The Notorious Cherry Bombs, originally called The Cherry Bombs, was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

supergroup founded by singer-songwriter

Rodney Crowell Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album '' Diamonds & Dirt''. ...

in 1980. A former member of

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

's Hot Band, Crowell picked several former Hot Band members as his backing band, which he named The Cherry Bombs. They made their debut as Rodney's backing band on his 1980 album ''But What Will the Neighbors Think''. Although they served as Crowell's backing band for several years, The Cherry Bombs did not record an album of their own until a 2004 reunion (at which point "Notorious" had been added to the band's name). The album, also titled ''

The Notorious Cherry Bombs The Notorious Cherry Bombs, originally called The Cherry Bombs, was an American country music supergroup founded by singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell in 1980. A former member of Emmylou Harris's Hot Band, Crowell picked several former Hot Band membe ...

'', produced a hit on the country music charts in "It's Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night That Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long".

The Cherry Bombs

Rodney Crowell was a founding member of country singer

's Hot Band; when he began his own solo career in the early 1980s, Crowell picked several former Hot Band members as his backing band, whom he named The Cherry Bombs. The initial members comprised

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist b ...

(

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

Hank DeVito Henry M. "Hank" DeVito is an American musician and photographer known primarily for his pedal steel guitar work and songwriting. Biography After high school, DeVito attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He studied graphic arts and ...

(

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

Emory Gordy Jr. Emory Lee Gordy Jr. (born December 25, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter and music producer. A former member of Emmylou Harris' backing band The Hot Band, he is best known for his association with country singer Patty Loveless, to whom ...

(

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

), Richard Bennett (

), Tony Brown (

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

), and

Larrie Londin Ralph Gallant (October 15, 1943 − August 24, 1992), better known by the stage name Larrie Londin, was an American drummer and session musician. According to journalist James Byron Fox, "If not the best known, Larrie is one of the most listene ...

(

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 ...

). As The Cherry Bombs, the band backed both Crowell and

Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, Johnny Cash's first wife. Although she is often classified as a country art ...

, to whom Crowell was married at the time. After Crowell and Cash divorced, the band's members began leaving. Gill began a solo career in country music in the late 1980s, while Brown became a record producer for

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

. Londin died from a heart attack in 1992. Gordy married country singer

Patty Loveless Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing her first recording contract with MCA Records' Nashville division in 1985. While her first ...

and served as her producer, while Bennett and DeVito found work as studio musicians.

Return as The Notorious Cherry Bombs

In 2003, several of the former members of The Cherry Bombs, including Gill and Crowell, re-united. Emory Gordy Jr. opted not to participate in the reunited group, which by then comprised

Eddie Bayers Eddie Bayers (born January 28, 1949) is an American session drummer who has played on 300 gold and platinum albums. He received the Academy of Country Music 'Drummer of the Year Award' for fourteen years, has three times won the Nashville Music ...

(drums), Richard Bennett (electric guitar,

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

cavaquinho The cavaquinho (pronounced in Portuguese) is a small Portuguese string instrument in the European guitar family, with four wires or gut strings. More broadly, ''cavaquinho'' is the name of a four-stringed subdivision of the lute family of instr ...

(steel guitar,

Dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

), Tony Brown (piano, keyboards), John Hobbs (piano, keyboards), and Michael Rhodes (bass guitar), with Gill and Crowell alternating as lead singers. A year later, the band was signed to a record deal with

Universal South Records Show Dog Nashville is an American independent record label specializing in country music artists. It was founded in 2005 by singer Toby Keith. It was later merged with Universal South Records into Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009 until ...

to record their first album as an actual band. Due to legal concerns, the band was renamed The Notorious Cherry Bombs. Their self-titled album produced a minor hit on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts that year in "It's Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night That Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long". This was followed by "Let It Roll, Let It Ride" which failed to chart. Also included on the album was "

Making Memories of Us "Making Memories of Us" is a song written by American country music artist Rodney Crowell that has been recorded by several artists. The first version was recorded by American country music artist Tracy Byrd on his 2003 album '' The Truth About Me ...

", which had previously been recorded by

Tracy Byrd Tracy Lynn Byrd (born December 17, 1966) is an American country music artist. Signed to Universal Music Group Nashville, MCA Nashville Records in 1992, Byrd broke through on the country music scene that year with his 1993 single "Holdin' Heaven" ...

and would later become a Number One hit when

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...

released his own version in 2005. After the release of their second single, The Notorious Cherry Bombs disbanded again, and Crowell and Gill resumed their solo careers.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

Vince Gill official websiteRodney Crowell official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Notorious Cherry Bombs American country music groups American supergroups Musical groups established in 1980 Show Dog-Universal Music artists Country music supergroups