The Sound of Seattle

Description

This rockin’ paperback explores the musical evolution of Seattle through the lens of 101 songs spanning 80 years, examining the most prominent and important music and musicians to come out of our corner of the country, with a foreword by Pearl Jam legend Mike McCready.

KEXP DJ and musician Eva Walker and music writer Jake Uitti take readers on a musical journey, exploring the songs and artists instrumental to developing the “Seattle sound.” The authors have curated the ultimate playlist for the Emerald City. It all begins in 1942 when Washington-born Bing Crosby records what will become the world’s bestselling single of all time, “White Christmas.” From there, readers will delight in a sensory trip through jazz, rock, punk, riot grrrl, pop, rap, grunge, indie, emo, and more, deepening their knowledge and love of the songs that shaped Seattle, and in the process, each of us.

Both a love letter and love song to the city, The Sound of Seattle is a visual guide organized by decade, with seminal songs profiled and paired with inventive design reminiscent of a favorite zine or concert poster. Includes interviews with Seattle legends like Heart’s Nancy Wilson, as well as sidebars showcasing musical landmarks throughout the city. 

How has the Emerald City’s musical output changed and evolved? What is the connective tissue between Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, and Kenny G? Between Melvins, Sleater-Kinney, and Foo Fighters? Between Sir Mix-a-Lot, Macklemore, and Travis Thompson? We’re gonna find out!Contents

Foreword by Mike McCready
Introduction

The 1940s–1950s: Jazz and Jackson Street
Bing Crosby, “White Christmas”
Ray Charles, “Confession Blues”
Ernestine Anderson, “The Song Is Ended”
The Fabulous Wailers, “Tall Cool One”

The 1960s: Talking Fate with Merrilee Rush
Loretta Lynn, “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl”
Dave Lewis, “Little Green Thing”
The Sonics, “The Witch”
Jimi Hendrix, “Purple Haze”
Merrilee Rush, “Angel of the Morning”

The 1970s: Nancy Wilson on the Seattle Sound and the Foundational 1970s
The Black and White Affair, “Bold Soul Sister, Bold Soul Brother”
Gregg Rolie, “Oye Como Va”
A Note on Wheedle’s Groove
Carol Kaye (Ray Charles), “America the Beautiful”
Heart, “Crazy on You”

The 1980s: “The Grungefather” Jack Endino on Seattle’s Growing Indie Scene
Quincy Jones, “One Hundred Ways”
A Note on Garfield High School 
The Fartz, “Idiots Rule”
The Emerald Street Boys, “Christmas Rap”
Tina Bell (Bam Bam), “Villains Also Wear White”
The U-Men, “Gila”
Robert Cray, “Smoking Gun”
Deems, “Tough Tofu”
Skin Yard, “Reptile”
Diane Shuur, “Trav’lin Light”
Beat Happening, “Indian Summer”

The 1990s: Sir Mix-a-Lot on Seattle’s Musical Explosion
Oleta Adams, “Get Here”
Kid Sensation, “Prisoner of Ignorance”
Mother Love Bone, “Crown of Thorns”
Queensrÿche, “Silent Lucidity”
Hammerbox, “When 3 Is 2”
Tad, “Jack Pepsi”
Temple of the Dog, “Hunger Strike”
Pearl Jam, “Alive”
Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Love Battery, “Out of Focus”
Sir Mix-a-Lot, “Baby Got Back”
Screaming Trees, “Nearly Lost You”
Alice in Chains, “Rooster”
Kenny G, “Forever in Love”
Mudhoney, “Suck You Dry”
The Gits, “Second Skin”
Candlebox, “Far Behind”
The Fastbacks, “Gone to the Moon”
Melvins, “Honey Bucket”
Bikini Kill, “Rebel Girl”
A Note on Riot Grrrl
Soundgarden, “Black Hole Sun”
IMIJ, “Medgar Evers DGC Bill Clinton and Me/I”
Sunny Day Real Estate, “Seven”
Critters Buggin, “Shag”
Presidents of the United States of America, “Peaches”
Clinton Fearon, “Nah Forget Mi Roots”
7 Year Bitch, “24,900 Miles Per Hour”
Vitamin D (Ghetto Children), “Who’s Listening”
Sleater-Kinney, “Dig Me Out”
Pigeonhed, “Battle Flag”
Foo Fighters, “Everlong”
Harvey Danger, “Flagpole Sitta”
Maktub, “Love Me Like Before”

The 2000s: Ben Gibbard on Getting Past Tragedy in the Aughts
Pedro the Lion, “Options”
The Postal Service, “Such Great Heights”
The Blood Brothers, “Live at the Apocalypse Cabaret”
Modest Mouse, “Float On”
Death Cab for Cutie, “I Will Follow You into the Dark”
Band of Horses, “The Funeral”
Neko Case, “Hold On Hold On”
Kimya Dawson, “Loose Lips”
Blue Scholars, “50 Thousand Deep”
Abney Park, “Sleep Isabella”
Fleet Foxes, “White Winter Hymnal”
Nissim Black (a.k.a. D Black), “Keep on Going”
Dave Matthews Band, “Funny the Way It Is”

The 2010s: Mary Lambert on the Collaborative 2010s
Jake One, “Know What I Mean”
The Head and the Heart, “Rivers and Roads”
Shabazz Palaces, “Free Press and Curl”
A Note on Black Constellation
Grieves, “On the Rocks”
Sol, “Need Your Love”
THEESatisfaction, “QueenS”
Allen Stone, “Unaware”
Minus the Bear, “Steal and Blood”
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, “Thrift Shop”
La Luz, “Call Me in the Day”
Industrial Revelation, “Saying Goodbye (to Rainbow Socks and Hair Dye)”
Damien Jurado, “Silver Timothy”
NighTraiN, “Mating Call”
Tacocat, “Crimson Wave”
Perfume Genius, “Queen”
Mary Lambert, “Secrets”
ODESZA, “Line of Sight”
Courtney Marie Andrews, “May Your Kindness Remain”
Brandi Carlile, “The Joke”
Parisalexa, “Like Me Better”
Car Seat Headrest, “Beach Life-in-Death”
Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, “Concussion”
Thunderpussy, “Speed Queen”
Duff McKagan, “Parkland”
Travis Thompson, “Glass Ceiling”

The 2020s: Navigating the 2020s with Ayron Jones
B.A.G., “Shellys(It’sChill)”
Left at London, “My Friends Are Kinda Strange”
Lil Mosey, “Blueberry Faygo”
Deep Sea Diver, “Impossible Weight”
Ayron Jones “Mercy”
Black Belt Eagle Scout, “My Blood Runs Through This Land”
Kassa Overall, “Going Up”
 
Hot Spots
The Showbox at the Market
Washington Hall
Jimi Hendrix Statue
The Edgewater Hotel
Seattle Center
KEXP
The Central Saloon
Easy Street Records
Sub Pop Records
Kurt Cobain Haunts
Dick’s Drive-In
The Museum of Pop Culture
The Gorge
London Bridge Studio
 
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Further Reading
IndexINTRODUCTION
 
The first time I saw my wife, she was onstage singing. I didn’t know her band at the time. But I was suddenly glad to be in the Tractor Tavern, invited to write about the Friday night rock bill. I
walked to the back of the showroom to get a seat but there were only two stools open among the big audience and piles of belongings. I went to sit down when a stranger reached out, “That’s the singer’s mom’s seat!”
 
Confused, I looked to the stage and saw the Black Tones: frontwoman Eva Walker, twin brother Cedric on drums, mother and sister backup singers. Quintessential rock music and a family band? They captivated the room to such a degree that their seats were being saved while they were performing. That’s the power of music in Seattle. The art form is currency here.
 
In Seattle, music brings people together around a common love. In song. In authorship. Even in marriage. And after that night at the Tractor, Eva and I began to date. Today, we are married and, gratefully, the authors of this book too. The Sound of Seattle is our bow to music. We wouldn’t be together without it.
 
In every neighborhood of the city, music pours out. From festivals to local radio stations, from practice rooms to live performances. The region has always been resonant that way. The sounds change but there is always regeneration and experimentation, even in tragedy. From the jazz of Ray Charles and croon of Bing Crosby (who once asked my Hollywood actress aunt, Betty Uitti, to marry him; she declined) to the rock of chart-topper Ayron Jones, Seattle music is eternal.
 
Indeed, people in Seattle grow up learning the city’s music history as others elsewhere learn about local sports heroes. Kurt, Jimi, Quincy, the Heart sisters—these are our founding figures. The city touches all genres, from Grammy Award–winning classical recordings to Muzak, which used to be based here. And while we couldn’t cover every band in these pages, we hope you will see important lineages, trends, and styles unfold, and cherish the diversity of the sounds.
 
Whether it sits at the epicenter of pop culture (as it did in the ’90s) or takes the occasional backseat, the Emerald City always manages to move us.
 
—Jake Uitti
 
CHAPTER OPENER:

The 1990s: Sir Mix-a-Lot on Seattle’s Musical Explosion
When Grammy Award–winning rapper and producer Sir Mix-a-Lot (born Anthony Ray) thinks about 1990s Seattle, he thinks about two music genres happening simultaneously: hip-hop and rock. As the ’90s began, hip-hop was moving from more a “home brew” sound to something “more polished.” Mix and everyone he was working with at the time, including at his label Nastymix, had to step up their game, he says, since the songs were reaching far beyond the Emerald City bounds.
 
“I was coming off what I thought was a giant record,” says Mix of his 1988 debut LP, Swass. “And we thought we had arrived!”
 
Mix’s first album featured his first hit, “Posse on Broadway,” as well as the local favorite, “Buttermilk Biscuits (Keep on Square Dancin’).” His 1989 follow-up, Seminar, was certified Gold,
with songs like “Beepers” and “My Hooptie.” Mix, however, is quick to note that around this same time, grunge music was also beginning to take off—in a major way. The lyricist knew it. “I felt like, yeah, this is going to overshadow me. And it did!” he says.
 
Mix, however, wasn’t frustrated that grunge was taking over in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Many of the musicians in the popular bands were his friends and collaborators. (Indeed, there remains an unreleased Mix and Chris Ballew collab.) “You could stand outside on Broadway and hear people rehearsing,” says Mix. “It was quality band after quality band after quality band. Nobody sounded like shit. Nobody.”
 
Born August 12, 1963, in Auburn, Mix grew up in Seattle’s Central District. As a teen, via bussing programs many opposed at the time, Mix attended Roosevelt High School (at the same time as future Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan). In middle school, Mix had been introduced to the idea of music as a career. He always loved electronics, from CB radios to keyboards, and in high school that crystallized.
 
As the ’80s unspooled into the ’90s, Mix started to notice the city changing. He was around members of groups like Pearl Jam and he remembers walking down the street and going into clubs and seeing musical giants onstage. At the time, it all felt, well, normal. In 1991, Mix signed with Def American Recordings, which boasted artists like Johnny Cash and ZZ Top, working with famed producer Rick Rubin.
 
“Then fast-forward to 1993 and we’re all standing at the Grammys,” says Mix. “Literally. Myself, the Presidents, Pearl Jam, everybody. It was that fast. Seattle took over.”
 
The success of grunge made it a bit harder for hip-hop to be noticed, Mix says. Once 1992 came and went, it was all about sludgy rock. “You’d do a concert for, like, 3,000 people and then Pearl Jam shows up and plays for a stadium! But I wasn’t jealous because all eyes were on Seattle.”
 
In 1993, it was Mix’s turn. While he recognizes he may not be the best rapper who ever lived—in Seattle, he credits the Emerald Street Boys, who came up before him, with that title—his unique combination of talent and style paid off that year. “Let’s be honest,” Mix says, “if the Emerald Street Boys came along around my time, as polished as they were, I’d have been sweeping up after them. That’s how good they were.”
 
Yet as the ’90s progressed, rap grew and grew. Mix earned a Grammy in 1993 for his single “Baby Got Back.” The song also hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts. He’d arrived. But he says that wasn’t the song that the locals liked most. Those in Seattle liked “Posse on Broadway,” “My Hooptie,” and “Beepers” best. But as long as the people liked something, he says, and made sure to treat him like a human being, he was happy.
 
“Everybody was humble, thankfully,” Mix says. “I could walk down the street and maybe somebody would buy me a Dick’s burger. But there was no ass-kissing, which is what I like. Ass-kissing is very uncomfortable.”
 
Today, what makes the city so unique for the 59-year-old is its location (read: isolation). He says the city and its residents historically had to come up with their own things to do. Their own fun. Their own music. That gave the region a unique sound and perspective. Seattle wasn’t like
anyplace else because it wasn’t influenced by anyplace else. What Mix saw was a lot of people making art in odd, makeshift places. Working on stuff that was taboo. Not the glam stuff of the L.A. ’80s.
 
“Grunge was not that,” says Mix, famous for his signature cowboy hat. “It was like, ‘I got some goddamn jeans on. I have an old guitar that I got when I was broke and I’m still playing it.’ That was the beauty of it to me.”
 
SAMPLE ENTRIES:

Artist: Kenny G
Single: “Forever in Love”
Record: Breathless
Released: 1992
Recorded in: Seattle; New York City, Sausalito; Los Angeles
Producer: Kenny G, Walter Afanasieff, David Foster, Dan Shea
Label: Arista
 
One of the bestselling artists of all time, Kenneth Bruce Gorelick—a.k.a. Kenny G—was born in Seattle on June 5, 1956. The face of “smooth jazz,” a genre he essentially invented, Kenny G is known for playing his alto saxophone in ways that calm and mesmerize. (For others in the area who write similar meditative music, check out Bellingham’s Soundings of the Planet.) When Kenny G released his 1986 album Duotones, the artist was immediately put on the map. To date, he’s sold more than seventy-five million albums.
 
Kenny G, who first noticed the saxophone as a kid while watching The Ed Sullivan Show, began playing it when he was just ten years old. Later, he attended Franklin High School and then the
University of Washington. His first major gig was playing in Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1973 at age seventeen. Around that time, he also played in the Seattle funk band, Cold, Blue & Together. In 1982, he signed to Arista as a solo artist after recording his self-titled solo album the year prior. His following two records, G Force and Gravity, both went platinum. His 1986 album, Duotones, sold more than five million copies in the United States. In 1992, he released Breathless, which became the bestselling instrumental album ever, selling some fifteen million copies worldwide and hitting No. 2 on the Billboard 200. It remains one of the top 100 bestselling albums ever in the United States for its universal sense of calm.
 
But the oft-criticized musician has remained polarizing, with critics saying his sound is bereft of any real artistic soul, especially for someone who calls himself a jazz musician. But Kenny G has always been able to wave away any negativity; he’s even able to joke about it. In 1997, the musician earned a Guinness Book of World Records nod for playing the longest-held note ever on a saxophone, playing an E-flat for 45 minutes and 47 seconds thanks to “circular breathing.” His song “Forever in Love,” from Breathless, was released in 1992 and it subsequently hit No. 1 on the US and Canada adult contemporary charts, earning him a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition at the 1994 show. It’s a somber, reflective, digestible tune, as docile as it is intricate. These days, Kenny G is still recording and releasing albums, including his 2021 LP, New Standards.

Artist: Thunderpussy
Single: “Speed Queen”
Record: Thunderpussy
Released: 2018
Recorded in: Seattle
Producer: Sylvia Massy
Label: Stardog Records, Republic Records
 
“Thunderpussy” kind of says it all. The energetic all-female rock band is the brainchild of singer Molly Sides and guitarist Whitney Petty. Together, they’re joined by bassist Leah Julius and drummer Lindsey Elias. (Former drummers of the group include Lena Simon and Ruby Dunphy.) The group’s big break came at the then-annual Sasquatch! Music Festival when Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready discovered the rockers onstage, becoming an instant fan. McCready soon released their single “Velvet Noose” on his boutique HockeyTalkter Records label, also providing a dazzling guitar solo on the track.
 
Inspired by the rock and roll style of the 1970s, Thunderpussy pushes the boundaries of the genre in the modern era with flashy outfits matched with powerhouse instrumentation. Vocalist Molly Sides demands your attention, and she can control a crowd from the front row all the way to the folks climbing in through the windows. Since the group got its start in 2014, Thunderpussy has released several albums, including one produced by renowned engineer Sylvia Massy. The first track off their 2018 self-titled full-length album, “Speed Queen,” is a song kicked off by Dunphy’s masterful rock drums, before Petty’s screeching guitar and Julius’s heavy bass join in. It climaxes with the song’s central riff as Sides’s room-filling rock voice hits.
 
Through persistence, dedication, and showmanship, Thunderpussy has remained one of Seattle’s favorite live bands. It’s this power, grind, and hard work that also led to the group winning a landmark case in the US Supreme Court, earning the right to trademark their name. The word isn’t dirty, the band argued. It’s essential, powerful, and life giving, kind of like their music.

SAMPLE SIDEBAR:

Hot Spot: Dick’s Drive-In
115 Broadway E., Seattle
 
In 1988, Seattle rap icon Sir Mix-a-Lot released his first hit single, “Posse on Broadway.” The classic hip-hop track, which came from Mix’s debut album, Swass, helped make the quick-tongued rapper famous. And it led to him signing with Def Jam, working with Rick Rubin, and releasing the timeless classic “Baby Got Back.” In Mix’s early hit, the lyricist talks about spending a night driving around the city with his friends. He describes the people they meet, their escapades. And he talks about one of the city’s main streets.
 
Broadway, a main thoroughfare that cuts through the popular Capitol Hill neighborhood, itself is halved by Dick’s Drive-In, a classic paper-hat burger joint that keeps its prices low, its lines moving, and its neighbors fed and happy. In the “Posse on Broadway” video, Mix and pals pull up to Dick’s, the parking lot packed. Mix, a storyteller from the get-go, tells the tale of an altercation and helping a woman escape from an abusive date, rhyming crisply on the beat.
 
Fast-forward twenty-five years and Mix’s Seattle hip-hop heirs Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (M&RL) paid homage to their forefather, shutting down Broadway one warm July 24 night. Shooting the music video for the song “White Walls,” M&RL, along with singer Hollis Wong-Wear, got to the top of the burger joint on Broadway and performed to thousands of onlooking fans, who had heard about the leaked shoot. Broadway had to be shut down for all foot traffic. It felt like all of Seattle was on Broadway that night.
 
Founded by Dick Spady in 1954, Dick’s Drive-Ins are peppered throughout the Seattle area with just shy of a dozen locations, from Wallingford to Capitol Hill, Lake City, Queen Anne, Kent, Bellevue, and beyond. The place is famous for its quick service, minimal menu (always get the tartar sauce with your fries), and reliable food. Only recently did Dick’s even start taking credit cards—it’s that kind of old-fashioned place. And the most famous of them all is the Broadway location, now a historical hip-hop landmark.CN

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