HENRY ROLLINS Speaks Out On WEST MEMPHIS 3 Benefit CD

September 21, 2002

"One of the highest compliments I've ever been paid is that these people have all said yes to be on this album," punk icon Henry Rollins recently told Chart Attack about his West Memphis Three benefit compilation Rise Above for the three young men — Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin — who were allegedly convicted unfairly of murder. A collection of BLACK FLAG songs re-recorded by the ROLLINS BAND and sung by some of today's top punk and extreme artists — including SLIPKNOT's Corey Taylor, SLAYER's Tom Araya, and AMEN's Casey Chaos — the CD just may be Rollns' crowning achievement.

"I begged and pleaded to get some of these people and it turned out fucking excellent," Rollins said. "But we also had a really great calling card: BLACK FLAG. It's what I hoped would be the tantalizing bait. These musicians all have busy schedules, but I wanted to provide something that would make them go 'Cancel that day… I'm doing THIS!'"

"Iggy Pop on my record? He'll never know how much that meant to me," Henry continued. "I have the messages: 'Henry, I'm gonna sing 'Fix Me'. ' I'm dancing around going 'Oh my God! He's in! This is so cool!' [Former FAITH NO MORE frontman] Mike Patton was like, 'Is 'Six-Pack' available?' and he's selective about what he likes to do. Apparently he was afraid of fucking up, he holds the band in such high esteem, but we're listening to it going, 'Fuck yeah!' I called up QOTSA and Nick (Oliveri, singer/bassist) said he'd come down. He walks in and I'm like, 'Thanks… here's your lyric sheet.' He's like, 'Lyric sheet? What the fuck? Let's do this!' He had it in two takes."

"I think they were saying yes to BLACK FLAG and the West Memphis Three more than Henry Rollins," Henry said. "They're the most important aspect of this album. While I'm proud of how it turned out, the overall intent is to help those kids out, not have a vanity project. They're the main focus."

Rise Above is due for release on October 8th through 2.13.61/Sanctuary Records.

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