Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

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colodogdoc
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Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by colodogdoc »

In my humble opinion, you can’t begin to judge or understand this song without first understanding its back story, so consider the following to be a prerequisite to any discussion about this song. The setup for G.G. Allin starts at about 6:25 into Tales Facing Up in this recording of a solo Patterson show from November of 2009:

http://archive.org/details/pattersonh20 ... 184.flac16

The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town is the only DBT song in a robust canon of story-songs that tells a true tale about something experienced by the two principal band members. If you need to know what an incredibly sick, twisted bastard G.G. Allin was consult http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.G._Allin. It seems to me that for Patterson and Cooley, who were struggling to hang on to the sinking ship that was the fleeting success of Adam’s Housecat (and if you know anything about Memphis, you know that Mud Island is nearly always losing ground to the Mississippi, which makes a nice metaphor for the collapse of their fledgling music careers), knowing that Memphians would pay $12 for the privilege of having G.G. Allin’s feces slung upon them must have been particularly galling. This news would likely have rendered their ritual Sunday morning meat-and-three experience depressing, and intensified their hangovers, were it not for the old man and his wife at the next table.

I know the couple at the next table. They could have even been my parents, still getting dressed up for church, going out once a week for lunch, and quietly despairing in the decline of American morals and values. The song perfectly relates how the absurdity of the events that occurred at a G.G. Allin show, however head-scratching they must have seemed to a couple of 20-something guys in the music business, was magnified a thousand-fold to the unsuspecting elderly couple who picked up the free weekly newspaper while waiting for their lunch.

I like to think that without this song, DBT might never have been formed. I imagine Patterson penning the line about how G.G. started throwing his own shit into the crowd, and then having an ah-ha moment when he came up with the undeniably clever, “gone before the shit came down” line. It reminds me of something Cooley might have written, and maybe Patterson realized that too, and thought it just might set the hook and get them speaking again, ultimately re-energizing their musical partnership.

Someone wrote in another thread recently that it was really important for them to believe that the members of this band actually liked each other, were friends, and subsequently had a good time playing shows and recording records together. It’s important to me, too, and this song and its back story continue to convince me of that.

Behold:

We were bored, there was nothing going on.
Might as well stay at home and drink until we pass out again.
Then drink some more when the morning comes.
Memphis was sinking into the Mississippi.
We were doing our best just to ride it down.
Till the night G.G. Allin came to town.
"Honey, I dont believe this,"
the old man at Ferguson's Cafe kept saying to his wife.
As he read aloud The Memphis Star and their account of what went down that night
"It says he took a shit on the stage and started throwing it into the crowd.
But he was gone before the cops could come and shut him down."
Gone before the shit came down.
The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town.
The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town.
Antenna Club, Memphis, 1991.
Punk Rockers Paid $12.00 to be Shit On!
The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town.
The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town.
"It says he took the microphone and shoved it up his ass!"
The old man and his wife were aghast
The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town.
The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town.
Me and Cooley we just laughed so hard and both fell down!
The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town.
The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town.
"Mamma always said electric guitars will give you herpes."

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zoid
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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by zoid »

GG Allin 1991 Throbblehead Figure...

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http://www.memphisflyer.com/SingAllKind ... e-near-you

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bnzz
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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by bnzz »

One of my favorites DBT songs and one of the most under appreciated....imho

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by beantownbubba »

brava, doc, brava! Way to turn shit into gold.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

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Clams
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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Clams »

Was lucky enough to catch this one at last year's new year's Day show at the TLA in Philly. Great write-up, colodogdoc.

The schedule is pretty much wide open if anyone wants to step up and do a song of the week. Send me a pm if interested. 8-)
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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Gang Green »

For me "GG Allin..." is in the same category as "Margo and Harold", which were songs I couldn't tolerate, at first. I had no clue who GG Allin was until I became a 3DDer (yes, I was out of the loop for most of the 90's), and read a thread about famous people in DBT songs, and someone posted a link to a GG Allin interview on the Jerry Springer show. Then I did the research on GG Allin and was horrified. Then, Patterson Hood on the DBT website said he wrote this song when Cooley and him weren't talking, a tear came to my eye. So, now, although not one of my favorites, I like to hear GG Allin Came to Town every once in a while. And, really, just to hear "Me and Cooley laughed so hard...". "Margo and Harold" was another song I coudln't tolerate until I heard Patterson give the background story in one of his early solo shows. Let's just say, I can make it through Pizzia Deliverance without having to skip a song.

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Zip City »

My roommate sophomore year of college had a brother who played with GG for a while.

Dude was seriously fucked in the head and went out as only he could go. Not sure you could have paid me to watch one of his shows
And I knew when I woke up Rock N Roll would be here forever

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Tyler »

Funny how people have different reactions to stuff. M&H and GG Allin have always been favorites of mine, behind only Too Much Sex and Uncle Frank on PD>

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by RolanK »

One of my favorites on PD.
Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa

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Kudzu Guillotine
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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Kudzu Guillotine »

On most days "Margo and Harold" is my favorite Patterson song. Another reason why I was so glad to hear 'em play at the recent Cradle show. I also really like "The Night G.G. Allin Came To Town" even though I had no clue who he was when I first heard the song. It's tunes like these that will forever endear me to Gangstabilly and Pizza Deliverance.

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by RMD »

Always been a fav of mine as well. Only caught it live once when Jason was still in the band.

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Smitty »

Love it... love the conversationial (?) flow of the lyrics... and the music.
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

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mwh
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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by mwh »

Several years ago when I discovered DBT I had a rhapsody account and I remember the write up for PD said something like, "this album contains the Night GG Allin Came to Town which might just be the greatest alt-country song ever written."


You can debate the alt-country part or the greatest song (at that time) part, but I read it on the internet so it must've been true.

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Smitty »

mwh wrote:Several years ago when I discovered DBT I had a rhapsody account and I remember the write up for PD said something like, "this album contains the Night GG Allin Came to Town which might just be the greatest alt-country song ever written."


You can debate the alt-country part or the greatest song (at that time) part, but I read it on the internet so it must've been true.


It's definitely a unique song - a great play on "The Night Hank Williams Came to Town".
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Gator McKlusky »

Is this the only DBT song where one of the band members is mentioned by name?

GG Allin was a talentless dipshit and I don't understand how anyone could have worshipped that crap. I still have this record that my college radio station got in the mail one day and I have yet to make it all way thru, absolutely unlistenable shit --did his label actually think we were going to play it? :lol:

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Looks like a bunch of little whiny fucksticks to me

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by RustyGoKart »

Gator McKlusky wrote:GG Allin was a talentless dipshit and I don't understand how anyone could have worshipped that crap.


Although I can see where you're coming from, I don't think of G.G. Allin as a musician nearly as much as a performance artist. He didn't play to showcase his music, but rather to engage or confront the audience. If the punk rock scene of the mid 80s was a missile, well G.G. would have been right on the tip. Bands like The Meatmen, The Mentors or even G.W.A.R. share much of the same perverted shock rock ethos; almost the inevitable evolution of what Alice Cooper brought to the stage.

I would argue that without this "crap", that a redneck underground would have never existed. Atlanta was a punk music Mecca in the 80s and it was this scene that directly influenced most every local musician.Pretty much everybody in those redneck underground bands was in a punk band first. It was like a collision of traditional country and punk music. Artists like G.G. had pushed beyond the acceptable limit, but in doing so had also moved the boundaries of what is acceptable or palatable.

I have to think about how someone would describe Deacon Lunchbox as a musician after just listening to a few recordings (probably not too favorably).

Look at the truckers material. Although, not overtly gross they certainly hit on taboo topics; topics lots of people would not be comfortable discussing with their families over dinner.

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by bonobo444 »

i dunno,
this song is written like after a boozy nights drinking (well they actually say that too)
it doesnt sound anything like gg allin
now we all know what the truckers can do when they want to kick ass
so you gotta presume that the feel of the song is quite deliberate, and concious that they dont sound anything like gg allin
(not commenting here on lyrical content)
they are also OK in letting themselves sound like Skynard for example
i get that they (Patterson in particular) may have been bemused at audiences paying to get shat on and worse.

its also an intersting comparison between the celebration on ACDC (let there be rock) and the musically blase attitude to gg

i guess they just dont like him much, but cared enough to write and record a song about it

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RevMatt
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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by RevMatt »

Whether or not Patterson and Cooley like G.G. Allin is beside the point. The song is about the absurdity of the entire scene. Two broke ass musicians with no gigs eating lunch at a cheap cafe as they try and deal with their hangovers. A couple -- probably having their weekly after church luncheon -- at the next table who know absolutely nothing about their world but happen upon an account of a G.G. Allin show in the newspaper which was the most over the top punk rock spectacle at the time. The couple were probably not much different than their own parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. The two failing rockers were from their world but were now living in G.G.'s world. They probably would never go to a G.G. show -- I knew all about him but never had the need to experience it live, especially when you could see it on VHS -- but knew who he was. Hearing the old man talking about G.G. -- "Honey, I don't believe this" -- put them over the edge. Probably took Cooley and Hood a few moments before they realized what the man was talking about but once they did how else would they react other than by laughing their asses off.

Here is some footage from the final night G.G. Allin came to town.

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Smitty »

The Memphis - 27-NOV-1991

Sleaze Hits Low At Antenna Club

since opening a little over 10 years ago, The Antenna Club at 1588 Madison has pushed the limits of what is loosely called artistic expression in punk rock music. It's a place where a guy with a spike haircut and an earring or a girl with combat boots can feel at home.

Last Saturday night, November 16, it either nudged the standards for shock rock considerably lower or exceed them.

According to various accounts, this is what happened. (Club owner Mark McGehee said the details in this synopis are "pretty accurate.")

The headline performer was New York punk rocker G.G. Allen, formerly head of a band called G.G. and the Scum F--s. Allen's wilder antics include physically assaulting patrons and, at a Milwaukee concert in 1989m throwing human feces at them.

To put it bluntly, Allen grossed out the audience at The Antenna Club. He defecated on the stage, then appeared to eat it and spit at the patrons. Allen, who is the lead singer, also beat his forehead bloody with a beer bottle and put a microphone up his rectum. The drummer performed naked.

Patrons, who paid a $7 cover charge, stormed out of the club onto Madison. A witness who had been at the P&H Café nearby said he saw "three burst of 15 to 20 people come out the door" around 10:30 p.m., forcing cars on Madison to brake or swerve to avoid hitting them.

Someone called the police, but the band had already left by the time a squad car arrived at 11:42 p.m. According to McGehee, "the show pretty much ended at 11:30. "

McGehee said G.G. Allen in its milder forms is reminiscent of other punk shock groups as the early Sex Pistols. He said other punk groups, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, also sometimes do a nude set, although they didn't do one last time they came to The Antenna Club.

G.G. Allen will not be invited back to the Antenna Club, McGehee said, although "people would pay for them to come back. He's got everyone talking. "

In addition to punk rock, the Antenna Club features a variety of musical acts from reggae to rock. On December 3rd, for instance, the featured band View includes three major league baseball players.

G.G. Allen's show was shut down last Friday night in Nashville, but there were no efforts to prevent it from going on in Memphis. According to The Tennessean, Nashville's morning newspaper, police were tipped that Allen's show was sometimes scatalogical and violent. After police and building inspectors searched unsuccessfully for code violations at the club, The Pantheon, the fire marshall finally closed it before the show could go on.

That may have left Allen and his band in a mood to let it all hang out, so to speak, in Memphis the next night.

Said McGehee, "You should have been there. It was history."
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Tequila Cowboy »

We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Tequila Cowboy »

We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Beaverdam »

Unfortunately I slipped on one of my kids' toys earlier in the week and broke my arm. On one of my first outings last night a buddy was excited to sign my cast. He secured my wife's approval; she just asked that my buddy not write anything too inappropriate that my son would read.

My buddy excitedly grabbed a sharpie and wrote, "Live fast. Die fast," and he drew a tombstone with the inscription "G.G." Then he had someone else draw a skull and crossbones.

Today I'm going to encourage my kids to decorate my cast so I don't get 100 questions about my friend's artistic design at work!

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by whatwouldcooleydo? »

Flame away, but there are a bunch of GG songs I like.

I met him in Austin, disappointed to this very day that our encounter was 100% run of the mill normal ;)
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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Flea »

Beaverdam wrote:Unfortunately I slipped on one of my kids' toys earlier in the week and broke my arm. On one of my first outings last night a buddy was excited to sign my cast. He secured my wife's approval; she just asked that my buddy not write anything too inappropriate that my son would read.

My buddy excitedly grabbed a sharpie and wrote, "Live fast. Die fast," and he drew a tombstone with the inscription "G.G." Then he had someone else draw a skull and crossbones.

Today I'm going to encourage my kids to decorate my cast so I don't get 100 questions about my friend's artistic design at work!
DUDE! Broken bones suck badly. Who will join us next in the Fracture Club?
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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Beaverdam »

https://m.memphisflyer.com/memphis/alte ... d=21521823

My brother-in-law sent me this article this am due to the song.

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Re: Track of the Week - The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town

Post by Zip City »

And I knew when I woke up Rock N Roll would be here forever

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