Nirvana
Nirvana band members Krist Novoselic (left) and Kurt Cobain performing at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.
Background information
Origin	Aberdeen, Washington, United States
Genres	Alternative rock, grunge
Years active	1987–1994
Labels	Sub Pop, DGC
Associated acts	Fecal Matter, Foo Fighters
Members
Kurt Cobain Krist Novoselic Dave Grohl
Past members
Aaron Burckhard Chad Channing Dale Crover Jason Everman Dave Foster Dan Peters

Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987. Nirvana went through a succession of drummers, the longest-lasting being Dave Grohl, who joined the band in 1990.

In the late 1980s Nirvana established itself as part of the Seattle grunge scene, releasing its first album Bleach for the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989. The band eventually came to develop a sound that relied on dynamic contrasts, often between quiet verses and loud, heavy choruses. After signing to major label DGC Records, Nirvana found unexpected success with "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the first single from the band's second album Nevermind (1991). Nirvana's sudden success widely popularized alternative rock as a whole, and as the band's frontman Cobain found himself referred to in the media as the "spokesman of a generation", with Nirvana being considered the "flagship band" of Generation X.^[1] Nirvana's third studio album In Utero (1993), challenged the group's audience, featuring an abrasive, less-mainstream sound. The album didn't match the sales figures of Nevermind but was still a commercial success.

Nirvana's brief run ended following the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994, but various posthumous releases have been issued since, overseen by Novoselic, Grohl, and Cobain's widow Courtney Love. Since its debut, the band has sold over 30 million records in the United States alone, and over 75 million records worldwide.^[2][3]

History[link]

Formation and early years[link]

Cobain and Novoselic met while attending Aberdeen High, although they never connected, according to Cobain.^[4] The pair eventually became friends while frequenting the practice space of the Melvins.^[5] Cobain wanted to form a band with Novoselic, but Novoselic did not respond to his overtures, which included handing him a demo tape of his project Fecal Matter. Three years after the two first met, Novoselic notified Cobain that he had finally listened to the Fecal Matter demo Cobain had given him, and suggested they start a group. The pair recruited Bob McFadden on drums, but after a month the project fell apart.^[6] In winter of 1987, Cobain and Novoselic recruited drummer Aaron Burckhard.^[7] The trio practiced material from Cobain's Fecal Matter tape, but started writing new material soon after forming.^[8]

During its initial months, the band went through a series of names, starting with Skid Row and including Pen Cap Chew, Bliss, and Ted Ed Fred. The group finally settled on Nirvana, which Cobain said was chosen because "I wanted a name that was kind of beautiful or nice and pretty instead of a mean, raunchy punk rock name like the Angry Samoans".^[9] With Novoselic and Cobain having moved to Tacoma and Olympia, Washington, respectively, the two temporarily lost contact with Burckhard. The pair instead practiced with Dale Crover of the Melvins, and Nirvana recorded its first demos in January 1988.^[10] In early 1988, Crover moved to San Francisco but recommended Dave Foster to the band as his replacement on drums.^[11] Foster's tenure with Nirvana lasted only a few months; during a stint in jail, he was replaced by a returning Burckhard, who himself didn't stay with the band after telling Cobain he was too hung over to practice one day.^[12] Cobain and Novoselic put an ad in Seattle music publication The Rocket seeking a replacement drummer which only yielded unsatisfactory responses. Meanwhile, a mutual friend introduced the pair to Chad Channing, and the three musicians agreed to jam together. Channing continued to jam with Cobain and Novoselic, although the drummer noted, "They never actually said 'Ok, you're in.'", and Channing played his first show with the group that May.^[13]

Early releases[link]

Nirvana released its first single, "Love Buzz", in November 1988 on the Seattle independent record label Sub Pop.^[14] The following month, the band began recording its debut album, Bleach, with local producer Jack Endino.^[15] Bleach was highly influenced by the heavy dirge-rock of the Melvins and Mudhoney, 1980s punk rock, and the 1970s heavy metal of Black Sabbath. Novoselic noted in a 2001 interview with Rolling Stone that the band had played a tape in their van while on tour that had an album by The Smithereens on one side and an album by the black metal band Celtic Frost on the other, and noted that the combination probably played an influence as well.^[16] The money for the recording sessions for Bleach, listed as $606.17 on the album sleeve, was supplied by Jason Everman, who was subsequently brought into the band as the second guitarist. Though Everman did not actually play on the album, he received a credit on Bleach because, according to Novoselic, they "wanted to make him feel more at home in the band".^[17] Just prior to the album's release, Nirvana insisted on signing an extended contract with Sub Pop, making the band the first to do so with the label.^[18]

Following the release of Bleach in June 1989, Nirvana embarked on its first national tour,^[19] and the album became a favorite of college radio stations.^[20] Due to increasing dissatisfaction with Everman over the course of the tour, Nirvana canceled the last few dates and drove back to Washington. No one told Everman he was fired at the time, while Everman later claimed that he actually quit the group.^[21] Although Sub Pop did not promote Bleach as much as other releases, it was a steady seller,^[22] and had initial sales of 40,000 copies.^[23] However, Cobain was upset by the label's lack of promotion and distribution for the album.^[22] In late 1989, the band recorded the Blew EP with producer Steve Fisk.^[24]

In a late 1989 interview, Cobain noted that the band's music was changing. He said, "The early songs were really angry ... But as time goes on the songs are getting poppier and poppier as I get happier and happier. The songs are now about conflicts in relationships, emotional things with other human beings".^[25] In April 1990, the band began working with producer Butch Vig at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin on recordings for the follow-up to Bleach.^[26] During the sessions, Cobain and Novoselic became disenchanted with Channing's drumming, and Channing expressed frustration at not being actively involved in songwriting. As bootlegs of Nirvana's demos with Vig began to circulate in the music industry and draw attention from major labels, Channing left the band.^[27] That July, the band recorded the single "Sliver" with Mudhoney drummer Dan Peters.^[28] Nirvana asked Dale Crover to fill in on drums for a seven-date American West Coast tour with Sonic Youth that August.^[29] In September 1990, Buzz Osborne of the Melvins introduced the band to Dave Grohl, who was looking for a new band following the sudden break-up of Washington, D.C. hardcore punks Scream.^[30] A few days after arriving in Seattle, Novoselic and Cobain auditioned Grohl, with Novoselic later stating, "We knew in two minutes that he was the right drummer".^[31]

Mainstream success[link]

Disenchanted with Sub Pop and with the Smart Studios sessions generating interest, Nirvana decided to look for a deal with a major record label since no indie label could buy the group out of its contract.^[32] Following repeated recommendations by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, Nirvana signed to DGC Records in 1990.^[33] The band subsequently began recording its first major label album, Nevermind. The group was offered a number of producers to choose from, but ultimately held out for Butch Vig.^[34] Rather than recording at Vig's Madison studio as they had in 1990, production shifted to Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California. For two months, the band worked through a variety of songs in its catalog. Some of the songs, such as "In Bloom" and "Breed", had been in Nirvana's repertoire for years, while others, including "On a Plain" and "Stay Away," lacked finished lyrics until mid-way through the recording process.^[35] After the recording sessions were completed, Vig and the band set out to mix the album. However, the recording sessions had run behind schedule and the resulting mixes were deemed unsatisfactory. Slayer mixer Andy Wallace was brought in to create the final mix. After the album's release, members of Nirvana expressed dissatisfaction with the polished sound the mixer had given Nevermind.^[36]

Initially, DGC Records was hoping to sell 250,000 copies of Nevermind, which was the same level they had achieved with Sonic Youth's Goo.^[37] However, the album's first single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" quickly gained momentum, thanks in part to significant airplay of the song's music video on MTV. As it toured Europe during late 1991, the band found that its shows were dangerously oversold, that television crews were becoming a constant presence onstage, and that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was almost omnipresent on radio and music television.^[38] By Christmas 1991, Nevermind was selling 400,000 copies a week in the US.^[39] In January 1992, the album displaced Michael Jackson's Dangerous at number one on the Billboard album charts, and also topped the charts in numerous other countries.^[40] The month Nevermind reached number one, Billboard proclaimed, "Nirvana is that rare band that has everything: critical acclaim, industry respect, pop radio appeal, and a rock-solid college/alternative base."^[41] The album would eventually sell over seven million copies in the United States.^[42]

Citing exhaustion, Nirvana decided not to undertake another American tour in support of Nevermind, instead opting to make only a handful of performances later that year.^[43] In March 1992, Cobain sought to reorganize the group's songwriting royalties (which to this point had been split equally) so that they were more representative of the fact that he wrote the majority of the music. Grohl and Novoselic did not object to Cobain's request, but when the frontman asked for the agreement to be retroactive to the release of Nevermind, the disagreements between the two sides came close to breaking up the band. After a week of tension, Cobain ended up receiving a retroactive share of 75 percent of the royalties, and bad feelings about the situation remained within the group afterward.^[44] Amid rumors that the band was disbanding due to Cobain's health, Nirvana headlined the closing night of England's 1992 Reading Festival, where Cobain personally programmed the performance lineup.^[45] Nirvana's performance at Reading is often regarded by the press as one of the most memorable of the group's career.^[46][47] A few days later, Nirvana performed at the MTV Video Music Awards where, despite the network's refusal to let the band play the new song "Rape Me" during the broadcast, Cobain strummed and sang the first few bars of the song before breaking into "Lithium". At the ceremony, the band received awards for the Best Alternative Video and Best New Artist categories.^[48]

DGC had hoped to have a new Nirvana album by the band ready for a late 1992 holiday season release; since work on it proceeded slowly, the label released the compilation album Incesticide in December 1992.^[49] A joint venture between DGC and Sub Pop, Incesticide collected various rare Nirvana recordings and was intended to provide the material for a better price and at better quality than was available via bootleg copies.^[50] As Nevermind had been out for 15 months and had yielded a fourth single, "In Bloom", by that point, Geffen/DGC opted not to heavily promote Incesticide, which was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America the following February.^[51]

[edit] In Utero, final months, and Cobain's death

In February 1993, Nirvana released "Puss"/"Oh, the Guilt", a split single with The Jesus Lizard, on the independent label Touch & Go.^[49] Meanwhile, the group chose Steve Albini, who had a reputation as a principled and opinionated individual in the American independent music scene, to record its third album. While there was speculation that the band chose Albini to record the album due to his underground credentials,^[52] Cobain insisted that Albini's sound was simply the one he had always wanted Nirvana to have: a "natural" recording without layers of studio trickery.^[53] Nirvana traveled to Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota in that February to record the album.^[54] The sessions with Albini were productive and notably quick, and the album was recorded and mixed in two weeks for a cost of $25,000.^[55]

Several weeks after the completion of the recording sessions, stories ran in the Chicago Tribune and Newsweek that quoted sources claiming DGC considered the album "unreleasable".^[56] As a result, fans began to believe that the band's creative vision might be compromised by their label.^[57] While the stories about DGC shelving the album were untrue, the band actually was unhappy with certain aspects of Albini's mixes. Specifically, they thought the bass levels were too low,^[58] and Cobain felt that "Heart-Shaped Box" and "All Apologies" did not sound "perfect".^[59] Longtime R.E.M. producer Scott Litt was called in to help remix those two songs, with Cobain adding additional instrumentation and backing vocals.^[60]

In Utero debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart in September 1993.^[61] Time's Christopher John Farley wrote in his review of the album, "Despite the fears of some alternative-music fans, Nirvana hasn't gone mainstream, though this potent new album may once again force the mainstream to go Nirvana."^[62] In Utero went on to sell over 3.5 million copies in the United States.^[42] That October, Nirvana embarked on its first tour of the United States in two years. For the tour, the band added Pat Smear of the punk rock band Germs as a second guitarist.^[63] In November 1993, Nirvana recorded a performance for the television program MTV Unplugged. Augmented by Smear and cellist Lori Goldston, the band sought to veer from the typical approach to the show, opting to stay away from playing its most recognizable songs. Instead, Nirvana performed several covers, and invited Cris and Curt Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets to join the group for renditions of three of their songs.^[64]

In early 1994, the band embarked on a European tour. In Rome, on the morning of March 4, Cobain's wife, Courtney Love, found Cobain unconscious in their hotel room and he was rushed to the hospital. A doctor from the hospital told a press conference that Cobain had reacted to a combination of prescription Rohypnol and alcohol. The rest of the tour was canceled.^[65] In the ensuing weeks, Cobain's heroin addiction resurfaced. An intervention was organized, and Cobain was convinced to admit himself into drug rehabilitation. After less than a week in rehabilitation, Cobain climbed over the wall of the facility and took a plane back to Seattle. A week later, on Friday, April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head at his Seattle home.^[66]

Aftermath and posthumous releases[link]

In August 1994, DGC announced that a double album titled Verse Chorus Verse featuring live material from throughout the group's career on one CD and its MTV Unplugged performance on another was due for release that November.^[49] However, Novoselic and Grohl found assembling the live material so soon after Cobain's death to be too emotionally overwhelming.^[67] With the career-spanning live portion postponed, MTV Unplugged in New York debuted at number one on the Billboard charts upon release in November 1994. A few weeks later the group's first full-length video, Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!, was released.^[49] The following year, MTV Unplugged in New York earned Nirvana a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.^[68] In 1996 DGC finally issued a Nirvana live album, From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, which became the third Nirvana release in a row to debut at the top of the Billboard album chart.^[49]

In 1997, Novoselic, Grohl, and Courtney Love formed the limited liability corporation Nirvana LLC to oversee all Nirvana-related projects.^[69] A 45-track box set of Nirvana rarities was scheduled for release in October 2001.^[70] However, shortly before the release date, Love filed a suit to dissolve Nirvana LLC, and an injunction was issued preventing the release of any new Nirvana material until the case was resolved.^[71] Love contended that Cobain was the band, that Grohl and Novoselic were sidemen, and that she signed the partnership agreement originally under bad advice. Grohl and Novoselic countersued, asking the court to remove Love from the partnership and to replace her with another representative of Cobain's estate.^[70]

The day before the case was set to go to trial in October 2002, Love, Novoselic, and Grohl announced that they had reached a settlement. The settlement paved the way for the release of the compilation album Nirvana, which featured the previously unreleased track "You Know You're Right", the last song Nirvana recorded before Cobain's death.^[72] Nirvana was released later that month, debuting at number three on the Billboard album chart.^[73] The box set, With the Lights Out, was finally released in November 2004. The release contained a vast array of early Cobain demos, rough rehearsal recordings, and live tracks recorded throughout the band's history. Sliver: The Best of the Box, which culled 19 tracks from the box set in addition to featuring three previously unreleased tracks, was released in late 2005.^[74]

In April 2006, Love announced that she had arranged to sell 25 percent of her stake in the Nirvana song catalog in a deal estimated at $50 million. The share of Nirvana's publishing was purchased by Primary Wave Music, which was founded by Larry Mestel, a former CEO of Virgin Records. In an accompanying statement, Love sought to assure Nirvana's fanbase that the music would not simply be licensed to the highest bidder, noting, "We are going to remain very tasteful and true to the spirit of Nirvana while taking the music to places it has never been before."^[75] Further releases have since been made. This includes the DVD releases of Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! in 2006,^[76] and the full, uncut version of MTV Unplugged in New York in 2007.^[77] The band's performance at the 1992 Reading Festival was released on both CD and DVD as Live at Reading in November 2009.^[78] That same month, Sub Pop released a 20th anniversary deluxe edition of Bleach, which included a previously unreleased live concert from 1990.^[79] A 20th anniversary deluxe edition of Nevermind was released in September 2011.^[80]

Musical style[link]

	"Smells Like Teen Spirit" noicon Sample of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the first single from the band's breakthrough release Nevermind (1991). Nirvana utilized dynamic contrasts in its music, present in this song in the form of a sparse two-note guitar verse guitar melody and choruses of strummed power chords.[81]
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Cobain described the sound of Nirvana when it first started as "a Gang of Four and Scratch Acid ripoff".^[50] Later when Nirvana recorded Bleach, Cobain felt he had to fit the expectations of the Sub Pop grunge sound to build a fanbase, and hence suppressed his arty and pop songwriting traits while crafting the record in favor of a more rocking sound.^[82] Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad argued, "Ironically, it was the restrictions of the Sub Pop sound helped the band find its musical identity". Azerrad stated that by acknowledging that its members had grown up listening to Black Sabbath and Aerosmith, the band was able to move on from its derivative early sound.^[83]

Nirvana utilized dynamic shifts that went from quiet to loud.^[58] Cobain had sought to mix heavy and pop musical sounds; he commented, "I wanted to be totally Led Zeppelin in a way and then be totally extreme punk rock and then do real wimpy pop songs". When Cobain heard the Pixies' 1988 album Surfer Rosa after recording Bleach, he felt it had the sound he wanted to achieve but until then was too intimidated to try. The Pixies' subsequent popularity encouraged Cobain to follow his instincts as a songwriter.^[84] Like the Pixies, Nirvana moved between "spare bass-and-drum grooves and shrill bursts of screaming guitar and vocals".^[85] Near the end of his life, Cobain noted the band had become bored by the formula, finding it limited, but he expressed doubts that the band was skilled enough to try other dynamics.^[58]

Cobain's rhythm guitar style, which relied on power chords, low-note riffs, and a loose right-hand technique, featured the key components to the band’s songs. Cobain would often initially play a song's verse riff in a clean tone, then double it with distorted guitars when he repeated the part. In some songs the guitar would be absent from the verses entirely to allow the drums and bass guitar to support the vocals, or it would only play sparse melodies like the two-note pattern used in "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Cobain rarely played standard guitar solos, opting to play slight variations of the song's melody as single note lines. Cobain's solos were mostly blues-based and out of tune, which music writer Jon Chappell described as "almost an iconoclastic parody of the traditional instrumental break", a quality typified by the note-for-note replication of the lead melody in "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and the atonal solo for "Breed".^[81]

Grohl's drumming "took Nirvana's sound to a new level of intensity".^[86] Azerrad stated that Grohl's "powerful drumming propelled the band to a whole new plane, visually as well as musically", noting, "Although Dave is a merciless basher, his parts are also distinctly musical—it wouldn't be difficult to figure out what song he was playing even without the rest of the music."^[87]

During live performances, Cobain and Novoselic would always tune their guitars to E flat.^[88] Cobain noted, "We play so hard we can't tune our guitars fast enough."^[89] The band made a habit of destroying its equipment after shows. Novoselic said he and Cobain created the "shtick" in order to get off of the stage sooner.^[90] Cobain stated it began as an expression of his frustration with Chad Channing making mistakes and dropping out entirely during performances.^[91]

Songwriting and lyrics[link]

Everett True said in 1989, "Nirvana songs treat the banal and pedestrian with a unique slant."^[92] Cobain came up with the basic components of each song (usually writing them on an acoustic guitar), as well as the singing style and the lyrics. He emphasized that Novoselic and Grohl "have a big part in deciding on how long a song should be and how many parts it should have. So I don't like to be considered the sole songwriter."^[93] When asked which part of the songs he would write first, Cobain responded, "I don’t know. I really don’t know. I guess I start with the verse and then go into the chorus."^[58]

Cobain usually wrote lyrics for songs minutes before recording them.^[93] Cobain said, "When I write a song the lyrics are the least important subject. I can go through two or three different subjects in a song and the title can mean absolutely nothing at all."^[94] Cobain told Spin in 1993 that he "didn't give a flying fuck" what the lyrics on Bleach were about, figuring "Let's just scream some negative lyrics and as long as they're not sexist and don't get too embarrassing it'll be okay", while the lyrics to Nevermind were taken from two years of poetry he had accumulated, which he cut up and chose lines he preferred from. In comparison, Cobain stated that the lyrics to In Utero were "more focused, they're almost built on themes".^[95] Cobain didn't write necessarily in a linear fashion, instead relying on juxtapositions of contradictory images to convey emotions and ideas. Often in his lyrics, Cobain would present an idea then reject it; the songwriter explained, "I'm such a nihilistic jerk half the time and other times I'm so vulnerable and sincere [. . . The songs are] like a mixture of both of them. That's how most people my age are."^[96]

Legacy[link]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that prior to Nirvana, "alternative music was consigned to specialty sections of record stores, and major labels considered it to be, at the very most, a tax write-off". Following the release of Nevermind, "nothing was ever quite the same, for better and for worse".^[97] The success of Nevermind not only popularized grunge, but also established "the cultural and commercial viability of alternative rock in general".^[98] While other alternative bands had had hits before, Nirvana "broke down the doors forever", according to Erlewine. Erlewine further stated that Nirvana's breakthrough "didn't eliminate the underground", but rather "just gave it more exposure".^[99] In 1992, Jon Pareles of The New York Times reported that Nirvana's breakthrough had made others in the alternative scene impatient for achieving similar success, noting, "Suddenly, all bets are off. No one has the inside track on which of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of ornery, obstreperous, unkempt bands might next appeal to the mall-walking millions". Record company executives offered large advances and record deals to bands, and previous strategies of building audiences for alternative rock groups had been replaced by the opportunity to achieve mainstream popularity quickly.^[100]

Erlewine stated that Nirvana's breakthrough "popularized so-called 'Generation X' and 'slacker' culture".^[99] Immediately following Cobain's death, numerous headlines referred to Nirvana's frontman as "the voice of a generation", although he had rejected such labeling during his lifetime.^[101] Reflecting on Cobain's death over ten years later, MSNBC's Eric Olsen wrote, "In the intervening decade, Cobain, a small, frail but handsome man in life, has become an abstract Generation X icon, viewed by many as the 'last real rock star' [. . .] a messiah and martyr whose every utterance has been plundered and parsed".^[98]

Band members[link]

Final line-up

• Kurt Cobain – lead vocals, guitar (1987–1994)
• Krist Novoselic – bass guitar (1987–1994)
• Dave Grohl – drums, backing vocals (1990–1994)

Former members

• Aaron Burckhard – drums (1987–1988)
• Dale Crover – drums (1988, 1990)
• Dave Foster – drums (1988)
• Chad Channing – drums (1988–1990)
• Jason Everman – guitar (1989)
• Dan Peters – drums (1990)

Touring members

• Pat Smear – guitar, backing vocals (1993–1994)
• Lori Goldston – cello (1993–1994)

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Bleach (1989)
• Nevermind (1991)
• In Utero (1993)

See also[link]

• List of alternative rock artists
• List of awards and nominations received by Nirvana
• List of best-selling music artists
• List of musicians from Seattle

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Azerrad, Michael. Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana. Doubleday, 1994. ISBN 0-385-47199-8
• Cross, Charles R. Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain. Hyperion, 2001. ISBN 0-7868-8402-9
• DeRogatis, Jim. Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's. Da Capo, 2003. ISBN 0-306-81271-1
• Gaar, Gillian G. In Utero. Continuum, 2006. ISBN 0-8264-1776-0
• Rocco, John (editor). The Nirvana Companion: Two Decades of Commentary. Schirmer, 1998. ISBN 0-02-864930-3

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nirvana

• Official Site
• Live Nirvana – Exhaustive guides to Nirvana studio sessions output and Nirvana live concerts
• Nirvana Live Guide – Comprehensive guide to Nirvana's live performances and recordings

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.^[1]

History[link]

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[2][dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

It was also used as a term for a drug dealer in the 1950s and 1960s and can be seen in such media as Curtis Mayfield's "No Thing On Me", William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch, and in the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man", in which Lou Reed sings about going to Uptown Manhattan, specifically Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, to buy heroin.

The use of this term was expanded to counterculture groups and their battles against authority, such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report, had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government". The term eventually found its way into humorous usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine Easyriders which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

In present day, the phrase has been popularized in commercials and cinema, featuring particularly prominently as a recurring motif in the 2003 film School of Rock.^[3][4][5][6]

Use as praise[link]

The term has also been used as an approbation or form of praise. This may refer to the recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (who is in charge)." One example of this usage dates to 1879 when Otto von Bismarck commented, referring to Benjamin Disraeli's pre-eminent position at the Congress of Berlin, "The old Jew, he is the man."^{[7][dubious – discuss]}

In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment ("you da man!") indicating that the subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by doing something relatively trivial.

See also[link]

• Absentee landlord
• Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
• New World Order (conspiracy theory)
• Ruling class
• The Establishment
• Power elite
• Corrections officer
• YTMND

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). Random House Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House.

Zac Brown Band
Zac Brown performing at Detroit Hoedown 2010
Background information
Origin	Dahlonega, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	Country Folk rock[1] Jam band[2] Southern rock[3]
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Bigger Picture Southern Ground Atlantic
Associated acts	Blackberry Smoke, Keith Stegall, The Lost Trailers, Jimmy Buffett, Alan Jackson
Website	zacbrownband.com
Members
Coy Bowles Zac Brown Clay Cook Daniel de los Reyes Jimmy De Martini Chris Fryar John Driskell Hopkins

Zac Brown Band is an American country, Southern rock, bluegrass, reggae and folk band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy De Martini (fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, vocals), Coy Bowles (guitar, keyboards), Chris Fryar (drums), Clay Cook (guitar, keyboards, mandolin, steel guitar, vocals), and Daniel de los Reyes (percussion). The band has toured throughout the United States, including a slot on the 2009 and 2010 Bonnaroo Music Festival. They have also recorded four studio albums, and charted eight Number One singles on the Billboard country charts: "Chicken Fried", "Toes", "Highway 20 Ride", "Free", "As She's Walking Away", "Colder Weather", "Knee Deep" and "Keep Me In Mind", in addition to the single "Whatever It Is," which peaked at number 2 on the same chart.

Early life[link]

Zac Brown was born July 31, 1978 in Cumming, Georgia. He was raised by his mom and step-dad, a dentist on Lake Lanier. The 11th of 12 children, Brown attended Mashburn Elementary School in Cumming, Georgia, Lakeview Academy in Gainesville, Georgia, and South Forsyth High School in Cumming. He later moved to Dahlonega, Georgia, where he graduated from Lumpkin County High School. He learned to play classical guitar at the age of 6. As a teenager, he played solo gigs in local venues, performing country and pop cover songs. “Most of my brothers and sisters are older—the oldest is 21 years older than me—so a lot of them were in college or had families of their own by the time I was growing up," said Zac Brown in a interview, but that left him time to bond with his family. Because of this, he was able to learn many things as a child growing up, such as shotgun shooting and playing instruments.

College[link]

Brown attended the University of West Georgia, where he was a member of the Zeta Kappa chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. He was also a camp counselor at Camp Mikell in Toccoa, Ga. & Camp Glisson, a United Methodist summer camp located in Dahlonega, GA.^[4] While in college, he started a band and played dates in local restaurants with the band, and solo as well, to earn money to pay for school.

During this time, the band recorded an album to sell at their gigs, but disbanded during recording sessions. On September 11, 2001, after the terrorist attacks occurred, Brown decided that life was too short doing something that he did not enjoy, so he withdrew from school that day and decided to pursue music full-time.^[5]

Formation[link]

In 2002, the Zac Brown Band was formed and they began traveling with a heavy tour schedule of approximately 200 dates a year. The initial Zac Brown Band lineup consisted of Brown, on acoustic guitar and lead vocals, backed by a drummer and a bass guitarist. In 2003, Brown started his own label, called Home Grown (today, it is called Southern Ground for legal reasons).

In 2004, Brown opened a music club and restaurant with his father in the Lake Oconee area of Georgia called "Zac's Place" where the fare was southern-style cooking. A developer bought the restaurant and, in turn, the Zac Brown Band bought a tour bus and began touring full-time, playing rock and country clubs as well as folk and jam band festivals. 2004 also saw the release of the Zac Brown Band's first independent album, Far from Einstyne.

It was also in 2004 when Brown added violinist/fiddler and tenor vocalist Jimmy De Martini to the Zac Brown Band, thus beginning Brown's five-year quest to develop the band's current lineup. According to an interview with De Martini, he explained that Wyatt Durette, Brown's frequent songwriting collaborator, was working as a bartender at Sidelines Sports Bar in Kennesaw, Georgia at the time, where the Zac Brown Band frequently performed. Durette suggested De Martini to Brown, who was wanting a "lead instrument" in his band, as well as a harmony singer. After doing several performances with the band at the club, Brown asked De Martini to become a full-time member, to which he gladly obliged.^[6]

In 2005, the Zac Brown Band released its second independent album, Home Grown. That same year, John Driskell Hopkins joined the band as its bass guitarist and baritone vocalist. Hopkins, who was well known in the Atlanta area as the leader of the band Brighter Shade, first met Brown in 1998 at an open mic event hosted by Hopkins and they remained friends since. Additionally, Hopkins also co-produced the Zac Brown Band's Home Grown album.^[7]

In 2006, the Zac Brown Band recorded The Foundation with producer Keith Stegall. It was also in 2006 when Coy Bowles joined the band alternating on guitar and keyboards. Bowles and Brown first met in the late 1990s when they were both students at the University of West Georgia, where Bowles was studying biology. Bowles also vividly remembers seeing Brown perform for the first time. He explains, "I walked into a restaurant and Zac was singing and playing guitar. I heard a couple tunes and turned to my buddy and said, 'That dude might have the richest and loudest voice I ever heard!' I don’t even think Zac had a microphone and you could hear him all across the bar.”

Bowles then transferred to Atlanta's Georgia State University to study music. He subsequently became involved in Atlanta's various music scenes, and eventually formed Coy Bowles and the Fellowship in 2004. Two years later, Bowles decided to reconnect with Brown. Through mutual friends, he learned that the Zac Brown Band was scheduled to perform in Atlanta one evening. Bowles and Brown spent the afternoon prior to the performance reacquainting with each other, which ended with Brown inviting Bowles to sit in with the Zac Brown Band at that night's performance, which Bowles gladly accepted. To return the favor, Bowles invited the band to attend his own gig with the Fellowship a couple of months later, which in turn resulted in Brown and his band sitting in at that gig.

This turn of events continued for eight months until Bowles concluded that it was too overwhelming to balance his time with Brown's band and his own band and other activities, thus making a difficult decision to put the Fellowship on an indefinite hiatus and become a full-time member of the Zac Brown Band, as that was what he enjoyed the most.^[8][9]

In 2008, the Zac Brown Band signed to Live Nation Artists Records (in association with Brown's own Home Grown label), but not before Chris Fryar became yet another addition to the band. An Alabama native, Fryar attended North Texas State University and the Mississippi University for Women and made a name for himself in the Birmingham music scene.^[10] According to Fryar, a mutual friend recommended him to Brown, who was in need of a new drummer for the band. Fryar, who in turn had just finished a stint with a previous band, subsequently auditioned and shortly afterward became the Zac Brown Band's newest member.^[11]

Commercial success[link]

The Zac Brown Band's debut single, "Chicken Fried", was originally recorded in 2003 and included on the Home Grown album, but later re-recorded and released to country radio in 2008. This song was also recorded by The Lost Trailers, whose 2006 recording was released as a single but withdrawn after Brown decided that he wanted to release it himself.^[12] Brown also co-wrote "Simple Life", a song recorded by The Lost Trailers on their 2006 self-titled album.

In October 2008, Atlantic Records took over distribution of "Chicken Fried" after Live Nation Artists closed. The band's album The Foundation was released under Atlantic Records' newly re-established country division in association with the Home Grown/Big Picture label on November 18 of that year.^[13] "Chicken Fried" reached #1 on the country charts that same month, making them the first country band to reach #1 with a debut single since Heartland did so in 2006 with "I Loved Her First."^[14]

Inclusion of Clay Cook[link]

In January 2009, two months after "Chicken Fried" went to #1, Atlanta native Clay Cook joined the Zac Brown Band as its multi-instrumentalist and high tenor vocalist, thus completing the band's lineup. Cook had previously collaborated with John Mayer and Shawn Mullins, and was also a member of the Marshall Tucker Band for two years prior to joining the Zac Brown Band. According to Cook, he and Brown actually both attended and graduated from high school together, but were never acquainted with each other during that period. He explains how he first met Brown:

Brown himself admits his strong desire to add Cook to the lineup, for he believed Cook's musicianship would enhance the Zac Brown Band's overall musical style:

Cook also explained his intention to leave the Marshall Tucker Band in order to join the Zac Brown Band:

With the final Zac Brown Band lineup completed, the band released its second single, "Whatever It Is," which went to #2. In October 2009, a third single, "Toes," became the band's second Number One. The album's fourth single, and third #1, was "Highway 20 Ride". "Free" was the album's fifth single and on the week of August 21, 2010, it also peaked at Number One.

Inclusion of Daniel de los Reyes[link]

On April 25, 2012, it was announced via the Zac Brown Band's website that percussionist Daniel de los Reyes had joined the band on a permanent basis. De los Reyes had previously performed with the band as a touring musician and participated in the recording of their upcoming album Uncaged. De los Reyes has also performed with artists and groups such as Earth, Wind and Fire, Jennifer Lopez and Sting.^[18]

Awards[link]

Zac Brown Band has earned more than 50 GRAMMY, ACM, AMA, CMA, and CMT award nominations since 2009.^[19]

They have received four nominations for the 2009 CMA Awards: New Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Single of the Year, and Music Video of the Year for their #1 single, "Chicken Fried". That same year, they received three Grammy nominations for Best Country Album, Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocals and Best New Artist. On January 31, 2010, the band won the Grammy award for Best New Artist.

The group was also nominated in 2009 for three ACM awards, "Album of the Year", "Top Vocal Group", and was one of eight contenders for "Entertainer of the Year".^{[citation needed]}

The Zac Brown Band led the nominees for the 46th annual Academy of Country Music Awards 2011, with a total of nine nominations including: Top Vocal Group of the Year, Album of the Year, Single Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Vocal Event of the Year.^[20]

Collaborations and appearances[link]

The band is known to cover songs by their major musical influences in concert, with notable songs including Come Pick Me Up by Ryan Adams, The Devil Went Down To Georgia by Charlie Daniels, I Shall Be Released by Bob Dylan, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down by The Band, Blackbird by The Beatles, Into The Mystic by Van Morrison, One Love by Bob Marley, Killing in the Name by Rage Against the Machine and Can't You See by The Marshall Tucker Band. On their 2010 Live benefit album Pass the Jar, these songs were included in their setlist.

Along with recent commercial success, the band has made appearances at The Hangout Music Festival, Hullabalou Music Festival and the Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2006, 2009, and 2010 along with an opening slot for the Dave Matthews Band during their 2010 Summer Tour. Also, after several years as perennial favorites on the annual The Rock Boat theme-cruise, the Zac Brown Band has been elevated to hosting their own theme-cruise, Sailing Southern Ground, in September 2010.

In 2011, the Zac Brown Band and Blackberry Smoke did a tour of sold out concerts at venues and amphitheaters including Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA.^[21]

Zac Brown Band was also a headliner at the 2010 Detroit Hoedown.

Jimmy Buffett, Duane Cahill, Aaron Carman and guitar virtuoso Tony Rice join Alan Jackson as special guests on the new Zac Brown Band album, "You Get What You Give," which was released on September 21, 2010.^[22]

Zac Brown Band appeared at the Country Music Association Awards on November 10, 2010, performing As She's Walking Away.^[23]

Zac Brown Band appeared as special guests for Kings of Leon at London’s Hyde Park on June 22, 23 and at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium on June 26.

Zac Brown Band appeared at Ft. Stewart, Georgia and played a free concert for soldiers and family members on July 4, 2011 to a crowd of over 24,000.

Discography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site
• Zac Brown Band at Billboard.com