The Four Horsemen (band)
| The Four Horsemen | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Hollywood, California |
| Genres | Hard rock, blues rock |
| Years active | 1989–1996 |
| Labels | Caroline/ILL, Def American, Magnetic Air |
| Associated acts |
Zodiac Mindwarp The Cult Little Caesar Danzig |
| Website | www |
| Past members |
Haggis Frank C Starr Dave Lizmi Ben Pape Ken "Dimwit" Montgomery Ron Young Pharaoh Mike Lavoie Chuck Biscuits Randy Cooke Mike Valentine Tim Beattie |
The Four Horsemen were an American hard rock band, who enjoyed a brief popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their style was blues-influenced hard rock, but their fame was both fleeting and marred by tragedy.
The Four Horsemen were formed in the late 1980s by the Welsh-born guitarist Haggis (a.k.a. Stephen Harris), who had been a member of Zodiac Mindwarp and a touring bassist for The Cult. Haggis formed the band in Hollywood, California, when he decided to leave the Cult, switching from bass to rhythm guitar. He had previously worked with Rick Rubin, the producer of the Electric album for the Cult, who introduced Haggis to the vocalist Frank Starr. Rubin also suggested the drummer Ken "Dimwit" Montgomery to Haggis. Dimwit was the brother of Charles Montgomery, aka Chuck Biscuits, then drummer with Danzig who were also working with Rubin. Derek D. Young also was a member of the band playing bass guitar.
Their first release was a self-titled four track EP in 1989, which was influenced by the sound of AC/DC and early Status Quo.
Their debut full-length album, Nobody Said it Was Easy, produced by Rubin, was released in 1991, following a two-year delay when Starr was arrested on drug charges and spent six months in jail. The album generated the title track as a single, followed by the hit "Rockin' Is Ma' Business". However, Starr was arrested again and this time spent a year in jail on a drugs charge. This, combined with poor album sales as the grunge scene started to take over from traditional rock, caused the record label to drop them in 1992.
In 1994, the band, minus Haggis and Pape who'd quit having had enough of Starr's behaviour, reconciled their differences and started to put together a third release which was to become Gettin' Pretty Good... at Barely Gettin' By. But the first of two tragedies struck on September 27, 1994, when their original drummer, Ken Montgomery, died of a drug overdose. The band continued with production of the album, dedicating it to Montgomery and with Chuck Biscuits taking over on drums for the album's completion.
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