Dec 14

John Doe

Greatly Appreciated

JOHN DOE
 
 
John Doe  (born John Nommensen Duchac; February 25, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, poet, guitarist, and bass player.  Doe co-founded the much-praised LA punk band X, of which he is still an active member.  His musical performances and compositions span the rock, country and folk music genres.  As an actor, he has dozens of television appearances and several movies to his credit, including the role of Jeff Parker in the television series Roswell.  In addition to X, Doe performs with the country-folk-punk band The Knitters and has released records as a solo artist.  In the early 1980s, he performed on two albums by The Flesh Eaters.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
Bruce Joyner connected with keyboardist Ray Manzarek (formerly of the Doors) and helped out on the recording sessions for the X album Under the Big Black Sun.  Joyner left the Unknowns in 1983; when he began recording the full-length album Swimming with Friends (with his new band the Plantations) in 1986, both Ray Manzarek and X guitarist John Doe lent a hand.
 
(June 2011)
 
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Most of the credits on unfamiliar albums are going to be unfamiliar names as well, but every now and then, you will spot a famous person.  Look for the record producer for instance; depending upon your own personal tastes, if John Doe (of X) or Todd Rundgren or Dave Edmunds is involved, and you are a fan, that would increase the chances that you would like the album. 
 
(November 2012)
 
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Joan Jett then placed an ad in L.A. Weekly saying that she was “looking for three good men” (a play on the advertising campaign of the U. S. Marine Corps at the time).  John Doe of X sat in on bass guitar during the audition sessions; and he mentioned Gary Ryan, a bassist that he knew who was crashing on his couch at the time.  Ryan was a long-time fan of the Runaways and was picked after Joan Jett recognized him.  Gary Ryan in turn recommended guitarist Eric Ambel; they had both been playing with a local punk rock artist named Rik L. Rik.  Rounding out the band was drummer Danny “Furious” O’Brien, who had been in the San Francisco punk band the Avengers, whose frontwoman was Penelope Houston.  Joan Jett’s band was named the Blackhearts after the name of her record company Blackheart Records, and not the other way around. 

 

(November 2013)

 

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Besides their own albums and popular concert appearances throughout Southern California, the Beat Farmers collaborated with numerous musicians; Allmusic lists Mojo Nixon, John Doe of X, Rosie Flores, the Bangles, Los Lobos, Katy Moffatt, blues singer/pianist Candye Kane, and guitarist Dave Alvin, formerly of the Blasters.  For his part, Country Dick Montana had several side projects over this period, including the Incredible Hayseeds, Country Dick’s Petting Zoo, Country Dick’s Garage, and the Pleasure Barons.  

 

(January 2015/2)

 

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Madeline Ridley of SS-20 has a short performance called “Monitoring Madeline for Two Decades and Other Scenes” on a double-LP compilation album of alternative rock, spoken word, and poetry called English as a Second Language (1983) that has an amazing 84 cuts.  Others represented on the album include Charles Bukowski, Dave Alvin of the Blasters, John Doe and Exene Cervenka of X, Henry Rollins and Chuck Dukowski of Black Flag, Tito Larriva of the Plugz, Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles, Jeffrey Lee Pierce of the Gun Club, record producer Craig Leon, prominent DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, and Kim Fowley.
 
Her work is also on two other similar compilation albums, Voices of the Angels (Spoken Words) and Neighborhood Rhythms (Patter Traffic) that feature many of the same artists and were released in the same time period. 
 
(December 2017)
 
Last edited: April 7, 2021