Baton Rouge Bio

BATON ROUGE

DISCOGRAPHY:
1990 – Shake Your Soul
1991 – Lights Out On The Playground
1997 – Baton Rouge
2006 – The Hottest Of Baton Rouge

HISTORY:
Baton Rouge was a melodic hard rock band with heavy blues overtones not that far removed from early Whitesnake and Tangier. The band originally formed in Louisiana as Voices in 1986 and consisted of Kelly Keeling (guitar and keyboards), Lance Bulen (vocals), Keith Harrison (bass) and Harold Knappenburger (drums).

After changing their name to Meridian and finally Baton Rouge, the group relocated to Los Angeles in 1987 and revamped their lineup; Keeling took over on vocals while Bulen switched to guitar and a new rhythm section of Scott Bender (bass) and Corky McClellan (drums) was added. After a mere six live shows on the Sunset Strip, they were signed to Atlantic records and hooked up with producers Jack Ponti and Vic Pepe who would co-write many of their songs. Their debut album, Shake Your Soul, debuted in 1990 and reached #160 on the Billboard charts. Keyboardist David Cremin appeared on the album artwork, but didn’t actually join the band until recording for the debut was finished.

For the follow-up album, ex-Keel guitarist Tony Palmucci was brought in so that Keeling could focus solely on the vocals and Cremin was gone. Lights Out On The Playground was a commercial failure and the band promptly broke up when Keeling was offered the lead vocalist slot in Blue Murder. A self-titled Baton Rouge album was released in 1997, but was really nothing more then Keeling supplying vocals to some Jack Ponti demos and was never really considered a group project.

In 2006, a greatest hits compilation entitled The Hottest of Baton Rouge was released, which included two short previously unreleased tracks. In 2009, Baton Rouge‘s original line-up reunited to perform live at the Rocklahoma music festival held in Pryor, Oklahoma.

TRACK LIST AND BAND MEMBERS PER ALBUM:

Shake Your Soul (1990) Track List:
01. Doctor
02. Walks Like A Woman
03. Big Trouble
04. It’s About Time
05. Bad Time Comin’ Down
06. The Midge (Instrumental)
07. Baby’s So Cool
08. Young Hearts
09. Melenie
10. There Was A Time (The Storm)
11. Hot Blood Movin’
12. Spread Like Fire

Band Members:
Kelly Keeling – vocals and guitar
Lance Bulen – guitar and vocals
Scott Bender – bass and vocals
Corky McClellan – drums, percussion and vocals
David Cremin – keyboards, guitar and vocals

Lights Out On The Playground (1991) Track List:
01. Slave To The Rhythm
02. Full Time Body
03. Tie You Up
04. Desperate
05. Tokyo Time
06. Vampire Kiss/The Midge II
07. The Price Of Love
08. Dreamin’ In Black & White
09. Down By The Torchlight
10. Light At The End Of The Tunnel
11. Tear Down The Walls
12. Hotter Than Hell

Band Members:
Kelly Keeling – vocals
Lance Bulen – guitar and vocals
Tony Palmucci – guitar and vocals
Scott Bender – bass and vocals
Corky McClellan – drums, percussion and vocals

Baton Rouge (1997) Track List:
01. Didn’t I
02. The Ghost Of You
03. You Can Jump Alone
04. Shelter
05. Victims Of The Night
06. Hands Of Time
07. Love By The Numbers
08. Not In The Mood For A Heartache
09. I Know Better Than You Do
10. Love’s A Loaded Gun
11. Love Takes
12. Back Under Fire

Band Members:
Kelly Keeling – vocals and guitar
Jack Ponti – guitar and keyboards
Pat Schick – bass
Camus Celli – drums
Guy Daniel – keyboards and bass

The Hottest Of Baton Rouge (2006) Track List:
01. Walks Like A Woman
02. Bad Time Comin’ Down
03. Doctor
04. There Was A Time (The Storm)
05. Spread Like Fire
06. Young Hearts
07. It’s About Time
08. Hot Blood Movin
09. Desperate
10. Hotter Than Hell
11. Tie You Up
12. Down By The Torchlight
13. Light At The End Of The Tunnel
14. Chost Of You
15. Not In The Mood For A Heartache
Bonus Tracks:
16. Love’s A Loaded Gun
17. Love Takes
18. Walking In My Footsteps (previously unreleased)
19. Free (previously unreleased)

Baton Rouge‘s “Walks Like A Woman” video:

Baton Rouge – Walks like a woman

hard rock