Guadalcanal Diary
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
Guadalcanal Diary was formed in 1981 by guitarist and singer Murray Attaway and lead guitarist Jeff Walls, whod first met in 1977 when they both joined a punk band called Strictly American. Rhett Crowe, who was sharing a house with Attaway at the time and was learning to play bass guitar, joined the new bands lineup, and shortly before the new groups first show, John Poe, a former bassist who has worked with Walls, was recruited to play drums when their original timekeeper quit at the last minute. Attaway chose the name Guadalcanal Diary from a book by Richard Tregaski about the U.S. campaign against Japan during World War II, enamored of the names surface ambiguities and undertones of patriotism and warfare.
After developing a reputation on the Georgia music scene thanks to frequent gigging in Atlanta and Athens, Guadalcanal Diary cut its first record, a four-song EP called Watusi Rodeo, in 1983 for the Athens-based DB Records label. A year later, DB and the band followed it up with a full-length album, Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man, produced by Don Dixon. Filled with rich but moody songs about faith, doubt, and the legacy of life in the Deep South, and driven by thundering drums and the clarion call of electric guitars, Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man quickly won an enthusiastic reception from critics and college radio programmers, and in 1985 Elektra Records signed Guadalcanal Diary and reissued the album. More touring followed, as did a cameo appearance in a best-forgotten youth comedy called Rockin Road Trip.
In 1986, the band released its first album financed by Elektra, Jamboree, which was produced by Rodney Mills, best known for his work with the likes of .38 Special and the Atlanta Rhythm Section. While Mills brought a greater polish to Guadalcanal Diarys approach and the band displayed a greater stylistic diversity, it lacked the force and impact of Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man and was not as well received. Guadalcanal Diary returned to the studio with Dixon for 1987s 2x4, which coupled the energy of the first album with Jamborees sense of musical adventure and spawned a minor alternative rock hit, Litany (Life Goes On). However, Guadalcanal Diarys busy touring schedule was beginning to take its toll when the group cut 1989s uneven Flip-Flop, and by the end of the year, after a long stretch on the road, the bandmembers amicably parted ways.
Following Guadalcanal Diarys breakup, Murray Attaway signed to Geffen as a solo artist, and released the well-reviewed In Thrall in 1993. Walls played guitar with Hillbilly Frankenstein and Dash Rip Rock, and produced recordings for Southern Culture on the Skids, the Woggles, and Man or Astro-Man? Poe pursued a low-key solo career, and Crowe retired from music after a short spell with Ottoman Empire to raise her children. In 1995, Attaway began recording a second album and decided to invite Walls, Poe, and Crowe to join him on a few songs, and while the album was never released due to a change of management at Geffen, the four were happy enough with the tunes they recorded to play a few reunion gigs in Atlanta. In late 1998, the band self-released a live album, At Your Birthday Party, recorded at one of its reunion shows; in 2000, the bandmembers announced theyd gone back on hiatus, but had not ruled out working together again in the future. Continued interest in Guadalcanal Diary has been confirmed by a two-fer compact disc reissue of Walking In The Shadow Of The Big Man and Jamboree, released by Collectables in 2003, and limited-edition remastered and expanded editions of the groups first three albums, issued by the Rhino Handmade imprint in 2003 and 2004.
