SLIPKNOT, PENNYWISE, HENRY ROLLINS, Others To Collaborate On West Memphis Three Benefit Album

SLIPKNOT's Corey Taylor, PENNYWISE's Jim Lindberg, and X's Exene Cervenka are among the vocalists tentatively scheduled to appear on a benefit album for the West Memphis Three currently being spearheaded by Henry Rollins.

The album will reportedly consist of Rollins and his backing band, MOTHER SUPERIOR covering classic BLACK FLAG songs, with featured performances from a number of guest vocalists, including the aforementioned artists.

A release date is yet to be confirmed but you can find out more about the West Memphis Three's cause at: www.wm3.org.

In a March 2002 newsletter posted at the singer's web site, Henry Rollins addressed the cause and explained his fascination with the case:

"I am sure many of you are aware of the Robin Hood Hills murders case, and if not, you should be. At the risk of minimizing it, I will very briefly outline the events: In 1993, three 8 year-old boys were found murdered most horribly in a secluded spot in West Memphis, Arkansas. Three teenagers (Damien, Jason & Jessie) were arrested and found guilty of the murders with no real evidence tying them to the crime at all. They were convicted, it seems, only because they looked different, wore black clothes and listened to heavy metal bands like METALLICA. They were incarcerated through ignorance and a blindness that is as infuriating as it is horrifying. These three men have been locked away for many years, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley got life sentences and Damien Echols is on Death Row facing lethal injection. These three are innocent and to stand for the kind of insanity that convicted them is to align oneself with all that is bad. You should check out the two very fine documentaries on this case that HBO has released: Paradise Lost and Paradise Lost II: Revelations. Watch them and see if you're not incredulous at what has happened to Damien, Jason & Jessie. You know how I am about time, I don't like wasting mine or yours, so if I didn't think this was totally worth your time, I wouldn't urge you so strongly to check it out and hopefully get involved. To put it bluntly, you're going to freak out when you see what has happened. After I saw the documentaries, I got so mad that I had to get involved. We contacted the West Memphis Three Support Group and proposed that the band do a benefit to raise money and awareness. They were into it so we booked a show at a local LA venue called the Troubadour. The gig was set to go on Friday, March 8. That night, with a sold-out house inside, the club's mixing board blew up and the show had to be rescheduled. People had come in from Seattle, Arizona, distant points in California and many other places, so it was really bad to have to tell them there was no show that night. I stayed afterwards and talked to people who were hanging out and they were all cool about it. Some people were not going to be able to make it back for the rescheduled show on March 12 but didn't ask to get their money back because they wanted to contribute to the cause. I went back to my place very much moved by the goodness of the people I had met that night. The show on March 12 was a blast. WAYNE KRAMER'S SHIP OF FOOLS opened and then Exene Cervenka's very fine band, THE ORIGINAL SINNERS, played. Everyone was into it. By the time we went on, the place was packed, the audience was psyched and we played hard. It was a great time. I'm glad to know that Damien, Jason & Jessie have so many good people on their side: the people who came to the benefit show, the West Memphis 3 Support Group, and all the others who have raised money and awareness about the disgrace to justice that allowed the conviction of these three men.

"Please learn more about this case by going to the West Memphis Three website (www.wm3.org). Please watch the documentaries (rent them at Blockbuster or buy them through Amazon.com (enter through the link on the www.wm3.org website). Please spread the word. And please make a contribution, if you can. I know that this is not the only case of innocent people in prison and I am not trying to imply that this is the only case like this that should be addressed. But it's there, glaring in your face, obscenely flaunting its ignorance and hatred. You can't let this kind of thing happen on your watch and call yourself free."