Portishead: Whatever Happened To The Band Behind 'Roads' & The Album 'Dummy?'
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Published 2023-02-13
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I cite my sources and they may differ than other people's accounts, so I don't guarantee the actual accuracy of my videos.
The history of Portishead began with a ponytailer teenager named Geoff Barrow who originally planned on doing graphic arts, but after seeing he wasn’t a good student decided to give music a try. Taking inspiration from rap records and film soundtracks he began to stitch together musical samples in his bedroom. At the age of 18 wanting to break into the music industry he called a local Bristol producer asking for a job. Bristol would emerge from the 90’s as the home of late-night, hazy and moody music that was dubbed trip-hop.
The producer promised to give him a job provided he would help him build a new studio, which he did. That studio would become the Coach House, which became a hot spot for local Bristol artists, most notably Massive Attack. As Barrow worked his way up the pecking order he was given more responsibilities while at the same time working on his own sonic collages using popular hip-hop techniques of of looping and sampling,
Barrow would lay the groundwork for Portishead which was put together in piecemeal fashion over the coming months. Barrow would meet his partner in crime Beth Gibbons while atending the Enterprise Allowance Course in early 1991. The course was setup by the British government as a way to encourage unemployed youth to become entrepreneurs. Gibbons would be seven years senior to Barrow who told the Guardian “she was grown up in my eyes.”
Gibbons for her part at the time was singing Janis Joplin songs in pubs around Bristol.They would call themselves portishead, which is name of the town where Gibbons grew up, a nondescript suburban village near the city of Bristol. But don’t think they were in love with the village because Barrow would tell Spin “I really don’t like the place. It’s a place where you can go and die” with Gibbons adding ‘and that’s why we named ourselves after it.’
While Barrow had already assembled some recordings by this point he wasn’t happy with what he had produced so far, but things took a turn for the better when Gibbons who became the band’s lyricist and main melody writer wrote a track called Sour Times (which sampled the mission impossible theme song) with Barrow telling the LA Times "[That song] saved it all, really," The pair soon enlisted guitarist Adrian Utley who was also working at Coach House studios. Utley, who was 34 at the time was barely making a living being a jazz guitarist and had just finished another session downstairs. He would tell the Guardian meeting Barrow and Gibbons for the first time “ I remember somebody opening the door upstairs and me hearing It Could Be Sweet [one of the first tracks written for Dummy]. I was all, ‘Fuck me, what is that?’ Just hearing the sub-bass and Beth’s voice – it was unbelievable. Like a whole new world that was really exciting and vital.” The musicians despite their age differences hit it off and started to learn from one another. Utley was blown by Barrow’s knowledge of sampling, while Utley had an extensive collection of Spy films that gave Barrow access to new sounds he hadn’t heard before.
Barrow and Gibbons’s first ideas for songs had been recorded in Neneh Cherry’s kitchen in London (Barrow had been hired by Cherry’s husband and manager, Cameron McVey, to work on her second album, Homebrew, on which he co-wrote and co-produced the song Somedays; McVey spotted Barrow’s talent when he worked as a trainee tape operator on Massive Attack’s groundbreaking 1991 album Blue Lines).. Barrow’s mental health had also declined. “I was in a terrible place. Through the Gulf war, I was really quite sick, physically and mentally. Mental stuff. I thought the war was the end of the world. I’d never had a breakdown before – I think it was just the pressure of the Portisheadstuff – I didn’t know I was having it. And no one ever talked to me about mental health in any way.” “You’re able to hide mental health issues within the music industry,”
Massive Attack would soon hear about his music and put him on retainer paying him $48 a week as a trainee tape operator on their 1991 album Blue Lines.. Upon hearing about Barrow’s work with massive attack the manager o
All Comments (21)
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For those who missed it. Here’s our look at The Verve’s Volatile history https://youtu.be/SPPhAFKVDnY
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I don't understand how you didn't mention their live album in Roseland NYC. This was a massive success and they were probably one of the first electronic/trip-hop band to play live with an orchestra!
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Portishead completely reinvented and outdid themselves with Third. In my opinion it's a perfect record and a hell of an achievement. I don't think it's ever gotten the attention it deserves.
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you didn't mention their live album in Roseland NYC, I remember someone saying that these kind of bands could never play live because they were trip hop or electronic, and they did it and with an orchestra, the world stopped and we have this masterpiece, thank you Beth for your amazing voice and the band for everything.
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Man what an incredible band. Just beautiful melancholy.
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I was just in Portishead UK because of Portishead! They are one of my favorite groups and Live At Roseland is a great live album. I grew up in the 90’s and their songs helped me get through depression and my low self. 💐 love Portishead Portishead!
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Dummy had such a huge impact on my teenage self. Still one of my favourite albums, never get tired of it.
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Beth Gibbons' album with Rustin Man (Out of Season) is also terrific, and totally worth checking out if you've never heard it❤
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This band got me through some sour times.
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I remember exactly where I was when I first heard Portishead. The world stood still.
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I find myself liking Portishead more and more lately. That sort of jazzy downbeat thing that they do is definitely not typical of what I listen to, but there's just something so right about the way they do it.
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Being from the US this is one of my favourite British artists of all time. The really got me into trip hop and other Bristol (UK) music from the likes of Massive Attack, Tricky, Smith and Mighty, Roni Size, Kosheen, Krust, Allflaws
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Dummy is an album that could’ve come out today, it did come out in the 90s and it also could’ve come out like back in the 40s….Beth’s smoky lounge jazz style of singing is timeless
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What a great band, Beth was the perfect voice for Trip Hop, that debut album was unbelievable ❤
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I cannot stop listening to them. Roads....man
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Dummy is a great album!!
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I know I know, Roads is one of their popular hits but it never gets old.
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"Some people have told me I'm a good singer, I don't think I am really, I suppose they are just being nice, I think I could possibly be a good singer but that would mean I would have to take lessons and quit smoking" Beth Gibbons. Thanks for doing this video, All Mine was the first song of theirs I heard and Beth Gibbons was a huge inspiration
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I've seen them live in '98 on Pukkelpop (Belgium) main stage. Never have been closer to my self in a big crowd. Infinitely great performance on stage. What a live sound they produced. Mesmerizing it was.
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Dummy was my first intro to Portishead in my 40s mid 90s driving on a rainy cold night and listening to a cool alt station. Thank you Mr DJ bc it was a night I've always remembered. Portishead was magic. Awesome band!!
