Above: Jakob Dylan and Stuart Mathis of The Wallflowers performing in Minnesota in 2014
The Wallflowers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Origin Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres Alternative rock, roots rock
The Wallflowers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1989 by singer-songwriter Jakob Dylan and guitarist Tobi Miller. The band has gone through a number of personnel changes but has remained centered on Dylan.
After releasing their eponymous debut album in 1992, the Wallflowers released what would become their best-known and highest-selling album, Bringing Down the Horse in 1996, which featured songs such as “One Headlight” and “6th Avenue Heartache”. They went on to release an additional three albums before going on a 7-year hiatus, beginning in 2006. In 2012, the Wallflowers reunited to release their sixth studio album, Glad All Over.
The Wallflowers have won two Grammy awards: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Rock Song for their song “One Headlight” in 1998. “One Headlight” is also listed at #58 in Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Pop Songs.
The Wallflowers’ inception came in 1988/1989 when singer-guitarist Jakob Dylan called his childhood friend, Tobi Miller, also a guitarist, about starting a band. Dylan and Miller had been in several bands together in high school but went their separate ways upon graduation. Dylan had moved to New York City to go to art school while Miller had started his own band called the 45’s. After the 45’s broke up in 1989, Miller regained contact with Dylan and they began forming a new band called the Apples. Barrie Maguire, who was in the 45’s with Miller, joined the band as their bass player. In 1990, Peter Yanowitz was added as the drummer. The final member to join the group was keyboardist Rami Jaffee. Jaffee was an active member of the Los Angeles music scene and had been playing with multiple bands in the area. He met Dylan in 1990 in the Kibitz Room, a bar located in the back of a Jewish deli called Canter’s on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. He had heard the Apples were looking for an organ player and after meeting and talking with Dylan in the Kibitz Room, the two headed for Dylan’s car to listen to the band’s demo tape. Jaffee was impressed by the songs and asked to join in on the band’s next rehearsal. After a long rehearsal session, Jaffee joined the band on the spot.
The Apples changed their name to the Wallflowers and began playing clubs around Los Angeles, specifically the Sunset Strip, such as the Whisky a Go Go, Gazzarri’s and the Viper Room. While they were playing clubs the band was also sending their demo tape to record companies and figures within the music industry. One of those tapes caught the attention of Andrew Slater, who would eventually become the Wallflowers’ manager. Slater brought the Wallflowers to Virgin Records, who signed the band to a record contract. The Wallflowers then set out to make their first album. However, finding a producer who was willing to work with them proved to be difficult. The band was intent on recording live and few producers were willing to produce that way. Paul Fox eventually stepped in and agreed to produce the album. By the time the Wallflowers got into the studio in 1991, they had a small catalog of songs they had been performing live which they wanted to record for their debut album. All of the songs were written by Dylan with the rest of the band members contributing input on the music. When in the studio, the band were intent on using as little recording equipment as possible. Dylan explained: “If I could have had it my way I would not have seen a microphone or a cable anywhere.” When it came to recording, the songs were drawn out past the 3 to 4 minute norm; many songs were close to 5 minutes in length with two exceeding 7 minutes. The Wallflowers finished recording and released their debut album on August 25, 1992. After the release they began touring nationwide as an opening act for bands such as the Spin Doctors and 10,000 Maniacs.
The Wallflowers continued to tour through the first half of 1993 but despite this sales of the album were slow. In total, 40,000 copies were sold.[7] Reviews for the album, however, were mostly positive. Rolling Stone gave the album 4 stars calling it, “one sweet debut” and describing Dylan’s songwriting as “impressive.” Great reviews notwithstanding, executives at Virgin Records were reportedly not pleased with the album’s lack of commercial success. Around this time, the company was going through a shift in management which led to the removal of Jeff Ayeroff and Jordan Harris, the two people who initially brought the Wallflowers to Virgin. After Ayeroff and Harris left the company the Wallflowers began to feel that they had no future with Virgin and asked to be released from their contract. The split with Virgin has been regarded as mutual. By mid-1993 the Wallflowers were without a record label.
After leaving Virgin, the Wallflowers went back to playing Los Angeles clubs in hopes of getting signed with another label. The band found it difficult to even get label representatives to come to their shows. In the year it took to get another record deal the Wallflowers gained and lost several band members. Bass player Barrie Maguire was asked to leave for undisclosed reasons in early 1993. The Wallflowers continued playing shows with replacement bass player Jimmie Snider until May 1993 when the band hired Greg Richling. Dylan and Richling went to high school together. The Wallflowers continued to play club shows in Los Angeles through early 1994 when drummer Peter Yanowitz left the band to join his girlfriend Natalie Merchant’s band. Interestingly, Yanowitz brought in Barrie Maguire to help record Merchant’s debut solo album, Tigerlily. Around the time of Yanowitz’s departure the Wallflowers caught the attention of Jimmy Iovine and Tom Whalley of Interscope Records, who then signed the band to their label in 1994.
2011–present: Glad All Over
On November 1, 2011 Jakob Dylan announced that the Wallflowers would be reuniting to release an album, explaining: “I never suggested we were breaking up. We all felt we were losing the plot a bit and we needed a break. And that year break becomes two years, then becomes three years, and before you know it five or six years go by pretty quickly. I can’t do what I do in the Wallflowers without them. I miss it. In an interview with the St. Joseph News-Press, Dylan stated that the Wallflowers would be getting into the studio in January and the lineup would include Greg Richling on bass, Rami Jaffee on keys, Stuart Mathis on guitar and Fred Eltringham on drums. However, weeks before the Wallflowers began recording, Eltringham left the band to pursue other projects. The band quickly got former Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons to join the band. Irons was previously involved in a side project with Wallflowers bassist Richling.
On January 20, 2012 the Wallflowers began recording their sixth studio album, Glad All Over at The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye studio in Nashville. Jay Joyce, who had played guitar on the Wallflowers’ Bringing Down the Horse agreed to produce the album. Before going to the studio, the band had decided have a more callaborative writing process than they had in the past. Instead of Dylan bringing in fully completed songs like he had done in the past, he only brought lyrics. Dylan and the rest of the band wrote the music for the songs together in the studio. Joyce explained: “Jakob came to Nashville and we sat down and I asked him to play me a song, but instead he pulled out this 2-inch-thick notebook. ‘This is what I’ve got. Let’s play some grooves and throw it around.’ I thought, ‘Wow, that’s kind of scary, but it’s exciting.’ So we didn’t really know going in what we were going to do. We had no songs, no demos. It was all developed in the studio. The band finished recording on February 20, 2012.
At a private solo performance in New York on April 19, 2012, Dylan announced that the new Wallflowers album was expected to be released in fall later that year. On July 14, 2012, the Wallflowers announced that the title of their new album would be Glad All Over. They also announced that the album’s first single, “Reboot the Mission” would be available for free download from their website.
Following several one-off shows in the summer of 2012, the Wallflowers kicked off a fall tour in San Diego on September 8, 2012. From there they continued to tour the U.S. and Canada through mid-November, playing a mix of clubs and festivals, with an additional four East Coast dates at the end of December.
Glad All Over was released on October 9, 2012 on Columbia Records and was met with generally positive reviews. Leading up to the album’s release, the Wallflowers promoted the album on various television shows including Good Morning America, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Late Show with David Letterman and Ellen.
On November 19, 2012, the Wallflowers announced that they would be opening for Eric Clapton on his arena tour in the Spring of 2013. The tour with Clapton began on March 14, 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona at the US Airways Center and continued through the South and East Coast, eventually coming to an end on April 6, 2013 in Pittsburgh at the Consol Energy Center.
After the Clapton tour, the Wallflowers played several additional shows of their own in May 2013. On May 12, however, the band’s longtime keyboardist Rami Jaffee played what would be his final show with the Wallflowers to date in Napa, California. Jaffee has yet to say whether he has officially quit the Wallflowers but has continued to record and tour with the Foo Fighters.
The Wallflowers continued to tour through the summer of 2013 and played their final show of the summer on August 17 at the River Roots Live Festival in Davenport, Iowa to a crowd of 17,000 people. This would turn out to be longtime bassist Greg Richling’s and drummer Jack Irons’ final show with the Wallflowers. On September 8, Richling officially announced that he was leaving the Wallflowers after 20 years with the band. Jack Irons announced he was leaving soon after, on September 15. Richling and Irons reportedly left to focus on the band they were both in called Arthur Channel, who released their debut album on October 15, 2013.[73] The Wallflowers have continued to play shows since 2013 with a new drummer, bass player, guitar player, and keyboardist filling in for Irons, Richling, Mathis, and Jaffee.
In May 2016, the Wallflowers’ 1996 album Bringing Down the Horse was reissued on vinyl for the first time in honor of the 20th anniversary of the album’s release.
Band members
Current members
Jakob Dylan – lead vocals & guitar (1989–present)
Past members
Tobi Miller – guitar (1989–1995)
Barrie Maguire – bass (1989–1993)
Peter Yanowitz – drums (1990–1994)
Rami Jaffee – keyboards (1990–2013)
Greg Richling – bass (1993–2013)
Mario Calire – drums (1995–2003)
Michael Ward – guitar (1995–2001)
Fred Eltringham – drums (2003–2011)
Jack Irons – drums (2012–2013)
Stuart Mathis – guitar (2005-2014
The Wallflowers discography
Studio albums
Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
1992 The Wallflowers
Release date: August 25, 1992
Label: Virgin Records
— — — —
1996 Bringing Down the Horse
Release date: May 21, 1996
Label: Interscope Records
4 1 6 58
US: 4× Platinum[3]
2000 (Breach)
Release date: October 10, 2000
Label: Interscope Records
13 — 9 161
US: Gold[3]
2002 Red Letter Days
Release date: November 5, 2002
Label: Interscope Records
32 — — —
2005 Rebel, Sweetheart
Release date: May 24, 2005
Label: Interscope Records
40 — — —
2012 Glad All Over
Release date: October 2, 2012
Label: Columbia Records
48 — — —
“—” denotes releases that did not chart