Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – History

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club formed in 1998, taking its name from Marlon Brando’s motorcycle gang in the 1953 film The Wild One. Been and Hayes met at high school in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Lafayette and quickly formed a band; Hayes having recently left The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Looking for a drummer, they met Nick Jago, from Devon,England. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club was originally called The Elements, but after discovering that another band had the same name, they changed the name to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The vocals are shared between bassist Robert Levon Been and guitarist Peter Hayes.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club first two records were indebted to classic hard rock influenced by Led Zeppelin and also encompassed slower paced psychedelic rock, space rock, and noise pop influences from bands such as The Verve, Loop, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club second album Take Them On, On Your Own has several songs such as “Generation” and “US Government” that are critical of the United States government.

In 2003, a concert in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England had to be cancelled half way through the set, after Leeds City Council officials suspected the 150 year old floor of Leeds Town Hall might collapse. This led to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club sometimes being referred to as ‘the band who broke the floor’. Problems with drummer Nick Jago began surfacing publicly at the 2003 NME Awards, when Jago remained on stage for nine minutes, completely silent, while accepting an award. Jago’s conflicts came to a head in Scotland, when Jago and Hayes came to blows after a tense gig.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club signed to Echo in the UK, and RCA in the U.S. Howl was released to mostly favorable reviews. Howl had a stripped-down folk style, a departure from the earlier B.R.M.C. sound.

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