Henry Rollins has spent the better part of a year buried in tape from October 1977 — a finished Cramps album, produced by Alex Chilton at Ardent Studios in Memphis, that sat on the shelf for nearly fifty years. It's coming out August 21 as Gravest Gravy on Vengeance Records.
Rollins and Ian MacKaye handled the restoration and mixing together through their RAM Prod. partnership. "I sent the mixes and my notes to Ian MacKaye, whose ears I trust more than anyone I know," Rollins says. MacKaye agreed with every call.
The two saw The Cramps together on April 20, 1979, at a small DC bar. "I've never recovered," Rollins says. "Ian was standing next to me.”
* **00:00** – A Student of Life and Music Librarian
* **00:45** – The Fragility and Preservation of the Past
* **02:00** – Restoring The Cramps' Lost Tapes with Ian MacKaye
* **03:11** – Curating the *Gravest Gravy* Release
* **04:44** – Unearthing More Unheard Cramps Material
* **05:48** – The Archival Mission: Saving History from the Garage
* **07:52** – Driving 34 Hours for the Love of the Game
* **08:52** – The Art of Paper Preservation and Mylar Forehead Tattoos
* **10:53** – Being a Trusted Steward of Musical History
* **11:53** – Upgrading Your Archival Game: Hiring the Experts
* **13:43** – Rescuing Tapes from Black Mold and Rotting Boxes
* **15:04** – Spending Weekends with Sponge Sticks and Toothbrushes
* **16:40** – Lessons from the Library of Congress
* **17:40** – Ian MacKaye’s Incredible Organization Skills
* **18:43** – Scoring Rare Punk Artwork at Auction
* **19:13** – Putting the Dinosaur Bones Together at Night
* **22:38** – A New Chapter of Friendship: Mixing with Ian
* **23:20** – Ian MacKaye as the "Lincoln Cold Sober Judge" of Production
* **25:12** – Recording *Lifetime* in England on a Budget
* **27:11** – Defining Success as Sustainability
* **27:46** – The Three-Year Process of Writing a New Book
* **30:45** – Moving Forward into "Old Ass Man” Projects
* **32:18** – Singing "Rise Above" with Cyndi Lauper
* **35:05** – Navigating Fitness and Aging
* **37:12** – Leaving a Trail: The Importance of Provenance
* **39:40** – Excitement for the *Gravest Gravy* Release
* **41:35** – Ian MacKaye’s "Fishbowl" Philosophy on Internet Comments
