Pirates of the Mississippi

Pirates of the Mississippi were an American country music band founded in 1987 by Bill McCorvey (lead vocals), Rich Alves (lead guitar), Jimmy Lowe (drums), Pat Severs (steel guitar), and Dean Townson (bass guitar). The group recorded for Capitol Records Nashville from 1990 to 1991, Liberty Records between 1992 and 1994, and Giant Records in 1995, by which point Greg Trostle had replaced Severs. The band also charted nine singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in the first half of the 1990s, the most successful being "Feed Jake", which went to number 15 in 1991. After disbanding in 1996, both Alves and McCorvey went on to write songs for other artists. In 2000, the two reunited under the Pirates of the Mississippi name, releasing an additional album titled Heaven and a Dixie Night before disbanding again.

Pirates of the Mississippi
Promotional picture of Pirates of the Mississippi, early 1990s. From left: Dean Townson, Bill McCorvey, Jimmy Lowe, Pat Severs, Rich Alves
Background information
Origin	Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Country
Years active	1987–1996, 2000–2007
Labels	Capitol Nashville Liberty Giant Evergreen
Associated acts	Buffalo Rome
Past members	Bill McCorvey Rich Alves Jimmy Lowe Pat Severs Dean Townson Greg Trostle

History

Pirates of the Mississippi was formed in 1987, when Nashville session musicians Bill McCorvey (lead vocals), Rich Alves (lead guitar), Dean Townson (bass guitar), Jimmy Lowe (drums), and Pat Severs (steel guitar) started performing together. Originally, they identified themselves as the We Don't Want a Freaking Record Deal Band, but upon witnessing a group of fans wearing clogs, the group changed its name to The Cloggers.[1]

The Cloggers began playing various clubs around Nashville. Eventually, they attracted the attention of an artists and repertoire (A&R) at Universal Records, a label then owned by record producer Jimmy Bowen.[2] Executives at the label disliked the band's name, and suggested that they change it.[3] The band then chose the name Pirates of the Mississippi because they thought that Lowe resembled a pirate.[1] The band's debut album was finished by 1988, but its release was delayed until 1990 due to Universal being bought out by Capitol Records.[2] In the meantime, Alves co-wrote the singles "Time In" by The Oak Ridge Boys[4] and "Southern Star" by Alabama,[5] the latter of which went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in early 1990.[6] He and McCorvey also co-wrote "Karma Road" for the group Trader-Price (who were also signed to Capitol by way of the Universal merger) on their 1990 debut album.[7]

Major-label albums

In June 1990, the band released its self-titled debut album via Capitol.[8] This album produced four chart singles on the Hot Country Songs charts. First was a cover of Hank Williams's "Honky Tonk Blues", which the band took to number 26 on the country charts.[9] Although "Rollin' Home" peaked outside the top 40, the album's third single, "Feed Jake", became the band's biggest hit at number 15. The song, about a man who reminisces about a childhood friend, a dog named Jake, while discussing societal stereotypes towards homeless people and homosexuals, was interpreted by some fans as having a pro-gay theme.[10] "Speak of the Devil", the last single from Pirates of the Mississippi, also made the country top 40.[9] Alves produced the album with James Stroud.[11] In 1991, the band received the Top New Vocal Group award from the Academy of Country Music.[12] Brian Mansfield wrote in Allmusic that the album "is a cross between Alabama country and Southern rock...There are a few twists, though, namely a Guy Clark song...and a surf-country instrumental."[13] Pirates of the Mississippi was certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (now known as Music Canada) in 1993.[14]

1991's Walk the Plank, their second album for Capitol, was co-produced by Alves and Jimmy Bowen.[15] It included three singles: "Fighting for You", "'Til I'm Holding You Again", and "Too Much" the last of which was written by Clark and Lee Roy Parnell.[15] Respectively, these peaked at 41, 22, and 36 on the country charts.[9] Between the band's first two albums, the members performed all instruments themselves, except for the synthesizer strings on "Feed Jake" and "Fighting for You", which were performed by John Kelton, also the sound engineer on those albums.[11][15] Mansfield said of this album that the "Allman Brothers cops are more exciting than their stone-country material, although that's certainly competent enough. The white-country-soul "Till I'm Holding You Again" -- which tries to rock out when you're not looking -- is probably the best of all."[16]

After a restructuring of Capitol Nashville, the band was transferred to Liberty Records, where they would release their third and fourth albums: A Street Man Named Desire (1992) and Dream You (1993). Each album's title track was the only charting single from it: "A Street Man Named Desire" peaked at number 56 and "Dream You" at number 63, their last single to make the charts.[9] By 1994, a compilation album entitled The Best of Pirates of the Mississippi was issued. This compilation included several tracks from their first four albums, and newly recorded remixes. In 1995, the band signed to Warner Bros. Records subsidiary Giant Records, releasing the non-charting singles "You Could Do Better" and "Sure Sign", which were to have been included on an album also titled Sure Sign.[17] Also at this point, Pat Severs left the group and was replaced by Greg Trostle,[18] who had previously played steel guitar on Lionel Cartwright's Chasin' the Sun.[17]

Later in 1995, the band released Paradise, its only physical album for Giant. By this point, Trostle had left the band as well, and several session musicians performed on the album, including guitarist Dann Huff, pianist Johnny Neel, and backing vocalists John Wesley Ryles and Curtis Wright. David Malloy produced the album, collaborating with Stroud on seven of the ten tracks.[19] Despite producing no chart singles,[17] this album's title track would later be a Top 40 hit for John Anderson that year, from an album which was also titled Paradise and produced by Stroud. Pirates of the Mississippi disbanded in 1996, after their last concert at the county fair in Isle of Wight County, Virginia.[20] After the band broke up, McCorvey co-wrote "Lonely and Gone", a Top 5 hit for Montgomery Gentry in 1999, and "I'm Not Gonna Do Anything Without You", a duet between Mark Wills and Jamie O'Neal in 2001, while Alves wrote album cuts for Chad Brock, Rascal Flatts, Guy Clark, and The Oak Ridge Boys.[21]

Reunion and statuses of former members

In 2000, Rich Alves and Bill McCorvey decided to reunite as a duo, again assuming the name Pirates of the Mississippi. Three years later, in 2003, original steel guitarist Pat Severs joined the house band on Nashville Star, a talent show which originally aired on the USA Networks before transferring to NBC in 2008.[22] Alves and McCorvey were signed to CBuJ Entertainment/Evergreen Records in 2006, releasing the album Heaven and a Dixie Night that year.[23] McCorvey founded an acoustic trio called Buffalo Rome, with which he performed from 2005 to 2010, before retiring from music to open a liquor store in Brentwood, Tennessee.[24] Original bass guitarist Dean Townson died of unknown causes on March 25, 2010, at the age of 50.[25] Original drummer Jimmy Lowe returned to civilian life as a software engineer in 1996, and has also been a member of longtime Nashville band The Chessmen since 2012.[26]

Members

• Rich Alves – background vocals, guitars, keyboards (1987–1996, 2000–2007)
• Jimmy Lowe – drums (1987–1996)
• Bill McCorvey – lead vocals, guitars (1987–1996, 2000–2007)
• Pat Severs – steel guitar (1987–1994)
• Dean Townson – bass guitar (1987–1996)
• Greg Trostle – steel guitar (1994–1996)

Discography

Albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions			Certifications (sales thresholds)
		US Country [27]	US [28]	CAN Country [29]
Pirates of the Mississippi	Release date: June 18, 1990 Label: Capitol Nashville	12	80	—	CAN: Gold[14]
Walk the Plank	Release date: September 30, 1991 Label: Capitol Nashville	39	—	26
A Street Man Named Desire	Release date: September 28, 1992 Label: Liberty Records	75	—	—
Dream You	Release date: October 19, 1993 Label: Liberty Records	—	—	—
The Best of Pirates of the Mississippi	Release date: March 8, 1994 Label: Liberty Records	—	—	—
Paradise	Release date: April 25, 1995 Label: Giant Records	—	—	—
Heaven and a Dixie Night	Release date: November 7, 2006 Label: Evergreen/CBuJ	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions		Album
		US Country [30][9]	CAN Country [31]
1990	"Honky Tonk Blues"	26	12	Pirates of the Mississippi
	"Rollin' Home"	49	40
1991	"Feed Jake"	15	12
	"Speak of the Devil"	29	20
	"Fighting for You"	41	51	Walk the Plank
1992	"Til I'm Holding You Again"	22	28
	"Too Much"	36	54
	"A Street Man Named Desire"	56	53	A Street Man Named Desire
1993	"Don't Quit Your Day Job"	—	—
	"Dream You"	63	66	Dream You
1994	"Save The Wild Life"	—	—
	"Pop from the Top"	—	—
1995	"You Could Do Better"	—	—	Sure Sign (unreleased)
	"Sure Sign"	—	—
	"Paradise"	—	—	Paradise
1996	"Let the Joneses Win"	—	—
2006	"Drinkin' Money (T.G.I. Party Time)"	—	—	Heaven and a Dixie Night
	"Kickin' Up Dust"	—	—
2007	"Fish Bait"	—	—
	"Heaven and a Dixie Night"	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
1990	"Honky Tonk Blues"
1991	"Rollin' Home"	Michael Salomon
	"Feed Jake"[32]	Deaton Flanigen
	"Fighting for You"[33]	Marius Penczner
1992	"Too Much"[34]	Sherman Halsey
	"A Street Man Named Desire"[35]	Joanne Gardner
1993	"Dream You"	Roger Pistole
1995	"You Could Do Better"
2006	"Kickin' Up Dust"
2007	"Fish Bait"[36]

References

1. "What's in a Name?". Pirates of the Mississippi homepage. Archived from the original on May 21, 2009. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
2. Asker, Jim (6 April 1991). "Pirate Power: After a rough start, it's smooth sailing for band". The Free-Lance Star. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
3. "Pirates of the Mississippi like their music loud". The Victoria Advocate. December 29, 1991. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
4. "Heartbeat". Allmusic. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
5. "Southern Star". Allmusic. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
6. Whitburn, pp. 19-20
7. "Trader-Price". Allmusic. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
8. Mansfield, Brian. "Pirates of the Mississippi". Allmusic. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
9. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 327. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
10. Smith, Russell (4 July 1991). ""Feed Jake" video clip gives rise to questions". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
11. Pirates of the Mississippi (Media notes). Pirates of the Mississippi. Capitol Records Nashville. 1990. CDP 7 94389 2.CS1 maint: others (link)
12. Stambler, Irwin; Laudon, Grelun; Stambler, Lyndon (2000). Country Music: The Encyclopedia. Macmillan. p. 375. ISBN 978-0-312-26487-1.
13. Mansfield, Brian. "Pirates of the Mississippi review". Allmusic. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
14. "Search results for 'Pirates of the Mississippi'". Music Canada. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
15. Walk the Plank (Media notes). Pirates of the Mississippi. Capitol Records Nashville. 1991. CDP 7 95798 2.CS1 maint: others (link)
16. Mansfield, Brian. "Walk the Plank". Allmusic. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
17. Peacock, Bobby (May 10, 2014). "Bobby's One Hit Wonders Volume 38: The Pirates Of The Mississippi - Feed Jake". Roughstock. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
18. Wooley, John (21 January 1995). "Pirates of the Mississippi". Tulsa World. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
19. Paradise (CD booklet). Pirates of the Mississippi. Giant Records. 1995. 24603.CS1 maint: others (link)
20. "Pirates of Mississippi making last stop". The Virginian-Pilot. 5 September 1996. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
21. "Credits". Allmusic. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
22. Paxman, Bob (2006-09-25). "Setting Sail Again: The Pirates of the Mississippi return to test the musical waters - this time as a duo". Country Weekly. 13 (20): 58.
23. "Pirates of the Mississippi back together". Country Standard Time.
24. Linville, Jan (30 May 2012). "A Pirate in Business". Brentwood Life. Archived from the original on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
25. Peter Cooper (2010-04-01). "Pirates of the Mississippi bassist Dean Townson dies at 50". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
26. "The Chessmen Band". Chessmenband.com.
27. "Pirates of the Mississippi Album & Song Chart History - Country Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
28. "Pirates of the Mississippi Album & Song Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
29. "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada - Country Albums". RPM. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
30. "Pirates of the Mississippi Album & Song Chart History - Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
31. "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada - Country Singles". RPM. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
32. "CMT : Videos : Pirates of the Mississippi : Feed Jake". Retrieved 2009-08-21.
33. "CMT : Videos : Pirates of the Mississippi : Fighting For You". Retrieved 2011-04-17.
34. "CMT : Videos : Pirates of the Mississippi : Too Much". Retrieved 2011-04-17.
35. ""A Street Man Named Desire" video". CMT. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
36. ""Fish Bait" video". CMT. Retrieved 2009-08-21.