The Wallflowers is a roots rock band which formed in 1989 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The band has gone through a number of personnel changes but has remained centered on Jakob Dylan. The Wallflowers have won two Grammy Awards and have released seven albums:
The Wallflowers (1992)Bringing Down The Horse (1996)Breach (2000) Red Letter Days (2002)Rebel, Sweetheart (2005)Glad All Over (2012)Exit Wounds (2021)
On April 9th, 2021, The Wallflowers (now continuing as a Jakob Dylan solo project) announced their seventh studio album, Exit Wounds, would be released in July 2021.
The band is widely known for their hit singles "One Headlight", "6th Avenue Heartache", "Three Marlenas" and "The Difference".
1988–1990: Early history
The Wallflowers' inception came in 1988/1989 when singer-guitarist Jakob Dylan called his childhood friend, Tobi Miller, also a guitarist, about starting a band. Dylan and Miller had been in several bands together in high school but went their separate ways upon graduation. Dylan had moved to New York City to go to art school while Miller had started his own band called the 45's. After the 45's broke up in 1989, Miller regained contact with Dylan and they began forming a new band called the Apples. Barrie Maguire, who was in the 45's with Miller, joined the band as their bass player. In 1990, Peter Yanowitz was added as the drummer. The final member to join the group was keyboardist Rami Jaffee. Jaffee was an active member of the Los Angeles music scene and had been playing with multiple bands in the area. He met Dylan in 1990 in the Kibitz Room, a bar located in the back of Canter's; a Jewish deli located on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. He had heard the Apples were looking for an organ player and after meeting and talking with Dylan in the Kibitz Room, the two headed for Dylan's car to listen to the band's demo tape. Jaffee was impressed by the songs and asked to join in on the band's next rehearsal. After a long rehearsal session, Jaffee joined the band on the spot.
1991–1994: Debut album
The Apples changed their name to the Wallflowers and began playing clubs around Los Angeles, specifically the Sunset Strip, such as the Whisky a Go Go, Gazzarri's and the Viper Room. While they were playing clubs the band was also sending their demo tape to record companies and figures within the music industry. One of those tapes caught the attention of Andrew Slater, who would eventually become the Wallflowers' manager. Slater brought the Wallflowers to Virgin Records, who signed the band to a record contract. The Wallflowers then set out to make their first album. However, finding a producer who was willing to work with them proved to be difficult. The band was intent on recording live and few producers were willing to produce that way. Paul Fox eventually stepped in and agreed to produce the album. By the time the Wallflowers got into the studio in 1991, they had a small catalog of songs they had been performing live which they wanted to record for their debut album. All of the songs were written by Dylan with the rest of the band members contributing input on the music. When in the studio, the band were intent on using as little recording equipment as possible. Dylan explained: "If I could have had it my way I would not have seen a microphone or a cable anywhere." When it came to recording, the songs were drawn out past the 3 to 4 minute norm; many songs were close to 5 minutes in length with two exceeding 7 minutes. The Wallflowers finished recording and released their self-titled debut album, "The Wallflowers", on August 25, 1992. After the release they began touring nationwide as an opening act for bands such as Spin Doctors and 10,000 Maniacs.
The Wallflowers continued to tour through the first half of 1993 but despite this sales of the album were slow. In total, 40,000 copies were sold.[8] Reviews for the album, however, were mostly positive. Rolling Stone gave the album 4 stars calling it, "one sweet debut" and describing Dylan's songwriting as "impressive." Great reviews notwithstanding, executives at Virgin Records were reportedly not pleased with the album's lack of commercial success. Around this time, the company was going through a shift in management which led to the removal of Jeff Ayeroff and Jordan Harris, the two people who initially brought the Wallflowers to Virgin. After Ayeroff and Harris left the company the Wallflowers began to feel that they had no future with Virgin and asked to be released from their contract. The split with Virgin has been regarded as mutual. By mid-1993 the Wallflowers were without a record label.
After leaving Virgin, the Wallflowers went back to playing Los Angeles clubs in hopes of getting signed with another label. The band found it difficult to even get label representatives to come to their shows. In the year it took to get another record deal the Wallflowers gained and lost several band members. Bass player Barrie M
