G. Love & Special Sauce Biography
Formed by Philadelphia native G. Love (Garrett Dutton III, 3 October 1972, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA), this US act consciously recalls the pre-pop blues world alongside scat lyrics from the jazz tradition and hip-hop beats. G. Love met his partners, Jeffrey "Houseman" Clemens (drums) and Jimmy "Jazz" Prescott (bass) in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, in 1992, after failing to earn a decent living busking in his native city. The intent was simple but unusual, as Clemens recalls: "G. Love writes great songs and each of us brings the spirit of the blues to the music." They met while Prescott was running a jam session at the Tam O Shanter bar, playing their debut performance there on 18 February 1993. Their debut album was the first to be released on Sony Music's newly reactivated OKeh Records label, and the first ever by a white act in the label's history. Though taking critics by surprise, it received almost universal praise for its uninhibited approach, using acoustic instruments to propel a unique, unreconstructed blues sound. For their second album the trio relocated to New Orleans from their Boston base, and their attempts to capture something of the "soul" of the city resulted in another acclaimed release. The key lay in their approach, never so reverent that the city's musical ghosts haunted it, with Dutton choosing instead to write in raw, scratchy but undeniably attractive movements.
After falling out with Clemens and Prescott, Dutton began recording 1997's Yeah, It's That Easy with members of the All Fellas Band, Philly Cartel and King's Court. The three musicians reconciled during the recording process, however, and members of all the bands eventually showed up on the finished product. The trio format was restored for proper on 1999's Philadelphonic. The album was named after the term used by Dutton to encapsulate their eclectic sound, and featured hip-hop beats provided by producer T-Ray. Following one further release for OKeh/Sony, the trio signed a new recording contract with Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records. Johnson had appeared on Philadelphonic when he was still a struggling singer, and his patronage helped repay Love's faith in him ten-fold. Love's first two albums for Brushfire, The Hustle (2004) and Lemonade (2006), were commercial and critical successes.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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