Born on February 21: Jerry Harrison, discreet Talking Heads guitarist

He was born in 1949 in Milwaukee (Wisconsin), USA, and went on to become a producer after the Talking Heads disbanded.

He began his career with Jonathan Richman's delightful Modern Lovers in 1971. In this group, which wrote offbeat songs as “Egyptian Reggae” and “Hey There Little Insect”, Jerry played keyboards until 1974. 

After earning a Master's degree in architecture from Harvard University, he joined the Talking Heads in 1977, just after the release of their first single “Love On Fire”. From 1977 to 1991, he took part in all the Talking Heads' emblematic albums, including “More Songs About Buildings And Food” (1978), “Remain In Light” (1980), “Speaking In Tongues” (1983) and the latest, “Naked” (1988), with its premonitory “Democratic Circus”. He even designed the cover for “Fear Of Music”, the band's third album in 1979, and received a Grammy Award nomination for this contribution. In the Best Recording Package category, as it was known in those days...

Even before leader, David Byrne, split up the band, Jerry began building a career under his own name back in 1981 with “The Red And The Black”. No reference to Stendhal, though! Although he only produced three albums up to “Walk On Water” (1990), he mainly offered his services as a producer to artists such as Crash Test Dummies, Black 47 and No Doubt. In 1996, alongside Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth (also ex-Talking Heads), he took part in the excellent “No Talking Just Head” album, under the name of The Heads!

This will be his last appearance on stage before a few concerts in 2001 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of “Remain In Light” alongside Adrian Belew. The concerts he's preparing for next spring, again with Belew, are therefore of an exceptional nature... 
Jerry Harrison is set to revive the memory of the Talking Heads' “Remain In Light” with Adrian Belew, with a series of concerts.

(Stéphane Soupart - Tr.: MH - Photo :  Etienne Tordoir)
Photo : Jerry Harrison avec The Talking Heads sur la scène de Forest-National à Bruxelles (Belgique) le 10 décembre 1980 pour la tournée "Remain In Light"