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The Mother Hips are a rock band based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. Combining elements of psychedelic rock, Sixties pop, and vocal harmonies with earnest songwriting.

They most recently released their sixth record, Kiss the Crystal Flake, on Camera Records in 2007.

History

Formation

Tim Bluhm (vocals/guitar), Greg Loiacono (guitar/vocals), Isaac Parsons (bass) and Mike Wofchuck (drums) met in 1990 while attending California State University-Chico, living off campus in Bradley Hall. They jammed and played some original songs at a party or two (once billed as Pippi Longstocking and the Trunk-of-Funk), but soon Isaac and Mike were lured away by the prospect of playing Led Zeppelin and Jane's Addiction covers at big parties as the rhythm section of the Keystones. Meanwhile Tim and Greg played their acoustic guitars and sang to whoever would listen, and wound up backing up songstress Ali Weiss in the mellow trio Ali and the Cats.

These bands played throughout 1990, but in early 1991, Tim, Greg, Isaac and Mike got back together and got serious about being a rock band. It didn't take long to step up from parties to local watering holes like LaSalles and the fondly remembered Juanita's. They played almost all originals, and their unorthodox songwriting style and alternating time changes personified the freewheeling lifestyle of Chico's young denizens, and made them a true sensation with the youth in the Sacramento Valley area. Soon, their shows were the gaining a reputation as the biggest party going in this legendary party town.

Debut

The band released Back to the Grotto in February 1993, a gem of rootsy, guitar-driven psychedelic rock featuring harmonies and songwriting that seemed both at odds with, and utterly fitting of, the young men who created it. It was produced by the band with a mutual friend, Paul Hoaglin (who would join the band nearly 10 years later when bassist Parsons left.)

The album was a huge hit in Chico and quickly became a staple in the music collections of college kids across California. In the summer following the album's release, songs like "Run Around Me", "The Figure 11" and the band's de facto anthem "Hey Emilie" were heard blaring out of car stereos up and down the West Coast from Lake Tahoe to San Diego.

Major label

The Hips were courted by the major record labels, and almost signed with MCA. But Rick Rubin, the legendary music producer, became a Mother Hips convert, and though the guys were still students at Chico -- technically speaking -- Rubin signed them to American Recordings; overnight these undergrads were labelmates with Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, and the Black Crowes (whose Chris Robinson was instrumental in wooing the band to sign with American.)

They did some more recording and mixing on Back to the Grotto for its American re-release (March 1995), and set out to record a follow-up. Released in August 1995, Part Timer Goes Full was that second album, including new songs as well as tunes from the back catalog. "Shut the Door" was a catchy number that American decided would be the single, but this decision did not go down well with fans who thought the song was not representative of their sound. The song didn't hit it big, but the fanbase grew due to constant touring, and in Chico they were practically gods by now, selling an unheard-of-for-a-local-band 2400 tickets to a show at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds. They were also headlining major venues like the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco and appearing at festivals like Laguna Seca Daze and the HORDE tour.

They recorded Shootout in early 1996 and American released it in October. Many fans believe this is still their finest effort, but American Records failed to promote it, dropped the band from their roster, then folded.

Changes

The Hips soldiered on, gigging relentlessly through 1996, but they had other, non-label-related, problems. The hard-partying lifestyle of a touring band was starting to take its toll, and some of the band members realized they had to clean up, which they did at the start of 1997. Their music shifted direction around this time, with fewer epic length, multiple sectioned songs. They started to get into basic countryish songwriting, but it didn't fit with drummer Mike Wofchuck's style, so they replaced him with John Hofer, formerly of the Freewheelers. This change did not go over well with the fan base; many longtime fans resent the band to this day for this. But Hofer has done the band well, and his style fits in with the other guys. The third big change of early 1997 was the move out of the famous Chestnut Street house, out of Chico, to the bay area, where the Hips have been based ever since.

Later Days

They recorded the stripped-down Later Days album and released it on their own in May 1998. They kept on playing gigs constantly, focusing mostly on California cities, with occasional jaunts to Utah or the Pacific Northwest. They self-recorded another album, the more pop-oriented Green Hills of Earth. Indie label Future Farmer liked the album and released it, but the album did not elevate the band to the next level, and they were getting tired of the grind. Bassist/father Isaac Parsons left the band in March 2002, desiring more time with his son. Luckily the Hips had an ace in the hole, multi-instrumentalist Paul Hoaglin, producer of Back to the Grotto, willing to step in. But later that year Greg Loiacono, lead guitarist, decided he needed a break too and the band went on indefinite hiatus after two shows at Slim's in San Francisco in February 2003.

Hiatus

During the hiatus, Tim Bluhm was the most active musically. He enlisted the Southern California band Five Foot Tuesday as backup, but played to audiences a fraction the size of a Hips show. Eventually Greg got itchy too and formed a band, the Sensations. Also in 2004 two documentaries about the Mother Hips were completed, Patrick Murphree's Stories We Could Tell, a detailing of the history of the Mother Hips, told by the Hips themselves, friends, and family, and Bill DeBlonk's This is the Sound, a compilation of footage from the band's entire career. (A third movie followed in 2006, Dave Schwartz's chronicle of a 2003 Santa Cruz show, Beauty Rock.)

Post-hiatus

Toward the end of 2004 the Mother Hips reunited and started playing shows again. They recorded an EP, Red Tandy, followed by a full length album, Kiss the Crystal Flake, released in April 2007.

Their song "Time We Had" was in November 2007 featured in the music video game Rock Band.

References

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+{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
+| Name                = The Mother Hips
+| Img                 =
+| Img_capt            =
+| Img_size            =
+| Landscape           =
+| Background          = group_or_band
+| Origin              = [[San Francisco Bay Area]], [[California]], [[U.S.]]
+| Genre               = <!--ATTENTION: If you are attempting to add or delete a genre, please see discussion archives first. Undiscussed changes will be reverted-->[[Psychedelic rock]]
+| Years_active        = 1990–2003 (on hiatus)
+| Label               = [[American Recordings|American]]
+| Associated_acts     =
+| URL                 = [http://www.motherhips.com/ Official website]
+| Current_members     = Tim Bluhm, Greg Loiacono, Isaac Parsons, Mike Wofchuck
+| Past_members        =
+}}
 '''The Mother Hips''' are a rock band based out of the [[San Francisco Bay Area]]. Combining elements of [[psychedelic rock]], [[Sixties pop]], and vocal harmonies with earnest songwriting.