Pretty Mary Sunshine was a band formed in Seattle, Washington in March 1993. Almost as quickly as they were formed, they were signed to A&M Records. Instead of unifying the five piece, being signed to a major record label hastened their disintegration. "PMS" was contracted to produce two albums for A&M Records but they only "officially" released one. What was intended to be their first album was recorded in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma by Record producer Keith Cleversley (one time producer of The Flaming Lips). The only song from the ill-fated "Oklahoma sessions" that A&M Records released, was "Can I Stay?" (featured in the cult movie soundtrack of

S.F.W. ''S.F.W.'' (or ''So Fucking What'') is a 1994 American black comedy film directed by Jefery Levy. Based on a novel by Andrew Wellman, it stars Stephen Dorff and Reese Witherspoon. Plot Cliff Spab and his friend Joe Dice go out one evening to bu ...

). In an attempt to market Pretty Mary Sunshine as an indie-rock band, A&M Records also released two previously recorded tracks from the band's

demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

recorded at the Electric Eel Studio, in Seattle. "Bird Medicine" - the full-length disc the band did manage to release was recorded at A&M Studio "C" in the Winter of 1994-1995. The band was completely dissatisfied with the recording process in Hollywood, with tensions between Kurt & Patrice escalating as the producers steered the band into a sound neither liked. "Bird Medicine" was released with no marketing, support or promotion from A&M. The release date was held back for nearly a year due to attorney squabbles about credits in the liner notes. The band supported the release of this album solely to fulfill contractual obligations with a disastrous tour of the United States in 1995. The band broke up in early 1996, after finally being dropped by their label after a debauched U.S. tour. Kurt and Patrice went on to form Frownland with the original

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

, Pam Barger, Paul Hutzler (guitar, multi-instrumentalist and bass guitar player, Sean Wheatley, of Pretty Mary Sunshine. Joe Howard, aka Joe Skyward, went on to join the Posies and Sunny Day Real Estate. Jerry O'Neill went on to record some solo material and then seemingly dropped out of the music world entirely until passing away in 2015.

Members

Core members

* Patrice Tullai ( vocals) also known for Frownland and (alicedean) .

* Kurt Elzner (

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

) also known for Frownland, the Purdins, Mazzy Star and currently of Pet Knives

Oklahoma sessions other members

* Jerry O'Neill aka Gerald Weymeth ( lead guitar, tambura, and harmonium) also known for John the Baptist, the Purdins, Dolly Rocker (later went to Green Gel Records) * Joe Howard aka Joe Skyward ( bass guitar) also known for Sky Cries Mary, Sunny Day Real Estate and the Posies. * Pam Barger (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

) also known for

Two Nice Girls Two Nice Girls were a self-styled "dyke rock" band from Austin, Texas, featuring singer-songwriter Gretchen Phillips. They were together from 1985 to 1992, releasing three albums on Rough Trade Records. History The group formed in 1985, origi ...

the Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet The Tiptons Sax Quartet, previously known as The Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet, is a jazz saxophone quartet from Seattle, Washington. The ensemble consists of five members (the fifth member being the quartet's drummer and percussion ...

and Frownland.

Bird Medicine other members

* Andy Harderson ( lead guitar) also known for Faceless Chaos * Sean Wheatley ( bass guitar) also known for Frownland * Mark Wilcox (

) also known for Faceless Chaos, The Verge, and The Cringe.

Discography

* 1993 self-titled demo cassette (unknown formation) # Madman # Blue # Charcoal To Diamond # When I Fall # Seven * Oklahoma 1994 sessions Only two songs were released ("Jessica" & "Can I Stay?") as a single under the label Spontaneous Underground, a pseudonym of A&M. "Can I Stay?" was also featured on the film and the soundtrack of the

movie while Jessica later appeared on the 1995 LP. * "Bird Medicine" 1995 LP (digitally rereleased in 2014) # Jessica # Queen If The Big Head Universe # Carousel # Reptile Girl # Selfish # Recycle # Valerie # Country Joe Bass Song # Puerto Rican Rita # Seven # Get It Together # Charcoal To Diamond

References

External links

Sad-Eyed Lady Of The Frownlands
(album by Frownland, band featuring four ex members of Pretty Mary Sunshine plus guitarist and bassist Paul Hutzler) on

bandcamp.com Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

Rock music groups from Washington (state) Musical groups from Seattle {{authority control