John Doe (musician)

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John Doe
Background information
Birth name John Nommensen Duchac
Born (1954-02-25) February 25, 1954
Decatur, Illinois, U.S.A
Origin Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Genres Roots rock, alternative country, folk rock, punk rock
Occupations Musician, actor
Instruments Bass guitar, guitar, singing
Associated acts X, The Flesh Eaters, The Knitters
Website www.theejohndoe.com

John Doe (born John Nommensen Duchac on February 25, 1954 in Decatur, Illinois) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, poet,[1] guitarist and bass player. Doe co-founded the much-praised L.A. punk band X, of which he is still an active member. His musical performances and compositions span the rock, country and folk music genres. As an actor, he has dozens of television appearances and several movies to his credit, including the role of Jeff Parker in the television series Roswell.

In addition to X, Doe performs with the country-folk-punk band The Knitters and has released records as a solo artist. In the early 1980s, he performed on two albums by The Flesh Eaters.

Career

In the 1989 biopic Great Balls of Fire!, Doe played Jerry Lee Lewis's cousin-turned-father-in-law J. W. Brown. He starred in the 1992 film Roadside Prophets and in the 1998 short Lone Greasers. Other movie acting credits include Road House, Vanishing Point, Salvador, Boogie Nights, The Specials, The Good Girl, Gypsy 83 and Pure Country. As a musician with X, Doe has two feature-length concert films, several music videos, and an extended performance-and-interview sequence in The Decline of Western Civilization, Penelope Spheeris's seminal documentary about the early-1980s L.A. punk scene.

Along with co-writer Exene Cervenka, Doe composed most of the songs recorded by X. Wild Gift, an album from that band's heyday, was named "Record of the Year" by Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times. With Dave Alvin, he co-wrote two of the songs on the Blasters' 1984 album Hard Line, "Just Another Sunday" and "Little Honey". He also wrote "Cyrano de Berger's Back" for the Flesh Eaters LP A Minute to Pray, a Second To Die.

John Doe Performs in Adams Avenue Street Fair, San Diego, 2006

Since 1990, Doe has recorded nearly a dozen albums as a soloist or in collaboration with other artists, and has contributed tracks to motion pictures. In the 1992 movie The Bodyguard (starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston), it is Doe's version of "I Will Always Love You" that plays on the jukebox when Costner's and Houston's characters are dancing. It was released on audio cassette by Warner Bros. in September 1992, but no version is believed to exist on CD. He co-wrote and played on the song "Lobotomy" with Tyler Willman for the eponymous 1998 debut studio album of the band Calm Down Juanita.[2]

Doe took part in Todd Haynes's 2007 movie I'm Not There, recording two Bob Dylan covers, "Pressing On" and "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine." Both recordings were included on the film's soundtrack, and the former was prominently featured in the film, with Christian Bale (as Pastor John Rollins) lip-synching Doe's vocals. Doe recorded the song "Unforgiven" in 2007 with Aimee Mann on A Year in the Wilderness, an album which also featured Kathleen Edwards, Jill Sobule, Dan Auerbach. He then joined with Eddie Vedder on a mix of the song "Golden State" in 2008. "The Meanest Man in the World" by Doe was featured in Season 4 of the television series Friday Night Lights and included on the second soundtrack album. Country Club (2009), featuring Canadian indie rock band The Sadies, covered country classics along with original songs.

Doe contributed a cover of "Peggy Sue Got Married" to the 2011 tribute album Rave On Buddy Holly.

Personal

Doe was married to fellow X member Exene Cervenka between 1980 and 1985. He remarried in 1987, later revealing to Adam Carolla in a podcast in September 2011[3] that he currently resides in Fairfax, California (in the San Francisco Bay Area) with his wife Gigi Blair[4] and three daughters.

Discography

See also: X discography, Knitters discography

Year Album Peak chart positions Label
US US Heat US Indie US Country
1990 Meet John Doe 193 — — — Geffen
1995 Kissingsohard — — — — Forward/Rhino
2000 Freedom Is... — — — — spinART
2002 Dim Stars, Bright Sky — — — — Artist Direct BMG
2005 Forever Hasn't Happened Yet — — — — Yep Roc
2006 For the Best of Us — — — —
2007 A Year in the Wilderness — 42 — —
2009 Country Club (with The Sadies) — 10 37 32
2011 A Day at the Pass (with Jill Sobule) — — — — Pinko
Keeper — 13 — — Yep Roc
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ Wertheimer, Linda (2007-06-23). "John Doe: The 'X' Man Returns" (audio). Weekend Edition Saturday. National Public Radio. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 
  2. ↑ Calm Down Juanita (CD Liner). Seattle, Washington, US: Echo Records. 1998. inside front cover.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ John Doe at the Internet Movie Database

External links

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