Article: San Francisco, California, U.S.
Palm Desert, California, U.S.
Big Brother and the Holding Company J. P. Pickens and the Progressive Bluegrass Boys
James Martin Gurley (December 22, 1939 – December 20, 2009) was an American musician. He is best known as the principal lead guitarist of Big Brother and the Holding Company, a psychedelic/acid rock band from San Francisco which was fronted by singer Janis Joplin from 1966 to 1968.
Early life
Gurley was born in Detroit, Michigan. He taught himself to play the guitar when he was nineteen. He spent four years at Detroit's Catholic Brothers of the Holy Cross, studying to be a priest.
1960s–1970s
He and his wife Nancy moved to San Francisco in 1962. He played with JP Pickens and the Progressive Bluegrass Boys for a time. He joined Big Brother and the Holding Company in 1965. His fearlessly wild guitar playing made the band's reputation for "far-out" psychedelic experimentation. He said it developed from his admiration of John Coltrane's barrier-breaking saxophone solos.
With Joplin's departure, Big Brother and the Holding Company briefly disbanded in 1968, but a new lineup including Gurley and the other three original members (Sam Andrew, Peter Albin, and Dave Getz) reunited from 1969 to 1972.
In 1969, Nancy Gurley died of a heroin overdose. Gurley was charged with murder for injecting the drugs, and spent two years fighting the charges before being sentenced to probation. He remarried and had another child in 1972.
Later years
In 1978 Gurley started a band with his son Hongo on drums, featuring then girlfriend "Red" Robin Reed on rhythm guitar/lead vocals and Jim Holt ("Jerome") on lead psychedelic rock saxophone and vocals. As he did in later incarnations of Big Brother and the Holding Company, James added his distinctive bass lines and vocals; he also engineered and mixed the band's recordings. The band became Red Robin and the Worms, a psychedelic-edged early new wave, punk and reggae-flavored group, playing all originals. Later Dennis Franklin joined as lead guitar, contributing new songs and singing some lead vocals. Dennis later left to pursue a solo career. After auditioning guitarists, Mitch McKendry aka Mitch Master was asked to join and take over lead guitar.
Big Brother and the Holding Company again reunited in 1987 with original members Gurley, Sam Andrew, Peter Albin, and Dave Getz.
In May 1997, Gurley switched to a solo career. His first CD entitled Saint James – Pipe Dreams included two members of the Worms, Mitch McKendry and Hongo Gurley. St James – Pipe Dreams was released in January 2000.
After finding a long-forgotten live 4-track recording of Janis Joplin playing acoustic guitar and singing in a Bay Area venue, Gurley laboriously added drums, bass and whatever other instrumentation he deemed the songs needed and released it as a CD This is Janis Joplin. Shortly afterwards, he was contacted by someone speaking for Joplin's estate and told to desist.
Gurley, with fellow members of Big Brother, played at the induction ceremony for Joplin at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. He reunited with the band in the Bay Area at a concert for Chet Helms.
Gurley recorded and appeared with new age drummer and percussionist Muruga Booker for many years. They recorded the album Big Huge in October 2009, two months prior to Gurley's death.
Gurley died on December 20, 2009, from a heart attack at his home in Palm Desert, California, two days before his 70th birthday. His wife, Margaret, survived him, as did his two sons, Django and Hongo.
References External links
Spörke, Michael. Living with the myth of Janis Joplin: The History of Big Brother & the Holding Co.. LULU Press. .
[ Allmusic: James Gurley]
Interview with PT Quinn from the year 2000 |
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He
never had a guitar lesson in his life. Everything he learned, he learned by ear.
He played by using what he describes as the "emotional approach". This approach,
unschooled and undisciplined, earned him the title, "Father of Psychedelic Guitar".
James Gurley was born in
Detroit, Michigan on December 22, 1939. As a boy, he sometimes worked with his
father who was a stunt car driver. Occasionally, this work entailed performing
as a "human hood ornament" with a helmet as his father speed through a flaming
plywood wall. At
the age of nineteen James took up the guitar and began practicing long hours while
listening to old Lightin' Hopkins records. Sometimes he would shut himself in
a closet, with a stethoscope taped to his guitar and experiment with various techniques.
In
the early sixties he moved to San Francisco and became part of the coffee-house
circuit, playing in the folk and country blues tradition. For a time, he played
with JP Pickens and the Progressive Bluegrass Boys.
In
the summer of 1965, Chet Helms brought James to 1090 Page Street to meet Peter
Albin and Sam Andrew. James proved to be the missing component to the embryonic
Big Brother and the Holding Company.
A
charismatic figure, James immediately developed a large and devoted following.
Many came to the Big Brother shows simply to experience his loud and passionate
guitar playing. James was looked upon by his fans as something of a spiritual
leader. His
innovative trailblazing style did not go unnoticed by his contemporaries in San
Francisco. Mickey Hart first heard James playing in the Matrix in 1966. Hart remembers;
"I'd never seen anything like it. It was magnificent, the best solo I'd ever heard.
The amplifier was just pulsing on the floor". Barry Melton said, "James Gurley
was the first man in space! He's the Yury Gagarin of Psychedelic guitar".
James
was a fusionist in the truest sense of the word. Along with his "weird" blend
of blues, country, western and jazz, James employed a finger picking style that
he used all the way through the Cheap Thrills sessions. With his guitar mate Sam
Andrew, they produced some of the best Psychedelic guitar solos in history. Guitar
Player magazine recently listed James' and Sam's work on "Summertime" as one of
the top ten Psychedelic solos.
Along
with his work with Big Brother, James has been involved in a number of independent
projects. He has recorded with New Age drummer, Muruga and has also been actively
involved in writing and recording some very innovative solo work. In May of 1997
James stopped touring with Big Brother to devote his full attention to these projects.
The first offering is entitled "Pipe Dreams" and was released in January of 2000.
Now,
more than thirty-five years after introducing his pioneering style, James is still
a marvel and a mystery to watch. One recent concert goer noted; "I love loud weird
guitar a la Hendrix, Santana and so on, and on that night what James was doing
completely floored me. I have no idea what he was doing to make those sounds.
Incredible!" But what else would one expect from the "Father of Psychedelic Guitar".
biography by Todd Bolton Web
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