Keith Morris is a punk rock icon who has influenced everyone from Green Day to Nirvana. A boisterous kid from Hermosa Beach who wanted nothing more than to sidestep inheriting his father’s bait and tackle empire, Keith helped launch the hardcore punk movement that steamrolled through Southern California in the late ’70s, as lead vocalist and founding member of Black Flag and The Circle Jerks.
In between creating a new genre of music and helping define an era, Keith Morris has played with everyone from Chuck Berry to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, not to mention surviving drug and alcohol abuse, diabetes, and a suicide attempt on the Santa Monica Freeway.
Punk rock means many things: a musical genre, a lifestyle, an attitude-Keith Morris personifies them all. Enjoy this after hours conversation with the man himself.
“The owner of Mississippi Nights said to me, ‘When Chuck Berry left, he said that you are one of the greatest rock n roll bands he has ever seen.’ You’re not gonna get a higher compliment than that.”
-Keith Morris
Keith Morris Discusses:
00:00 - Flea
00:21 - Jon’s intro
00:53 - Growing up in Hermosa Beach
02:00 - Spying on The Doors
03:12 - Early exposure to music
03:47 - Buying his first-ever album
05:23 - Early concerts
06:43 - Playing with Chuck Berry
09:20 - Getting in to punk rock
12:21 - Black Flag
16:52 - The early L.A. punk scene
19:29 - Fear
20:43 - The Decline of Western Civilization
21:50 - Group Sex
22:28 - Greg Hetson
22:47 - Songwriting
25:37 - Signing with major label, Mercury Records
26:05 - Off!
27:05 - FLAG
27:37 - Rock t-shirts
27:59 - Red Hot Chili Peppers
28:59 - Attempted suicide
29:30 - Jon’s outro
Full Show Notes: bit.ly/2mJQbph
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