I saw them open for Talking Heads in Nashville in probably 1985. Might have been the best show I ever saw. For a brief moment that year Jason and the Scorchers seemed like the greatest rock band in the world and like their great success was inevitable. That didn't happen but that night he came out in a red devil costume and cowboy hat and the music was loud violent and exciting. It was amazing.
I knew the drummer Perry Baggs in his last years. He was a great guy and lived a life only some know; Traveled the World and was a hell of a drummer. RIP Perry, many miss you, but you live on in your music.
It was also the first Scorchers song I ever heard circa early 1984. When I learned that Bob Dylan wrote it, and that it could be found on an album I'd never heard of from 1966 called "Blonde On Blonde", I had to check that out as well. I fell totally in love with that Dylan album, but never lost my love for the Scorcher version of the song, either. They sped it up and toughened it, although they left out about a third of the lyrics.
Thank you Bob for writing a song that Jason and crew could take to stratospheric heights. Your song is the bomb, but this version is the de facto version, end of discussion.
Heard about Perry Baggs (the Scorchers' drummer) passing away day before yesterday, and had to look this up. I can still remember like it was yesterday the band playing Alternative Jam at Cantrell's in Nashville; Perry was flailing the drums, Warner was almost sawing his guitar in half, and at the end of the song Jason jumped and got enough air to put his fist through the drop ceiling. Most energetic performances EVER! RIP Perry.
saw these guys in 83 at Harolds in ATL. Jason fell off stage on top of my date and knocked her tooth out we been in love with them ever since no hard feelings it was rock n roll the way it was soposed to be Raw barebones and the greatest live act I ever saw except for Elvis and maybe The drive by truckers!P. Braggs your in my prayers take care brother I'll see you june 2
Second floor stage at Tootsie's. And that view of the Ryman is no longer possible because of the museum across the street. Nashville is different from back then but ill still go back there at the drop of a hat. I just wish bands like this were still playing as often there.
Opening shot is inside Hatch Show Print. Still going strong since its founding in Nashville in 1879, although it has since moved from its Lower Broadway location depicted here. Also depicted: Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. At around the 2:29 point, the boys in the band exit the back door of Tootsie's and head across/up the alley to the Ryman Auditorium. That alley is right where they took the cover photo for the "Fervor" EP, their first major label release--they walk right by the same "Welcome Opry Boys" sign.
I've always loved this song, I had it on 45 RPM in the 80s and just about wore it out. That line "Six white horses!" has always stuck with me, love it!! Their live shows were super fun!
I saw them last night for the first time in 15 years. Man, they still bring it as hard as ever! Jason and Warner have so much energy. And the new album is really good, too--they played a mix of that and the early stuff. Don't miss'em if they come to your town.
A-men brother!! Got to see 'em twice, once in the eighties and then again late 90's I think. These guys started the whole cow-punk movement and this song was one of the keys!!!
duct tape cowboy boots , treated like lepers In Nashville, leopardskin stetson hat , the first band I got drunk listening to in 1984. harvest moon . lead guitarist played with iggy pop . GO SCORCHERS !
My fav Cuntry-Punk band, mid-80's. Saw 'em in concert in 1986 in a Tequila- drenched stew in a sweaty, crowded club in Charlotte. BEST R n' R show of me life... " So where are you tonight, Sweet Marie???"
saw them twice in the 80's at mississippi nights in st. louis. i took the guitar player to another bar where this band was playing and he got up and jammed with them. great night.
Saw them at Mississippi Nights on Laclede's Landing in St Louis back in the 80's. After the show Warner and I went bar hopping. What a fun night that was.
best live "bar" band in the world with the possible exception of Dash Rip Rock. But they deserved to be far more than what the record companies allowed them to achieve.
Yeah the Scorchers still kick ass. I saw em in Raleigh, a couple of nights ago. I was into them in the 80's. And you hit it on the head thinking they are Nashvilles answer to the Ramones.
Wow, youtube is good for something, never thought I would hear this again, listen to the whole album it rocks, thanks for posting 100 thumbs up :-) I should mention I had this on tape, wore it out, that's why I thought it was lost forever.
I was listening to this album driving down the interstate the day I got arrested, and served 8 years in prison. This record was as great a send off to prison as you could wish for! I lost that car, and everything in it including this record because they auctioned it off while I was away );
what I always liked about this song besides the fact it just rocked is that it still manages to channel Dylan even though it's rocked out. and the lead singer always reminded me of a young Bill Paxton. :)
Damn, haven't heard this since the early - mid 80s. I remember buying the cassette tape at Harmony house in Farmington Mi in the summer of 1983. Great music for cruising Telegraph Rd on a Saturday night.
Thanks for this! I saw these guys at the long-defunct Howard Street Tavern in Omaha in 1983. There was no one at the show! We had a great time drinking beer and talking to the band between sets..........
Just discovered these guys while searching for different punk genres. They were listed as cow punk. Never thought I'd find a band that encompasses two different genres that I enjoy: punk and country! They remind me, in the way they mix two vastly different genres well, of The Pogues, while Shane MacGowan was the frontman.
saw them live once... they ROCKED!!! ..what a trip down memory lane...I feel a little old now..wonder if my kids would like them? Don't have their cassette anymore : )
One of the most entertaining live bands that I've ever seen. The video is so dated, but captures some great Nash Vegas landmarks, like Hatch Show print in the beginning. But that dancing, LOL, OMG! thank goodness the 80's are past us!
The people who thought of those party bus concepts weren't even born in '83. Heck, the parents of the bachelorettes partying on those busses weren't even dating in '83. Let's fire up the DeLorean!
I bartended at the Exit/In in Nashville when these guys were a new band. They always melted the crowd but I remember the fun when they would hang out after closing and party with me and Bruce and a few of the select. Awesome band-Incredible people. But they shouldn't have let the corporation talk them into changing their name. Originally, it was Jason and the Nashville Scorchers. They thought it would make the rest of the nation think they were a country band.
Love these f'ers. In their prime they could rock and and hold their own with any of the greats. If Money Talks Live is up there with anyone's close the show encore number.
I saw them just last week in sweden. They've been doing their thing for a real while, but shit if they don't still look like they enjoy it, and do it well!
Ahhh Mercy... I first saw this video on a Big T V... Ahh That Is Working----All the way through it----Get your Back Beat a 'Thumpin'----And those licks for me! (thanks for posting!)
A cross between The Sex Pistols and Hank Williams Was always the way they were discribed dromed by my circle of friends.. I was living in Cleveland TN but saw them in Atlanta GA when I was in 11 the grade w the Minute Min and REM headlining. All three bands were great but Jason and the Schiortures we're only Matched by theigjty Black flag which I saw in Chattanooga a year later. Truely jewl in the crown of Cow Punk!! Go Nashville!!!
Country Punk's'not Dead! I will love forever this song! Thank's Mr. Dylan...But r'n'r attitude is better ! Cow Punk is better! Jason and the Scorchers!
Absolutely Sweet Marie - Jason & The Scorchers [Nashville, Tennessee] - 1984 - "AMG Pick. While 'Absolutely Sweet Marie' was exciting enough to gain MTV and alternative radio airplay, the six originals (Fervor EP-1983) are equally impressive,..." - EMI Years [Import UK] (Acadia Records) [Disc 1]-2008. NOTE: a frantic cover of Bob Dylan's "Absolutely Sweet Marie" that made the original sound timid.
