Chuck Prophet

Chuck Prophet was formerly a member of the group Green on Red and alongside Dan Stuart that made him a major player in the birth of so-called alternative music in the 80’s – a scene that gave rise to the likes of REM, The Replacements and the Dream Syndicate and who caused many a college kid of that time to skip classes and form bands or even worse start writing florid prose about them.

I should know.

If he disappeared from view after that Prophet’s place in the footnotes of rock history would have been assured.

But no – that was not going to be the end of Chuck Prophet. He had more places in the footnotes of rock history to forge.  To those who have followed his evolution he is one of the most interesting artists going around. To those who haven’t he is probably not thought about a lot.

He’s also got one of the best and funniest websites. www.chuckprophet.com

Go and visit the website and read through his blogs. Read his piece in memory of producer Jim Dickinson – it’s both funny and achingly moving. Read his list of his ten favorite movies.

And have a look at the email he sends his mailing list announcing the release of his new album Let Freedom Ring. It’s a refreshingly honest approach to the age old tradition of hyping a new release:

“We’ve been fair. We’ve been MORE than fair. We streamed the record for free, we
posted YouTube teasers, we’ve booked gigs EVERYWHERE. Gigs in places halfway around the world we can’t even find on a map! In your hometown even. And in my efforts to behave like a well adjusted musician, I even opened a facebook account. Okay, so I closed it down five minutes later but that’s not the point.

We’ve dined you and wined you. There were strip clubs, steak dinners, job recommendations…. Who’d you call when you needed help painting your apartment? (You know who you are).

We’re getting used to walking down the street people giving us high fives. So please, don’t lay some rhetoric on us you cribbed from some stupid airport book your dad gave you written by some dweeb editor of Wired magazine. Pah-leese!! We’ve heard it all. CD’s are too expensive! Vinyl is warmer! Corporate America! Global warming!

Boo hoo!

How much did you pay for that jesusPhone? How much for that second Ritual cappuccino? We’re not going to insult your intelligence with indecipherable “bundles” or “Deluxe Packaging”. What are you, TWELVE? We know we’re not talking to nameless trolls here. We know you’re too smart for that. You ARE smart! You signed up for this list didn’t you?

Here’s the deal: ¡Let Freedom Ring! is out today. Now…. Put. That coffee. Down.
HAVE YOU MADE YOUR DECISION FOR CHRIST?”

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The album about which he speaks is the latest in a long line of great records. Let Freedom Ring was made in Mexico and in keeping with Prophet’s penchant for being in the wrong place at the wrong time it was made during the initial swine flu revelation.

“I found a studio in Mexico that was state of the art for 1958. In today’s economy, that had its appeal. In terms of perspective, I was writing that album just as the bottom was falling out of the wet sack of the American dream. We didn’t really go for mariachi horns, but we were hoping to feed off the energy there. It’s a city that hustles and bustles and vibrates beneath your feet. I thought, ‘With these songs, why not?’

So who exactly is this great man?

What does Wikipedia say?

Chuck Prophet was born in Whittier, California to a non-musical family. Chuck’s father appears briefly in the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle. After one E.P. and eight albums with Green On Red, he released his first solo record Brother Aldo on Fire Records (UK) in 1990. He has worked as a sideman or session musician with many artists. These include Bob Neuwirth, Kelly Willis, Aimee Mann, Warren Zevon, Jonathan Richman, Lucinda Williams and Cake. He has frequently collaborated with songwriter Dan Penn and Dickinson.

Chuck was signed to New West Records by Peter Jesperson in 2002 after the label promised to pay off his touring van. Chuck made two records for New West: No Other Love and Age of Miracles. After years of mostly European and UK success, 2002’s No Other Love was a breakthrough record for Chuck stateside thanks to the summer single “Summertime Thing” and endorsements from Lucinda Williams, who gave Chuck the opening slot for her summer tour.

The song “No Other Love” was recorded by the rock group Heart at the suggestion of Cameron Crowe. It was also featured in an episode of the television series The L Word, and the film P.S. I Love You.

Chuck parted with New West Records in 2005 after a restaurant tab argument involving an extra order of garlic bread.

Known for his guitar style, which follows in the tradition of such players as Keith Richards and Alex Chilton, Prophet has been recording solo efforts since the late 1980s. Recorded in San Francisco and Nashville, 2007′s Soap and Water received critical praise. Prophet toured Europe and North America in support of the album and appeared with his band on The Late Show With David Letterman, and Last Call with Carson Daly.

Prophet has contributed to several Kelly Willis records, and produced 2007′s Translated From Love for Rykodisc. Willis and Prophet co-wrote six of the albums tracks and Prophet played guitar throughout.

Prophet has released a limited-edition work entitled Dreaming Waylon’s Dreams, which he recorded in San Francisco. The record re-creates Waylon Jennings’ 1975 country album Dreaming My Dreams in its entirety and features among others, members of American Music Club, and Meat Beat Manifesto.

In 2008 Prophet co-wrote Alejandro Escovedo’s Real Animal, to which he also contributed guitar and vocals.

Raisins in the Sun was a one-off collaboration with Jules Shear, Harvey Brooks, Paul Q. Kolderie, Jim Dickinson, Sean Slade, and Winston Watson, recorded in May 1999 and released by Rounder Records two years later.

Chuck appears as an actor playing The Connection in Revolution Summer, a film directed by Miles Matthew Montalbano and produced by Jonathan Richman.

Chuck contributed “You Did” (bomp shooby doobie bomp) as the theme song to the “smart, original, and horrifically funny” Teeth (film). Chuck’s song Love Won’t Keep Us Apart is featured in the FX program Sons of Anarchy.

“You Did” was also featured in the closing credits of the HBO series True Blood episode “Keep This Party Going” (S02E02).

In May 2009, Prophet along with a cast of characters including Ernest “Boom” Carter headed to Mexico City to record a collection of “political songs for non political people”.

The “Mission Express” is a bus line that runs through Chuck’s neighborhood and is the name of Chuck’s current band.

The lineup:

*Stephie Finch: (singing, Vox organ)
*Kevin White: (bass guitar)
*Todd Roper: (drums, vocals)
*James Deprato: (guitar, lap steel)

Albums
* Brother Aldo (1990)
* Balinese Dancer (1992)
* Feast of Hearts (1995)
* Homemade Blood (1997)
* The Hurting Business (1999)
* Turn the Pigeons Loose (2002)
* No Other Love (2002)
* Age of Miracles (2004)
* Soap and Water (2007)
* Dreaming Waylon’s Dreams (2007)
* Let Freedom Ring (2009)