True West is a guitar band, often considered part of the Paisley Underground . Singer Gavin Blair and guitarists Richard McGrath and Russ Tolman are the nucleus of the group.
22-470: True West may refer to: True West (band) , a Paisley Underground band that flourished in the early 1980s True West (play) , a play by Sam Shepard True West Magazine , a magazine that began publication in 1953 Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title True West . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
44-723: A Davis -based band, with a pre-Dream Syndicate Steve Wynn and Kendra Smith . In 1981, Tolman joined a band in Davis called The Meantime, which included Sean O'Brien, Rick Gates, and Kevin Vanderhoof (now Kevin Wilkins). The Meantime released a 7" self-titled EP with three songs, one of which was produced by David Gates of the band Bread . The Meantime changed its name to True West later in 1981, at Tolman's urging. O'Brien left True West in January 1982, and apart from Tolman,
66-476: A mini album ( Korean : 미니앨범 ) is a promotional term for a release that having less budget, synonym of extended play . A release that having expensive budget (excluding music video production cost) is called "full album", synonym of studio album . Actual mini-LP is also called a full album, although only having 6-7 tracks. For example, Face by Jimin . This is also applied to Japanese releases by South Korea artists. In some cases, artists have used
88-549: A few months earlier by the arrival of R.E.M. Suddenly, England couldn't get enough of American guitar bands and True West made the front pages of the big three music publications of the day: the NME , Melody Maker , and Sounds . Several major labels came courting with talk of production by Steve Lillywhite (U2, XTC), but problems with their work permits did not allow the band to make scheduled appearances on The Old Grey Whistle Test and other British TV that would have pushed them over
110-686: A five-camera shoot of a 2007 live performance from the House Of Blues in Anaheim, CA, plus vintage video from a 1983 San Francisco performance and a 1985 Nuremberg, Germany show, was released on January 24, 2012, by Atavistic Video (distributed by MVD). In 2009, True West played at a festival in Norway called Down On The Farm, which also featured Stan Ridgway . The band released the 3CD set Kaleidoscope of Shadows: The Story So Far on their Bring Out Your Dead label in 2021. It contains all three of
132-657: A lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A mini-LP is not to be confused with the Japanese CDs issued in a " mini LP sleeve " or "paper jacket". Its running time is shorter than the typical album but longer than a single album . It is sometimes synonymous with extended play, especially in East Asia music market. However, some music distributors may classify mini albums with 7 or more songs as an album. In
154-525: The Billboard 200 in 1984. Independent record labels often released mini-LPs by artists before releasing full-length albums. In 1987, 4AD took this approach with both Pixies Come on Pilgrim debut and the second album by Throwing Muses , The Fat Skier . In 1997, Aphex Twin released the Come to Daddy EP , which he considers to be an album/mini-album rather than an EP. It reached number 37 on
176-524: The 10-inch Nu-Disk format in the early 1980s (an example being Cheap Trick 's 1980 release Found All the Parts ), but they found it difficult to merchandise, and 12-inch mini-LPs became more common. Notable mini-LPs of the early 1980s included U2 's Under a Blood Red Sky , which reached number 2 on the UK Albums Chart in 1983, and The Honeydrippers ' Volume 1 , which reached number 4 on
198-640: The US Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart. In 2018, Kanye West spearheaded an effort to release five mini-albums from five different artists in five weeks. He led the release of Daytona by Pusha T , Ye by Kanye West, Kids See Ghosts by Kids See Ghosts (a project consisting of Kanye West and Kid Cudi ), K.T.S.E. by Teyana Taylor and Nasir by Nas . Other examples include King Crimson 's Vrooom (1994), Robyn's Body Talk Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 (2010), Young Ejecta 's The Planet (2015) and Yes ' From
220-585: The United States, The Recording Academy 's rules for Grammy Awards state that an album must comprise a minimum total playing time of 15 minutes with at least five distinct tracks or a minimum total playing time of 30 minutes with no minimum track requirement. In the United Kingdom, the criteria for the UK Albums Chart is that a recording counts as an "album" if it either has more than four tracks or lasts more than 25 minutes. In South Korea,
242-624: The West Coast neo-psychedelic movement dubbed the Paisley Underground . However, the twin lead guitar interplay of McGrath and Tolman distinguished them from other Paisley groups. Their 1983 self-released five song EP , co-produced by Russ Tolman and Steve Wynn , enabled the band to tour the U.S. non-stop, coming to the attention of Television guitarist Tom Verlaine , who took them to upstate New York 's Bearsville Studios to record demos for EMI America . More attention from
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#1732786577702264-602: The band had changed personnel completely by the time they recorded True West's first single. True West first gained attention for their guitar work in 1982 with a cover of the Syd Barrett / Pink Floyd song " Lucifer Sam ," creating a psychedelic effect by placing the same song backwards on the B-side, titled "Mas Reficul." True West soon came to the attention of music writers in the East Coast, U.K., and Europe as part of
286-472: The band's studio albums, including for the first time on CD Hand of Fate . Also included are six demos from 1985, bonus tracks from the Hand of Fate sessions, along with many live recordings of the band. It was compiled by True West drummer Jim Huie and noted author and reissue producer Pat Thomas (musician) . Mini-LP A mini-LP or mini-album is a short record album or LP , usually retailing at
308-427: The chronological placement of a mini album in their discography as part of the title of the release. For example, 2NE1 1st Mini Album and Taste of Love: The 10th Mini Album (note that both albums are EPs, not actual mini-LP). Mini-LPs became popular in the early 1980s with record companies who targeted consumers who were reluctant to buy full-length and full-priced albums. Several mini-LPs had been released in
330-399: The largest audiences of their career. Two years of constant touring and several disappointing close brushes with a major label recording contract had taken their toll on the band, and True West called it quits in the summer of 1985. Tolman started a successful solo career and the band decided to reform without Tolman shortly after and go on to record and release their third album Hand Of Fate
352-428: The late 1970s, including John Cooper Clarke 's Walking Back to Happiness , which used the 10-inch format. The format was usually 12-inch or 10-inch vinyl , with a playing time of between twenty and thirty minutes, and around seven tracks. They were often used as a way of introducing new acts to the market or as a way of releasing interim albums by established acts between their main albums. Epic Records introduced
374-897: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=True_West&oldid=579789351 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages True West (band) Originally from California's Sacramento Valley , True West were contemporaries and friends with Los Angeles bands such as The Dream Syndicate , Green on Red , Rain Parade , Thin White Rope , and The Long Ryders . From 1979 to 1981, Gavin Blair and Russ Tolman had been bandmates in The Suspects,
396-535: The most recent released in 2019. True West reformed in 2006, with original members Tolman, McGrath, and Blair, along with new members drummer Jim Huie and bassist Ian Barrett and began to tour for a series of concert dates, continuing several times a year through at least 2009. On June 5, 2007, Atavistic Worldwide/Touch And Go Records released Hollywood Holiday Revisited , a CD collection of True West's first two albums Hollywood Holiday and Drifters. A concert DVD called The West Is History (2011), which contains
418-509: The music press followed with True West being singled out in the March 29, 1984 Rolling Stone magazine feature entitled "Rock & Roll Rookies: Ten Bands You'll Be Hearing From Soon." September 1984 saw the release of the band's first album Drifters . While not as gritty and psychedelic as the band's debut (which by this time had been re-released as an eight-song mini-LP called Hollywood Holiday ), Drifters , with its folk-rock influences,
440-517: The next year. However, in 1987, bassist Kevin Staydohar (who had also been a member of Central Valley pioneers Thin White Rope ) died of a heart valve infection. In the following years, guitarist Richard McGrath was a member of Wall of Voodoo frontman Stan Ridgway 's band and joined singer Gavin Blair to release two albums as The Fool Killers, which released a collection in 1989 called Out Of State Miracle . Russ Tolman recorded eight solo albums,
462-697: The top and into the arms of a waiting major, unlike other Paisley Underground bands. After a successful tour of the European continent, the band returned to the U.S. to write and prepare to record their third album. However, as soon as they were home, R.E.M. invited True West to join them for the 17-date western U.S. and Canada portion of the Athens combo's 1985 Fables of the Reconstruction tour. Playing venues such as Seattle's Paramount Theatre, L.A.'s Greek Theatre and Irvine Meadows put True West in front of
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#1732786577702484-505: Was dubbed "guitar poetry" by Rolling Stone scribe David Fricke. Other 1980s luminaries started noticing the band, such as Prince , who passed along the word after one Minneapolis show that he was greatly impressed with guitarist McGrath's lyrical leads. True West landed in London in April 1985 amidst what the U.K. music press had declared "The American Invasion," which had been kicked off
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