Ben Harney

While Ben Harney unfortunately was neglected by commercial recording studios during his lifetime, in 1925 a folklorist recorded Harney singing an example of an early ragtime song on a dictaphone phonograph cylinder, and this recording has survived. The band also made a movie called Gift, a modern gothic tragedy. Ben Harney died of a heart attack in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although details surrounding the band's demise are sparse, guitarist Dave Navarro claimed that the reasons for the breakup were essentially the same as they were in 1991. Harney quit touring after suffering from a heart attack in 1928. Shortly after the release of Strays, Jane's Addiction broke up again. He sometimes performed in blackface. During the recording process, Lenoble was fired from the band, and replaced by Chris Chaney, a friend of Perkins.

Harney's act included him playing piano, singing (including scat singing), and dancing. The result was their final album, "Strays". Once ragtime became popular he started billing himself as The Originator of Ragtime or The Father of Ragtime, which most (but not all) of his contemporaries thought was an overstatement for the sake of advertising. They entered the studio with legendary producer Bob Ezrin in 2001, recording as a band for the first time in over 10 years. Harney toured widely on the Vaudeville circuts in the USA, as well as tours of theaters in Europe and Asia. Following the success of this tour, the band decided to record a follow-up album to 1991's Ritual De Lo Habitual. In 1897 Harney published his book The Ragtime Instructor, the first comprehensive description of ragtime, with instructions of how to rag (add syncopated rhythms to) tunes, including giving written examples of ragged versions of light classics and opera songs. With Flea Busy with the Chili Peppers, Porno for Pyros bassist, Martyn Lenoble was brought in to fill the gap.

That same year Harney was referred to in print as "the rag time pianist". Again, Avery declined involvement. In January of 1896 Ben Harney moved to New York City, where he appeared regularly at Tony Pastor's Music Hall. Four years later, Jane's Addiction rose from the ashes again for a full blown tour. Harney's tunes "You've Been a Good Old Wagon, But You've Done Broke Down", "Mister Johnson, Turn Me Loose", and "Cake Walk In The Sky" were big hits in the mid 1890s. The band briefly reformed in 1997 for the Jane's Relapse tour, with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea replacing Avery, after he declined an invitation to rejoin the band. Some historians still debate Harney's ethnic background. Internal strife and rampant drug usage lead the band to break up in 1991 after playing two nights at Hawaii's Aloha Tower.

Handy referred to him as "white". The Ripple single that the band produced for the Grateful Dead tribute album Deadicated was the final studio track for this incarnation of the band. Johnson referred to him as a "Negro", while W.C. In their hey-day, Farrell created Lollapalooza ? the alternative rock festival that revolutionized the concert promotion world by bringing together an ecclectic mix of musicians, exhibitors and attractions for a high energy weekend of music and alternative life-styles. James P. They became the poster children for a new wave of artful and thoughtful rockers who were eschewing the confinements of commercial rock music and stretching out, expresing themselves both musically and theatrically. Harney was light skinned with red hair; early in his career he played with African American theater troops, but later in his career he represented himself as white. Though the band had only released three albums, their effect on the rock and alternative music scenes was enormous.

Ben Harney is generally said to have been born in Louisville, Kentucky, although some sources put his birthplaces as Nashville, Tennessee. With this lineup, the band released three major albums Live at the Roxy, Nothing's Shocking, and Ritual De Lo Habitual. Benjamin Robertson "Ben" Harney (6 March 1871 - 2 March 1938) was a United States of America songwriter, entertainer, and pioneer of ragtime music. Following this fortuitous introduction, Perkins suggested his friend (and Dizatre bandmate) Dave Navarro might be a suitable guitar player for the new band, dubbed Jane's Addiction (in honor of Farell's housemate, Jane Bainter). Download recording - "The Wagon" ragtime from the Library of Congress' Gordon Collection (http://www.loc.gov/folklife/Gordon/sideBbandB4.html); performed by Ben Harney in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on about September 9, 1925. Later, Eric's sister introduced the duo to Stephen Perkins. Although Farrell and Avery worked well together, Psi-com disbanded before they managed to play live with their new bassist.

In the summer of 1985 Farrell was searching for a new bass player for the faltering Psi-com when he was introduced to Eric Avery. Formed out of the ashes of frontman Perry Farrell's previous band, Psi-com, Jane's Addiction are often compared to iconic '70s rockers Led Zeppelin. The band was influenced by punk, Gothic rock, metal, hard rock and psychedelic styles. Jane's Addiction is an American band which began in the late 1980s, and returned in the early 2000s.