By DAVID W. WERSINGERACCENT EDITOR
Blame it on the pills. Or perhaps, give them all the credit.
For the latest disc from the southern rockers/arena monsters Kings on Leon -- "Only By The Night" -- lead vocalist and guitarist Caleb Followill wrote most of the lyrics and music while recovering from shoulder surgery (more on that later).
His brother, Nathan, drummer for the band, said on their Web site, "I think the pain pills inspired him a little more than we realized. He would play us a song and we'd say 'When did you write that?' and he'd say, 'I don't really remember writing it. I just woke up with an empty bottle of wine and my songbook open and these words written down.'"
When the Kings of Leon roar into the St. Augustine Amphitheatre for
their concert tonight, you can probably anticipate a few empty bottles
of wine left behind in their wake. But make no mistake: The
hard-partying Followill brothers -- Caleb, Jared, Nathan -- and their
cousin Matthew, will lay down an incendiary set of soaring southern
prog rock guaranteed to melt a few faces.
Questions? Attitude!
Southern prog rock? Explain, please.
Well, their first release, "Youth & Young Manhood," featured southern-fried, diamond-in-the-rough '70s boogie, and was more of a success in Great Britain than at home. But, tiring of the "Southern Strokes" label, they began to expand their heads and style with subsequent CDs. Allmusic.com wrote of their 2007 release "...if Alan Parsons lent the Allman Brothers his spaceship, 'Because of the Times' would be the resulting space odyssey." Their latest, "Only By The Night," finds them belting out big, anthemic rock, a la U2 circa "Achtung Baby," by way of Nashville, Tenn.
Let's get back to Caleb's shoulder surgery. How'd that come about?
Ah, yes, brotherly love in all it's twisted glory. In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, their cousin and guitar tech Nacho recounts a recent fight between brothers Nathan and Caleb. "I ran into the kitchen, and Nate and Caleb had handfuls of hair, just rolling in the grease in front of the stove." The two were separated, but Nathan continued on, shattering a $7,000 mirror in his brother's bedroom and stabbing Caleb's mattress repeatedly with a kitchen knife.
Of brother Nathan, Jared says "He's like the 'American Psycho' -- he's told me that one day he'll kill Caleb." The fight left Caleb with the separated shoulder that required surgery.
Don't the brothers have some sort of religious background?
Yes, in fact, their father, Ivan, was a United Pentecostal preacher, who would tour the south with the boys in the family's purple Oldsmobile. Caleb compares his father to Robert Duval's character in "The Apostle," and these sermons planted the seeds for the boys future as rock stars. "Most people think the (Pentecostal) music is reserved, but there's organs, pianos, guitars, basses, drums, horns," Nathan told Rolling Stone. "It's the equivalent of black gospel music. It's a full-on Al Green, Aretha Franklin-style service."
There appears to be two sides to the Kings' camp: Those who dig their early, sloppy boogie and newer fans who go for the big, brawny anthems of their latest works. What do the boys have to say about this?
Late last year, Caleb told the Village Voice "... this is the first record (talking about their previous album, "Because of The Times") that we literally rolled up our sleeves and said, 'All right, man, we're not going to come out of here again and have a song that can't get played on the radio because it's so lo-fi that, you know, people can't put it up next to other music. We want it to be bigger.' And I don't mean popularity-wise. I mean, we want it to feel bigger and more professional."
Essential Kings of Leon
"California Waiting," from "Youth & Young Manhood," 2003: The demo of this song was what initially spurred RCA to sign the Kings of Leon. The ready-for-the-arena-tour chorus was the first hint of things to come.
"Fans," from "Because of the Times," 2007: Caleb resisted this acoustic-driven ditty being released as a single because as he said "Now moms are gonna be bopping along to our music." The song has an infectious groove and highlights Caleb's distinct vocal stylings. Give those bopping moms their props; it's a worthy song.
"Sex on Fire," from "Only By The Night," 2008: Caleb's separated shoulder had an upside. With his left arm immobilized, he could only play chords high on his guitar fret. "The first thing I did," he told Rolling Stone, "was come up with that riff and sing the melody for 'Sex On Fire." Thank you, injured arm!
Questions? Attitude!
Southern prog rock? Explain, please.
Well, their first release, "Youth & Young Manhood," featured southern-fried, diamond-in-the-rough '70s boogie, and was more of a success in Great Britain than at home. But, tiring of the "Southern Strokes" label, they began to expand their heads and style with subsequent CDs. Allmusic.com wrote of their 2007 release "...if Alan Parsons lent the Allman Brothers his spaceship, 'Because of the Times' would be the resulting space odyssey." Their latest, "Only By The Night," finds them belting out big, anthemic rock, a la U2 circa "Achtung Baby," by way of Nashville, Tenn.
Let's get back to Caleb's shoulder surgery. How'd that come about?
Ah, yes, brotherly love in all it's twisted glory. In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, their cousin and guitar tech Nacho recounts a recent fight between brothers Nathan and Caleb. "I ran into the kitchen, and Nate and Caleb had handfuls of hair, just rolling in the grease in front of the stove." The two were separated, but Nathan continued on, shattering a $7,000 mirror in his brother's bedroom and stabbing Caleb's mattress repeatedly with a kitchen knife.
Of brother Nathan, Jared says "He's like the 'American Psycho' -- he's told me that one day he'll kill Caleb." The fight left Caleb with the separated shoulder that required surgery.
Don't the brothers have some sort of religious background?
Yes, in fact, their father, Ivan, was a United Pentecostal preacher, who would tour the south with the boys in the family's purple Oldsmobile. Caleb compares his father to Robert Duval's character in "The Apostle," and these sermons planted the seeds for the boys future as rock stars. "Most people think the (Pentecostal) music is reserved, but there's organs, pianos, guitars, basses, drums, horns," Nathan told Rolling Stone. "It's the equivalent of black gospel music. It's a full-on Al Green, Aretha Franklin-style service."
There appears to be two sides to the Kings' camp: Those who dig their early, sloppy boogie and newer fans who go for the big, brawny anthems of their latest works. What do the boys have to say about this?
Late last year, Caleb told the Village Voice "... this is the first record (talking about their previous album, "Because of The Times") that we literally rolled up our sleeves and said, 'All right, man, we're not going to come out of here again and have a song that can't get played on the radio because it's so lo-fi that, you know, people can't put it up next to other music. We want it to be bigger.' And I don't mean popularity-wise. I mean, we want it to feel bigger and more professional."
Essential Kings of Leon
"California Waiting," from "Youth & Young Manhood," 2003: The demo of this song was what initially spurred RCA to sign the Kings of Leon. The ready-for-the-arena-tour chorus was the first hint of things to come.
"Fans," from "Because of the Times," 2007: Caleb resisted this acoustic-driven ditty being released as a single because as he said "Now moms are gonna be bopping along to our music." The song has an infectious groove and highlights Caleb's distinct vocal stylings. Give those bopping moms their props; it's a worthy song.
"Sex on Fire," from "Only By The Night," 2008: Caleb's separated shoulder had an upside. With his left arm immobilized, he could only play chords high on his guitar fret. "The first thing I did," he told Rolling Stone, "was come up with that riff and sing the melody for 'Sex On Fire." Thank you, injured arm!
Leave a comment