Danny & Dusty

Danny & Dusty wasn't actually a duo, but a supergroup of sorts comprised of players from groups associated with L.A.'s paisley underground. Danny & Dusty consisted of Dan Stuart of Green on Red and the Dream Syndicate's Steve Wynn -- along with members of their bands -- plus Sid Griffin, Stephen McCarthy, and Tom Stevens from the Long Ryders. The gathering of friends recorded one album in February 1985 over the course of a single, notoriously booze-soaked weekend. Appropriately, the effort was titled Lost Weekend. It would assume legendary status among the followers of the paisley underground, though certainly many of the players here are from more of a roots rock, country-punk bent. The sleeve notes hail the effort as an amalgam of "friendship, fear, drunkenness, death, and elusive salvation," a fair enough assessment of the loose, boozy set. The LP consisted of seven Stuart/Wynn compositions, plus a cover of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," and the sound varied from country-pop to blazing barroom rock. In the mid-'80s, Danny & Dusty also played many shows, primarily around L.A. and with different lineups, before eventually disappearing.