The Black Gang was the trio

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...

formed in 1997 to record and tour behind his second solo album, ''

Contemplating The Engine Room ''Contemplating the Engine Room'' is a punk rock opera by Minutemen veteran Mike Watt. Released in 1997, the album is a punk rock song cycle that uses navy life as an extended metaphor for both Watt's family history and his first band, the Min ...

'' (

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, 1997). Of all of the "project" (semi-temporary) bands that he has formed since the disbanding of Firehose in 1994, The Black Gang (named after

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...

for sailors who work on a

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

's or

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

engine room On a ship, the engine room (ER) is the compartment where the machinery for marine propulsion is located. To increase a vessel's safety and chances of surviving damage, the machinery necessary for the ship's operation may be segregated into vari ...

) has gone through the most permutations of any of Watt's backing groups. For the recording of the album in May 1997, Watt tapped guitarist

Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been the guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has w ...

(whom he had recorded and toured with on his previous solo album, ''

Ball-Hog or Tugboat? ''Ball-Hog or Tugboat?'' is the 1995 debut solo album by American musician Mike Watt, previously known for his work as the bass guitarist and songwriter for the punk rock groups Minutemen and fIREHOSE. The title references the difference bet ...

'') and sometime

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

drummer Stephen Hodges. Commitments with the

Geraldine Fibbers The Geraldine Fibbers were an alt-country band founded in 1994 by Carla Bozulich. Initially, band members included Bozulich, Daniel Keenan, Julie Fowells, William Tutton and Kevin Fitzgerald.Strong, Martin C.:"The Great Alternative & Indie Discog ...

kept Cline from touring with Watt for most of the tour, and Watt hired

Joe Baiza Joe Baiza (born January 11, 1952) is a punk rock and jazz guitarist whom Eugene Chadbourne cites as one of the most noteworthy guitarists to emerge from the Southern California punk rock milieu. Career Baiza is a founding member of the bands S ...

to replace him. Watt's longtime soundman since Firehose, Steve Reed, was officially added to the touring lineup as well. Reed sang backing vocals from behind the mixing board and played sound effects for some of the songs (via a CD-R), in addition to his normal sound engineering duties. A one-time five-member version of the band with both Cline and Baiza playing guitar along with Watt, Hodges and Reed, played a one-off gig in Long Beach in 1998 that was recorded and later released as bonus download-only tracks on the 20th Anniversary vinyl release of ''...Engine Room'' and as a separate digital-only album, ''Contemplating the Engine Room: Live at Jillian's, Long Beach '98 - Five-Man Opera''. Hodges left the band for other commitments and was replaced by Bob Lee in 1998, starting with a spring European tour. Baiza then departed The Black Gang after some work-related conflicts with Watt; Cline was by then able to rejoin the band for one last tour leg behind the album. To mark the occasion, Cline composed a new song, "

This is a Prayer This may refer to: * ''This'', the singular proximal demonstrative pronoun Places * This, or ''Thinis'', an ancient city in Upper Egypt * This, Ardennes, a commune in France People with the surname * Hervé This, French culinary chemist Arts, e ...

", which was debuted during his tour stint, and later immortalized on a 7" EP released on the

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally know ...

label. After retiring the piece, Watt continued to play some gigs with the Cline/Lee Black Gang lineup. An intention by Watt to record a new album with this lineup was derailed by a near-fatal illness Watt suffered in January 2000, which would inspire his next solo album, ''

The Secondman's Middle Stand ''The Secondman's Middle Stand'' was Mike Watt's third solo album and the first full-length recording that he had made under his own name since the release of '' Contemplating The Engine Room'' in 1997. The storyline for the nine-track album par ...

''. Watt and Cline frequently play together as members of the improvisational jazz/punk ensemble

Banyan A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

, in between Cline's commitments with

Wilco Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently d ...

and as a solo artist, and Watt's own schedule with Iggy Pop & The Stooges and as a solo act. Watt reformed the Nels Cline/Bob Lee version of The Black Gang for a new album, recorded in 2009 in a marathon three-day recording session. The album has yet to be released but was originally set for a 2015 release on Watt's own clenchedwrench label. Watt and Hodges reunited when the latter was tapped to play drums with mssv, replacing

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America".Howard Sounes. ''Down ...

who had recorded with Watt and Mike Baggetta on the album '' Wall of Flowers'' but was averse to touring.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Gang, The Punk rock groups from California Mike Watt Musical groups from Los Angeles