Mary Lou Lord

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mary Lou Lord performing in 2006. (Photo by David McMahon)
Mary Lou Lord performing in 2006. (Photo by David McMahon)

Mary Lou Lord (b. March 1, 1970, Salem, Massachusetts) is an alternative rock musician, busker and recording artist.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Mary Lou Lord first gained notice playing acoustic guitar and singing in and around Boston's subway stations (particularly on the Red Line, as noted by the name she chose for her music and lyric publishing company, On the Red Line Music, administered by BMI.)

Lord claimed she had a romantic relationship with Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain before the group's rise to mainstream fame. This claim was disputed by Courtney Love and allegedly by Cobain himself. In 1993, a note signed by Cobain was faxed to an editor of the Boston Phoenix, which claimed that he was never in a relationship with Lord and suggested that she "see a therapist." [1] The editor, Brett Milano, would later say that these notes were signed by Kurt but written in Courtney's handwriting.[2] In 1994, at a party for Cobain widow Courtney Love's band Hole, Lord ended up being chased down Sunset Strip by Love. She later said, "It ended with me wetting myself and hiding from her in an alleyway after both of our tops had fallen down and she had chased me down Sunset Strip."[3]

Lord toured three separate times with Elliott Smith during the 1990s. Smith also wrote and helped Lord record a song called "I Figured You Out" in 1997.

Her recordings have been a mixture of covers (including songs by Elliott Smith and Richard Thompson) and original material, with a number of songs written by, or in collaboration with, Nick Saloman of the British band The Bevis Frond.

Her recording of Daniel Johnston's "Speeding Motorcycle" (which originally featured on her self-titled 8-song Kill Rock Stars release) was featured in commercials for Target stores, after which her label reissued the song as the lead-off track of a CD single which also included two demo recordings from the sessions for Got No Shadow.

In 2001, Lord released Live City Sounds. This was a self-released disc of Mary Lou playing live in the Boston subway. The disc was later re-released after Mary Lou signed to Rubric Records.

She announced in 2005 that she suffered from a rare vocal cord affliction known as spasmodic dysphonia. She thereafter became more involved in A&R work and started a new management company with her husband Kevin Patey, Jittery Jack Management.

The song "She Had You" was a hit in the Philippines during the 90's, it was played in an FM radio NU107 midnight count down.

[edit] Discography

1998's Got No Shadow
1998's Got No Shadow

[edit] Albums

[edit] EPs and singles

[edit] Compilation and soundtrack contributions

  • Stars Kill Rock: "Camden Town Rain" - Kill Rock Stars (1993)
  • A Slice of Lemon: "Eternal Circle" - Kill Rock Stars/Lookout Records (1996)
  • Working Class Hero - A Tribute To John Lennon: "Power to the People" (with The Minus 5) - Hollywood Records (1995)
  • Saturday Morning: "Sugar, Sugar" - MCA Records (1995)
  • Safe and Sound: "Polaroids" - Big Rig Records / Mercury Records (1996)
  • Jabberjaw: Pure Sweet Hell: "Birthday Boy" - Mammoth Records (1996)
  • Yo Yo A Go Go: "Helsinki (live)" - Yo Yo Recordings (1996)
  • Everybody Wants Some: "Jump" - CherryDisc (1997)
  • 107.1 KGSR / Radio Austin - Broadcasts Volume 6: "His N.D.World (live)" - KGSR (1998)
  • Zero Effect Motion Picture Soundtrack: "Some Jingle Jangle Morning" - Sony Music (1998)
  • SXSW Volume 5: "I'm Talking To You (live)" - SXSW (1999)
  • Transmission 1: Tea At the Palaz Of Hoon: "The Outdoor Miner" - Cosmodemonic Telegraph Inc. (2000)
  • Rubric 01: "From Galway to Graceland" - Rubric Records (2000)
  • Gordon Gano: Hitting The Ground: "Oh Wonder" - Cooking Vinyl (2002)
  • For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records: "Cold Company" - Bloodshot Records (2005)

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ " JUST THE FAX: Kurt Cobain to the Phoenix: 'F--- off!'" http://www.thephoenix.com/article_ektid36467.aspx
  2. ^ Halperin, Ian & Wallace, Max. Love and Death: The Murder of Kurt Cobain, p.272. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-7434-8484-3
  3. ^ A perfect pitch | OMM | The Observer

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Lord, Mary Lou
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Musician
DATE OF BIRTH March 1, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH Salem, Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH