The musical hero Mark Lanegan wanted to spend an hour with: “Might rub off on me”
With an unmistakable gravel in his baritone voice and a prolific spirit in his musicianship, Mark Lanegan remains a cornerstone of grunge and alternative music.
Before his untimely death in 2002, at the age of 57, Lanegan’s career spanned numerous solo albums and collaborations with his wildly talented peers that, alongside him, would become revered figures in rock.
As the frontman of the pioneering grunge band Screaming Trees, Lanegan was produced by Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell. His first solo album, 1990’s The Winding Sheet, featured songs with Kurt Cobain on backing vocals and Krist Novoselic on bass. Then, in 2000, he joined the stoner rock group Queens of the Stone Age, the brainchild of Josh Homme, performing with Dave Grohl on drums and lending his voice to sensational songs including ‘Song for the Dead’ and ‘Hanging Tree’.
His later solo work would feature PJ Harvey, Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin, and more, and this list only scratches the surface of the musicians with whom Lanegan incorporated into his visions.
Still, as Lanegan’s career remained critically acclaimed and revered by musicians and fans alike, he never reached mainstream stardom, not that such a level of fame was yearned for. “The question I’ve been asked more than any… is, ‘Don’t you feel like you got fucked over when all your friends became famous, and nothing ever happened to you?’” Lanegan explained to Vice in 2020.
“But I’ve always felt I lived a life beyond my wildest dreams,” he continued. “I made a record that led to another one and another one, I’ve travelled the world most of my life, got to see my favourite bands, and played music with my heroes. I’m the luckiest guy on the face of the Earth. It just depends on your outlook, I guess.”
Looking back on Lanegan’s abundance of collaborations over decades of work, there is an evident respect for his fellow musicians and an aspirational energy that expanded into his solo work. This stems from Lanegan’s sheer love of music: the artists who soundtracked his youth, the song lyrics that inspired him to write his own and more.
Speaking to fashion label Fred Perry’s Subculture series, Lanegan reflected on his most essential musical memories. He recalled the first track he played on repeat to be Captain Beefheart’s ‘Sure ‘Nuff’n’ Yes, I Do’, describing his music’s sound as “like some psych ward patients had got ahold of some instruments and were attempting to play the blues.” He defined his teenage years with the song ‘Pretty Vacant’ by the Sex Pistols, and chose ‘Closer’ by Joy Division as the record he will keep forever.
Of all the legendary musicians that fill his list, Lanegan names Scottish musician Alex Harvey as the one he would like to spend an hour with because, in his words, “In the hope that some of his charisma and brilliance might rub off on me.”
Harvey is most often remembered as the frontman of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a staple of the glam rock era of the 1970s, and with his musical roots in jazz and skiffle music, Harvey’s sound with SAHB grew from his bandmates’ progressive rock backgrounds, gaining popularity and a cult following primarily for his electrifying on-stage presence.
Lanegan’s personal favourite tune of Harvey’s is ‘Midnight Moses’, a song from songwriting duo Leiber and Stoller that was originally recorded by American R&B group The Robins. Harvey first recorded ‘Midnight Moses’ for his 1969 solo album, Roman Wall Blues and the song was later included on SAHB’s 1972 debut album, Framed.
Driven by his heroes and unparalleled in his music, as a result, Lanegan’s voice remains in his absence as one of the most rebellious and sorely missed.
