The other day, I was reading Bringing Metal to the Children by the incomparable Zakk Wylde, and I came across this quote from Zakk himself:
“God bless GG. That mother****** literally gave his all when he walked out on that stage. Nobody ever left a GG Allin show sayin’, “Wow, he really half-assed it tonight.”
This is an absolutely accurate statement, and it got me thinking about pulling out a GG record and reviewing it here. But which one? Honestly, there can only be one answer for reasons that will become apparent as you read on. So, without further delay, let’s get weird…
Born in 1956 in Lancaster New Hampshire, GG Allin became a notorious figure in the punk rock scene, with his powers reaching their peak during the early 1990’s. GG was given the birth name of Jesus Christ Allin by his father (which was later, mercifully, changed to Kevin by his mother) after he received a visit from an angel who assured him that his young son would do great things. Looking back now, I guess whether or not the entity was correct is largely based upon your personal definition of “great things”. GG certainly did do… some stuff. Stuff that is unlikely to be forgotten any time soon.
If you don’t know about GG Allin already and want to find out more about him, I would suggest doing a Google search or watching one of the several documentaries that have been made about him. I just don’t have the space here to get into one of the most interesting characters in the world of music who has ever lived, and such a dive would go well beyond the scope of this blog. However, I will say to you the same thing I tell everyone who sees one of his records or a bobble head in my office when they ask… “who’s GG Allin?” “You are better off not knowing”, I say. So, proceed at your own risk. The closer you look, the weirder it gets. GG Allin was the textbook definition of deranged. You have been warned.
The record I’m talking about today is probably the only one GG ever made in his career that is suitable for general human consumption. Carnival of Excess is sort of a country album…think Hank Williams senior or Johnny Cash but with an added twist of severe and unique mental illness. There are some mildly shocking lyrics here, but absolutely nothing like you will find on his other records. If you grew up in a time where people got really bent out of shape about Eminem or Insane Clown Posse lyrics… these guys have absolutely nothing on GG Allin. No one else before or since does either.
With Carnival of Excess however, things are a lot different. On this record during a short interview, GG himself says some of his long-time fans probably wouldn’t like this album. The electric guitars and standard drum set are dropped in favor of an upright bass, twangy guitar, an accordion, background singers and a small trap percussion set. He called the sound “primitive” and “not conventional”.
The record itself, produced by PONK media (which as far as I can tell no longer exists), is shockingly high quality. There are a lot of punk releases on vinyl, but you wouldn’t normally associate such recordings with a high-quality production. The sleeve and labels here are a heavier weight with good color printing, and the pressing I got is heavy and flat. The wax itself is high quality with no visible flaws. The recording is so quiet, it’s easy to forget you are listening to vinyl and not a CD. My copy came with two xero-type posters and a PONK sticker which I thought was very cool. There are a few color variations and a nice CD for this release, but I’m discussing the black vinyl copy specifically here.
Sonically, this record is far and away the best recording of GG that I’ve ever heard. The mastering and mixing are excellent, and you can clearly hear his singing voice and acoustic guitar playing. This is in great contrast to nearly every other recording of GG ever made, which all sound like someone brought a cheap tape recorder to the club and had it going underneath a seat in the back of the venue. Most of the time, that was probably for the better, as most of his live performances consisted of almost unintelligible screaming.
Out of the ten songs on this album, GG himself wrote eight of them. He had been performing some of them for quite a while before this album was even a concept, but the writing is all very good. Of course, some of it is pretty out there and crass (what did you expect from GG Allin?). You probably wouldn’t want to play it for your grandmother and her friends in the nursing home, but the writing and performance really bring GG’s talents to light. If you doubt GG had real musical ability, you should hear him play drums with Malpractice and listen to some of his other spoken word performances.
“Watch Me Kill” on the end of side A is an interesting track which GG has apparently adapted from another song. It might be familiar to you if you are a Nick Cave fan and have heard his wonderful album B-Sides and Rarities, but the original song goes back even further than that. Cave’s version is entitled ‘Knoxville Girl’ and is based on the 19th century Irish ballad “The Wexford Girl”. That ballad was based on an even older ballad called “The Bloody Miller or Hanged I Shall Be”, about an actual murder that took place in 1683. All three versions of the song are about some guy beating a girl to death with a stick. GG’s victim is from Boston, which makes sense if you are familiar with the area he’s from in New Hampshire. Have a listen to it; it’s way better than you’re thinking. I would love to know how GG heard something like this in the first place, because I just don’t picture him listening to old folk ballads from the 1600’s.
The two cover songs here are also fantastic. “Pick Me Up (On Your Way Down)” is excellent, but the Warren Zevon song “Carmelita” is the real standout on this album. GG’s studio recorded version here is very well done, and I prefer it to the original song. As good as it is, however, I think that the older version with GG playing (a very out of tune) acoustic guitar is probably even better. That version can be found on another very rare PONK release, but can also be easily found with a Google search or on Spotify. The acoustic version of “Carmelita” is not just my favorite GG Allin song, but one of my favorite songs in general. I can’t really describe why, but listen to it and maybe you’ll get it too.
All the other tracks on this album are also very good, and those who are already familiar with GG might be surprised to hear these less intense versions. If he had lived longer, would we have eventually heard more releases like this? I would like to think so. It’s also interesting to consider what GG might have been able to do artistically had he not been plagued by an abusive past, severe addictions and mental illness. Carnival of Excess and all of GG’s work is, in my opinion, best taken for exactly what it is, within its own context. Simply put, it is what it is, and GG Allin was a very unique performance artist and musical talent.
To sum up, I think that Carnival of Excess can be appreciated by almost anyone who enjoys finding new music and who has an open mind. This album will also give you a small insight into GG and how he thought, but without making you want to throw up. The two added tracks, one a recorded message from Allin and the other a sort of advert and general praise from Tiny Tim (a bizarre character in his own right), add a nice flavor to the album and are an interesting piece of history. Carnival of Excess can be found second hand on vinyl, but you can also find it on CD at the link below. The CD version is further expanded and comes with extra spoken tracks from GG. Whether you have the vinyl version or not, it’s also worth a look.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. All opinions are my own.