Beggars & Thieves | |
|---|---|
| Origin | New York City,New York |
| Genres | Pop metal,[1]hard rock[1] |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Labels | Atlantic,Epic, MTM, Carmora Records,Frontiers |
| Members | Louie Merlino Ron Mancuso |
| Past members | Bobby Chouinard Phil Soussan Bobby Borg Sammy Mangiamele Thommy Price Erik Gloege |
Beggars & Thieves is ahard rock band formed in 1989 inNew York City, in the tail end of theglam metal era. It was originally formed by Louie Merlino on vocals and Ron Mancuso on guitars, and featured bassistPhil Soussan, who had played forOzzy Osbourne, and drummer Bobby Borg, who later played forWarrant.
The initial Beggars & Thieves line-up of Merlino, Mancuso, Soussan and Borg recorded the band's eponymous first album, but Soussan and Borg left soon after the album's release and some light touring. Soussan left to put together a band and write for long time friendVince Neil's first solo project and Borg left the band to form the group Left For Dead and eventually join the multi-platinum groupWarrant.
Mancuso, Merlino and producerMichael Barbiero decided to carry on without them. In 1991, Beggars & Thieves leftAtlantic and signed withEpic. That year, they recorded a second album with producerJim Vallance. Ron Mancuso performed both guitars and bass, and the band saw the additions of drummer Bobby Chouinard, who had previously played with the likes ofBilly Squier andGary Moore, and Alan St. John on keyboards. The album, calledLook What You Create, was slated to come out in 1991 or 1992, had it not been for the sudden change in musical direction that had been brought on when thegrunge movement exploded commercially in 1992 and 1993, led by bands likeNirvana andPearl Jam.
Beggars & Thieves got caught in the corporate crossfire at Epic, which dropped the band without releasing that second album. Despite the commercial decline ofhair bands in the 1990s, Beggars & Thieves carried on as a band.Look What You Create, which had been shelved by Epic in 1991, was eventually released independently in 1997 on MTM Music, with limited distribution.
Another line-up change happened as drummer Bobby Chouinard died on March 8, 1997. Sammy Mangiamele eventually took on the drums, and in 1999, again on MTM Music and again working with producer Jim Vallance, the band released their third album, calledThe Grey Album. Chouinard appears on four tracks on the album.[2]
The band continued performing into the 2010s, now based in Las Vegas. Singer Louie Merlino occasionally sang for Vegas-based bandSin City Sinners when their singerTodd Kerns went on tour withSlash. In 2010, Beggars & Thieves released a Christmas single, "Come Christmas Time".[3] The recording featured Erik Gloege on drums.[4]
In December 2011, Beggars & Thieves released a new album,We Are the Brokenhearted, with a worldwide release onFrontiers Records. The album was produced by R. Bernard Mann and mixed by engineer/songwriterKevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne,Five Finger Death Punch) and received positive reviews.[5][6][7] Again the band had changed drummers, with Thommy Price and Brent Fitz featuring on the album. The first video from the album for the single "We Come Undone" features a guest appearance by guitaristJake E. Lee. The second video for the song "Innocence" was first introduced byAOL/Noisecreep in June 2012.
Apart from Beggars & Thieves, Louie Merlino sang backing vocals onFiona's albumsFiona andBeyond The Pale. He also sang backing vocals on Alice Cooper's albumTrash and worked with many other musicians.
Bobby Borg has also played for Left For Dead, Opinion,Warrant, and theJani Lane solo project "Jabberwocky". He also authored several music business books (includingThe Musician's Handbook), and he is currently a professor of music industry studies atThornton School of Music at the University of Southern California.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
