Evil Twang Personnel:

Chris Houston - Lead Vocal and Guitar Brian "Wimpy Roy" Goble - Bass and Background Vocals Adam Drake - Drums Luke Doucet - 4 & 6 String Acoustic Guitar and Electric Slide Guitar Jerry Doucette - White Ibanez Lead Guitar Steven Drake - Backwards Les Paul Robbie King - Keys

From the scribbles of Chris Houston... Bob Dog called to me just as I started to pose for an 8x10 Glossy Photo of the band GARNET SWEATSHIRT. "Chris, I want you to do a song for the TROOPER tribute record." I wanted to tell him to "FUCK OFF!" since it had taken me two and a half years to get the whole band together in one spot for a picture. Randy Bachman, the guitarist for GARNET SWEATSHIRT, piped in, "I produced those records. We should do it." Unfortunately, Randy ended up being far too busy with his GUESS WHO reunion, releasing his Life Story, and playing LIVE at the Rock'N'Roll Hall of Fame, to eventually meet the recording deadline. We traded Randy for Jerry Doucette and Steven Drake. The bed tracks for AMERICAN DREAM were recorded at Studio 57, initially as GARNET SWEATSHIRT (Chris Brian Adam Luke). By the time we hit Greenhouse Studios more than 3 months later, we had morphed into the EVIL TWANG. Then there was mayhem as Jerry and Steven added their guitar parts. These two Rock Gods used to play together at Rohan's back in the 70's, when Steven was still a teenager on bass (the four stringed kind). Jerry didn't have a clue about the track before he set foot in the building, but he was game. He was very relieved to hear that Robbie was playing keyboards, since Robbie had played on the multiplatinum blockbuster "MAMA LET HIM PLAY" in 1976!! I asked Jerry to play backwards Lanois guitar. Jerry said, "I don't know what that is. How about I play some good slow blues?" Steven said, "Don't worry, Chris, I'll take care of that." When Steven laid his tracks down, Jerry was beaming with joy, and screaming for more and more demented licks (and pizza)! Doucette plays his 70's classic guitar, and Drake answers his parts with the new sounds of the year 2001. So here we are, with two brothers (Adam and Steven) and two others who are not related (Jerry and Luke) which leads to loads of fun and confusion. Luke Doucet (NOT Doucette), frontman and guitarist for VEAL, has also played with many great musicians. Names such as ACOUSICALLY INCLINED, SARA McLACHLAN, CHANTEL KREVIAZUK, and O SUSANNA come to mind. Most recently... Luke was awarded "MUSICIAN of the YEAR" at the 2001 WestCoastMusic Awards! CONGRATULATIONS LUKE! Luke's solo album is in the record rack right next to Jerry Doucette, in fact right before him, but on AMERICAN DREAM, you can have them both together for the first time in the same song! What a Deal!! Adam Drake's credits include POWDER BLUES, ART BERGMANN, GRAPES OF WRATH, HOLLY McNARLAND, BIG ELECTRIC CAT, the list goes on... he has been a rock in the Vancouver ROCK scene forever. Brian "Wimpy Roy" Goble is probably the greatest punkrock singer of the Canadian punkrock scene. No one will forget the first time they ever heard THE SUBHUMANS. Those few lucky enough to experience and survive a SUBHUMANS live performance during the peak of their turbulent and sometimes political career, would have witnessed Brian's ferocious frontal assault. Brian survived THE SUBHUMANS, picked up the bass and joined ranks with Joey Shithead to carry the DOA flag for another decade or so. As if that wasn't enough for one person's lifetime, he has performed and recorded with THE SKULLS, ANI KYD, RUDE NORTON, EVIL TWANG, GARNET SWEATSHIRT, and JELLO BIAFRA. Jerry Doucette (NOT Doucet) joined his first band, THE REEFERS, in 1963, at the ripe old age of 11, in the cradle of Canadian rock'n'roll, Hamilton, Ontario. He played in various bands such as TRIBE, BRUTUS, ABERNATHY SHAGNASTER, made his way to Vancouver, BC, and got signed to Mushroom Records in 1977. It was there in Mushroom Studios that Jerry recorded the monster hit record "MAMA LET HIM PLAY", and later "THE DOUCE IS LOOSE". Jerry is still active musically. Most recently in the R & B ALLSTARS with Robbie King. Talent must run in Robbie's blood. His father was a bigbandleader for an all-girl orchestra, BOB KING and the QUEENS. His mother was the pianiast on the soundtrack for Disney's cartoon classic, "Sleeping Beauty". Robbie King's own professional career started in 1960 with BOBBY TAYLOR and The VANCOUVERS, which counted Tommy Chong (CHEECH & CHONG) among its members. After signing with Motown Records, he toured Europe, playing piano with the SUPREMES (before they became DIANA ROSS and the SUPREMES). He played the keys on every single Motown release from 1967 until 1970! That unforgettable piano intro you hear on "STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE" is Robbie, and that's not all. He arranged and played on "SEASONS IN THE SUN" with Terry Jacks, which went on to become one of Canada's biggest selling singles in history. The following is a just a partial list of the bands that Robbie has recorded and performed with. AEROSMITH BRIAN ADAMS POPPY FAMILY ALICE COOPER JIMI HENDRIX ANN MORTIFEE SKYLARK with David Foster FOUR TOPS TEMPTATIONS and more Motown bands than you can think of. Steven Drake is Adam's brother. When he's not doing that, he is one busy cat. He has played his unique and startling style of guitar with such notable bands as THE ODDS, DAWN PATROL, THE CROON TUNES, THE NERVE TUBES, 20th CENTURY, and WARREN ZEVON. He just happens to be a world class recording engineer and has produced albums for 54/40, TRAGICALLY HIP, and Gordon Downie's solo project, et al. He sings like a motherfucker too! Which brings me to my favourite subject... ME. How did I, Chris Houston, former bass player of the FORGOTTEN REBELS, author of such punkrock anthems as "SURFIN ON HEROIN" and "ELVIS IS DEAD", end up hanging out with these guys? The very sort of musicians that drove me to rebel in the first place. And, come to think of it, what am I doing on a TROOPER tribute album? Simple answer... just to hear the utter dead silence of the people on the other end of the phone in Toronto when I told them what I was doing. In 1991, TROOPER released their 10th album, TEN, which included their Nth hit "AMERICAN DREAM". At random, I crashed TROOPER's record release party at the Town Pump in Vancouver. Tom Harrison introduced me to the boys. How could I hate these guys? They had a great sense of humour, and sure knew how to drink beer. I remember Ra talking about the new single "AMERICAN DREAM" and what it meant to him. I was amazed to hear a major rock personality so disgusted with the show business mechanism and so willing to speak up about it. TROOPER was clearly a band that just wanted to play music, and were going out on a limb with their lyrical content. They were rebellious, outspoken, aggressive, irreverent and subversive. In other words they were being punks. On behalf of EVIL TWANG and all its various members, I just want to thank TROOPER for writing such a great song, and allowing us to mess with it. Everyone who played on this track has been through what these lyrics describe. May it never happen to you.