MUSIC: Magic Springs to shake, stir with Gin Blossoms

By Jack Hill (Contact)

LITTLE ROCK — The Gin Blossoms will headline the latest in the 2008 summer concert series at Timberwood Amphitheater at Magic Springs & Crystal Falls amusement park in Hot Springs this weekend.

The alternative rock band, who were radio stars in the early 1990s, will perform Saturday night at the park, 1701 E. Grand Ave. (U.S. 70 East) in Hot Springs.

For the first time in this summer’s series, there will be an opening act: The Rembrandts will take the stage at 8 p.m.

Admission is $45.99; $35.99 for children who are less than 52 inches tall and for adults age 55 and older, or $49.99 for a season pass good for all 14 concerts and unlimited admission all season. Reserved seats are an additional $5 each.

Call (501) 624-0100.

Formed in Tempe, Ariz., in 1987, the Gin Blossoms took their name from a photo of an early 20th century movie comedian, W.C. Fields, whose most prominent feature was his nose, ravaged either by alcohol or rosacea, which the photo identified as his “gin blossoms.”

A 1989 show at the South by Southwest music and media conference in Austin, Texas, helped the band’s rapid rise to prominence, as did Dusted, a 12-song independent tape, which got a review in the College Media Journal, calling them “The best unsigned band inAmerica.”

Not for long, as A&M Records soon reeled them in.

In August 1992, the group released its debut album New Miserable Experience, the name chosen to reflect their life in a band. Founding lead guitarist Doug Hopkins, suffering from depression and alcoholism, was fired and replaced by Scott Johnson. Hopkins committed suicide in 1993. The other core members in the band’s early days were Jesse Valenzuela on guitar and vocals, Robin Wilson on lead vocals and guitar, Bill Leen on bass and Phillip Rhodes on drums.

New Miserable Experience soldmore than four million copies and yielded five hit singles: “Mrs. Rita,” “Hey Jealousy,” “Until I Fall Away,” “Found Out About You” and “Allison Road.”

A couple of singles by the band achieved soundtrack success in the 1990s: “Idiot Summer” was used on the soundtrack of Wayne’s World 2 and “Till I Hear It From You,” co-written with Marshall Crenshaw, was on the Empire Records soundtrack, reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

For a second CD, released in 1996, the band chose as its name Congratulations ... I’m Sorry, rather than the briefly-considered Sophomore Jinx. The album, which soldmore than 1 million copies, had another No. 9 hit, “Follow You Down,” plus “Day Job” and “As Long As It Matters.”

After breaking up in 1997, the band members went their separate ways for a time. Johnson had the best-known of the Blossoms’ follow-up gigs, playing guitar in another Arizona band, (former Refreshments’ leader) Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, who played at a Little Rock club a couple of years ago. Wilson and Rhodes started a new band, The Gas Giants, and Leen opened a rare-book store. Valenzuela was briefly the leader of the Low Watts, then released a soloalbum while continuing to write and produce.

In 2002, the Gin Blossoms decided to reunite and the members released a DVD, Just South of Nowhere, began touring and released a new album, Major Lodge Victory, in August 2006. Originally recorded at Wilson’s studio, the group rerecorded the album at Ardent Studios in Memphis, where the band had recorded its earlier albums.

The Gin Blossoms’ song, “Let’s Play Too,” was featured in the Owen Wilson movie, Drill Bit Taylor.

Owen Wilson’s stand-in stunt man in the film was Gin Blossom guitarist Scott Johnson. In 2007, the band’s Valenzuela did a quick cameo in a nudist colony scene in a Ben Stiller movie, Heartbreak Kid.

Gin Blossoms’ opening act, The Rembrandts, were also a part of the late 1980s-early 1990s music scene, but were based in Los Angeles. A duo, consisting of Danny Wilde and Phil Solem, their biggest hit was “I’ll Be There for You,” which was the theme song of the TV series, Friends.

The duo split in 1997, but three years later they were back together. In 2006, Rhino Records released The Rembrandts’ Greatest Hits, a 20-song career collection that also included material from Apart From the Crowd, their 1981 pre-Rembrandts’ stint in Great Buildings.

Weekend, Pages 71 on 06/27/2008