12.01.2005

Who Willl Bang Ole Lulu?



Jim MacLean d. 2005

Wednesday morning at got a call at work from Ed Hunter. Ed was pretty broken up. "Jim MacLean is dead," he told me. Over Thanksgiving Day weekend, Jim took his life.

For a lot of people in the Sacramento punk scene, Jim is an important guy. He was one of the fathers of the what would be called Sacto Punk. With his brother Hal and buddy Keith, Jim formed Sewer Trout, a band that had a huge influence on Sacramento punk bands. Some folks know Sewer Trout as one of the original Gilman bands. We knew them as THE local band that kept punk and DIY alive and listenable in the late 80s. They directly influenced the Horny Mormons, Pounded Clown, Nar, the Sea Pigs, the Bananas, Los Huevos, and the Yah-Mos. When Hal asked me to help put out a Sewer Trout anthology CD, I was eager to do so.

I am not going to front and write that Jim and I were close buddies. My friendship with Jim wasn't very deep. We bullshitted at shows and parties. I watched his bands and listened to his music. Early in Los Huevos's existence, Jim set us up with a show in Corvallis, Oregon, where he was living and playing in the bands Lazyboy and Elmer. We played with Elmer that night and I was blown away by one of the very, very few bands that were able to pull of a punk / country fusion. Their covers of classic country tunes were flawless. A few years later in Portland, Jim helped us through van troubles by introducing us to the Bridgeport Brewery and then heading up to Olympia with us, where he helped in irritating an asshole named Larry Livermore. When Los Huevos crossed the US in the late 90s, one of the high points was showing up to a basement show in Bloomington, Indiana and finding Jim and his band Elmer there.

So this goes out to Jim MacLean, one of the important people in the history of Sacramento punk rock and a good guy. My sympathies to his friends and family and most of all his brother Hal.

For a picture of Jim see this taken by Icki. Dave "Smith" and others on Jim.


# posted by Scott Soriano : 00:15
Comments:
Hi there. I was a pretty big Elmer fan. I wrote about them many times during my time as a rock critic, profiling the band and reviewing their lone CD on the pages of The Rocket (a defunct Seattle paper). They even stayed in my house when I lived in Spokane--I roomed with David Hayes, who released the Sewer Trout and Elmer records on his Very Small/Too Many labels. Jim was a great and clever songwriter and his efforts deserved a wider audience than the small clubs and houses Elmer played to over the years. I hope Jim suffers no more. Joe, Seattle, WA
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 13:09
 
This is pretty sad news to hear.

Is there any other Sewet Trout stuff besides the 45 on Lookout, the 10 inch with all the pigs on the cover, and the song on the Maximum Rock N Roll double 7 inch comp? (Actually I think Sex Trout was also on some Very Small or Lookout comp too.) But what else? Any other 7 inches, demo tapes that you know of?
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 13:28
 
From the Bowels of Suburbia Emerge... tape (ST, 1985)
Turn It Around comp 2ep (Maximum Rocknroll, 1987)
Songs About Drinking ep (Lookout, 1987)
We've Got Your Shorts comp ep (1987)
Sewer Trout for President ep (One Shot Flop, 1988)
The Thing That Ate Floyd comp LP (Lookout, 1988)
Flawless 10" ep (Very Small, 1989)
Alone in this World comp tape (Bat Guano, 1989)
Very Small World comp LP (Very Small, 1991)
From the Forgotten memories of Punks Failed Hopes and
Dreams Loom...CD (SPA, 1998)
# posted by Blogger Scott Soriano : 14:19
 
I'm sorry to hear that. Sewer Trout are definately a classic in my book. One night a couple of years ago, Jim was at the Distillery and he walked by my girlfriend and cut a big stinky fart. She looked at him and he just looked back and smiled. She came over to me and said "That fuckin' cowboy guy just farted on me".
# posted by Blogger jb : 15:14
 
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