Volume 4, Issue 18
September 4 - September 17, 2002
by Kity Ironton
Celebrities and artists across the country are utilizing their rockstar recognition and audience appeal to raise awareness of the plight and conviction of three teenage boys known as the West Memphis Three. But who are the West Memphis Three? Three young boys, not a single one over the age of eight, were severely tortured and mutilated, their small, broken bodies discovered abandoned in a washed-out ditch. The suspects, almost too quickly, became Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin--two teenage metal-heads frequently clad in black, who stood out like a sore thumb in the bible-belted community. The third suspect was Jessie Misskelley, a quiet and unassuming teen with the mental capacity of a seven year-old, who would eventually provide a confession to the crime that indicted himself, Echols and Baldwin.
The circumstances and methods used to obtain the mentally handicapped teen's confession have been questioned by many, along with suspicion and doubt as to the relevance of the other "evidence" presented in the case--Metallica lyrics, Steven King Books and Echols' sporadic interest in the religion Wicca--provided by the prosecution without a single shred of physical evidence linking the boys to the crime --convinced a jury to convict the teens of a Satanic ritual killing spree. Misskelley and Baldwin are currently serving life sentences, and Echols, believed by the Southern court to be the Satanic ringmaster, is on death row.
"The thing that got me was the basic breakdown in the system," Henry Rollins, the infamous bulldog-vocalist behind the hard-hitting Rollins Band and legendary Black Flag, recently told Go-Go Magazine . "The whole innocent before proven guilty thing that I'm paying my taxes for. They did it? Where's your proof? Convince me. The prosecution couldn't come close to doing that, in my opinion."
Rollins has just spent his sizzling summer vacation developing, coordinating and recording the October Release of Rise Above: 24 Black Flag songs to benefit the West Memphis Three. The CD will feature a solid surplus of deep-rooted Black Flag songs with a full roster of gritty guest star vocals. Artists making an appearance on the album include Iggy Pop, Neil Fallon(Clutch), Hank III, Jeff Moreira(Poison The Well), Ice-T, Tim Armstrong, and Lars Frederiksen(Rancid), Chuck Dukowski, and Kira Roessler(Black Flag), Ryan Adams(Whiskeytown), Inger Lore(The Nymphs), and Exene Cervenka(Original Sinners, X, The Knitters).
Chock full of legends, Rise Above will feature some of the most prominent musicians in the music industry. "I had a wish list of musicians in my head," Rollins said. "If you were asked to be on the record and I didn't have a specific song I wanted you to be on, you had a choice (of Black Flag songs). Nick of Queens of the Stone Age asked for "Jealous Again" and got it, Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantomas), did the same with "Six Pack." I had certain singers singing the song in my head, people like Lemmy (Motorhead) , Tom Araya (Slayer), Keith Morris (Circle Jerks), Ice T. I went to them with a specific song. Then there were others that I was a fan of that I just wanted involved with the record somehow, like Patton and Dean Ween(Ween). And then there were people who jumped on because someone else suggested them. Like Corey Slip Knot suggested Casey Chaos, which turned out to be one hell of a vocal, absolutely stand out performance. Best it's ever been sung as far as I'm concerned."
Rollins told Go-Go that this project has been full of personal revelation, and the rewards for him are "all of these people, all of this work, all these great performances, all this intensity, three young men in prison for no reason, and actually being able to do something about it."
Rise Above will be released Oct. 8, coinciding with the release of Mara Leveritt's new book, Devil's Knot , the result of her reports and investigation into the case of the WM3 and the murders of Steven Branch, Christopher Byers, and James Moore.
All Rights Reserved © 2002 Go Go Media, LLC, Denver, Colorado