THE THORNS 01 - The Beginning

The origin story. Plus, "No Blue Sky" demo! And "I Can't Remember" video!

Twenty years ago this month saw the release of The Thorns’ self-titled album on Aware/Columbia Records. I will celebrate the anniversary all month with a five-part series telling the story of The Thorns.

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The Thorns was a three-part harmony band I formed with Matthew Sweet and Shawn Mullins. People called us a Supergroup since we all had careers with varying degrees of success prior to the project. I called us an Okay Group.

Album cover photo by Doug Menuez, Santa Ynez, CA 2003.

I had the lowest profile of the three. Matthew and Shawn had enjoyed Gold and Platinum sales status. Shawn’s “Lullaby” even reached #1 on Billboard’s Top 40 chart. The closest I came to achieving such heights was the Gold plaque I received for my song on the Dumb & Dumber soundtrack. But that doesn’t really count. Or does it?

Our financial backer was Aware Records founder Gregg Latterman. He would foot the bill for a kind of songwriting experiment. What would happen if we got a few established artists together in the studio to co-write?

Let me take this opportunity to thank Gregg for his vision and support. Without him, none of this would have happened. Thank you, Gregg!

The first incarnation consisted of Shawn, Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket fame, Marshall Altman of the band Farmer and me. We gathered at the legendary Sound Factory studio in Los Angeles and wrote and demoed three songs: “Sweet Lorita,” “Beautiful Wreck” and “No Blue Sky.” The former never saw the light of day, but the latter ended up being included on the album. The latter was also featured in some TV shows. Shawn would later finish and record “Beautiful Wreck” for his 9th Ward Pickin’ Parlor album and take it all the way to #1 on the AAA radio charts.

Here is the original “No Blue Sky” demo featuring Shawn on lead vocal. This track was recorded and mixed by the brilliant engineer Brian Scheuble.

Ultimately, this lineup did not stick. Matthew and Shawn shared a manager, and Shawn and I were fans of Matthew’s, so before long, the next round of experimentation was underway. Again, we wrote and demoed at The Sound Factory.

From the moment we sang together, we knew we had something special. Shawn’s rich, textured baritone married wonderfully with Matthew’s high, reedy sound. And I fit right in the middle. It was magic.

The sessions resulted in two songs: “I Set the World on Fire” and “I Can’t Remember.” Both were included on the record. The latter would become the album’s single. It was a hit on AAA radio, and the video, directed by the great Martyn Atkins, received heavy rotation at VH-1 and CMT. Here it is:

Latterman loved our demos, and just days later, our little experiment was offered a record deal. It was pitched to us that this would be a low-key side project. As you’ll see in upcoming posts, this did not turn out to be the case. The Thorns ended up swallowing almost two years of my life. Stay tuned for more.

Peace & Love Songs,

Pete

PS: Normally, the audio I post is available to paid subscribers via my “Rarities” page. However, no download is available for “No Blue Sky (Demo).” The track is available via the streaming player on this page only.