Active until 1988 Genre Rock | Active from 1983 Members Cam King | |
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Albums Devil's River, Time Stands Still, Middle of the Night, Snake Handler, Handful of Sand Similar Chris D, The Flesh Eaters, Julie Christensen, Stone Cupid, Knoxville Girls | ||
Divine horsemen snake handler
The Divine Horsemen were a punk/roots band founded in 1983 by Chris D. (Desjardins), formerly of L.A. punk rock band the Flesh Eaters. The band developed a distinctive (and at the time, very new) alt country- type sound. They took their name from a voodoo term; a worshiper who is possessed by loa during a ceremony is said to be being ridden by "the divine horsemen". The term was also used as a song title by the Flesh Eaters
Contents
Desjardins re-worked several old songs by the Flesh Eaters, notably "Poison Arrow", and exercised his literary side by namechecking Chester Himes, Jim Thompson, Donald Goines, James Ellroy, Harry Crews, Ambrose Bierce and James Joyce amongst others on the track "What Is Red" from the Snake Handler LP.
Personnel
Other band members included Julie Christensen (Chris' then-wife), Matt Lee and Peter Andrus, as well as the Flesh Eaters stalwart Robyn Jameson. They were joined at times by members of L.A. punk bands like Kid Congo Powers of The Gun Club and the Cramps, Jeffrey Lee Pierce of The Gun Club. They broke up in 1988.
Note on Record Labels
The information below provides the record label at the time the album was released. Most of these labels are now defunct or no longer include these albums in their catalog. They have currently been relicensed and reissued by Atavistic Records.
Songs
Devil's River
Tenderest Kiss
Come Into This Place