Treat Her Right

Treat Her Right
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Genres	Blues rock, roots rock
Years active	1984–1991, 1995–1998, 2009–present
Labels	RCA Records, Rounder Records
Associated acts	Morphine, The The
Members	Dave Champagne Jim Fitting Steve Mayone Billy Beard
Past members	Mark Sandman Billy Conway

Treat Her Right is a blues rock group formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1984. The band originally featured Mark Sandman on "low guitar," Billy Conway on drums, Dave Champagne on guitar, and Jim Fitting on harmonica. Singing and songwriting duties were shared by all but Conway. Champagne and Fitting reformed the band in 2009 with new members Steve Mayone and Billy Beard.

In addition to being the forerunner to the successful indie rock band Morphine, Treat Her Right is often credited with helping to spawn the punk-blues hybrid (sometimes dubbed cowpunk, among other titles) that achieved prominence in the early 2000s. Critic Ira Robbins described Treat Her Right as "[n]ot quite a blues band, not exactly swamp trash and too stylized for basic rock'n'roll."

The band derived its name from the 1965 international smash hit by Roy Head and the Traits, "Treat Her Right." Their instrumentation was somewhat unusual, with Sandman's "low guitar" mimicking a bass guitar, and Conway playing a Cocktail drum rather than the more common drum kit.

The group's self-financed and self-titled debut was released on a small Boston record label in 1986 before being issued in the UK by Demon Records and the group signed to RCA Records, who reissued the debut in the United States. Their first recording attempt was a modest success – Champagne's "I Got a Gun" and Sandman's cover of James Blood Ulmer's "Where Did All the Girls Come From?" received some play on college radio. "I Think She Likes Me" describes Sandman's experience in a Fairplay, Colorado bar where a woman came on to him. Critic John Dugan described the debut as "slick, intelligent, sly, and well worth your while."

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