Let me begin with telling you about the time I saw Dinosaur Jr. in Columbus, Ohio in 1992. J. Mascis was unbelievable! He reminded me of Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, and Frank Zappa all rolled into one. Yes, that's a pretty big statement, but this guy J. Mascis would pull guitar riffs out of the clouds. And sometimes at the least expected momemnts. Oh, I almost forgot, opening up for Dinosaur Jr........ My Bloody Valentine and Scrawl. What a show!

Question: Who is the primary musician and leader of Dinosaur Jr.
Answer: J. Mascis.
Now that we have that out of the way, let us continue.

Mascis was drawn into music from listening to Led Zeppelin's drummer John Bonham. He started his musical career as drummer for a band called High Speed Vomit.

He then joined a Massachusetts hardcore punk rock band called Deep Wound, where he also played drums. Playing guitar for Deep Wound was Lou Barlow. They released their first (and only) record on Radiobeat Records label in 1983. It was a self-titled LP.

Soon Deep Wound dissolved but Lou and J stuck together, forming a band called Dinosaur. This is when J. switched to guitar, while Lou began playing the bass guitar. Joining Dinosaur was the former drummer of All White Jury, Murph.

J has had a long term relationship with Sonic Youth. He played on their Ciccone Youth album, which was an excellent album that featured the Madonna hit "Get Into The Groove". Of course, Sonic Youth improved the song by 300%. Mascis also sang back-up vocals and assisted in the production of Sonic Youth's Goo Lp. In 1985, Thurston and the gang helped Dinosaur get their signing with SST records. Due to a legal dispute with a band from the 1960's called The Dinosaurs, Mascis suggested that they add Jr. to the end of the band's name, resulting in Dinosaur Jr. They released their debut album on Homestead Records in 1985, entitled Dinosaur Jr. Jay was 19 years old.

In 1987 Dinosaur Jr. released their definitive album, You're Living All Over Me. Critics say that this piece of work was one of the most infuential albums of the 1980's, creating the transition from post punk rock to the grunge rock of the 1990's.

At this point, Lou Barlow completed a tape called Weed Forestin with Eric Gaffney. Later, Lou did a second tape called The Freed Man. He and Eric called their band Sebadoh, and got a deal with Homestead Records.

In 1988, Dinosaur Jr. released the Bug album. This album was remarkable with twinges of Neil Young and Jimi Hendrix throughtout the tracks... but with the distinct sound of Dinosuar Jr. Due to rising personal and artistic clashes with J Mascis, Lou was kicked out of Dinosaur Jr. and he went his separate way, continuing his work with Sebadoh.

This is the time when J began doing almost all of the writing, performing and production of Dinosaur Jr. stuff. He would bring in people to fill out various parts when required, but in reality these albums were the works of the J Mascis Experience (my self titled name for Dinosaur Jr. at this point). The first album with J doing it all was released in 1991 and called Green Mind. This album was released on Warner Brothers records. Murph did drums on 3 of the 10 tracks. J did drums on the other seven.

In 1993, Where You Been was released with Mike Johnson on bass. Johnson, who was formerly of Snakepit, performed on this album only and then was discharged of his duties.

1994 brouhgt us the Lp, Without a Sound (and without a Murph). One of the explanations for dropping Murph was rumoured to be because J was tired of teaching Murph the drum parts. Mascis, being a former drummer, was a perfectionist when it came to the drum parts.

In 1995, J started solo acoustic guitar tour of the United States. He released a solo album titled Martin and Me, which featured tracks from his solo tour.

DINOSAUR JR DISCOGRAPHY

DINOSAUR (1985)

YOU'RE LIVING ALL OVER ME (1987)

BUG (1988)

GREEN MIND (1991)

WHERE YOU BEEN (1993)

WITHOUT A SOUND (1994)

HAND IT OVER (1997)

J MASCIS DISCOGRAPHY

MARTIN + ME (1996)

MORE LIGHT (2000)

OTHER

BBC IN SESSION (1999)

EAR-BLEEDING COUNTRY: THE BEST OF DINOSAUR JR (2001)