NEW YORK (WM3.org) - Ryan Adams, Iggy Pop, members of Queens of the Stone Age, Slipknot, and Ice-T are among the acts on the Henry Rollins-headed West
Memphis Three benefit album, Rise Above, set for an Oct. 8 release on Sanctuary Records. All of the acts cover songs by
Black Flag.
The West Memphis Three (Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin) were found guilty of murdering three boys in West Memphis, Ark., and sent to prison. Many do not agree with the verdict, including Rollins, and have fought to release them from jail. This benefit album will go toward their legal fees. For more detailed information on the case -? which was the subject of the famed HBO documentaries Paradise Lost in 1996 -- check out WM3.org.
In a letter accompanying the announcement of the album, Rollins writes, in part, "I thought about the ages of the WM3 when they went into prison and how old they are now. Mid-teens to mid-twenties. Those were some great years for me. I spent them all over the world. They spent theirs in small rooms with no natural light for something they didn't do. All of a sudden, my schedule opened up and I got busy. I talked to the guys at my label, Sanctuary Records in New York, and they were totally into [doing a benefit album].
"It has been fun being the ringleader in this great conspiracy against injustice. By buying this record, you join us. In a situation like the one the WM3 are in, silence is the enemy and apathy is death. So let's go," he concludes."
Another West Memphis Three benefit album, A Benefit for Truth & Justice: Free the West Memphis 3, featuring L7, Rocket from the Crypt, Tom Waits, Joe Strummer, Supersuckers, Steve Earle, and others, was released in 2000.
Rise Above track listing:
1. "Rise Above," Chuck D, Henry Rollins
2. "Nervous Breakdown," Keith Morris
3. "Fix Me," Iggy Pop
4. "American Waste," Neil Fallon (Clutch)
5. "I've Had It," Cedric Bixler Zavala (Mars Volta)
6. "I've Heard It Before," Jeff Moreira (Poison the Well)
7. "Room 13," Corey Taylor (Slipknot)
8. "Wasted," Exene Cervenka
9. "Jealous Again," Nick Oliveri (Queens of the Stone Age)
10. "TV Party," Henry Rollins
11. "No Values," Hank Williams, III
12. "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie," Dean Ween (Ween)
13. "Depression," Casey Chaos (Amen)
14. "Six Pack," Mike Patton
15. "Police Story," Ice-T
16. "Revenge," Tom Araya (Slayer)
17. "Thirsty & Miserable," Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead)
18. "What I See," Chuck Dukowski
19. "No More," Tim Armstrong, Lars Frederiksen (Rancid)
20. "Black Coffee," Henry Rollins
21. "Slip It In," Henry Rollins, Inger Lorre
22. "Annihilate This Week," Henry Rollins, Kira Roessler
23. "My War," Henry Rollins
24. (Bonus Track) "Nervous Breakdown," Ryan Adams (live at the Fillmore).