Sublime
Album: Sublime
Release Date: 1996
Austin is not the first city you associate with Sublime, but it played a pivotal role in the release of their magnum opus. The self-titled 1996 major label debut is what catapulted the band into the mainstream and cemented their status among rock’s greats. Tragically, lead singer Bradley Nowell passed away from a drug overdose two months before the album was released. Despite not having a band to tour and promote the album, it caught on among fans and produced multiple singles that received extensive radio airplay nationwide.
The band released two prior albums on an independent label, but signing with a major label provided an opening to pick a producer. Being huge fans of the Butthole Surfers, they jumped at the opportunity to team up with Paul Leary, lead guitarist for the band. Sublime was known for their hard-partying lifestyle, and the record label was eager to get them away from Southern California to distance the band from negative influences. Paul suggested a studio in Texas, and the game was afoot.
Arlyn Studios is a recording studio in Austin owned by Willie Nelson’s nephew. It opened in 1984 and spent its early years recording Bonnie Raitt, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Kris Kristofferson, and Neil Young. The recording space is located on South Congress, in the shell of Willie’s old performance hall, the Texas Opry House, with additional recording space at Pedernales Studios in the rugged hill country west of the city.
The move to Austin placed a distance between the band and their negative influences, but not the band and their vices. “One day, they came to me looking all concerned and I thought there was a problem,” Leary recalls. “They said, ‘We start recording at noon and we’re already drunk. We need to start earlier in the day. So I get there early the next morning and they show up with pitchers of margaritas in hand – already drunk. It didn’t matter what time you started, they were gonna be drunk.”
One of Austin’s secrets is that Willie Nelson owns a golf course. It takes an appropriately laid-back approach to golf and is a stark contrast to the typical country club scene. The course is adjacent to the Pedernales studio, and the homes lining the course belong to Willie’s friends, bandmates, and roadies.
During recording sessions, Leary would let the band jam and recorded the album in live takes. This style inevitably led to extended versions of songs, and Leary came up with a strategy to address this. “They’d record a nine-minute song and I’d send them off to go play a round of golf. When they got back, it was a three-and-a-half-minute song and there’d be a pile of tape on the ground.”
One piece of local flavor that made its way onto the album started as a joke during post-production. However, the joke started to make sense, and eventually, local jazz musician Jon Blondell, who plays regular gigs at the Elephant Room, was called in to add trombone to the track “Wrong Way.” It was a last-minute addition that added a signature element to the song.
The Salty Dog
The most obvious reason to pair this cocktail is in homage to Lou Dog, Bradley’s Dalmatian. King Loui had a prominent presence as the only canine member of the band. He’d stroll the stage during performances, pose with the other members in promo shots, and inspired a multitude of lyrics. Lou Dog was even by Bradley’s side in the hospital when he passed.
Lou Dog’s story is the happier of the two. After Nowell’s untimely death, he moved in with the band manager and had a long, happy life before passing peacefully from old age in 2001. As “Garden Grove” plays, raise a glass in salute and ponder what it means to “smell like Lou Dog in the van.”
The band’s identity is synonymous with skate/surf culture of Southern California, and no drink has a stronger association with that area than the Gin and Juice. Sure, it was Snoop who made the concoction ubiquitous to the region, but what is done is done. Many variations of the drink call for Vodka instead of Gin, but we are taking the traditional route while paying tribute to California culture.
The Salty Dog is a variation of the Greyhound. The only real difference is the inclusion of a salted rim, but don’t skimp on that or we are back to a Greyhound, and that would not make sense to pair with this album. Take the time to squeeze fresh grapefruit juice; that is the key differentiator in this being a cocktail vs. an alcoholic beverage.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 oz Gin
- 3 oz freshly squeezed Grapefruit Juice
- Kosher Salt, for rim
Directions
- Add Gin and Grapefruit Juice to a shaker filled with ice
- Shake for 15-30 seconds
- Salt rim of glass and fill with ice
- Strain cocktail into glass and garnish with Grapefruit wedge (optional)
