MAXWELL MELVINS

This Saturday, May 18, 2019 at 10 am (Central Time) “It only takes a minute to get in here, and a lifetime to get out,”  Maxwell Melvins,  was serving a life sentence in New Jersey for murder. By 20 he was in jail-with no hope for getting out until the next century.  Maxwell worked with The Lifer’s Group Juvenile Awareness Program, subject of the 1978 documentary Scared Straight. While serving his time Melvins formed  Lifers Group  releasing an EP in ’91, and a Grammy nomination for Best Long Form Music Video in ’92, and releasing a follow up LP in ’93.  Maxwell Melvins persuaded Hollywood Basic Records to ante up $150,000 for an album designed to deter youthful offenders. A short film shot on location, Lifers Group World Tour: Rahway Prison was nominated for a Grammy.  The Lifer’s watched from prison. They didn’t win, losing out to Madonna.  The song  “Belly of the Beast,” by the Lifers Group and the 1991 EP came from, “#66064”.  “I used to have a name, but now I got a number/I used to put suckers six feet under/Now I’m in jail, no longer a rebel/You can’t tell me a damn thing about the ghetto/I’ve been there,” raps  Maxwell  (66064 was his prison number) during the song. “They think prison is a game,” says Melvin. “We give them the benefit of our experience.” That includes sharing the brutal details of prison life, including violence, AIDS, rape, and the lack of privacy.  If you’d like to pose a question, comment or concern the call-0in number is 646-176-4621 and press the number 1 on your phone. Please monitor your background noise and mute your phone if you have background noise.