- published: 02 Jul 2011
- views: 202936195
Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American rock musician and songwriter who is best known as co-founder and lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.
Throughout his career with R.E.M. (1980–2011), as well as during his subsequent solo career, Buck has also been at various times an official member of numerous 'side project' groups. These groups included Hindu Love Gods, The Minus 5, Tuatara, The Baseball Project, Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 and Tired Pony, each of which have released at least one full-length album. Additionally, another side project group called Full Time Men released an EP while Buck was a member; ad hoc "supergroups" Bingo Hand Job (Billy Bragg and R.E.M.) and Nigel & The Crosses (Robyn Hitchcock, Peter Buck, Glenn Tilbrook and others) have each commercially released one track.
Other notable groups of Buck's that have not recorded include Slow Music, which plays semi-regular gigs, and "Richard M. Nixon", a band Buck founded in 2012 to support the release of his solo album with live gigs. Richard M. Nixon consists of Buck, Scott McCaughey and Bill Rieflin, the same three musicians who comprise The Venus 3.
Michael Edward "Mike" Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire also includes keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments. He contributed to a majority of the band's musical compositions.
Michael Edward Mills was born in Orange County, California and moved to Macon, Georgia when he was 10 years old. Mills met Bill Berry, who would later be his bandmate in R.E.M., in Macon.
Mills and Bill Berry started out in bands together. Early projects included the band Shadowfax (later called The Back Door Band).
Mills attended the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, which is where R.E.M. formed.
Mills is credited with being the chief composer behind many of R.E.M.'s songs, including "Nightswimming", "Find the River", "At My Most Beautiful", "Why Not Smile", "Let Me In", "Wendell Gee", "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville", "Beat a Drum", "Be Mine" and "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?". In particular, R.E.M.'s 2004 album Around the Sun was heavily shaped by Mills' piano and keyboard contributions.
William Thomas "Bill" Berry (born July 31, 1958) is a retired American musician and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. In addition to his drumming duties, Berry played many other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M. records. After 17 years with the band, Berry left the music industry to become a farmer, and has since maintained a low profile, making sporadic reunions with R.E.M. and appearing on other artists' records.
William Thomas Berry was born in Duluth, Minnesota, the fifth child of Don and Anna Berry. At the age of three years, Berry moved with his family to Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee, where they would remain for the next seven years. In 1968, they were on the move again, this time to Sandusky, Ohio.
In 1972, the Berry family made their final move, to Macon, Georgia, just in time for Bill to start high school at Mount de Sales Academy. It was there that he met bassist Mike Mills, and they played together in several different bands. Their first attempt at a career in music was short-lived. He and Mills decided to make money by getting day jobs. They rented an apartment on Arlington Place in Macon and Bill landed a job at the Paragon booking agency next door.
R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by lead singer Michael Stipe, lead guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. were noted for Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's surreal vocal quality. R.E.M. released their first single, "Radio Free Europe", in 1981 on the independent record label Hib-Tone. The single was followed by the Chronic Town EP in 1982, the band's first release on I.R.S. Records. In 1983, the group released its critically acclaimed debut album, Murmur, and built its reputation over the next few years through subsequent releases, constant touring, and the support of college radio. Following years of underground success, R.E.M. achieved a mainstream hit in 1987 with the single "The One I Love". The group signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1988, and began to espouse political and environmental concerns while playing large arenas worldwide.
John Michael Stipe (born January 4, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, film producer, music video director, and visual artist. He was the lead singer of the alternative rock band R.E.M. from their formation in 1980 until their dissolution in 2011.
Stipe is noted for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image, often selecting album artwork and directing many of the band's music videos. Outside the music industry, he owns and runs two film production companies, C-00 and Single Cell Pictures.
John Michael Stipe was born in Decatur, Georgia, on January 4, 1960. Stipe was a military brat; his father was a serviceman in the United States Army whose career resulted in frequent relocations for his family. His younger sister, Lynda Stipe, was born in 1962 and would become the vocalist of her own band Hetch Hetchy. Stipe and his family moved to various locales during his childhood, including Germany, Texas, Illinois, Alabama and Georgia. He was raised Methodist.
I can't see myself at thirty, I don't buy a lacquered thirty
Caught like flies preserved for tomorrow's jewelery again
Lighted in the amber yard, green shell back, green shell back
Listen for tomorrow's eyes in tree beer tar black brer sap
The biggest wagon is the empty wagon is the noisiest
The consul a horse, Jefferson, I think we're lost
Who will tend the farm museums? Who will dust today's belongings?
Who will sweep the floor, hedging the givens?
Rally round your leaders it's the mediator season
Diane is on the beach, do you realize the life she's led?
The biggest wagon is the empty wagon is the noisiest
The consul a horse, oh man, think we're lost
The biggest wagon is the empty wagon is the noisiest
The matter of course, Jefferson drive
Lighted in the amber yard, green shell back green shell back
Skylight, stock tight, nero pie-tied, in tree tar black brer sap
Reason has harnessed the tame, a lodging, not stockade's game
Another Greenville, another Magic Mart, Trevor grab your fiddle
The biggest wagon is the empty wagon is the noisiest
The consul a horse, Jefferson, I think we're lost
The biggest wagon is the empty wagon is the noisiest