Joe Lee Wilson was a mainstream jazz vocalist who was making his name in Manhattan's loft scene of the 1970s. Blues from the Apple came out in 1974 and fittingly credited to "Charles Walker & the New York City Blues Band." When guitarist & vocalist Charles Walker visited WKCR, Pomposello made it his mission to record him over a year's time with various configurations of a dozen local players. center of the music), nevertheless New York had a reliable output over the postwar years by such artists as Elmore James, Wilbert Harrison, and Buster Brown. Never a deep hotbed of traditional blues ( Chicago, Illinois was the Northern U.S. Pomposello's blues scholarship was increasing and one area of particular interest was the state of the form in the immediate New York City metropolitan area, Oblivion's home territory. The album (five stars from Down Beat Magazine) was named "Friends" (Copland felt it was a collective effort), with a cover by a Columbia University based "outsider" Sam Steinberg, it was Oblivion's third release. Seibert heard kinship with Miles Davis', Tony Williams', and John McLaughlin's electronic experiments, and with the addition of guitarist John Abercrombie recorded one of the earliest "electronic jazz" records, soon to be known as jazz fusion. Marc Cohen (who eventually changed his last name and primary instrument) was a former Columbia student and mainstream jazz alto saxophone player who came to WKCR with a trio and his saxophone plugged into an Echoplex and amplifier. Seibert's interest was jazz, and by the end of 1972 the first jazz session was recorded, pointing the company towards the future. 1972 also saw the release of the label's only 45rpm single, " Johnny Woods: Mississippi Harmonica" from Fred McDowell's sometime musical partner, harmonica player Johnny Woods. Īlong with third partner Dick Pennington, who provided the initial financing, Oblivion released its maiden album, Mississippi Fred McDowell: Live in New York in the spring of 1972. Pomposello suggested the tongue-in-cheek name Oblivion, cadged from an obscure Leo Kottke album, mistakenly believing the name to be a satire. They agreed that the tapes were a commercial offering that could be used to launch the label. Seibert hosted a Columbia University, WKCR-FM radio show, and had recorded Pomposello when he accompanied legendary country blues artist Mississippi Fred McDowell at The Gaslight Cafe in November 1971. Seibert suggested a major label was a thing of the past and the way of the future was that Pomposello should record himself. “Clairvoyance” has vocals reminiscent of fellow SST band The Meat Puppets with slight touches of the grunge sound The Screaming Trees would eventually refine in the early 1990’s.The company was formed based on a casual conversation between Long Island, New York hippie record shop co-owner, musician, and blues scholar Tom Pomposello, and college student, former musician, and amateur recording engineer Fred Seibert, when Pomposello was musing about the best way to record and release his band's music. Conners’ “Clairvoyance” is a mixture of folk rock, punk, psychedelia and metal. The final song and title track of The Screaming Trees 1986 debut album Clairvoyance “Clairvoyance” was written by Mark Lanegan, Van Conner and Gary Lee. Mark Lanegan joined Queens Of The Stone Age and provided vocals on several albums before returning to his own successful solo career. The Screaming Trees were highly influential on contemporary artists such as Nirvana and Soundgarden as well as newer groups such as Queens of the Stone Age and Rogue Wave. The Screaming Trees finally broke up in 2000. The Screaming Trees released their final album, Dust in 1996. The Screaming Trees popularity peaked in 1992 with the release of Sweet Oblivion.
The Screaming Trees style evolved from alternative psychedelic punk rock to grunge in the early 1990’s. The Screaming Trees were signed to former Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn’s SST records along with other alternative groups such as Sonic Youth, Lemonheads and The Meat Puppets.
Along with The Melvins and Green River the Screaming Trees are considered to be one of the earliest grunge bands. The Screaming Trees’ lineup consisted of Mark Lanegan on vocals, Mark Pickerel on drums and brothers Gary Lee and Van Conners on guitar and bass. Although The Screaming Trees are known primarily as a grunge band their music also incorporated elements of psychedelic rock, folk, country and punk. The Screaming Trees were an American alternative rock, psychedelic grunge band formed in 1985.