- Gary Young
Infobox musical artist
Name = Gary Young
Img_capt =
Img_size =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Gary Young
Alias = Plantman
Born = birth date and age|1953|05|3Mamaroneck, New York
Died =
Origin =Stockton, California
Instrument =Guitar , vocals, drums
Genre =Indie rock ,Folk rock
Years_active =
Label =Matador Records ,Domino Records ,Big Cat Records
Associated_acts = Pavement,Gary Young's Hospital
URL =
Notable_instruments =Gary Young (
May 3 ,1953 ) was the first drummer of the 90s seminal alternative band Pavement.Early life
Gary Young was born in
Mamaroneck, New York . His father worked in the "plastics business".Work with Pavement
Stephen Malkmus (vocal, guitar) and childhood friendScott Kannberg (guitar, vocals) formed Pavement inStockton, CA in 1989. Their first EP was recorded at a local studio Louder Than You Think-which was owned by Gary Young, then a thirty-something drummer who appeared on the EP. Young was also on the recording of Demolition Plot J-7 in 1990.After the release of their first album,
Slanted & Enchanted , Pavement toured nationally in support of it. They added a bassist and another drummer to bolster Young’s shaky timekeeping. The tour became notorious for the band’s sloppy sound and Young’s grandstanding.Young gained the band notoriety with his on- and offstage antics. He was noted for greeting the audience at the door, giving out cabbage and mashed potatoes to fans, doing headstands, running around the venue and stage while the rest of the band was playing, and drunkenly falling off his drum stool.
His bizarre drug and alcohol fueled personality had grated on the rest of his band and they could no longer take it. In "Perfect Sound Forever", he stated:
::"My mother thinks the Vietnam War had a major effect on [my drug and alcohol abuse] . We sat in a high school parking lot for the draft and they actually picked numbers out of a hat--'May 3rd, you go.' This was pretty scary, and if you're gonna die anyway, you might as well die from drugs. I'm sure this had something to do with it. We were out shooting heroin in a fucking high school parking lot."
The final straw came when Young allegedly pulled a gun on Malkmus. When Young ranted about how he’d survive a nuclear war by finding a way to cook dead animals that would eliminate the radioactivity from their bodies, Malkmus joked exasperatedly, “You’ve got to shoot them right between the eyes with a silver bullet.”
His last release with the group was the EP
Watery, Domestic .olo Work
He would later release three albums under the name
Gary Young's Hospital . [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jnkxu3xhan1k]Last heard of him was that he was selling self-constructed dog kennels on his front lawn in a neighborhood called "Woodgate."
Although Gary may have a kennel district on his front lawn, this hasn't stopped him from an enterprising business, marketing recording studio products. In particular, the Universal Microphone Shockmount. [http://www.shockmount.com/]
Stylus magazine named Gary one of the fifty greatest drummers of all time. [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stylusmagazine.com%2Farticles%2Fweekly_article%2Fstylus-magazines-50-greatest-rock-drummers.htm&ei=LG35RongA4KceeTEzfQO&usg=AFQjCNHVD7IxIDT6k2Op5LdkvsAOZBIOnQ&sig2=EHxDPKn9lf7aoHCvgOqYCg]
References
*Jovanovic, Rob. "Perfect Sound Forever: The Story of Pavement." Justin Charles & Co., 2004.
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