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The Afghan Whigs
The Afghan Whigs are an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Originally active
from 1986 to 2001, they have since reformed. The group – with core members Greg Dulli,
Rick McCollum, and John Curley – rose up around the grunge movement, evolving
from a garage band in the vein of the Replacements to incorporate more R&B
and soul influences into their sound and image.
After releasing their first album independently in 1988, the band signed
to the Seattle-based label Sub Pop. They released their major-label debut and fourth album,
Gentlemen, in 1993. Pitchfork described them as "one of the few alt-bands
to flourish on a major label" in the 1990s.
Dulli frequently claimed in interviews that the band would never get back together following their
dissolution in 2001, but the group announced in December 2011 that they would reunite.
Early years and Big Top Halloween (1986-1988)
Greg Dulli, Rick McCollum, John Curley,
and Steve Earle formed the band in Cincinnati late in 1986.
The Afghan Whigs had evolved out of Dulli's previous band, The Black Republicans,
a band that Curley later joined. Curley would introduce Dulli to McCollum,
a frequent jam partner who was famed on the local Cincinnati scene
for his innovative use of effects pedals. McCollum and Dulli would bond
over their shared love of R&B,
and in fact the first song The Afghan Whigs ever rehearsed was a cover of The Temptations’
“Psychedelic Shack”. Dulli later described the intent behind The Afghan Whigs was to exist as
"a cross between the Band, the Temptations, and Neil Young playing with Crazy Horse."
In the wake of The Black Republicans’ breakup, Dulli had decamped to Arizona,
where he composed half the material
for what would become Afghan Whigs’ debut album Big Top Halloween,
self-released on the band’s own Ultrasuede label.
"We were running through what were basically the first songs I'd ever written in order
to do some demos, so we were playing really loose," Dulli recalls. "And then all of a sudden,
I found out John was having covers made."
While only a thousand copies of Big Top Halloween would be pressed initially, one of them managed
to capture the attention of Jonathan Poneman,
the co-founder of influential Seattle-based indie label Sub Pop,
which signed Afghan Whigs in 1989. Initially, Sub Pop planned for the Whigs
to only release a one-off single, but that soon led to a full-blown record contract
with the label.
Signing to Sub Pop and Up In It (1989–1990)
Upon signing to Sub Pop, The Afghan Whigs became the second non-Northwestern U.S. band to record
for the Sub Pop label. In 1990,
Sub Pop put out Afghan Whigs’ second album Up in It: largely recorded
by Nirvana producer Jack Endino
and featuring the college-radio hit “Retarded,” Up in It received a favorable reception
with music critics upon release. To support the album’s release,
Afghan Whigs went on a package tour with grunge originators Mudhoney
and Boston underground band Bullet LaVolta Up in It was followed
by a limited edition single released
by No.6 Records under the name 'Ornament' which included vocals by Scrawl singer Marcy Mays.
Congregation and Uptown Avondale (1992)
With the 1992 album Congregation and a covers EP, Uptown Avondale,
the band intentionally evolved what would become their signature sound, blending soul
with psychedelic sprawl and punk abandon. Critics noted the combination of Stax
and Motown influences with indie-rock sonics on the band's own material.
Uptown Avondale featured covers of hits by soul acts such as The Supremes. Videos
for notable Congregation songs like “Conjure Me”
and “Turn On The Water” would receive airplay on MTV, which began
to regularly cover The Afghan Whigs as a new band to watch.
Afghan Whigs would also tour extensively during this period, including a U.S. jaunt
with Scottish indie rockers Teenage Fanclub.
Signing to Elektra and Gentlemen (1993)
Building on the buzz that welcomed Congregation, The Afghan Whigs soon signed to a major label,
Elektra Records, following a bidding war that resulted in a contract so lucrative,
it featured a clause that allowed for the funding of a Dulli-scripted feature film.
that ultimately was never made. For their major label debut,
The Afghan Whigs ensconced themselves in Ardent Studios in Memphis, where Big Star, Bob Dylan,
Led Zeppelin, and ZZ Top had recorded. The result of those sessions was the 1993 album Gentlemen.
Gentlemen received positive reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone,: critics would go on
to praise it for its unflinching, self-flagellating lyrics and a decisive stylistic break
with the grunge style epitomized by Nirvana and Mudhoney. Gentlemen would place at No.
17 on The Village Voice’s "Pazz & Jop" critic's poll for 1993. Gentlemen proved
to be The Afghan Whigs’ most commercially successful release. The singles "Debonair" and
"Gentlemen" received regular airplay on MTV and college radio; another album track, “Fountain
and Fairfax,” also appeared on the television series My So-Called Life in 1994. The lead vocals on
"My Curse" were sung not by Dulli, but female singer Marcy Mays of Scrawl – allegedly,
because the lyrics documenting the violent dissolution of a relationship were so personal,
Dulli couldn't sing it.
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