Biography
During the 1980s surge of hard rock acts, Tennessee’s Every Mother’s Nightmare secured Arista backing yet ultimately lost ground once alternative rock surged in the early 1990s. Rick Ruhl and Steve Malone launched the group in 1987; bassist Mark McMurtry and drummer Jim Phipps soon completed the lineup, and the quartet quickly became a reliable draw across Nashville and Memphis clubs. Although McMurtry and Phipps stepped away briefly in 1988, both returned the next year. In April 1989 Clive Davis traveled to Memphis to watch the band, but when the headlining act withheld sound and lighting access, Every Mother’s Nightmare auditioned instead inside a warehouse studio and earned a contract within seven days. Their self-titled debut appeared in 1990; by then metal’s commercial peak had passed, yet Arista continued to promote the album, and the single “Love Can Make You Blind” secured modest airplay. That momentum prompted the label to recruit Kevin Elson for the follow-up, Wake Up Screaming, issued in 1993. Shifting tastes, however, left the record short of expectations, and Arista dropped the band. Over the ensuing seven years numerous personnel shifts occurred before Ruhl reassembled Every Mother’s Nightmare in 2000 with guitarists Travis Hall and Jeff Caughron, bassist Troy Fleming, and drummer Kris “Newt” Beavers; the new configuration released Smokin’ Delta Voodoo on Perris.
Albums
