The Libertines were an English
indie rock band. Formed in
London in 1997 by frontmen
Pete Doherty (vocals/rhythm guitar) and
Carl Barât (vocals/lead guitar), the band also included
John Hassall (bass) and
Gary Powell (drums) for most of its recording career. Part of what was described as the
garage rock revival movement of that time, the band was centred on the song-writing partnership of Barat and Doherty.
The band gained some notoriety in the early 2000s. Although initially their mainstream success was limited, their profile grew culminating in a #2 single and #1 album in the UK Charts. In December 2004, their
self-titled second album was voted the second best album of the year by
NME. Both of their full-length LPs were produced by
Mick Jones, of the British punk band
The Clash.
However, the band's music was often eclipsed by its internal conflicts, many of which stemmed from Doherty's
addictions to
crack cocaine and
heroin, ultimately resulting in the breakup of the band. Doherty has since claimed that the breakup of the band has been due to relationship difficulties between Barat and himself, not relating to his drug addictions. The members of The Libertines have gone on to new bands, with varying degrees of commercial and critical success.
History
The founding members of The Libertines, Carl Barât and Pete Doherty, met when Barât was studying drama at
Brunel University in
Uxbridge, and sharing a flat in
Richmond with Amy-Jo Doherty, the older sister of Pete. This lasted until they realized their collective creative capabilities, and forged a bond over their similar passion for writing melodies and Doherty's love of
The Smiths. Barât abandoned his drama course two years in; Pete left his English literature course at Queen Mary College, University of London after only a year, and they moved into a flat together on the Camden Road in North London.
They formed a band with their neighbour Steve Bedlow, commonly referred to as Scarborough Steve, and named themselves The Strand, later renamed to The Libertines after
Marquis de Sade's
Lust of the Libertines ("The Albions" was also considered, but rejected). They met
John Hassall and
Johnny Borrell, who played with the Libertines for one practice playing bass. They arranged another practice, which Borrell did not attend. They telephoned him to discover he was on tour "living the high life." Thus
John Hassall joined the band as bassist. At this stage, they had no consistent drummer. They began playing gigs, with many of them taking place in the flat Doherty and Barât shared.
Within a few weeks, they had booked themselves into the Odessa studios to record 3 songs, assisted by Gwyn Mathias (who had previously worked with the
Sex Pistols). However, they were disappointed by their scheduled drummer, so Mathias enlisted the help of Paul Dufour at short-notice who agreed to record with the band for £50. At 54, he was considerably older than the others. Despite the age difference, Dufour was impressed enough by the band to join it, and they started doing more recording sessions and playing gigs at venues further afield. Roger Morton, a journalist from the
NME, went to see them play in
Islington and thought they had potential, so he and a friend offered to manage The Libertines. Despite a separate offer from an experienced member of the music industry, John Waller, The Libertines accepted Morton's services as manager. However, Morton would eventually give up the job after an unsuccessful six months.
In March 2000, they met Banny Poostchi who was a lawyer for
Warner Chappell Music Publishing. Recognizing their potential, she took on an active role in managing them. They recorded "Legs 11", a set of their best 8 tracks (and later a popular
bootleg recording among fans). However, by December 2000, they had still not been signed and this caused Dufour, Hassall and Pootschi to part ways with The Libertines. The success of
The Strokes, a band with a similar style, made Pootschi reconsider her position. She made a plan (dubbed "Plan A") to get them signed to the record label
Rough Trade within 6 months. In this period, they wrote many of the songs which ended up on their first album.
Gary Powell was recruited to play drums as Paul Dufour was deemed by Pootschi as 'too old'. On
1 October 2001, they played a showcase for James Endeacott from Rough Trade. His support led to them playing for the Rough Trade bosses, Geoff Travis and Jeanette Lee, on the
11 December that year and they were told they would be signed, with the official deal happening on
21 December.
They were in need of a bassist so Hassall eventually rejoined the band but was informed he would have to stay in the background; the band would be focused on the partnership of Doherty and Barât. Doherty and Barât rented a flat together at 112a Teesdale Street which they named "The Albion Rooms" (a venue that became a location for many of their
guerrilla gigs).
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drove the car in which Charles Manson escaped after the murder in the house of Sharon Tate, the wife of Roman Polanski.
drove the car in which Charles Manson escaped after the murder in the house of Sharon Tate, the wife of Roman Polanski.
Upon the release of their debut album 
