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Wino Wednesday: Spirit Caravan, Jug Fulla Sun in Full

Posted in Bootleg Theater on July 3rd, 2013 by JJ Koczan

If you were to ask me, “Hey dude, how come you haven’t had Jug Fulla Sun for Wino Wednesday yet?” I’d have a simple answer: Because it’s not on YouTube. It’s been 94 weeks since I started this feature — Wino Wednesday #100 approacheth! — and until very recently, there were clips of Spirit Caravan‘s ultra-classic 1999 debut, individual songs and live versions, but the album front to back had yet to make its way to the interwebs. Finally, though, the golden rays of day can clear out all the poison jive — Jug Fulla Sun is available in full.

Released just before the century turned on Joe Lally of Fugazi‘s Tolotta Records imprint and just begging for a reissue through Southern Lord or some likewise worthy outlet — maybe a Burning World Records 180 gram LP with accompanying CD to coincide with a hypothetical Roadburn 2014 reunion set? Just sayin’, that would rule — Jug Fulla Sun is one of the most pivotal American stoner rock albums ever, and the trio of Scott “Wino” Weinrich (guitar/vocals), Dave Sherman (bass/backing vocals) and Gary Isom (drums) were years ahead of their time in their ability to construct a laid back feel that was also righteously heavy. The combination of Sherman‘s bottom end and Wino‘s riffing is one that has set a template for US heavy most bands can only dream of living up to, and songs like “Dead Love/Jug Fulla Sun,” the catchy “Cosmic Artifact,” “Fang” and “Kill Ugly Naked” — originally an Obsessed track from one of their earlier demos — gave Jug Fulla Sun a diverse personality unified by the band’s largely unmatched chemistry.

Of course, the story of Wino‘s career is one of transience, so Spirit Caravan‘s time came and went. They followed Jug Fulla Sun with the Dreamwheel EP on MeteorCity later in ’99, and the Elusive Truth full-length in 2001, and wrapped their tenure with the So Mortal Be single in 2002 and 2003’s The Last Embrace compilation as Wino moved forward with The Hidden Hand, Sherman made Earthride (who released their first EP in 2000) his first priority, and Isom played in Nitroseed, Valkyrie and Pentagram before reuniting with Sherman in Weed is Weed, playing guitar on the band’s Blunt Force Trauma (get it?) 2013 debut.

But Jug Fulla Sun, like the best of albums, stands as an artifact of a moment that was unto itself. The audio in the stream cut out a bit after the 10-minute mark and came back two minutes later, but I couldn’t decide if that was just me, and either way, it’s still one of the best American heavy albums ever made, so enjoy and have a great Wino Wednesday:

Spirit Caravan, Jug Fulla Sun (1999)

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Wino Wednesday: Spirit Caravan, “Sea Legs” Live in Cleveland, 2000

Posted in Bootleg Theater on June 5th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Happy Wino Wednesday.

About a year ago, I asked former Earthride/Weed is Weed frontman and former Spirit Caravan bassist Dave Sherman to list out his five favorite Spirit Caravan tracks for a special Wino Wednesday post. He did not disappoint, and included in his list was “Sea Legs” from 1999’s classic Jug Fulla Sun debut full-length. Sherman noted in his pick that in the lyrics, Wino was talking about him and drummer Gary Isom with the line, “A well done iguana and a real heavy gnome.”

The line has stuck with me ever since, one of those things that floats in the head and comes and goes, so I decided for this week’s Wino Wednesday to grab a clip of Spirit Caravan doing “Sea Legs” and focus on the lyrics to the song. I didn’t type these out myself, but as you can see, that above quote is far from the only golden line in here. Between the talk of magic crafts and sacred trees, the “two-wheeled sled of molten chrome” and escaping the deluge, it comes through loud and clear that Wino took his motorcycle pretty seriously at the time. Right on.

Here are the words:

Sea Legs
From the warm unknown into the cold beyond
Message of spirit is what’s drivin’ me on
Climbing through the sea
On a magic craft from a sacred tree
Sea legs, earthfin
Bolt and hammer gonna do them in
I’ve got a two-wheeled sled of molten chrome
A well done iguana and a real heavy gnome
Gliding over fear, the opposite of beyond is here
From the paradise driven
To escape the deluge
Revealed the mysteries given
In exchange for refuge
Climbing through the sea
In my side car rides my Atlantean queen
Trick it out!

And here’s Wino, Sherman and Isom performing “Sea Legs” live in Cleveland, Ohio, an astounding 13 years ago. Have a great Wino Wednesday:

Spirit Caravan, “Sea Legs” Live in Cleveland, OH, 2000

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Wino Wednesday: Shine, “No Hope Goat Farm” Live in Washington D.C., 1997

Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 16th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

As Shine, the trio that would soon become Spirit Caravan released a demo tape (want) and a self-titled 7″. The three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Scott “Wino” Weinrich, bassist Dave Sherman and drummer Gary Isom came together in 1995 in the wake of Wino‘s splitting up The Obsessed following the issue of their final studio album, The Church Within, in ’94. Shine was immediately a different kind of band, and throughout the next decade-plus in Spirit Caravan and The Hidden Hand and on into his contributions to Shrinebuilder and Premonition 13, Wino would continue to establish and refine his particular form of heavy, influencing others even as “his sound” seemed always to be changing.

The song “No Hope Goat Farm” — captured live in the video below on April 12, 1997 in Washington D.C. — didn’t appear on either of Shine‘s releases, but would show up as the closer of 1999’s Spirit Caravan debut, Jug Fulla Sun, an album that stands as one of the best heavy records ever made and the touchstone for Wino‘s work post-The Obsessed and Saint Vitus. It’s kind of a rough video, in terms of quality, but one has to remember that HD cameras in cellphones were still a ways off 16 years ago. I’m just happy someone was there to tape the show at all, and when it comes to stuff like this, I consider audio and video fidelity to be a marker of the era. Hopefully you agree.

Looking ahead into 2013, I don’t know what the year will bring for Wino releases. Saint Vitus are touring Europe in the Spring with Mos Generator (awesome) and The Obsessed have been confirmed for Maryland Deathfest in May alongside Pentagram and Pagan Altar and Wino was jamming just this past tour on stage with dudes from Saviours and Nick Oliveri, so whatever comes, there’s plenty in the works for 2013’s Wino Wednesdays and beyond.

Till then, hope you enjoy “No Hope Goat Farm” and have a great Wino Wednesday:

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