Today, the 66-year-old Berkeley, California-born musician Peter Buck is known for his time in the Athens, Georgia-founded rock group R.E.M. Buck, who was in the band from its founding in 1980 to its dissolution in 2011, has since gone on to enjoy a rich second chapter in his musical life.
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Buck, who spends some of his time these days in the Pacific Northwest, is a longtime collaborator with Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin. He’s played with other big names, including Billy Bragg, Corin Tucker and Matt Chamberlain.
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Here, though, we wanted to highlight some songs that Buck has helped write for other artists. Not for any solo project or with his signature group R.E.M. Indeed, these are three songs you likely didn’t know that Peter Buck wrote for other artists.
1. “Nights Between Stations,” Chris & Carla
Written by Peter Buck, Chris Eckman
A side project rock band founded by Chris Eckman and Carla Torgerson, who are also founding members of the influential Seattle-born rock band, The Walkabouts, this song “Nights Between Stations” appeared on Chris & Carla’s 1995 record, Life Full of Holes. Composed by Eckman and Buck, who both contributed to lyrics and music, the twangy Americana track is all about life on the move—or, perhaps, life on the run. Sings Eckman, backed by Torgerson,
Caught when our center was broken
Caught when our troubles were true
On a three state run, from the merciless sun
We ripped up the letters from home
Caught on the barbed wire fences
Caught in the bones and the thorns
Caught in these arms, we will never go wrong
When the nights between stations grow long
2. “You Woke Up My Neighbourhood,” Billy Bragg
Written by Billy Bragg, Peter Buck
This track comes from English urban folk artist Billy Bragg and his 1991 album, Don’t Try This at Home. The record includes work from a number of big-name musicians, including Johnny Marr, Michael Stipe and Peter Buck. The latter two helped with “You Woke Up My Neighbourhood,” with Buck and Bragg garnering writing credits. The romping acoustic-driven track was named after a drawing by iconic American folk artist Woody Guthrie. On it, Bragg sings,
As I wait for sleep to drag me under
In the evening gloom I sit and wonder
The words I should have said to you
The things I always meant to do
The bad dreams that all came true
You woke up my neighbourhood
Night after night we would row
You woke up my neighbourhood
Things are pretty quiet ’round here now
3. “Black Book of Fear,” Mad Season
Written by Barrett Martin, Mike McCready, John Baker Saunders, Mark Lanegan, Peter Buck
Buck has been part of several supergroups but perhaps none bigger than Mad Season, the Seattle-born collective that featured Barrett Martin, Mike McCready, Layne Staley and Mark Lanegan. Those are some heavy hitters. But while Buck wasn’t in the group, per se, he did help with the writing of this song on the band’s sole LP release, Above, in 1995. On this warbling, melancholy track, which includes great guitar sounds, the heavy- and gravely-voiced Lanegan sings,
Disconnected
Far above the ground
You’re too close to hear
That thundering sound
Neglected
Behind castle wall
It’s your high-wire walk
It’s your kingdom to fall
Rainin’
God give up the rain
The way it comes down
Is a God damn shame
Photo by Paras Griffin/Wire Image
