Led by the gifted songwriting, impeccable playing, and honeyed harmonies of vocalists/guitarists Gary Louris and Mark Olson, the Jayhawks' shimmering blend of country, folk, and bar band rock made them one of the most widely acclaimed artists to emerge from the alternative country scene. The group sprung up in 1985 out of the fertile Minneapolis, Minnesota, musical community, where Olson had been playing standup bass in a rockabilly band called Stagger Lee until his desire to write and perform his own country-folk material prompted him to begin a solo career. He enlisted Marc Perlman, the guitarist for a local band called the Neglecters, whom Olson then convinced to take up the bass; after the addition of drummer Norm Rogers, the group first played in front of a crowd of less than a dozen people. One of those patrons, however, was Gary Louris, a veteran of the local bands Safety Last and Schnauzer; after the show, he and Olson began talking, and by the end of the evening Louris, a guitarist famed locally for his innovative, pedal steel-like sound, had become a member of the group, eventually named the Jayhawks. Drawing on influences like Gram Parsons, the Louvin Br
1 | Better Days | Smile |
2 | Trouble | Sound of Lies |
3 | Stick in the Mud | Sound of Lies |
4 | Think About It | Sound of Lies |
5 | The Man Who Loved Life | Sound of Lies |
6 | Pray for Me | Tomorrow the Green Grass |
7 | Bad Time | Tomorrow the Green Grass |
8 | Wichita | Hollywood Town Hall |
9 | Sister Cry | Hollywood Town Hall |
10 | Queen of the World | Smile |
11 | Jayhawks - Faded Memory Of Lo | Jayhawks, The |
12 | Broken Harpoon | Smile |
13 | A Break in the Clouds | Smile |
14 | Two Angels | Hollywood Town Hall |
15 | Sixteen Down | Sound of Lies |
16 | Pretty Thing | Smile |
17 | Red's Song | Tomorrow the Green Grass |
18 | Somewhere in Ohio | Smile |
19 | Nevada, California | Hollywood Town Hall |
20 | Martin's Song | Hollywood Town Hall |