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THE PORTLAND MERCURY VOL.8 NO. 33 JAN. 10-16
NAPALM BEACH, OLD GROWTH, DIRTY LOWDOWNS(Dantes, 1 SW 3rd) Legend has it that singer/ guitarist Chris Newman of proto-grunge act Napalm Beach spent the first half of the last decade on the streets of San Francisco, homeless and using heroin. His Myspace page acknowledges a "never ending battle with addiction,"but it also outlines his recent accomplishments. He's now living in Portland-where Napalm Beach formed in 1980-and playing with Divining Rods and others, making good on a musical promise he gave the Oregonian in 2002. "I'm going to do it again.I don't know how I lived without it." Newmans psychedelic-tinged blues chords and surreal, painfully mortal vocals paved the way for Kurt Cobains stylistic pay dirt( Napalm Beach and Nirvana crossed paths live and on Tim/Kerr Records 1992 Wipers Tribute) This is a rare one-off reunion show with a band that inspired our regions most famous-and infamous-music.
MIKE MEYER__________________________
Chris Newmans life was changed one Sunday night in 1963 when the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan show. Awestruck and totally focused, trying to ignore his Fathers smart cracks and comments about his new found Idols. That was when he knew what his calling in life was.He did'nt receive his first guitar until his thirteenth birthday, July 11th 1966. By then he had many more influences including the Monkees, Buffalo Springfield, The Association, Paul Revere and the Raiders,The Troggs, the Kinks, The Rolling Stones, the Seeds,the San Fransisco sound was happening, but the biggest influence was Jimi Hendrix a fellow Seattle native.
In ninth grade he bought a Hagstrom electric guitar and a Fender Princeton amp with his Dads credit(to be played at church)He paid the payments with his Seattle P.I. paper route.He started a band with neighborhood bad boys Ed Banning on drums and Bob Ricketts on Bass.They called their little combo "The Trees" and then "Magic Mirror". They played partys and a few Field House gigs in Des Moines.His bandmates turned him on to pot and cool music.They were both 14 and kicked out of school.This older kid Lynn Cluck told Chris about Super Slinky strings and Feedback.He had a big Fender amp and could really play!
After some trouble in his Jr. High,Chris was sent to a private Christian Highschool where he honed his craft with his best friend on bass.Kicked out his Senior year for Fornication, he moved home to Seattle and his parents. He had experimented with drugs, but when he left his folks to live in Longview,Washington he dove into the Counter culture head first, never looking back. He joined his first real band. Bohdi, which included three other older guys, Chris being nineteen, twenty six seemed ancient.They played all around the Northwest.Playing two thirds cover tunes one third originals by Chris.When he turned twenty one, He decided to form his own three piece power trio "Bush" performing all original tunes penned by Newman, unheard of at the time. Not much demand in the nightclubs for original music, they were destined to play Outdoor Keg Partys, House Partys and High School dances.It was'nt until 1977 and the Punk Movement that bands were encouraged to play their own music. Newman was ecstatic and began writing and performing all over Portland and Seattle by the late 70's. The Goners, became the Untouchables who became Napalm Beach. Chris continued to perform and record with different band members throughout the 80's and toured Europe several times from 1989 to 1991.Experiencing the bringing down of the Berlin Wall and the cultures of several European Countries.
In 1985 Chris also began his new side project, putting out his own cassettes of "Snow Bud and the Flower People." Finding a following for his psychedelic Stoner Garage Rock and a High Times magazine Centerfold and feature article. They also put out vinyl and published some of his Snow Bud comics.A long the way the drug experiments became a lifestyle and Newman ended up desolate and strungout, homeless in San Fransisco from 1998 to 2003. It was the urging of Family and friends who found him in a homeless camp and pleaded with him to continue playing music.
Today, Newman enjoys playing and recording with his band Divining Rods, Chris Newman Experiment, and Snow Bud and the Flower People and fights a never ending battle with addiction. Chris always pours his heart and soul into his singing and playing. This is after all his calling,and purpose in life.
