Chris Newman, aka Snow Bud, aka Napalm Beach

If there is such a thing as the test of time in the ephemeral world of rock 'n roll, then the recordings made by Chris Newman will surely stand that test, and he will be given his due credit for being one of the seminal artists (along with Greg Sage of the Wipers and Fred Cole of the Rats) who formed the Portland sound which ultimately got to be known as "grunge."

This prodigious musician not only led the truly legendary band Napalm Beach, he also released several albums with his pothead cult band Snow Bud & the Flower People , which was named as one of the top five all time bands in the November 1996 issue of High Times . Click here for The Snow Bud Connexion to find out more about Snow Bud and the Flower People. Furthermore, there are two CDs under his own name, Volunteer and Tarp Town Years on the Flying Heart label, an underground comic classic called Snow Bud Comics (Volumes 1 & 2), and even a children's coloring book entitled Phillip's Dream World. Chris's blazing guitar playing has wowed critics and wannabees alike, and his songs are full of meaning. His song, "Sorry for Myself," appears exclusively on the Flying Heart blues compilation A Taste of the Blue Rose -- and he tells it like it is: homeless and strung out.

Click on the "You Tube" still to watch a clip from the show at Dante's on January 11th, 2008. It was the opening song, "Monster." Length: 2 mins 17 sec. If you watch really closely, you'll see the digital clock in the house, showing a couple of minutes before midnight. It was a historically rockin' show. Always good to see Chris and the lads in action. I took this picture right after the show.

A picture of Chris, Sam and Dave taken at Portland's Ash Street Saloon can be seen right here in the Foto Gallerie.

Chris has moved back to the Portland area. I go see him play, which he's currently doing with his new band, Boo Frog, and see him in person pretty often. He got a divorce from his wife of over fifteen years, Valarie, and married Denise. Well, then they got divorced, too. His girl friend is called Erika. He looks good and appears to be all right. Trying to grow a moustache now, by the looks of it. Check out his MySpace page here. That would be a good place to find out about his current Boo Frog CD, and the previous Chris Newman Experiment CD.. There are a couple of Divining Rods CDs. You can find out more by checking out the Divining Rods' My Space page .

After years living in "Tarp Town" (i.e. sleeping under a tarp) on the streets of San Francisco, Chris went and recorded a complete album for Flying Heart, telling gripping stories of hard times and what not. It's a full-length project with fifteen songs, we finished mixing it on May 10th and released it July 17th, 2004. The photograph above was taken during those sessions. I lent him my shirt. The CD is available by mail order (see the catalogue ), in some stores (notably at Music Millennium in Portland), and online at amazon.com . As usual, S. P. Clarke of Two Louies was first to review it, with an enthusiastic write-up in the September 2004 issue. Click here to take a look at the album credits and lyrics to the songs on the new "Tarp Town Years" CD by Chris Newman. And for a special treat click here to look at Valarie's poem, The House Inside of Me, written in jail in San Francisco while Chris was up here working on his new CD.

Chris also recorded a new Snow Bud CD during the month of April 2002, called "Holy Smoke" and released on the Melliferous Records label. It's a little hard to find, but it rocks!

Look for Chris's song, "Sorry for Myself," on the Flying Heart compilation,"A Taste of the Blue Rose". And Snow Bud's Biggest Hits -- Authentic Masters is now available on CD!

Chris Newman's discography spans the 1970s through the 2000s, and he is on a number of different labels. On the Flying Heart label, he gave us two Napalm Beach albums, two Snow Bud albums, two Snow Bud Comics, two solo albums and a colouring book for children, but here is an atempt at a discography:

• the famous Trap Sampler, on Trap Records, contained three songs by Napalm Beach. It is a complete rarity and is worth money. I just saw one fetch a pretty price on eBay.
• There was also an album on vinyl on Here/After Records called "Teen Dream" -- that's produced by Doug Reed and is actually the first Napalm Beach album -- and another one called "Rock & Roll Hell" -- good luck finding one. Once again: eBay sometimes has something.
• Greg Sage's Zeno records has reissued a CD of Rock & Roll Hell by Napalm Beach -- look at that .
• Chris released several of his projects himself on cassette. The original Snow Bud material was released on two separate cassettes, "Snow Bud and the Flower People" and "Vegetable Matter." There was also a self-released cassette by Chris Newman called "Moving To and Fro" which is extremely rare. These are items of which a few hundred were ever pressed.
• There is a hodge-podge of Snow Bud and Napalm songs on a full-length vinyl LP released on the German label Love's Simple Dreams (LSD) out of Berlin. It too was called "Moving To And Fro."
• "Liquid Love" LP and CD by Napalm Beach on Flying Heart Records, 1988
• "Fire Air and Water" LP and CD by Napalm Beach on Flying Heart Records/Satyricon Records, 1989
• "Thunder Lizard" LP and CD on Satyricon Records, 1990
• "Green Thing" CD by Snow Bud and the Flower People, on Flying Heart Records
• "Volunteer" CD by Chris Newman on Flying Heart Records
• "Snow Bud's Biggest Hits" CD by Snow Bud and the Flower People on Flying Heart Records
• Another German label still, Heartbeat, released a "live" album by Snow Bud ... supposedly. And there's a boxed set of two 10-inch records, of which only 800 were ever pressed ... I see those sometimes on eBay for around twenty or thirty bucks.
• Portland's own Tim/Kerr Records released the CDs "Curiosities" by Napalm Beach (which is heavily linked thematically to the novel Geek Love by Katherine Dunn); and a fabulous album by Snow Bud and the Flower People called "Ripped van Stinkle," which might arguably be Chris's very finest work. Tim/Kerr Records also released a 7-inch vinyl single version of "Bong Hit," as well as a 7-inch single with Napalm Beach doing "Potential Suicide" on one side and M99 doing "Astro Cloud" on the other (T/K 917010) and a Tribute to Johnny Thunders double 7-inch EP on which Napalm Beach does "Letterbox." (That's T/K 917008).
• Then there's the C/M Records connection, which somehow also is connected with Shinola Records. There's a solo album called "Stoned and Alone" and a Napalm Beach album called "In My Tree."
• There is a Snow Bud single on the Sub Pop Singles of the Month, it has "Third Shelf" on it. You had to be a member of the Sub Pop Single of the Month Club to get it ... but you can send about twenty bucks to Flying Heart for one if you need it that bad.
• There's a Snow Bud and the Flower People CD called Holy Smoke produced by Nathan Jorg on the Melliferous Records label. Look for it! You may actually find it. If not, you can order one from Flying Heart for the same 15 dollars as any other CD in our catalogue.

  Latest Chris Newman CDs:

  • Boo Frog by Boo Frog (2009)
  • La Rose Noire by The Chris Newman Experiment (2008)
  • Songs in the Key of H by the Divining Rods (2007)
  • Love Letters to the Dead by The Divining Rods (2006)
  • Tarp Town Years by Chris Newman (2004)
  • Holy Smoke by Snow Bud and the Flower People (2002)

  
  The Snow Bud Connexion
  Complete Flying Heart Catalogue
  Return to Flying Heart home page

  last updated November 17th, 2009 by Jan Chciuk-Celt