David Peel - Biography
By Bob Fagan
David Peel is a street musician from New York City whose career began in the late 60s. Performing on street corners in Manhattan, he and his band The Lower East Side were reportedly discovered in Washington Square Park by Elektra Record impresario Jac Holtzman. Impressed with Peel’s pot-head sloganeering songs and street-wise attitude, he signed the band to Elektra in 1968. That same year they released their first album, Have Marijuana (1968 Elektra). The album cover featured an illustration of a large marijuana bud, for which Elektra and Peel came under attack by various law enforcement agencies. In this age of medical marijuana and decriminalization in most states, it doesn’t seem such an affront to the authorities as it was 40 years ago, when even simple possession could lead to a jail sentence. Admirably, Elektra stood behind their band and seemed to believe in their commercial potential, to the extent of giving their second album a gatefold sleeve, which certainly drove up the printing costs for the record.
The record’s songs were simple lyrically, the aural equivalent of protest signs and buttons, dealing with the issues of the day, e.g., the war in Vietnam, marijuana use and busts, and police brutality. Several of the songs reflected the band’s well-earned reputation as serious pot-heads. Peel’s exaggerated Noo Yawk accent (which could stretch the words “draft board” into four syllables) and artlessly shouted vocals, as well as the band’s rudimentary musical skills, were a breath of fresh, real air at a time of overblown studio creations such as Sgt Pepper. The album’s “recorded-live-on–the-street” production make it an interesting and unique aural document of those times.
The followup (The American Revolution, 1970 Elektra) was a somewhat more polished affair, recorded in a proper recording studio and with an electric backing band. Both the simple, unadorned musicianship and songs like the statement-of-purpose “Lower East Side” (We are from the Lower East Side/We don’t give a damn if we live or die”) presage by several years the in your face arrogance and nihilism of the punk rock movement. The songs, all written by Peel, differed little in subject matter from the first record, although the heavy rock background did give the material a greater power and urgency. Listening to “I Want To Kill You,” it’s not hard to hear its influence on the Clash’s remarkably similar “Radio Clash” as well as their “Guns of Brixton,” the latter even featuring sound-alike vocals by Clash bassist Paul Simonon.
The record was further enlivened by between song street chatter, notably the redneck cop monologue preceding “Oink Oink,” performed by Marshall Efron, who would later go on to provide voices for the Smurfs. “Hey Mr. Draft Board” updates the lyrics to Larry Verne’s 1960 hit “Please, Mr. Custer” and appropriates the tagline to the Troggs’ “Wild Thing.” (“Hey Mr. Draft Board/I think I love you.”)
Neither album sold in any great quantity, and the lyrical content insured that any airplay was out of the question. Elektra dropped the band after the second album. Undeterred, Peel – minus the rest of the band – soon found himself in some very famous company, namely John Lennon and Yoko On. Lennon and Ono saw Peel performing for free in a small Greenwich Village club and were both impressed by his lyrics (this was during their “Sometime in New York City” political phase) and his energy and catchy songs. Peel soon found himself being name-checked in John Lennon’s “New York City.” This in turn led to Peel being signed to Apple Records, and appearing onstage several times with The Plastic Ono Band, including a live performance (with Peel on washtub bass) on the Mike Douglas Show. Peel’s album, The Pope Smokes Dope (1972 Apple Records) was produced by John Lennon. Apart from Harry Nilsson’s Pussy Cats, it is Lennon’s only production credit. The record engendered even more angry reaction for its unprecedented lampooning of the head of the Catholic Church, and was supposedly banned in every country except America and Canada, although this is probably an exaggeration originating with Peel himself.
Dropped by Apple and fed up with major label censorship, Peel next formed Orange Records, one of the very first indie labels, as an outlet for his material. The label is still in business, and has released over two dozen Peel LPs as well as records by G.G. Allin and other artists. Peel met the challenge of the advent of punk rock with aplomb, releasing (under the band name “David Peel and Death”) the LP King of Punk (1978 Orange Records). Peel created his own lo-fi version of the Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” production style, with an insanely overloaded mass of electric guitars brought to bear on songs such as “Who Killed Brian Jones?” and the blissfully obvious “Punk Rock.” The latter borrows the main riff from the Stooges' “Real Kool Time;” no doubt learned by Peel during his opening gigs for the Stooges.
Peel has continued to release albums up to the present day, all on his Orange Records label. Notable standouts include the previously mentioned King of Punk and War and Anarchy (2007 Orange), a collection of songs recorded years before with Wayne Kramer of the MC5 on guitar. Autumn 2005 saw the release of a 15 CD box set of his Orange Records recordings. He has toured in Japan, where record label Captain Trips has also released a multi-CD box set of his music. (The tour itself is documented on the Orange Records release Rock’n’ Roll Outlaw issued in 2003).
For a street musician with admittedly limited musical skills, Peel has managed to make a career for himself that has lasted 40 years, a career that includes performing and recording with John Lennon and numerous other rock luminaries. He was and remains a proto-punk who deserves much more credit for anticipating and inspiring the stripped-down sound of punk rock than he has yet received. A lifelong street musician, he can still be seen and heard on the streets of Greenwich Village and in the local clubs, singing his simple, catchy and engaging songs of freedom, pot, John Lennon, and himself.