The group played funk influenced punk rock music in the early 1980s, never finding (or even seeking) much mainstream success but influencing many subsequent musicians. The group ended when Boon died in an automobile accident in Arizona in December 1985.
Influences and Creativity
They were influenced heavily by bands such as Wire, Gang of Four, The Pop Group, The Urinals and also funk bands of the late '60s and '70s were an important influence. nearly all of their early songs had unusual structures and were less than a minute long — even later when the Minutemen's music became slightly more conventional, their songs rarely passed the three-minute mark.
Boon and Watt split songwriting fairly evenly (and Hurley made many contributions as well), though Watt rarely sang, and Hurley even less so. Boon's songs were typically more direct and progressively political in nature, while Watt's were often abstract, self-referential "spiels". Lyrics and themes would thus often veer from surreal humor, as in "Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs" and "One Reporter's Opinion", to the frustrations of blue collar life in California, as in the enduring "This Ain't No Picnic". While many contemporaries rarely displayed a sense of humor, the Minutemen were generally more light-hearted and whimsical. One example of this can be found in the title of their legendary album Double Nickels on the Dime, which poked fun at Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55" by implying that the Minutemen preferred to take risks with their music rather than behind the wheel of a car. Ironically, D. Boon died in a van accident in which he was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle.
The Minutemen were fans of Captain Beefheart, and echoes of his distinctive music can be heard in their songs, especially their early output. Through most of their career they ignored standard verse-chorus-verse song structures, in favor of experimenting with musical dynamics, rhythm and noise. Later in their career they blended in more traditional song elements they had initially avoided. They also played covers of classic rock songs by bands such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, Steely Dan and Blue Öyster Cult. Their covers were done out of appreciation for those bands' work rather than to be ironic, thereby diverging dramatically from hardcore punk orthodoxy of the 1980s.
History
They originally called themselves The Reactionaries, with additional band member and singer Martin Tamburovich. According to Watt, the name came from a Mao Tse-Tung quote about how all reactionaries are actually "paper tigers".
After the Reactionaries disbanded, Boon and Watt formed The Minutemen in January of 1980; the band's name was derived partly because of the fabled minutemen militia of colonial times, and partly to take the name back from a right-wing reactionary group of the 1960s that used to harass figures like Angela Davis through the mail. After a month with no drummer — during which Boon and Watt wrote their first batch of tunes, the band rehearsed and played a couple of early gigs with local welder Frank Tonche on drums. The group originally wanted George Hurley to join, but he had joined a new wave band called Hey Taxi after the Reactionaries disbanded. Tonche quit the group, citing a dislike of the audience the band initially drew, and Hurley took over the drum seat in June of 1980. (Rehearsal recordings with Tonche on drums later appeared as the posthumous EP Georgeless in 1987.)
Greg Ginn of Black Flag and SST Records produced the Minutemen's first 7" EP, Paranoid Time, which solidified their eclectic style. At first, they completely avoided guitar solos, choruses, and fade-outs. Later, they were known for hybridizing punk rock with forms of jazz, funk, acid rock, and R&B in novel ways, perhaps best exemplified on 1984's double-album, Double Nickels on the Dime. Though still somewhat obscure to mainstream audiences, Double Nickels has been cited as one of the more innovative and enduring albums of the 1980s American rock underground. On Double Nickels, they co-wrote some songs with other musicians, notably Henry Rollins, Chuck Dukowski and Joe Baiza.
The group's early recordings (up until their 1985 12" EP Project: Mersh) were recorded as "econo" (Pedro slang for inexpensive, short for "economic") as possible - the group would book studio time after midnight at cut rates, rehearse the songs prior to going into the studio, record on less expensive used tape, and record the songs in the order they intended to have them on the record rather than waste time editing the master tape during the sequencing phase. In fact, contrary to standard practice even in indie rock, the Minutemen saw records as a way to promote their tours, not the other way around.
The Minutemen toured frequently, but usually for only a few weeks at a time--they all held down day jobs. Their "econo" practices helped ensure that their tours were always profitable, unlike some of their SST peers.
Several Minutemen album sleeves and covers, such as the Paranoid Time EP and What Makes a Man Start Fires? LP and the inner gatefold jacket for Double Nickels, feature drawings by noted artist Raymond Pettibon, who was at the time associated with the SST label, providing sleeves for Black Flag. Other album covers, like on The Punch Line and 3-Way Tie For Last, featured paintings by D. Boon.
Following Boon's death, Watt and Hurley originally intended to quit music altogether. But encouraged by Minutemen fan Ed Crawford, they formed fIREHOSE and have had solo projects since the Minutemen disbanded.
Watt has done three acclaimed solo albums, toured briefly as a member of Porno for Pyros in 1996 and J Mascis and The Fog in 2000 and 2001, and became the bassist for the reformed Iggy Pop & The Stooges in 2003. George Hurley has produced work with Vida, Mayo Thompson and Red Crayola, further indulging the free-form and off-the-wall leanings showcased on Double Nickels.
Legacy
From 1999 until the show's cancellation, an instrumental version of the Minutemen's song "Corona" (off Double Nickels) was the theme song of the MTV television show Jackass.
In 2000 Watt, as administrator of the band's publishing, allowed the auto maker Volvo to use the D. Boon instrumental "Love Dance" (from Double Nickels...) in a car ad. Watt's motivation for licensing the song was actually generosity rather than greed, as Boon's royalties at the time were being paid to his father, who was suffering from emphysema; Watt simply refers to the decision as a way for D. Boon to help his father from beyond the grave.
Since 2001 Watt and Hurley have done occasional gigs, mainly in the L.A. area except for two December 2004 shows in England, playing Minutemen songs as a duet with no guitarist. At some of these gigs, Watt would set up one of D. Boon's old guitars and amps on the side of the stage where Boon used to stand. Rather than cheapen or "vampire" the Minutemen name, these performances, at Watt's insistence, are to be billed strictly as "George Hurley and Mike Watt". They are also now involved in an improvisational music group, Unknown Instructors, with members of Saccharine Trust and Pere Ubu.
The group's career is chronicled in the book Our Band Could Be Your Life, a study of several important American underground rock groups whose title is taken from the lyrics to the Double Nickels track "History Lesson Pt.2"; and the film We Jam Econo — The Story of the Minutemen, which charts the band's history through interviews with Watt, Hurley, Henry Rollins, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and other California punk rock contemporaries (Billboard Review). The film premiered at the Warner Grand Theatre in the Minutemen's hometown of San Pedro in February 2005.
In 2003, Watt released his own book on the Minutemen, Spiels of a Minuteman, which contains all of Watt's song lyrics from the Minutemen era as well as the tour journal he wrote during the Minutemen's only European tour with Black Flag, essays by former SST co-owner Joe Carducci, Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, and Blue Öyster Cult lyricist and longtime Watt hero Richard Meltzer, and illustrations by Raymond Pettibon that had been used in all of the Minutemen's album artwork. The book, released by Quebec-based publisher L'ole De Cravan, is published in both English and French.
Covers and Tributes
Mike Watt has dedicated all of fIREHOSE's releases and his solo albums to the memory of D. Boon. "Disciples of the 3-Way" on fIREHOSE's final studio album Mr. Machinery Operator is about the Minutemen, and "The Boilerman" from Watt's second solo album Contemplating The Engine Room (which parallels the stories of The Minutemen, Watt's father, and the novel The Sand Pebbles) is about D. Boon.
The Minutemen track "Sickles and Hammers" (from Paranoid Time) was covered by Sebadoh on 1991's Sebadoh III.
Sublime (whose lead singer, Bradley Nowell also died prematurely) sampled "History Lesson Part II" (though, only about two seconds of it — specifically, D. Boon saying "Punk rock changed our lives") from Double Nickels... as part of their song "Waiting For My Ruca" in 1992. Watt repaid this salute by appearing in Sublime's video for "Wrong Way" in 1996. Sublime also sampled George Hurley's drum intro from "It's Expected I'm Gone" for their "Get Out! (remix)" on their posthumous release Second Hand Smoke. On their eponymous debut LP, San Diego-based indie rockers Pinback also used the same drum loop from "It's Expected I'm Gone"; in his honor, the band named the track "Hurley."
In 1994, Little Brother Records released the Minutemen tribute CD and LP Our Band Could Be Your Life. The CD version included 33 tracks by artists covering Minutemen songs, plus a track with a D. Boon interview and a live version of the Minutemen song Badges. The LP version had 23 tracks, including the interview and Minutemen items.
Jem Cohen and Fugazi dedicated their 1999 film Instrument to the memory of D. Boon.
The rising indie band Calexico covered "Corona", a staple of their live act for quite some time, on their 2004 EP Convict Pool, adding mariachi trumpets reminiscent of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire".
Jesus and Tequila
Minutemen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She loved what she saw
She loved me so good
She made her daddy mad
My woman cried
She's dead to me now
My woman ran off
And I can't deny it
My life - Jesus and tequila
I'm satisfied
And I can't deny it
I had a job
It paid me good
I could have my phone
And tip the preacher too
My boss yelled
He's dead to me now
My boss kicked me out
And I can't deny it
My life - Jesus and tequila
I'm satisfied
And I can't deny it
You better listen to me
'Cause I'm gonna tell you, son
Don't give away your love
And don't give away your sweat
Because a girl can't know you
And a boss can't afford you
Remember
Jesus and tequila
I'm satisfied
And I can't deny it
Remember
Jesus and tequila
I'm satisfied
And I can't deny it
The Minutemen's song "Jesus and Tequila" is a raw and honest reflection on life's struggles and the ways in which we cope with them. The lyrics describe two significant losses in the singer's life: the loss of his girlfriend and the loss of his job. Both losses are painful and difficult, but the singer seems to be coping with them in his own way: through Jesus and tequila.
In the first verse, the singer describes his relationship with his girlfriend. She loved him and he loved her, but her father was not happy with their relationship. The result is that the singer's girlfriend has left him and he can't deny the pain that he feels as a result. However, he seems to be finding some solace in Jesus and tequila, perhaps as a way to numb the pain or to distract himself from it.
In the second verse, the singer describes his job, which he enjoyed and which paid him well. However, his boss eventually fired him and he can't deny the sense of loss and disappointment that he feels. Once again, though, he seems to be turning to Jesus and tequila as a way to cope.
Overall, the song seems to be a commentary on the difficulties of life and the ways in which people cope with them. It suggests that sometimes, we turn to things that might not be the healthiest or most productive ways of dealing with our problems, but that in the end, we have to find our own ways to get through.
Line by Line Meaning
I had a girl
I used to have a girlfriend
She loved what she saw
She liked what she saw in me
She loved me so good
She loved me very much
She made her daddy mad
Her dad was upset about our relationship
My woman cried
My girlfriend was upset
She's dead to me now
We broke up and I don't care about her anymore
My woman ran off
My girlfriend left me
And I can't deny it
I can't pretend it didn't happen
My life - Jesus and tequila
My life revolves around two things: religion and alcohol
I'm satisfied
I'm content with my life
I had a job
I used to have a job
It paid me good
It paid me well
I could have my phone
I could afford to have a phone
And tip the preacher too
And still have enough money to give to the preacher
My boss yelled
My boss shouted at me
He's dead to me now
I don't care about my boss anymore
My boss kicked me out
I lost my job because my boss fired me
You better listen to me
You should pay attention to what I'm saying
'Cause I'm gonna tell you, son
Because I'm going to give you some advice
Don't give away your love
Don't give your love to someone who doesn't deserve it
And don't give away your sweat
Don't work hard for someone who doesn't appreciate it
Because a girl can't know you
Because a girl can never fully understand who you are
And a boss can't afford you
And a boss can never fully compensate you for your hard work and dedication
Remember Jesus and tequila
Don't forget about the two things that make me happy: religion and alcohol
I'm satisfied
I'm content with my life
And I can't deny it
And I can't pretend otherwise
Remember Jesus and tequila
Don't forget about the two things that make me happy: religion and alcohol
I'm satisfied
I'm content with my life
And I can't deny it
And I can't pretend otherwise
Contributed by Eli N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.