rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
band originally based in
Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, United States
As of 2019, along with fronting Reigning Sound, Cartwright also reformed his past band Greg Oblivian and the Tip Tops. In 2020, he also reformed with the original "Memphis lineup" of Reigning Sound is once again playing shows with the outfit's first incarnation. In a June 8, 2022, message on the group's Facebook page, Cartwright formally announced the end of Reigning Sound.
History
Reigning Sound was formed in 2001 by Memphis garage punk musician Greg Cartwright (vocals/guitar), who is also known for his bands the Compulsive Gamblers and the
Oblivians
The Oblivians are an American garage punk trio that has existed since 1993. In the 1990s, their blues-infused brand of bravado, crudely recorded music made them one of the most popular and prominent bands within the underground garage rock scene ...
. Originally, the Memphis-based band featured Cartwright, Jeremy Scott (bass), Greg Roberson (drums) and Alex Greene (keyboards and guitar). However, after Cartwright re-located his family to
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...
in 2004, bassist David Wayne Gay, drummer Lance Wille, and keyboardist
Dave Amels
Dave Amels (born 1960) co-founded music technology companies Voce musical instruments and Bomb Factory. Both companies are known for detailed and realistic mathematical models of complex physical systems. Amels also plays organ in The Reigning ...
joined Cartwright until October 2011 with Amels continuing until 2019.
Reigning Sound's debut was ''Two Sides to Every Man'', a three-song 7", released in May 2001; one month later came their first full-length album '' Break Up, Break Down'' (
Sympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry (also known as Sympathy Records or Sympathy 4 the R.I.) is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by Long Gone John. The first Sympathy release was the Lazy Cowgirls' ''Radio Cowgirl'' LP ...
). With its country-folk melodies, the first album was to be an early blueprint of where Cartwright's songwriting was headed.
'' Time Bomb High School'' ( In the Red) was released in August 2002, and is known for its polished sound, pop hooks and delicate balance of classic R&B and rock & roll. Aside from the originals on the album, Cartwright blended in cover songs like "Stormy Weather" and "Brown Paper Sack", producing them in the same recognizable sound the band had developed.
Reigning Sound's third album '' Too Much Guitar'' (In the Red) was released in May 2004 with recording help from fellow Memphians
Jay Reatard
James Lee Lindsey Jr. (May 1, 1980 – January 13, 2010), known professionally as Jay Reatard, was an American musician from Memphis, Tennessee. He was signed to Matador Records. He released recordings as a solo artist and as a member of the Reat ...
and
Alicja Trout
Alicja Trout is an American, Memphis-based rock guitarist, singer and songwriter.
She is best known for her work with the synth-heavy Lost Sounds, which she started with Jay Reatard. Her current band, the River City Tanlines, were named an es ...
from the
Lost Sounds
Lost Sounds was a rock band from Memphis, Tennessee. Starting in March 1999, the band was made up of Rich Crook on drums, Patrick Jordan on bass, Jay Reatard on synth, guitar and vocals, and Alicja Trout on synth, guitar and vocals. The band, ori ...
; with a noticeably louder and noisier sound than previous recordings. Songs laced with psych-pop, garage, soul, country and (of course) too-much guitar compete with Cartwright's vocals at times in the loud fuzzy mix. An opening slot on a huge American tour with the Swedish garage band
The Hives
The Hives are a Swedish rock band that rose to prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the album ''Veni Vidi Vicious'', containing the single "Hate to Say I Told You So". T ...
helped to promote the album shortly after its release. A misprint in the album credits gives the impression that founding member Alex Greene appeared on only one song. In fact, he played on half the album: "You Got Me Hummin'", "When You Touch Me," "Get It," "Drowning," "Uptight Tonight," "Let Yourself Go," and "Medication."
''Reigning Sound: Live at Maxwell's'' (Telstar/Spoonful) was released in July 2005. The notorious end of the gig features Cartwright (with no back-up set) breaking all but three guitar strings but still finishing the show for the rowdy crowd. This rough-sounding live album is the only record featuring the
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...
cover track "I Need You Now," as a homage by Cartwright to one of his favorite singers.
In September 2005, The Reigning Sound released a rarities comp '' Home for Orphans'' (Sympathy for the Record Industry). The album features slower, moodier alternate versions of tunes from "Too Much Guitar" along with some other unreleased tracks.
Late in January 2006, Memphis based Goner Records released ''The Reigning Sound: Live at Goner Records'', a daytime in-store performance recorded in June 2005. The album also hosts cover songs like "Black Sheep" by
Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
Domingo "Sam" Samudio (born February 28, 1937, in Dallas, Texas, United States), better known by his stage name Sam the Sham, is a retired American rock and roll singer. Sam the Sham was known for his camp robe and turban and hauling his equi ...
, "Tennessee" by
Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...
and "Do Something" by The Swingin' Yo-Yo's.
After spending a portion of 2005 recording an album for George Soule with
Dan Penn
Dan Penn (born Wallace Daniel Pennington, November 16, 1941) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s, including "The Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" wi ...
and
Spooner Oldham
Dewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham (born June 14, 1943) is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, at FAME Studios as part of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on such hit R&B songs as Percy ...
, the band once again began recording with
Mary Weiss
Mary Weiss (born December 28, 1948) is an American pop music vocalist, best known as the lead singer of the Shangri-Las in the 1960s. She then vanished from the music scene for decades, returning in 2007 to record her first solo album with Norto ...
(of the 60s band
The Shangri-Las
The Shangri-Las were an American pop girl group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966 several hit songs of theirs documented teen tragedies and melodramas. They continue to be known for their hits "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", "Give Him a Gre ...
, widely known for their hit "
Leader of the Pack
"Leader of the Pack" is a song written by George "Shadow" Morton, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich. It was a number one pop hit in 1964 for the American girl group the Shangri-Las. The single is one of the group's best known songs as well as a ...
"). Reigning Sound was the backing band on the first new Mary Weiss album in over three decades. Cartwright also co-produced the album with Billy Miller and wrote nine of the 14 songs featured on the record. Norton Records released "Dangerous Game" in March 2007, receiving favorable reviews from the likes of ''Rolling Stone'' as well as performing with Weiss on NBC's
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...
.
Reigning Sound released a new full-length album ''Love & Curses'' on In the Red Records in August 2009, featuring 14 songs and one cover, "Stick Over Me", originally recorded by a '60s band called The Glass Sun (interpreted on the album as "Stick Up for Me"). In September 2010, Reigning Sound's cover of "Mind Over Matter", a '50s R&B cover, was featured on the compilation '' Daddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos'', an album of current garage-punk bands covering the late
Nolan Strong
Nolan Strong and the Diablos, also billed as The Diablos Featuring Nolan Strong, were an American, Detroit-based, R&B and doo-wop vocal group, best known for their songs " The Wind" and "Mind Over Matter". They had one record that spent a week o ...
.
In October 2011, Reigning Sound released a digital "mini-LP" called ''Abdication ... For Your Love'' on the
Scion
Scion may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
*Scion, a playable class in the game ''Path of Exile'' (2013)
*Atlantean Scion, a device in the ''Tomb Raider'' video game series
*Scions, an alien race in the video game ''Ba ...
Audio Visual label. The eight-song collection was released as a free digital download; however, some limited edition vinyl and promo CDs were also pressed. Five tracks from this EP were recorded and produced by
Dan Auerbach
Daniel Quine Auerbach (; born May 14, 1979) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer, best known as the guitarist and vocalist of The Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. As a member of the group, Auerbach has ...
of
The Black Keys
The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their ...
. While some of the songs featured Cartwright alongside drummer Lance Willie and bassist David Wayne Gay, this would be the last recordings the two would appear on - Wille and Gay would leave the band just before the release of ''Abdication.''
The band signed to
Merge Records
Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expande ...
in September 2012 and released ''Shattered'' (2014) and ''A Little More Time with Reigning Sound'' (2021). In a June 8, 2022 message on the group's Facebook page, Cartwright formally announced the end of Reigning Sound. He wrote, "It was my intention with ''A Little More Time'' to come full circle, reunite the original lineup of the band, and finish where we started. I thought we could support the album with some touring and go out on a high note, but Covid has proven to be a long-lasting concern and more difficult to navigate than anyone could have anticipated. Rather than compromise ourselves or our fans, I have decided this is the right time to dissolve the band."
Discography
Albums
* '' Break Up, Break Down'' (2001)
* '' Time Bomb High School'' (2002)
* '' Too Much Guitar'' (2004)
* '' Home for Orphans'' (2005)
* ''Dangerous Game'' - Mary Weiss (feat. Reigning Sound) (2007)
* ''Love & Curses'' (2009)
* ''Shattered'' (2014)
* ''A Little More Time with Reigning Sound'' (2021)
Live albums
* ''Live at Maxwell's'' (Spoonful Records, 2005, LP-SR-005)
* ''Live at Goner Records'' (21Gone) (2005)
* ''Memphis In June'' (2022)
Norton Records
Norton Records, is an independent record label founded by musicians Miriam Linna and Billy Miller in 1986. The label concentrates on rock, rockabilly, primitive music, punk, garage rock and early rhythm and blues.
Here Without You
"Here Without You" is a song by American rock band 3 Doors Down. The power ballad was released on July 28, 2003, as the third single from the band's second studio album, ''Away from the Sun'' (2002). The song reached 5 on the US ''Billboard'' ...
" 7" (Sympathy for the Record Industry, 2001, SFTRI 656)
* "If Christmas Won't Bring You Home" 7" (Norton Records, 2004, 45–121)
* "I'll Cry" 7" (
Slovenly Recordings
Slovenly Recordings is an independent record label founded by Pete Menchetti in 2002. The label is based in Reno, Nevada, and has offices in Pennsylvania, Berlin, and Tokyo.
History
In 2002 Pete Menchetti formed Slovenly Recordings after the di ...
, 2005, 702–50)
* "Don't Come Back" 7" (Norton Records 2007) - Mary Weiss (feat. Reigning Sound)
Compilation albums
* ''Root Damage'' 2xLP/2xCD (Sympathy for the Record Industry, 2003, SFTRI 713)
track: "As Long as You Come Home"
* ''Revolver Sampler Winter 2003'' CD (Revolver, 2003, cat. no. ?)
track: "Straight Shooter"
* ''Broad Daylight Soundtrack'' CD (Guerrilla Monster Films, 2003, No. 12300)
track: "Medication"
* ''Superfuzz'' CD (Lowfly Records, 2005, LF 061)
track: "I'll Cry"
* ''Static Disaster The U.K.: In The Red Records Sampler'' CD (In the Red, 2005, ITR 1313)
track: "Drowning"
* '' Daddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos'' (The Wind / Norton Records, 2010, TWR002 LP)
track: "Mind Over Matter"