1994 The Grays – Ro Sham Bo

Ro Sham Bo is the first and only studio album by The Grays, released on February 22, 1994 by Epic Records. The album was supported with a single and music video for the song, “Very Best Years”, alongside promotional singles for “Same Thing” and “Not Long for This World”.

According to Jason Falkner, Jon Brion initially got into contact with him after listening to a mixtape of the album Odessey and Oracle by the Zombies he had compiled for his then-girlfriend. Brion called Falkner to invite him to an informal jamming session with musicians Buddy Judge and Dan McCarroll. This however led to a record label bidding war for a supposed band composed of the four musicians. Feeling pressured to join the supposed band, Falkner reluctantly joined and the band signed with Epic Records in 1993.

The intention of the band was to be a democratic collective of musicians, rather than a hierarchical group with a leader and backing musicians. This was due in part to the group’s dissatisfaction with being in a band—particularly Falkner who had just come out of a tumultuous period with the band Jellyfish. The band members would often swap instruments depending on the need of the individual song and would contribute to each other’s songs.