Jeff Walls

Jeffrey Kermit Walls (1956 – May 29, 2019), an American guitarist and rock and roll musician, was a founding member and guitarist of the Marietta, Georgia, 1980s alternative rock band Guadalcanal Diary.[1][2]

Guadalcanal Diary

Guadalcanal Diary was from Marietta, Georgia, a northern Atlanta suburb. Following their initial collaboration in Strictly American, a high school punk band, Walls and Murray Attaway (vocals and guitar) formed Guadalcanal Diary in 1981. Guadalcanal Diary released Watusi Rodeo, an early EP, and the full-length LP Walking in The Shadow of The Big Man on DB Records, before signing with major label Elektra Records in 1985. Elektra subsequently re-released their LP.[3]

Hillbilly Frankenstein

Following Guadalcanal Diary's break up in 1989, Walls formed a rockabilly band Hillbilly Frankenstein. Hillbilly Frankenstein was featured in the documentary Sleazefest: The Movie from No Place Like Home Productions. The documentary chronicled the 1994 two-day music festival in Chapel Hill, North Carolina that celebrated rockabilly and garage rock music. Hillbilly Frankenstein disbanded in 1995.

Family

In 1988, Jeff Walls and Rhett Crowe, bassist for Guadalcanal Diary, married. Their daughter, Lillian, was born the following year.

Walls and Crowe later divorced, and Jeff married Phyllis Walls.

The Woggles

In 2003, Walls joined The Woggles, a garage-rock band that formed in Athens, Georgia in the 1980s.[4] With the Woggles, Walls played guitar and performed under the moniker The Flesh Hammer. Walls recorded multiple albums and singles with the Woggles and toured the United States and internationally, including multiple tours of Japan.[5]

Guadalcanal Diary reunited briefly in 2011 to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Recently, several Guadalcanal Diary songs were featured on the television show Billions.

Bomber City

In addition to his ongoing work as guitarist for The Woggles, Walls formed the group Bomber City with his former Guadalcanal Diary bandmate Murry Attaway and his wife, bassist, Phyllis Walls.

Bomber City's music included many collaborative songs written by Attaway and Walls, music from Attaways’g solo album In Thrall, as well as some fan-favorite Guadalcanal Diary songs. Joining Attaway, Jeff, and Phyllis in Bomber City was Pat Patterson on drums, vocalist/percussionist Diana Crowe (Hillbilly Frankenstein) and Doug Stanley on keyboards & guitar (Love Tractor, Black Label Orchestra, the Helium Kids, the Glands, the Nairobi Trio).

Walls’ other musical endeavors included the bands Blasting Cap and the Nairobi Trio, an R&B and soul project.[6]

Death

Walls died May 29, 2019 after battling pulmonary venoocclusive disease and while awaiting a double-lung transplant.[7] Following Walls’ death, numerous fund-raising concerts have been announced in Athens and Atlanta, Georgia to help raise money for Walls’ widow and surviving family.[8]

Legacy

Upon Walls' death, Steven Van Zandt stated: “What a shocking great loss. One of the most talented Guitarist/Producers I’ve ever known. Our deepest love and sympathy to his family and friends from his other family here at Wicked Cool and the Underground Garage."[9]

Discography

Guadalcanal Diary albums
YearAlbumLabel
1983Watusi Rodeo EPDB Records
1985Walking in the Shadow of the Big ManElektra
1986JamboreeElektra
19872X4Elektra
1989Flip-flopElektra
1999At Your Birthday Party (live)self-released

Woggles albums
YearAlbumLabel
2007Rock and Roll BacklashWicked Cool
2008Tempo TantrumWicked Cool
2013The Big BeatWicked Cool
2014Souled OutWicked Cool
2017Tally Ho!Wicked Cool

References
  1. "Jeff Walls, Guitarist for Guadalcanal Diary, Hillbilly Frankenstein and The Woggles, Has Died". Paste Magazine.
  2. Ruggieri, Melissa. "Jeff Walls of Guadalcanal Diary has died". Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  3. "Guadalcanal Diary | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  4. "The Woggles - Get Down With It". March 26, 2016 – via YouTube.
  5. "Coolest Conversations - Jeff Walls of The Woggles - Unedited". February 19, 2015 – via YouTube.
  6. May 30, Tony Paris Thursday; EDT, 2019 04:25 pm. "Jeff Walls, 1956-2019". Atlanta Creative Loafing.
  7. "Guadalcanal Diary's Jeff Walls dies after fighting rare pulmonary disease". Slicing Up Eyeballs. May 31, 201.
  8. Mills, Fred. "Guadalcanal Diary/Woggles' Jeff Walls 1956-2019 RIP: An Appreciation". Blurt Magazine.
  9. "Steven Van Zandt Twitter update". Twitter. May 30, 2019.
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