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Steve Turner
- Texas A&M University Press
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Steve Turner If three and four were seven only, where would that leave one and two? If love can be and still be lonely, where does that leave me and you? —TVZ, “Buckskin Stallion Blues,” from At My Window S ome say Mudhoney begat grunge rock.1 At least, the Seattle quartet played an important role in developing the early 1990s movement. While bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden , and Alice in Chains earned national recognition for pioneering theform, whichmixeselements ofpunk, rockand roll, and heavymetal, many music critics and insiders consider Mudhoney to be as significant an influence. “I think Mudhoney records will always sound like MudSteve Turner, London Astoria, London, England, May 30, 2004 136 I’ll Be Here In THe MornInG honeyrecords,whichsoundlikeStoogesrecords,”PearlJamleadsinger Eddie Vedder says, “which will last until the end of time.” Although its origin remains debatable, some credit Mudhoney singer Mark Arm with coining the term “grunge.”2 In 1988, Arm and guitarist Steve Turner left the regionally influential groupGreenRivertoformMudhoney.Theband’sraucousshows,which included stage diving, slam dancing, and other “shenanigans and craziness ,” established its name throughout the Northwest.3 Mudhoney’s signature combination of heavy blues and punk rock backed by Turner’s heavily distorted guitar fortified its early Sub Pop Records releases Superfuzz Bigmuff (1988), Mudhoney (1989), and Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (1991). They were reluctant to sign with major labels during this time. “The majors went around saying, ‘What’s the next best Mudhoney ?’” says bassist John Leighton of The Thrown Ups, a side project with Turner. “It was Nirvana.”4 Nirvana’smajor-labelbreakthroughNevermind(1991)instantlyframed singer Kurt Cobain as the international representative of grunge rock. Meanwhile, Mudhoney signed to Reprise Records and released four albums, including Piece of Cake (1992) and Tomorrow Hit Today (1998), to decidedly less mainstream fanfare. The band returned to Sub Pop with the record Since We’ve Become Translucent (2002).5 Longtime Townes Van Zandt enthusiast Steve Turner, born March 28, 1965,inHouston,Texas,andMudhoneyrecordedVanZandt’s“Buckskin Stallion Blues” with legendary Texas singer-songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore as a one-off project with Sub Pop during the band’s major-label tenure. The split-single EP Mudhoney/Jimmie Dale Gilmore (1994) features “Buckskin Stallion Blues” as its centerpiece, surrounded by the musiciansperformingbothcountryandrockversionsofMudhoney ’s“Blinging Sun” and Gilmore’s “Tonight I Think I’m Gonna Go Downtown.” Townes Van Zandt reportedly was proud to be recognized by popular youngerartists.“I’mthemold,”hesaid,“thatgrungewasgrownin.”6 In turn, Van Zandt’s impact on Turner was significant. “The first time I saw Townes was with Mickey Newbury and Guy Clark, which in retrospect [3.16.83.150] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 22:19 GMT) STeVe Turner 137 was more than anyone could hope for,” Turner says. “At the time, I just wanted those other two guys to shut up and let Townes sing.”7 Another leading grunge band, Sonic Youth, played a role in Van Zandt’s final days, as the band’s drummer, Steve Shelley, oversaw Van Zandt’slastrecordingsessionatMemphis’sEasleyStudiosinDecember 1996.TheunreleasedsessionsforGeffenRecordsreportedlyweredisastrous , with a wheelchair-bound Van Zandt suffering from a broken hip anddeepinthethroesofalcoholism,buthemanagedtocutafewtracks, including “Harm’s Swift Way,” perhaps his last composition. Former Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant, who recorded Van Zandt’s song “Nothin’” on his Grammy-winning country-roots collaboration with singer Alison Krauss, Raising Sand (2007), included a version of “Harm’s Swift Way” on his Grammy-nominated album Band of Joy (2010).8 “Another reason why I shouldn’t write another song,” Plant says of “Harm’s Swift Way.” “There’s such a wearisome thing about it. Every one of [Van Zandt’s] songs is a landscape for a book. What goes with that is a short time span, by the looks of it. You get too close to the sun. Maybe that’s thecourageousway.Songwriterssometimesgetoldandspendtoomuch time in the supermarket buying health-food stuff.”9 • • • Steve Turner I stumbled upon Townes in a thrift store. I was getting into a lot of ’60s folk and saw one of his records. He had the proper look of a folkie and was standing in a New York City doorway with some dirty hippies making out next to him. Perfect. I picked it up. I had me a new, sweet lady, and by the end of “Nothin’,” Townes was our new favorite, next to Rudimentary Peni, of course. I spent the next few years searching out the rest of Townes’s records. It could be said I was a bit obsessed...