Sublime 'Everything Under The Sun' album

The Long Beach trio known as Sublime began with a gig on July 4th, 1988 that as legend tells ignited the infamous "Peninsula Riot." The chaos and excitement escalated over the next eight years from the backyards of Long Beach and 40 Oz. to Freedom to the national phenomenon of their breakthrough album, Sublime. Sadly, the massive success of Sublime came in the wake of the tragic and untimely death of singer-songwriter-guitartist Bradley Nowell. But the music lives on. Celebrating Sublime's legacy as one of the most influential bands of the '90s, the career-spanning multi-disc cd and dvd box set Everything Under the Sun have been released on November 14th, 2006 (Geffen/UMe/Gasoline Alley/Skunk) completing the band's discography and tying up loose ends for generations to come.

Simultaneously born from and representative of the inherent culture of Southern California, Sublime's music, created by Bradley, Eric Wilson (bass) and Bud Gaugh (drums), immediately fused aggressive surf-skate punk and d.i.y. hip-hop with classic dance hall and rock-steady reggae. Sublime's impact from the early cult hit "Date Rape" to their multi-platinum major label debut was at once both a sign of the times and ahead of the curve. The Everything Under the Sun box set will contain demo, live and alternate versions of classics from 40 Oz. to Freedom, Robbin' the Hood, Sublime and Second Hand Smoke along with new and unreleased tracks and video. Everything Under the Sun highlights include a mid-90s remix from the soon to be household name (and LBC homie) Snoop Dogg and a cover of the '60's Dee Dee Warwick (yes, the sister of Dione) soul hit "Foolish Fool," demoed during the Sublime sessions. In 2006, David Kahne, who also produced the classics "What I Got," "April 29, 1992," "Doin' Time," and "Caress Me Down" on Sublime, took the original "Foolish Fool" tracks and produced/mixed this final, never before heard version.

Biography

It’s been a long and wild ride since sublime’s first gig way back in 1988 in Long Beach, CA. Their explosive debut not only set off a small-scale riot but also marked the beginning of a rare, genre-busting collaboration. Once known as the “below average garage punk band that every kid wanted to play at his party,” sublime steadily escalated from a group of backyard beer buddies to a renown musical entity. Blending a love of dance-hall and rock-steady reggae rhythms with an aggressive punk ethic, sublime amassed a nearly fanatical Southern California following that would do just about anything to catch one of their blistering sets.

In 1992, realizing the hysteria they were creating, Brad and co-conspirator/producer Michael “Miguel” Happoldt pawned the band’s equipment and founded their own label, Skunk Records, to release and self-distribute their now cult classic 40 oz. to Freedom. The album, which was originally recorded for under $1,000 has gone on to sell over 700,000 copies with the first 30,000 sold directly from the trunks of their cars. 40 oz. to Freedom has been RIAA-certified gold, and is currently charting on Billboard magazine’s Top 10 catalog album chart.

Robbin’ the Hood, the experimental masterpiece released in 1994, was recorded on a shoe string budget, partially on 4-tracks, in various living rooms and abandoned houses around LBC as well at West Beach Studios. This subversive album, woven together with punk, dub and crazy spoken word, was never meant to be a follow-up to the conceptual 40 oz.; it served as a precursor to the untapped possibilities of sublime. Robbin’s eclectic bouillabaisse of sonic manipulation has now moved over 350,000 pieces.

The edgy morality play “Date Rape” was the first single from 40 oz. to hit the airwaves in 1995 (3 years after it’s release, 7 years after it’s initial recording). Starting at one of the country’s most influential rock stations, KROQ in L.A., the song went on to become one of the most requested songs in the station’s history according to PD Kevin Weatherly. The same scenario repeated itself again and again in cities like Boston, DC, San Francisco, Detroit, Denver, Orlando, Austin, Virginia Beach, Chicago and San Diego.

In ’96, after two years of continuous touring, the boys went from behind the wheel to behind the mixing board. This time they branched out from their first two self-produced efforts and worked with outside producers. The majority of the album, sublime, was recorded in Austin at Willie Nelson’s Pedernales Studios, better known as “Willie World.” At the helm was the legendary Butthole Surfer himself, Paul Leary (Supersuckers, Meat Puppets). In addition, David Kahne (Fishbone and Soul Coughing) sat in as producer on a few of sublime’s tracks to add the spice to make everything nice.

sublime, is a true study in versatility and a combination of everything the band learned from recording both 40 oz and Robbin’. The seventeen tracks on sublime range from dancehall reggae to ska to psychedelic dub to Hendrix-influenced rock to early-eighties hardcore punk to amalgamations of all of these styles – this is a record that can not be easily categorized. Lyrically, the album explores everything from the joys of music and smoking herb to the realities of the infamous L.A. riots.

When the self-titled album was released in July, 1996, it immediately entered the Billboard Top 200 album chart at #62 and steadily climbed through the year to perch in the top-20. The album was well received by the critics as well as the public. sublime received raves including, “Simply put, it is one of the best rock records of the year…” from Time magazine. It was named the #8 album of the Top 20 albums of 1996 in Spin magazine. The Los Angeles Times reported that, “This free-flowing, multi-genre album has more heart and more soul than anything else I heard all year.” That L.A. Times critic named sublime her #1 record of 1996.

The album enjoyed great success on the radio with the first single, “What I Got,” which perched at the #1 position on the Modern Rock Chart for three weeks, was Top-5 for 13 weeks, and is still charting. “Santeria,” their second single, followed “What I Got” to the upper reaches of the Modern Rock Chart. “Wrong Way,” the band’s third single, and “Doin’ Time” the album’s current single proved as popular as their predecessors.

As any sublime fan will be quick to tell, a huge part of the sublime experience was their no-holds-barred live shows. The band and management decided to help fill the gap left when the band could no longer tour with a 20 minute video of rare archival live show footage, behind-the-scenes interviews and new video, now known as the “Sublime Mini-Movie.” This short documentary was unveiled in Hollywood at the Enough Already benefit.

Enough Already, held on Jan. 11, 1997 was billed as A Sublime Rock N’ Roll Benefit Show to benefit M.A.P (Musicians Assistance Program) and the Jakob James Nowell (Brad’s son) Scholarship Fund. Southern California bands No Doubt, Pennywise, Vandals, Voodoo Glowskulls, Long Beach Dub All Stars (featuring Bud and Eric of sublime), the Ziggens, fluf, All Day and Slightly Stoopid played the event which raised over $40,000.

sublime has now sold in excess of three million records, a bittersweet accomplishment for the band and the record label. In February 1997, the band accepted their single platinum RIAA awards at the MCA offices (with wife, father and son accepting for Brad). In September, Brad’s family again visited the MCA offices, this time to receive multi-platinum sublime and gold 40 oz. plaques.

In November of 1997, Gasoline Alley/MCA Records released Second Hand Smoke, a new album culled from never before released material, rarities, re-mixes as well as re-mastered classics from previously released sublime records. The 19 tracks on the album, compiled by long-time sublime collaborator Miguel, chronicle the body of work of a band that brought the Southern California ska/punk sound to national prominence.

Also released in November: Doin’ Time, the singles, and sublime, the home video. Doin’ Time, the five-track CD single, is a collection of alternate mixes of sublime’s “Doin’ Time” remade by some of today’s most successful recording artists. Tracks on the single include mixes by Wyclef Jean of the Fugees, Snoop Doggy Dogg, The Pharcyde, as well as an unreleased Bradley version and the original album version. Sublime, the home video, contains rare and impromptu interview footage, four videos from the sublime record (“What I Got,” “Wrong Way,” “Santeria” and “Doin’ Time”) and two cult classics (“STP” and “Date Rape”).

Brad – Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist and Digital Ambassador
Bud – Drum Kit and Accounts Receivable
Eric – Bass Guitar and God of Thunder

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Sublime - Everything Under The Sun