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Puddle of Mudd

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Puddle of Mudd

Puddle of Mudd is an American post-grunge band from Kansas City, Missouri, United States.

History

Early years

Puddle of Mudd was formed in 1993 by Wes Scantlin (vocals), Kenny Burkett (drums), Jimmy Allen (lead guitar), and Sean Samon (bass guitar). The name was inspired by the Missouri River flood, which inundated the band's practice space, and left the floor a big "puddle of mudd" (sic). The group's first album, 'Stuck', was released in 1994 on V&R Records. The seven-song album, of entirely original compositions, was produced by PoM and E.J. Rose, and recorded at Red House Studio in Lawrence, Kansas. The album did well in Kansas City, but never made it much further.

Minus Jimmy Allen, the group released a second album, 'Abrasive', in 1997 on Hardknocks Records. It had eleven tracks, all written by the band, three of which would eventually make it on to Puddle of Mudd's first major label release.

Scantlin's start in the music business came after a copy of his demo tape was delivered to Fred Durst. Durst contacted Scantlin, and after hearing that his band had broken up, decided to bring him to California to attempt to put a new band together.

One of the first people Scantlin met upon arriving in California was Doug Ardito, an intern at Interscope Records. Ardito was also in a Boston-based band called Throat Culture. When Scantlin found out about Ardito's bass playing, they decided to work together. They were still in need of a guitarist and drummer.

Fred Durst decided to contact a guitarist he knew from his hometown of Jacksonville, FL, Paul Phillips, who had formerly played in a local band there called Happy Hour. After getting the call from Durst, Paul decided to try out for Puddle of Mudd, and was accepted, choosing to leave college in order to join.

Puddle of Mudd found a drummer from Jacksonville, and the four began playing together on some of the band's older songs, as well as some new ones. Durst signed the group to another showcase, and this time all went well. Durst then recruited the band to his new record label, Flawless Records.

Unfortunately, things did not work out with the Jacksonville drummer, and Josh Freese from A Perfect Circle and The Vandals (and later Guns N' Roses) did the drum tracks for Puddle of Mudd's next album instead. The band later held auditions for a new drummer, which produced Greg Upchurch, an ex-member of Eleven who had also toured with Chris Cornell.

The breakthrough and mainstream success

Puddle of Mudd released its major-label debut album Come Clean on August 28 2001. The lead single from the album, "Control" was successful and grabbed the attention of rock music audiences worldwide. It was also the theme song for WWE's Survivor Series 2001.

The second single off the album, "Blurry" turned out to be Puddle of Mudd's most successful single, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #8 in the United Kingdom. Drift & Die was also released as a single and was very successful with rock audiences with the single spending 6 weeks at the #1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. The fourth single, "She Hates Me", was released in early 2002 and became a massive hit reaching the #1 spot on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, as well as #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. [1]

The group then embarked on a European tour with Godsmack and were also part of the Family Values 2001 tour, alongside the Stone Temple Pilots, Linkin Park and Staind.

Copies of the debut album were selling well. It was certified Triple Platinum in the U.S. by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 31 2003, and as of late 2006 total sales worldwide are in excess of 5 million copies.

Life On Display and Famous

Puddle of Mudd's follow up, Life On Display spawned two hit singles "Away From Me" and "Heel Over Head". The album sold 650,000 copies to date. This resulted in drummer Greg Upchurch's leaving for 3 Doors Down[citation needed]. Guitarist, Paul Phillips left the band later on due to creative differences between him and Wes Scantlin. Marissa Miller appears in the music video for "Spin You Around". "Away From Me" featured in the The O.C. in 2004.

On July 24 2007 they released "Famous EP" featuring "Famous" as well as "Blurry(Acoustic)" and a new track "Merry Go Round". The full length Famous was released October 9, 2007.

Members

Former members

Discography

Albums

Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
US Hot 100 US Modern Rock US Mainstream Rock UK Singles Chart
2001 "Control" #68 #3 #3 #15 Come Clean
2002 "Blurry" #5 #1 #1 #8 Come Clean
2002 "Drift & Die" #61 #3 #1 - Come Clean
2002 "She Hates Me" #13 #2 #1 #14 Come Clean
2003 "Away From Me" #72 #5 #1 #55 Life on Display
2004 "Heel Over Head" #10 #6 - Life on Display
2004 "Spin You Around" #38 #16 - Life on Display
2007 "Famous" - #20 #2 - Famous
2007 "Psycho" - #38 #16 - Famous

Trivia

The song "Blurry" was used as a theme in the popular Playstation 2 combat flight simulation game Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.

References

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