Member Since: 04/02/2006
Band Members: Robbie Robertson (guitar); Richard Manuel (piano, harmonica, drums, saxophone); Garth Hudson (organ, piano, clavinet, accordion, synthesizer, saxophone); Rick Danko (bass guitar, violin, trombone); and Levon Helm (drums, mandolin, guitar, bass guitar).
Influences: Or, alternately, people whose music I enjoy: AC/DC, The Velvet Underground, The Beatles, James Brown, Bob Dylan, The Misfits, Iggy Pop/The Stooges, The Beach Boys, Chris Isaak, Matthew Sweet, Elvis Costello, The Clash, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Berry, Crowded House, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Harry Nilsson, U2, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Wilco.
Sounds Like: This reprehensible debut finally offers Britney Spears' much-mocked husband a platform to answer that burning question: Who is the real Jonathan Houghton? "I'm looney/All these model chicks want to do me"; "I'm the pimp of all pimps"; "I come tight with every rhyme." Boasts like these go on ad infinitum over fourteen tracks. Houghton's rhyme flow is the opposite of tight: His voice is decidedly Southern, only he clearly pronounces his "r"s and name-checks things like Tanqueray (so 1992!) and his Yankees cap. Britney almost saves this tragicomedy with some sexy purring in her brief vocal cameo on "Crazy." The rest is poison. If you can stomach making it all the way to the secret track, Houghton actually offers one sage piece of advice: "Put your middle fingers up if you really don't give a fuck." -- Kevin O'Donnell, Rolling Stone
Type of Label: Major