lifeblood: songs: backgrounds: 1 2 3

1990-09-xx: nomads*indians*saints, epic records press release:

"1 2 3" (written by amy ray with the ellen james society): "this was written in sympathy with those people who are drawn to... darker things in their life in order to help them create. it's also in response to the way the media attaches itself to that part of the artist. somebody can become bigger than life in that respect, when it's not really the way they really are at all."

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1991-01: shining on, the music paper:

tmp: you've got some nursery rhymes in "1 2 3" ...

saliers: yeah, now that's a song about the music business. it's about how rock stars or famous people are either on drugs or screwed up and they have this whole aura that the record companies play up to the media. they self-perpetuate the sickness. the song's an anti-sickness song to stop people from having to live that way. you don't have to be [messed] up in order to be a great artist or a great rock 'n' roll player or musician or whatever.

tmp: when i asked poison if having a bad boy image helped sell them as a band, they said it definitely did.

saliers: see, that's not a good thing. it's not healthy for them as people. if aerosmith hadn't cleaned up, they'd all be dead. and look at their comeback; they're making great music again. that whole image of rock 'n' roll, that your life has to be totally screwed up or you can't do it, that's not a healthy thing in my opinion, or in amy's opinion.

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1991-06-07: true blue, the buffalo news:

on the current tour, which follows this week's release of their new live album, "back on the bus, y'all," they're more than just a duo. backing them at various moments will be bassist sara lee, formerly with the b-52's and gang of four, as well as a percussionist and saxophonist. for a couple of numbers the opening band, atlanta's ellen james society (recently applauded at nietzsche's), will back saliers and ray.

" '1-2-3' is going to become the focal point," saliers said by phone from her atlanta home earlier this week, referring to a song from their last album. "we felt that it didn't get the attention it deserved. we did the live album because we wanted to get '1-2-3' heard like it should be heard. the show is really mixed, but the two of us are still the centerpiece and now it has some extra textures which we like."

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1991-02-04: indigo girls' traditional folk still fresh, the minneapolis st. paul star-tribune:

the tide shifted when the backdrop rose to reveal the ellen james society, who joined in on "tried to be true" and "1-2-3," a song they cowrote with ray for the indigo girls' new album. four guitars may have been excessive, but it was amusing to see the folk duo blast off into sonic territory for a few moments.

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2014-06-01: es.1990, official indigo girls "a year a month blog" on tumblr:

nomads was also made special by the cross-section of hometown friends and world renowned musicians we had never met until they showed up to play. so, we had the ellen james society, an awesome local band, play "1-2-3" and we had pauhlino da costa, brazilian percussionist extraordinaire, play on four songs, and the legendary jim keltner play drums on "southland." nomads also had us bring sara lee on board for the first time. sara would become our principal bass player, live and on record, for many years to come. she is a lifelong friend.