JCE reviews the long-overdue (and totally unexpected?) new release by Mother May I.
Read MoreRobert LeBourdais From Mother May I Auditions for Fountains of Wayne. R.I.P. Adam
Listen While You Read! Click Here For a Spotify Playlist I Put Together - Colin
The Pencilstorm office was reeling this week with news of the loss of Adam Schlesinger from Covid-19. Adam played bass and wrote songs for Fountains of Wayne, Tinted Windows and many other great projects. (Click here for WTF interview) I personally teared up numerous times diving deep back into his catalog of amazing tunes. He definitely influenced my band Watershed. We lost a true artist. Below is a Facebook post from Mother May I drummer Robert LeBourdais about his audition trying out for Fountains of Wayne. He was kind enough to let us share it here. Below that are a few of my favorite tunes Adam had a hand in. - Colin
Robert LeBourdais
My Adam Schlesinger story: In 1996 my band had been dropped by our label and we went our separate ways. I was sleeping on friends’ couches on Long Island trying to organize and move back down to the D.C. area when I spotted a classified ad (Village Voice?) by a band with a label deal looking for a drummer influenced by The Replacements and Cheap Trick: a no-brainer for me. For some reason I thought I’d give it a go even though I had already decided to move back south and try to reform my band.
Next thing I know I am on the phone with Adam talking about the music biz, and our favorite bands, etc. I remember thinking what a nice guy but hating the band name they had chosen (Fountains Of Wayne). He sent me a cassette in the mail which looked home-made as their record hadn’t been manufactured yet. I listened to the tape for a few days and went into NYC to tryout. There was one other person there before me (still pretty early in the day) but soon I was in a room about 10’ x 10’ with Adam and Chris Collingwood.
I think they wanted me to learn the first song on the tape (Radiation Vibe) but I thought the stronger songs were later on in the album so they seemed happily surprised when I called out Leave The Biker. It sounded pretty great, as if we had been playing together for a while. We also did Barbara H. and possibly Sick Day. They seemed more excited than when we began despite my douchey appearance. (I had a goatee for exactly 2 weeks in my entire life and it was during this time, dyed black like my hair and it just felt and looked desperately trendy - wallet chain, backward ball cap, etc. They looked like totally unpretentious recent grads.)
I remember at one point I asked them kind of derisively who played the drums on the recordings and Adam quietly said “Me. That bad, huh?” and we had a good laugh. There was also a point where Chris made some kind of jab at me (mother joke I think?) probably to see if I had a sense of humor and I came up with something right back at him and we had another good laugh. They were very laid-back pleasant guys with a dark sense of humor that was slowly coming out.
They asked to play Radiation Vibe so we went through that and called it quits. I remember Adam asking me what my plans were and whether I would be able to tour etc. and me telling him I was moving back to D.C. the next day to resurrect my band. I’m sure he was thinking “what the hell is he wasting our time for?” I don’t remember if we spoke after that but I have a fuzzy memory of another call. Of course the rest is history. I was wondering today while reading some articles about them whether I was the first drummer to play some of those songs with them as a band since it was just the two of them at that point. A couple of years later i went backstage at the 9:30 Club after a show (Ivy, I think) to say hi to Adam and I started out with “You won’t remember this but…” and he immediately smiled and recognized me which made my day. A very humble person despite his enormous talent. I’m so glad I got to play a microscopic role in his story. - Robert LeBourdais
(Click here for a PStorm story about Mother May I )
Adam and his band mate Chris Collingwood wrote some of the craftiest pop lyrics ever. Dig this.
Adam shared my love of Give The People What They Want era Kinks. It’s too bad we never crossed paths to discuss this subject in full.
Don’t sleep on their sad songs. I’ve always loved this heart breaker. I thought I about covering it live on Instagram and then thought better. This is the clip to watch. Adam on keys and Chris singing.
Enough of that sad stuff.
—-
Back to Conan for a song that most of us can relate to these days.
Bonus clip! Tinted Windows was Adam, the kid from Hanson, that one guy from Smashing Pumpkins and Bun E Carlos. Adam wrote the tunes of course. Great record!
It’s going to be a tough couple of months for everyone. Enjoy all this great music Adam and his partners left behind. - Colin
Pencil Storm & Proust, Remembrance of Bands Past, part the second: Mother May I - by JCE
MOTHER MAY I: Great Band, Great People - by JCE
Mother May I was a band from Washington, D.C. that had one major label release on Columbia Records and a handful of other releases in the 1990’s. I first discovered Mother May I when I attended a “3 bands for 3 bucks” show at the old 9:30 Club in D.C. one night. I forget who the first band was. The second band was called Adam West and they were pretty good. Then came Mother May I. I was extremely impressed with their set and I became an instant fan. That night, they were selling a vinyl 45 that I bought, for only a dollar, I think. (Three bands and a vinyl 45 rpm for a total of 4 bucks, dang that’s good!). It is clear vinyl and it is one of my most prized records. One thing I loved about the record was that they self-released it on their own label which they dubbed “Dat-Kord Records.” This name is extremely clever, because D.C. was pretty famous for its hardcore punk label, Dischord Records. Get it, Dischord, Dat-Kord? I love bands that don’t take things too seriously.
My copy of the first Mother May I single on Dat-Kord Records
After that show, I kept an eye out for the band, and in 1994 they released a great EP called “Use Your Appetite For Spaghetti.” Again, an amusing and clever title poking some fun at all of Guns n Roses’ record titles (Use Your Illusion, Appetite for Destruction, The Spaghetti Incident).
Use Your Appetite for Spaghetti
Soon after that release, they were signed by Columbia Records and put out their major label debut, “Splitsville.” I thought it was an excellent record. I guess Columbia didn’t think so, because they were dropped the same year, 1995.
Splitsville
Around the time Splitsville came out, I was in a record store with a friend who came across a Mother May I CD single called “Breaking Up at X-mas.” It was a promo they had out just before Splitsville. He bought it, much to my dismay, because it was great, I had never seen it before, and I wanted it for myself. I decided to write a letter to the band. In it, I asked how I could get a copy of that promo Christmas song CD, and I tucked an old gig flyer into my letter and asked if they would sign it. I told them about the “3 bands for 3 bucks show” and how I’d been a fan from the start. I was shocked a couple of weeks later when Damon Hennessey, the vocalist, guitar player & songwriting force (with drummer Rob), sent me a package. In it was a short letter thanking me for the support, a signed poster to me and my wife Janet (rather than the crinkled flyer I sent), a bunch of stickers and a promise that the Breaking Up at X-mas CD was on its way from California. The CD showed up a few days later. How cool is that?
Signed poster to my wife Janet and I
letter and sticker
Breaking Up At X-mas promo cd
After hearing that Mother May I had been dropped by Columbia, I waited and hoped for another release on a new label. In 1999 my wish was granted with the release of “33 1/3.” This second full-length recording was loaded with more great songs.
33 1/3
I saw Mother May I play several times over the years, most notably opening a show in D.C. at a club called 15 Minutes with the headliner being The Neighborhoods. (side note about this show worth mentioning was that the ‘Hoods were calling this their final show ever. I’m not sure if they meant final show in D.C. or just final show, but either way it was a bummer. I got the Neighborhoods to sign a CD after the show, and they swore they were done. It was heartbreaking.) But getting back to Mother May I: after 33 1/3, I heard nothing from the band for a while. Somehow, I connected via email and heard back from the drummer, Rob LeBourdais. Rob told me Damon had moved to Chicago and was involved in film-making. Rob was still drumming, at that time for a D.C. band called the Timothy Bracken Complex, and he sent me a demo CD of that band, which is also really good. The “Use Your Appetite for Spaghetti” record had included an acoustic version of a song I had heard Mother May I play live many times, called “Sitting Pretty.” It’s my favorite song by Mother May I, so I asked Rob if they ever recorded an electric version. His reply was yes, they had a bunch of great demos they planned to release, but why wait? He sent me a demo CD that is just fantastic.
Advance copy demo CD from Rob
About six months later, when they released the demo CD more formally, Rob sent me a copy of that, just so I would have the proper artwork.
Demo CD, formal release
Unbelievable. At this point, Damon and Rob from Mother May I have sent me a signed poster, a promo Xmas CD, a demo CD from another project, a never-released demo CD and a copy of the now released demo CD. These are very nice guys, obviously.
Mother May I played a reunion gig in 2010 in Arlington, VA at Club Iota, but sadly I didn’t hear about it until it was past. I really hope they do another one someday. Other than that, the band remains inactive, but they have provided me with some great memories. If you never heard Mother May I, you may want to check them out. They do have a Facebook page and they did release an updated version of Splitsville. They recently posted a bunch of photos on their page from the 9:30 Club, The 15 Minutes Club, and the WHFS Festival – all shows I attended.
Mother May I is another in a long list of great bands that should have achieved much more. Clearly, their lack of big time success never stopped them from being great people though.
Sitting Pretty
Breaking Up At Xmas
Ricki C. and JCE (John, to his friends & family) first bonded over their shared mutual love of Boston's Finest Sons - The Neighborhoods - and everything extended out from that rock & roll ripple. JCE lives in Culpeper, Virginia with his wife & daughter, and he & Ricki are STILL waiting for the long-rumored NEW Neighborhoods record to be released. Maybe in 2019.