King’s X

Background

King’s X formed in 1980 in Springfield, Missouri, as the Edge when singer–bassist Doug Pinnick teamed with drummer Jerry Gaskill and guitarists Ty Tabor and Dan McCollam.

Pinnick grew up in Braidwood, Illinois, with his great-grandmother and sang in church and school choirs. He learned bass in the early 1970s on a borrowed instrument and practiced parts from rock and R&B records. Pinnick led the Illinois Christian rock band Servant with keyboardist Matt Spransy, who later joined the Oregon group of the same name.

Gaskill received a snare drum at four and played at seven with his father and brother in the Bridgeton, New Jersey, instrumental group Jerry and the Knights. He joined the local band Frog Ocean Road at fourteen and moved in 1978 to Springfield for studies at Evangel College. Tabor grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, where his father taught him guitar chords. He played bluegrass festivals with a family band and toured the South with the Christian rock group Matthew. Tabor subsequently moved to Springfield to attend Evangel College.

Gaskill met Pinnick in 1979 through Greg X. Volz, a singer with the Christian rock band Petra, who recruited both musicians for a proposed group. The band dissolved a month after Pinnick arrived from Illinois. Christian rock guitarist Phil Keaggy recruited the pair for his touring band. Gaskill met Tabor at a Springfield show, where the guitarist played drums with the opening Tracy Zinn Band. The two later recorded Tracy Zinn demos with Tabor as guitarist. Pinnick heard Tabor at an Evangel College talent show in 1980 and began rehearsals with the guitarist in Springfield. Tabor replaced McCollam with childhood friend Kirk Henderson, a guitarist from Mississippi.

Sneak Preview

The Edge played originals alongside covers on the Springfield club circuit and performed at the Wine Cellar in Little Rock, Arkansas. The guitarists played dual leads and reproduced keyboard parts on guitars. Henderson withdrew in late 1982 from the Edge, and the remaining trio dropped covers such as “Roundabout” that required separate guitar and keyboard parts. The musicians renamed the group Sneak Preview in 1983 and self-released a self-titled album of original songs.

Sneak Preview moved in 1985 to Houston at the invitation of Star Song Records, which hired the trio as a band for Louisiana singer Morgan Cryar. The label offered a year of salaries and agreed to settle debts on the group PA and lights. Star Song also promised studio time for demos that the musicians could submit to other labels. Cryar co-wrote songs with Tabor and Pinnick for the 1986 Star Song album Fuel on the Fire.

Tabor co-wrote “Pleiades” with fellow Mississippi musician Dale Richardson at a Houston apartment that the guitarist shared with Richardson and musician Marty Warren. He combined drop-D guitar riffs with layered vocal harmonies on the demo. Tabor played the tape for Pinnick and Gaskill on a return flight from a Cryar festival appearance. Pinnick adopted the tuning on bass and wrote songs for the first King’s X album.

Star Song introduced the trio in the summer of 1986 to Sam Taylor, a musician and producer who associated with ZZ Top manager Bill Ham. Taylor became the group manager and proposed the name King’s X, which his brother used with a Dallas band in the 1960s. He supervised daily rehearsals and revised song arrangements with the musicians. Taylor also arranged demo sessions with engineer Andy Johns and circulated tapes to record labels.

Megaforce Records cofounder Marsha Zazula heard a demo and urged label partner Jon Zazula to sign the band. King’s X played a showcase at the Cat Club in New York and accepted a Megaforce contract. The trio signed in 1987 and prepared Out of the Silent Planet with producer Sam Taylor for release through Atlantic Records.