Best Known As: Guitarist and singer for punk band The Minutemen
Name at birth: Dennes Dale Boon
D. Boon and childhood friend Mike Watt, with drummer George Hurley, formed The Minutemen in the late 1970s. As part of the Los Angeles punk scene, The Minutemen performed short songs with leftist political rants, becoming more influential than famous. Their albums included the double LP Double Nickels On The Dime and Three Way Tie For Last. D. Boon played guitar and sang most of the songs. In 1985, he was killed when the vehicle in which he was a passenger crashed in Arizona.
Instrument: Guitar, Vocals, Producer
Representative Album: "D. Boon and Friends"
Biography
Few bands have opposed rock star status so vehemently and broken down all barriers between group and audience so thoroughly as '80s punkers the Minutemen, led by singer/guitarist D. Boon. Born Dennes Dale Boon on April 1, 1958, in San Pedro, CA, he and childhood friend Mike Watt picked up guitar and bass respectively as teenagers, at the insistence of Boon's mother. At first immersed in the sounds of such '70s rock as Blue Öyster Cult, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the Who, it wasn't long before the duo had discovered punk rock. Inspired by such outfits as the Germs, Wire, and Richard Hell & the Voidoids, Boon and Watt enlisted another friend, George Hurley, for the drum position, and formed the Reactionaries -- changing their name to the Minutemen shortly thereafter.
The band immediately became part of the burgeoning punk scene that was raging on the nearby Sunset Strip in L.A. (Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Fear, etc.), signing to Black Flag's SST label in 1980. The Minutemen were one of punk's most politically charged bands (the majority of their songs supported their liberal beliefs), while Boon's scratchy, 100 percent distortion-free guitar playing and yelled vocals became main ingredients of the band's caustic sound. From 1981 through 1985, the Minutemen toured relentlessly and cranked out albums at a brisk rate -- 1981's The Punch Line, 1983's Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat and What Makes a Man Start Fires?, 1984's Double Nickels on the Dime, and 1985's 3-Way Tie for Last (not to mention a slew of singles/EP's). With each successive release, the Minutemen's sound began touching upon different musical styles -- jazz, folk, funk, and even spoken word. Boon's life was tragically cut short on December 22, 1985, when he was killed in an auto accident. The Minutemen promptly disbanded, but the remaining two members eventually formed another band, fIREHOSE, with Minutemen fanatic Ed Crawford assuming the vocal/guitar duties (each fIREHOSE album contained a dedication to Boon). D. Boon's reckless guitar playing has inspired numerous guitarists over the years, including Jawbox's J. Robbins, Nels Cline, and Pavement's Stephen Malkmus. In 1997, Mike Watt issued his second solo effort, Contemplating the Engine Room, a punk rock opera which recounted Watt's relationship with Boon. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
Dennes Boon was born in San Pedro, California on April 1, 1958. Boon's father, a navy veteran, worked putting radios into Buick cars, and the Boons lived in former World War II barracks that had been converted into public housing.[1] As a teenager, Boon began painting and signed his works "D. Boon", partly because "D" was his slang for cannabis, partly after Daniel Boone, but mostly because it was similar to E. Bloom, Blue Öyster Cult's vocalist and guitarist.[2]
Minutemen
Boon formed the band in January 1980 with childhood friend Mike Watt on bass from the remnants of their previous band, The Reactionaries, later adding former Reactionaries drummer George Hurley, to form the Minutemen.
Their most noted recording was Double Nickels on the Dime, which is considered by many to be D.Boon at his best in both songwriting and guitar playing.
Death
The Minutemen continued until December 22, 1985, when Boon was killed in a van accident in the Arizona desert near the Californian border on route I-10. Because he had been sick with a fever, Boon was lying down in the rear of the van without a seatbelt when the van ran off the road. Boon was thrown out the back door of the van and died instantly from a broken neck. He was 27 years old. The band immediately dissolved, though Watt and Hurley would form the band fIREHOSE soon after. The live album Ballot Result was released in 1987, two years after Boon's death.
Musical style
Boon's guitar style is very distinctive; he rarely used distortion and frequently set the equalization on his amplifier so that only the treble frequencies were heard - the bass and midrange frequencies would be turned off completely. His style had a heavy funk/blues feel which was very different from other hardcore punk bands in the 80s.[3]
Since the first fIREHOSE album, Mike Watt has dedicated every record he has worked on - be it fIREHOSE, solo, or otherwise - to D. Boon's memory. A song on Watt's semi-autobiographical 1997 album Contemplating the Engine Room, "The Boilerman", is about D. Boon; on the recording itself, guitarist Nels Cline plays one of Boon's last Telecaster guitars, which Watt is in possession of.[4]. Watt also mentions his fallen friend in fIREHOSE's "Disciples Of The 3-Way" (Mr. Machinery Operator) and his own "Burstedman" (The Secondman's Middle Stand).
Boon has been paid tribute by American alternative band Stigmata-A-Go-Go with the song "D. Boon", from their 1994 album It's All True, American band Uncle Tupelo with a different song "D. Boon" from their 1991 album Still Feel Gone, and American band Centro-matic's song "D.Boon-Free (A Ninth Grade Crime)" off "The Static Vs. The Strings Vol. 1".
In 2003, former D. Boon roommate Richard Derrick released the CD D. Boon And Friends, a collection of jam session tapes he did with D. Boon, and rare Boon solo performances, as the first release on his Box-O-Plenty Records label. Mike Watt authorized the release and provided technical assistance and liner notes.
He is number 89 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.[5]
