lead singer, drummer for '70s metal band Sir Lord Baltimore, dies at 63". Silive.com. December 9, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.