Monday, April 5, 2010

Song of the Day: The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Going to Hell

Some interesting facts/opinions about the band, album and song:

1. Brian Jones was the guitarist for the Rolling Stones who died mysteriously in a swimming pool in 1969, arguably before the Stones recorded their four most classic albums.
2. Jonestown Massacre was named for Jim Jones, the cult leader who most likely is responsible for, among a number of deaths, the term "drinking the Kool-Aid"
3. This song is from the Brian Jonestown Massacre's only major label album
4. When watching the movie American Pie, I was surprised to hear this song playing in the background in one scene (if memory serves, it's when the guys are in a restaurant formulating their plan)
5. If you like music documentaries, you can't do much better than Dig!, which shows that Anton Newcombe, the leader of BJM, is completely and utterly insane
6. Despite the name of the band and the song, and the insanity of their leader, BJM is not death metal or pure evil.  Just a band stuck in the late '60s
7. I own 11 BJM albums - this fact surprised even me
8. Enjoy!


2 comments:

  1. You know, I've seen a few interviews with Anton lately, and he seems totally sane. Or as sane as any outrageously gifted musician can be. :-) Anyway, he's sober now, I guess. If you haven't heard the album they just released, it's awesome! It's called Who Killed Sgt. Pepper. Really different than their early stuff!

    Thanks for letting me stop by your blog. Good stuff!!

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  2. You're right - he's not insane, as in he needs to be committed to a mental institution. But he seems pretty delusional about his self-importance. That said, BJM is severely underappreciated. Not sure if it's his fault or not, but they should get more love.

    Thanks for reading!

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