The Dharma Bums were a U.S. garage band in the best traditions of the MC5 and early 80s college-rock bands such as Rain Parade and R.E.M. The band's members were Jim, John, Jeremy, The author, and Eric They named themselves after the Jack Kerouac book The Dharma Bums. They formed in 1987 in Portland, Oregon, by members of two local bands, the The_Watchmen and Perfect Circle (no connection, other than by name, with the later bands The Watchmen or A Perfect Circle). The first album, Haywire, was produced by Scott McCaughey (lead singer of the Young Fresh Fellows) and recorded for the PopLlama label in 1989. McCaughey later played their debut to Frontier Records boss Lisa Fancher, who was impressed enough to re-release the album. One of the tracks, "Boots Of Leather", proved to be an enduring college radio hit. In 1990 the more polished album Bliss was released on Frontier Records. Featuring greatly improved songwriting, it covered subjects from rape and adolescence to suicide, in a mature fashion built on ragged rock textures. The Dharma Bums recorded their third and final album Welcome for the Tim/Kerr label in 1991, and disbanded in 1992. Wilson went on to form the alt-rock band Pilot. Some biographers, as Melissa Rossi, author of Courtney Love: Queen of Noise (ISBN 0-671-00038-1), claim that Dharma Bums was Courtney Love's favorite Portland band. Many in the local Portland scene had expected Dharma Bums to be the big breakthrough "alternative" act of the Northwest music scene. Instead, of course, Nirvana was the breakthrough act of the genre. Nirvana, the grunge band, not the state of mind, was a frequent opening act for these guys.
Discography
- Haywire (1989)
- Bliss (1990)
- Welcome (1991)
External links
- Dharma Bums entry on allmusic.com
- SATYRICOM ...THE ALBUM is a tribute to the defunct Portland nightclub.
