The Album with the most impressive guest list - and you've (almost certainly) never heard of it...

First, let's set some context. Of course, some of you may have heard of this album, but the chances are, most of you will not know the record or indeed the main artist.

As a reference point for just how impressive the guest list that I am talking about is, here are some rough comparisons that I made up. Imagine in the cool late 1960's, a record is made that includes appearances from Roger Daltrey, Pete Townsend, Ray and Dave Davies, Jimmy Page, maybe some members of Pink Floyd, Steve Marriott, Ronnie Laine, possibly an early David Bowie - maybe even the odd Beatle. Or, on the 1980's scene of England's north-west, a recording that has Ian McCulloch, Will Sargent, Ian McNabb, Julian Cope, Pete Wylie, Pete Burns, Bernard Sumner, members of Frankie Goes To Hollywood and OMD - maybe even Morrissey and Marr. Now, as far as I am aware, neither of these scenarios did actually happen, but they do provide a clue as to what I am talking about.

Mike Watt and San Pedro:

It is possible (probable) that neither of these names are familiar to you, but both play a significant role in American post-punk and beyond. San Pedro, a neighbourhood in south Los Angeles, may not have had the Southern California punk credentials of Hollywood or Orange County, but it still played a significant part in the evolution of west coast music.

It was there, that two school friends, Mike Watt and Dennes "D" Boon, learned their instruments (bass and guitar respectively) and formed a band with another friend, George Hurley - the Minutemen. You can read more about them, and that scene in my three part series from a few months back - Pt 1; Pt 2; Pt 3.

The Minutemen story comes to a tragic end in late 1985; having finished a successful tour of the east coast, supporting R.E.M. on their Fables tour, Boon was riding with his girlfriend, asleep and unrestrained, when they had an accident. He died. Watt and Hurley, overcome with grief, pretty much decided they were done with the music business, until friends persuaded them to continue. With Ed Crawford, they formed fIREHOSE, who recorded and toured through to 1994.

Ball-Hog or Tugboat?

As alluded to earlier, while Mike Watt was never a household name, he, and his bands, were a core part of the west coast scene, and were hugely influential on many of the bands and genres that followed, from fellow Californians like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane's Addiction, to Sonic Youth, to the myriad bands from the Pacific northwest, who would later be lumped together as "grunge" (although they covered a much wider spectrum than the label suggests, and many of them don't like this name).

Mike Watt: Big Train (Official music video; song features Watt on vocals, with Grohl, Cline, Vedder, Mascis and both Kirkwood's)

It was 1994 and Watt was ready to move onto his next project - a solo record. It was a bit of a crossroads for him, fIREHOSE had split that year, and his marriage to Black Flag bassist Kira Roessler had also ended, although they remained on good terms and continued with their two-bass duo, Dos.

The title of his debut record is an allusion to the difference between being a team player, or being a glory hunter, as he explained to Spin magazine, "Are you going to be the tugboat which helps boats dock in rough surf safely? Or are you going to be like some glory hound who shoots the f***ing ball every time you get it?"

Mike Watt: Against The 70's (Live in Chicago, 1995 - Vedder and Watt on vocals)

Vedder, Grohl, Watt

The LP was recorded at a range of studios over the summer of 1994, and without a backing band, Watt recruited a revolving cast of guest musicians for these sessions. They came from his peer bands of the California punk scene, like Black Flag and Saccharine Trust; from the cool new wave of New England post-punk bands like Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr; and from some of those aforementioned 'grunge' bands who had been inspired by his earlier work. There was even room for punk-rap pioneers, the Beastie Boys, and a handful of jazz influenced musicians too.

He wanted his bass at the heart of the record, and why not. He would explain, “I would go into the studio and have a different band for every song,” Then I’m gonna throw the bassline at them, and see what they come up with. So then I got the metaphor going about the wrestling ring. Me and D. Boon would go to see a lot of high school basketball, but we’d also go see a lot of professional wrestling locally as well. Of course, we left out the spiels about the good guys and the heels and all that, but the main idea was that you came into the ring, dealt with the bassline in a way to aid and abet the song as best as you could.”

Mike Watt: Piss-Bottle Man (Official music video; song features Dando on vocals, with Watt, Lee, Schloss, Strohm, Waronker and the two Haden's)

This smorgasbord of talent, meant that Watt only had to sing lead vocals on two songs, the opener (and first single) Big Train, and closing track Coincidence Is Either Hit Or Miss. Other singles were handled by Eddie Vedder (Against The 70s) and Evan Dando (Piss-Bottle Man). There was however, still plenty of room for him to show off his incredible bass playing chops. He is one of the most influential bass players to come out of the 80's, with his seemingly effortless weaving of punk, rock, funk and jazz influences coming across loud and clear.

Spin magazine would later look back at how the record brought together, "an astonishing group of friends to create one of the most idiosyncratic albums in rock history." They noted that it was at least partly inspired by Walt Whitman's Songs Of Myself, and "is a kaleidoscopic autobiographical and a profound meditation on the role of the bassist in popular music. The album is packed with covers [including by Blackbird, Sonic Youth and Funkadelic]. It swings wildly from punk to jazz and from pop to spoken word with the gleeful confidence of the best college radio DJ."

Mike Watt: Tuff Gnarl (Audio only; song features Bozulich on vocals, with Mascis, Watt, Shelley, Moore, Ranaldo, Cline, Epic, Petra Haden)

The spoken word bit refers to the song Heartbeat, which became one of the most talked about tracks, because of the words that are said. Watt later explained the story in an interview with Leonardo Tissot; "Anyway, the one person who asked to be part of this project was Kathleen Hanna. So, on this song, Tiffany [Anders, a friend of J. Mascis] sings the words that I wrote, and the words that Kathleen Hanna, I guess, recited, those are her words. I was in New York City, and I was already down with the studio. Thurston was with us. And he said: “You know what, we can use my answering machine, from the studio”. So, he had Kathleen call him up and leave the message you can hear in the song. So, that’s the recording. It’s not a real message, she makes up this… Some of that stuff is very real, but some of that is made up, for sure. That’s the way Kathleen is, she mixes up things together, but the impression you get by listening to that, is like she doesn’t want to be on the record. But that’s the complete opposite of the reality, she wanted to be on the record, she asked me to."

Although there was this bit of a revolving door of people, there was still plenty of time for friendly chat and experimentation, such as when Watt persuaded Bernie Worrell to sit in on a cover of Funkadelic's Maggot Brain, which he played on originally. It lead to a searing solo by Mascis, proving to be one of the record's highlights. This seemed to show off Watt's uncanny ability for matching the right people together on the right projects. When Mascis was asked if he was a fan of Funkadelic guitarist Eddie Hazel, he said, "Not really then, I am now." Watt is also credited for putting Kathleen Hanna and the Beastie Boys Adam Horowitz (Ad-Rock) in the same room for the first time - they are still a couple more than thirty years later. Nels Cline, who ended up being the biggest contributor to the album, later talked about how everyone that appeared was "Bound together by the sort of magic and insanity that is Mike Watt, you know. It's pretty great."

The Guest List:

The quality of this list is ridiculous, and at around fifty names, very long. This is a veritable Who's Who of 1980's / early 90's US alternative music. Almost every person on here comes from a much more well known band, and yet all are there because of Watt and the esteem they held him in.

• Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters): Drums, Lap steel guitar

• Nels Cline (Wilco): Guitar, Slide guitar, Lead Guitar, Nylon Guitar

• Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam): Guitar, Lead Vocals, Background Vocals

• J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.): Guitar, Drums

• Cris Kirkwood (Meat Puppets): Banjo

• Curt Kirkwood (Meat Puppets): Lead Guitar

• Gary Lee Conner (Screaming Trees): Lead Guitar

• Krist Novoselic (Nirvana): Farfisa Organ

• Carla Bozulich (The Geraldine Fibbers): Vocals, Background Vocals

• Michael Preussner: Drums

• Joe Baiza: Guitar

• Paul Roessler (The Screamers): Piano

• Danny Frankel: Percussion

• Spot: Mandolin, Viola

• Evan Dando (The Lemonheads): Vocals

• Bob Lee: Drums

• Zander Schloss (Circle Jerks): Guitar

• John Strohm (The Lemonheads): Guitar

• Anna Waronker (that dog): Background Vocals

• Petra Haden: Background Vocals, Violin

• Rachel Haden: Background Vocals

• Frank Black (Pixies): Vocals

• Keith McCaw: Acoustic Guitar

• Stephen Perkins (Jane's Addiction, Porno For Pyros): Percussion, Drums

• Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth): Guitar

• Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth): Guitar

• Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth): Drums

• Epic Soundtracks: Tambourine

• Henry Rollins (Black Flag, The Rollins Band): Vocals

• Wayne Griffin: Drums

• Butler: Guitar

• Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees): Vocals

• Brock Avery: Drums

• Todd Rigione: Guitar

• Michael Diamond (Beastie Boys): Vocals

• Tony Atherton: Alto Saxophone

• Coco Hayley Gordon Moore: Background Vocals

• Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers): Lead Bass, Pocket Trumpet

• John Molo (Bruce Hornsby & The Range): Drums

• Vince Meghrouni: Percussion, Background Vocals, Vocals, Drums, Tenor Saxophone

• Pat Smear (The Germs, Nirvana, Foo Fighters): Vocals

• Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum): Vocals

• Tiffany Anders: Vocals

• Richie West: Drums

• Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill. Le Tigre): Spoken Word

• Bernie Worrell (Funkadelic): B3 Organ

• Adam Horovitz (Beastie Boys): Drums, Guitar, Background Vocals

• Ronda Rindone: Bass clarinet

• Mario Caldato Jr.: Background Vocals

• Tony Maxwell (that dog): Cello

Mike Watt: Forever - One Reporter's Opinion (Audio only; song features Smear on vocals, with Watt, Preussner and Cline)

The Tour:

The subsequent tour was probably just as crazy for anyone that got to see it. Watt recollects that it "was something Dave Grohl approached me with. He had been recording the first Foo Fighters album and said to me, ‘Hey, I could be in your band and I could open up for you.’ So I said OK, though I had never done anything like that before. At first I thought it was going to be impossible, but we got some prac’n, put some songs together and did a month-long tour.  It was great to play with Pat Smear as well; it was a real honor. When I first saw The Germs, I felt like they were arena rock to me, y’know? And here I got the guy standing next to me onstage. That tour had its problems with all the hype stuff because Eddie and Dave were with us, but we had a lot of good gigs."

And so it was, the brief US tour included Hovercraft (Vedder's side project with first wife Beth Liebling) and a fledgling Foo Fighters would open for Watt, before Grohl, Vedder, Smear and William Golding (Sunny Day Real Estate) would join him as his backing band for the main set. Promotors were warned not to mention that Grohl and Vedder were involved, but the secret got out pretty quickly anyway. It seems that some of the gigs got a bit weird - kids throwing coins and stuff at Vedder. There was probably some disconnect - fans rocking up to see these new young guns like Vedder and Grohl, but getting Vedder's experimental outfit (on which he drummed) and Grohl's new band (who hadn't released anything yet) and then them basically backing an old punk guy many of them may not have known much about.

Mike Watt: Chinese Firedrill (Audio only; song features Black on vocals, with Watt, Pruessner, Cline, Perkins and lyrics by Joe Carducci)

***

So, there you have it - an interesting album with an incredible ensemble cast of players. As John Strohm recently recounted, "Ball Hog or Tugboat is truly an amazing timepiece and a surprisingly good album. It’s a testament to Watt’s legendary status that he could bring this amazing group of musicians together. All these players respected Watt both as a founder, innovator, and standard-bearer for U.S. punk, alternative, and hardcore and as a superior musician and songwriter."