The Grays were a short-lived rock band comprising singer/songwriters/multi-instrumentalists

Jon Brion Jon Brion is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer. Brion has ...

Jason Falkner Jason Falkner (born June 2, 1968) is an American songwriter, musician, and guitarist who was a member of the bands Jellyfish (band), Jellyfish, the Three O'Clock, and the Grays (band), the Grays. Since 1996, he has released six solo albums, start ...

, Buddy Judge, and Dan McCarroll. They released only one album, the out-of-print but highly regarded '' Ro Sham Bo'' (1994) on

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

History

Formation

According to

initially got into contact with him after listening to a

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

of the album ''

Odessey and Oracle ''Odessey and Oracle'' is the second studio album by English rock band the Zombies. It was originally released in the UK in April 1968 by CBS Records. The album was recorded primarily between June and August 1967. The sessions took place at EM ...

'' by the

Zombies A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...

he had compiled for his then-girlfriend. Brion called Falkner to invite him to an informal jamming session with musicians Buddy Judge and Dan McCarroll. The meeting caught the attention of a music executive and led to a record label bidding war for a supposed band composed of the four musicians. Feeling pressured to join the supposed band, Falkner reluctantly joined and the band signed with

in 1993. The intention of the band was to be a democratic collective of musicians, rather than a hierarchical group with a leader and backing musicians. This was due in part to the group’s dissatisfaction with being in a band—particularly Falkner who had just come out of a tumultuous period with the band

Jellyfish Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella- ...

. The band members would often swap instruments depending on the need of the individual song and would contribute to each other’s songs.

''Ro Sham Bo''

The band released its first and only album '' Ro Sham Bo'' on February 22, 1994 on

. The album’s lead single was the song “Very Best Years”. The song was accompanied by a music video; it was the only song to receive a promotional video. “Very Best Years” received minor radio play and its video received minor airplay on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Breakup

Despite glowing reviews from critics, ''Ro Sham Bo'' was a commercial disappointment and was the only album released by the band. The album would later go out-of-print. In retrospect, Falkner reflects that the band was not truly a democratic collective as he felt he was the true leader of the group. This was due in part to the fact that the album’s producer,

Jack Joseph Puig Jack Joseph Puig is an American audio engineer, A&R executive, and record producer. He has worked with Tonic, Hole, Jellyfish, The Black Crowes, John Mayer, Weezer, Fiona Apple, Roger Hodgson, Taxiride, Green Day, Counting Crows, No Doubt, Klaxo ...

, admitted to enjoying Falkner’s tracks the most, giving him one more song than the others on the album. This created animosity amongst the members, specifically Brion, who was the first to leave the group. This coupled with the band’s lack of commercial success led to their breakup shortly thereafter.

Members

– vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards *

– vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass * Buddy Judge – vocals, guitars * Dan McCarroll – drums

Discography

*'' Ro Sham Bo'' (1994)

References

External links

The Grays
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grays American pop music groups American supergroups Musical groups established in 1993 1993 establishments in the United States 1994 disestablishments in the United States Musical groups disestablished in 1994