# Grant Lee Buffalo

Grant Lee Buffalo was an American rock band based in Los Angeles, California, United States, consisting of Grant-Lee Phillips (vocals and guitar), Paul Kimble (bass) and Joey Peters (drums).
All three were previously members of another Los Angeles band, Shiva Burlesque. In the late 1980s, Jeffrey Clark, Grant-Lee Phillips, James Brenner and Joey Peters started as a rock music formation called Shiva Burlesque. They released two studio albums, the self-titled Shiva Burlesque in 1987 on Nate Starkman & Son Records, and a follow-up (and final) album, Mercury Blues, which was released in 1990 on Fundamental Records. Matt Snow in Q Magazine highlighted the Doors and Echo and the Bunnymen as references and described the last album as "great late-night un-easy listening". Paul Kimble replaced Brenner on bass and the band renamed as Grant Lee Buffalo in 1991.
Phillips, Kimble, and Peters transitioned from Shiva Burlesque’s more psychedelic and experimental sound to create something unique. Grant-Lee Phillips, the creative force in the band, brought with him a unique voice that could be both hauntingly gentle and powerful, paired with a sombre storyteller's honesty. This combination would form the core of Grant Lee Buffalo’s identity.
The band’s early influences were a mix of 70s rock, folk, and country, but it was Phillips’ fascination with American history, landscapes, and personal narratives that shaped the band’s lyrical direction. Their sound was further characterized by the use of unconventional instruments and experimental recording techniques, which allowed them to create a distinct atmosphere in their music.

## Career

Grant Lee Buffalo released four albums in the 1990s, all on Slash Records
Fuzzy - 1993
When Grant Lee Buffalo cut their debut album, 1993's Fuzzy, they had a distinct advantage over most bands making their first trip to the studio -- They had already recorded two LPs together as members of the then-recently defunct Shiva Burlesque, and most of Fuzzy's 11 songs dated back to SB's latter days. This goes a long way towards explaining how Grant Lee Buffalo were able to make an album as confident and solidly crafted as Fuzzy, combining Phillips' evocative voice and songwriting, with sympathetic accompanists who had a clear idea of how to tap into the mysterious melodic structures of his music. Paul Kimble was an especially valuable ally in the studio, helping to produce and engineer these recordings and giving this album its full, widescreen sound. The album's simplicity and striking dynamics ultimately serve these songs well and songs like "Soft Wolf Tread," "Dixie Drug Store" and the title track fuse the richly American imagery of the burgeoning alt country movement with a California gothic sensibility that was all their own. Fuzzy's deep and mysterious quality was crafted with imagination and care, and it's no wonder Grant Lee Buffalo became critic's darlings shortly after this was released.
Mighty Joe Moon - 1994
You put your hands on a ouija board and you get a message from who knows where – that’s what music is like. You never know if you’re moving it, or you’re being moved by it,” explains guitarist/singer/ songwriter Grant Lee Phillips, one-third of L.A.’s Grant Lee Buffalo, on Mighty Joe Moon (Warner Bros.). The band continues to explore its distinctive blend of ethereal, somber folk and big, ungodly noise on their impressive follow-up to last year’s Fuzzy. Phillips and his bandmates, bassist Paul Kimble (also the produces and engineer) and drummer Joey Peters (who has drummed with John Lee Hooker), make use of everything – from pump organs to acquired hunks of metal – to enhance their stories of real America. On the album’s first single, the ballad “Mockingbirds,” Phillips effectively blends a deep baritone with a high falsetto vocal over the songs’ trance-inducing groove. Distorted guitars, mixed with mandolins, banjos, blaring harmonicas are held steady by a very subtle yet strong rhythm section. Lyrically he blazes through politics, love, the human spirit, and ends the album with a very chilling take on his own version of the old hymn Rock of Ages.
Copperopolis - 1996
Copperopolis has a conceptual conceit that is rich enough to match GLPs plaintive emotion and songwriting craftsmanship. The album's title is a nod to a copper-mining town that has fallen on hard times. Songs such as "Arousing Thunder," "The Bridge" and "Armchair" evoke the dusk-like atmosphere of small-town America, creating cinematic imagery through a summer rainstorm, a barefoot walk across a wooden bridge and a beaten-up old easy chair. But these romantic visions are juxtaposed against the perverted ideals espoused by people who aren't quite as tolerant as Phillips and his bohemian band mates. In "Homespun," the singer rails against the militia movement: "Hear the drummers pound/Listen to the homespun violent sound." Phillips and the band broaden their palette to include vibraphone, violin and a cheesy synthesizer rescued from a thrift store to make Copperopolis a sometimes eccentric, but always rewarding place to visit.
Jubilee - 1998
GLB's producer and bassist, Paul Kimble, left the group after its third album, Copperopolis, came out in 1996, so Phillips and drummer Joey Peters drafted keyboardist Jon Brion and former Tonic bassist Dan Rothschild to fill out the lineup on Jubilee. Producer Paul Fox defines a clean, crisp sound for the band, alongside noteworthy guests like Michael Stipe, Robyn Hitchcock and the Wallflowers' Rami Jaffee . Songs like "Testimony," continue to evoke an utterly unique world composed of American lore, biblical references, literary flair and stirring emotional honesty. It's a singular course he's been charting steadily for four albums now.
The single, "Truly, Truly", received extensive airplay. on American radio
Jubilee met with more success than the prior releases thanks to "Truly, Truly." But, as Phillips describes, a number of changes led to the dissolution of the band's time at their label and their time together.
    "The celebrational spirit of Jubilee actually brought a renewed optimism to me personally. The album was well received and understandably the expectations at the label were high, probably too high. Although the highly refined Jubilee had brought the band considerable success at radio with "Truly, Truly," a shift within the industry was well underway. The label's constant nagging about "Call-out Response" was both a new term and a bewildering concept to our ears. The basic strategy: a radio station arranges to call up a listener who is asked to consume about 30 songs over the phone, perhaps 20 seconds of each. From this remote encounter, the listener will then proceed to judge the material. Insufficient call-out response was a big reason that Jubilee hardly got a shot at Warners. Grant Lee Buffalo tunes are often like an old car or an old amp that needs a few seconds to get warmed up, but when it does... look out! Meanwhile, a new crop of young record buyers, the largest since the Baby Boomer era, were now being targeted to the exclusion of Gen-Xers, like myself, still waiting for the Pixies to reform.
In 2001, a compilation of singles, album tracks and rarities called Storm Hymnal was released.

## Sound & Vision

Grant Lee Buffalo's sound is comparable to Neil Young and an electrified version of Americana songwriter John Stewart. Phillips writes that their first album "would galvanize the sound of Grant Lee Buffalo, i.e., the acoustic feedback howl of overdriven 12-string guitars, melodic distorto-bass, tribal drum bombast, the old world churn of pump organs and parlor pianos."
Lyrically, they reference American history as well as contemporary events. For instance, “Lone Star Song” from Mighty Joe Moon references the Waco siege and “Crackdown” from Copperopolis references the murder of Yoshihiro Hattori as well as the Oklahoma City bombing.

## Live

GLB toured with major bands including R.E.M., Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins, and The Cranberries. In the United States,
In May 2011 the band returned on a limited tour, making stops in Los Angeles, Dublin, London, Brussels, Copenhagen and Oslo. On August 8, 2011, the band performed at Dranouter festival in Belgium, and on August 9 in Copenhagen. The band also played at the German Haldern Pop Festival in August 2012.

## Publication

In October 2017, Chrysalis Records acquired Grant Lee Buffalo's back catalog from Slash Records. Chrysalis/Blue Raincoat CEO Jeremy Lascelles had previously signed the band to the label's publisher in the 1990s.

## Solo careers

Lead singer Phillips has had his own solo career as well. He explains:
    As for Grant Lee Buffalo, I sensed they were beginning to wonder if we'd ever get through finishing school. Before that could happen, band and label parted as did Peters and myself. The scenery was changing and I was looking for new explorations. I'm sure we all were. Perhaps we always will be."
He was signed to the Boston-based indie label Rounder Records and launched a solo career, issuing Ladies' Love Oracle online in 2000. The recording was later more widely released. His first full-length album, Mobilize, was released in 2001. Phillips has released eleven albums between 2000 and 2022.

## Discography
### Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Album details | UK | AUS | BEL | NOR | NZ | SWE | US Heat. |
| Fuzzy | Released: 23 February 1993 Label: Slash / London Format: CD, LP, cassette, digital download | 74 | — | 157 | — | — | — | — |
| Mighty Joe Moon | Released: 20 September 1994 Label: Slash / London / Reprise / Liberation Format: CD, LP, cassette, digital download | 24 | 48 | — | 8 | 23 | 38 | 16 |
| Copperopolis | Released: 4 June 1996 Label: Slash / London / Reprise Format: CD, cassette, digital download | 34 | 59 | 43 | 9 | 28 | 27 | 16 |
| Jubilee | Released: 9 June 1998 Label: Slash / London / Polydor Format: CD, cassette, digital download | — | — | — | — | — | — | 18 |

### Compilations and live albums

| Title | Details | Notes |
| Storm Hymnal: Gems from the Vault of Grant Lee Buffalo | Released: 23 October 2001 Label: Slash / London Format: CD, digital download | The best of and B-sides/rarities |
| Live at the Royal Festival Hall | Released: 9 April 2013 Magnetic Field Recordings Format: Digital download | Live at the Royal Festival Hall in London on May 18, 2011 |

### EPs

* Buffalondon Live (1993) UK no. 77
* Blue Plate Special (1993)

### Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Title | Year | UK | NLD | US Mod. | Album |
| "Fuzzy" | 1993 | 83 | 42 | — | Fuzzy |
| "America Snoring" | 1993 | 82 | — | — | Fuzzy |
| "Jupiter and Teardrop" | 1993 | — | — | — | Fuzzy |
| "Lone Star Song" | 1994 | — | — | — | Mighty Joe Moon |
| "Mockingbirds" | 1994 | 86 | — | 14 | Mighty Joe Moon |
| "Honey Don't Think" | 1995 | — | — | — | Mighty Joe Moon |
| "Homespun" | 1996 | 94 | — | — | Copperopolis |
| "Truly, Truly" | 1998 | — | — | 11 | Jubilee |

### Music videos

| Year | Song / Video | Album | Director |
| 1993 | Fuzzy | Fuzzy | Carlos Grasso |
| 1993 | America Snoring | Fuzzy | Angus Cameron |
| 1994 | Lone Star Song | Mighty Joe Moon | Carlos Grasso |
| 1994 | Mockingbirds | Mighty Joe Moon | Anton Corbijn |
| 1994 | Honey Don't Think | Mighty Joe Moon | Carlos Grasso |
| 1994 | El Dorado Motorhome (Mighty Joe Moon Promo) | Mighty Joe Moon | Carlos Grasso |
| 1996 | Homespun | Copperopolis | Carlos Grasso |
| 1998 | Testimony | Jubilee | Jason Smith |
| 1999 | Circuit DVD Music Magazine #1 (Jubilee Promo) | Jubilee | Jodi Wille |

### Soundtracks

| OST release date / Episode air date | Song | Composer | Film / TV series |
| 22 March 1994 | Fuzzy | Grant-Lee Phillips | With Honors (OST) |
| 13 June 1995 | Mockingbirds | Grant-Lee Phillips | Mad Love (OST) |
| 26 September 1995 | In My Room | Brian Wilson, Gary Usher (The Beach Boys) | Friends (OST) |
| 3 November 1998 | The Whole Shebang Bitter's End (performed by Paul Kimble and Andy Mackay) Living Proof* Lo' and Behold* Make Your Own Little Heaven* | Grant-Lee Phillips Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music) Grant-Lee Phillips Grant-Lee Phillips Grant-Lee Phillips | Velvet Goldmine (OST) |
| 2 February 1999 | Testimony | Grant-Lee Phillips | I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (OST) |
| 9 April 2001 | Jupiter and Teardrop | Grant-Lee Phillips | Trigger Happy TV (OST to Series 2) |
| 19 April 2005 | Happiness | Grant-Lee Phillips | House TV Series (Babies & Bathwater episode) |
(*) - Soundtrack demos only, not on the OST.