JD King & The Coachmen: Thurston, JD, Dave, Bob at A's in 1979

HISTORY

The NYC version of The Coachmen (1978 to 1980) included JD King on guitar and vocals, Thurston Moore on guitar, Bob Pullin on bass and, first Danny Walworth, then Dave Keay, on drums. This group's tale was documented in copious detail in the liner notes to their posthumously released, "Failure to Thrive" (New Alliance), a 1988 CD of their 1979 demo tape. The short version is this:

Part 1:

December, 1976: RISD grad and Providence, RI resident, JD King, met a Connecticut teenager, Thurston Moore, at Cutler's Records in New Haven, CT, over the VU bin.

The following September, JD and some Providence friends moved to a loft on South Street, NYC. Thurston was a frequent visitor, driving in from Bethel, CT.

From this South Street scene, JD, Thurston, Bob and Danny formed The Coachmen.

By early-1978 they were playing the NYC club and loft circuit: Max's Kansas City, CBGB, Tier 3, The Botany Talk House (billed with Lee Ranaldo's band, Flux) and loft parties thrown by Jenny Holzer (once billed with Glenn Branca's band, The Static) and a Lower East Side performance space, A's.

Despite minor victories, they went nowhere. Their final gig was August, 1980, at White Columns.

Part 2:

A new version of The Coachmen was formed in 1997 with guitarist JD as the sole original member, Valerie Boyd on Farfisa organ, Dave Wain on bass and Simone Kwik on drums, all living in upstate New York.

In March, 1997 they recorded, "Ten Compositions: New Frontiers in Free Rock" (Ecstatic Peace), an instrumental blend of free jazz, garage psych and modern composition, released on LP in 2000.

Part 3:

To avoid confusion with other bands with the same name, they became JD King & The Coachmen, and underwent a slight personnel change, Dave Wain replaced by May December. Also, Valerie traded her Farfisa for electric guitar. Their August, 2000 recording session, "American Mercury," (Ecstatic Peace) was released on CD in 2006.

"American Mercury" received airplay in the USA and Canada on independent and college stations, most notably WFMU. It also garnered positive reviews in The Wire No. 276 and The Next Big Thing.