Dinosaur Jr were J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph, a.k.a. Emmett Jefferson "Patrick" Murphy III.
I took pictures of Dinosaur Jr in 1989. They didn't say a lot. I found out later that they all kinda hated each other at that point. Mostly, I remember that J Mascis mouth was orange. He had been drinking a lot of Orange Crush.
Soon after picking up the guitar, Lou Barlow met fellow punk fan Scott Helland...they put up an ad at Northampton's redoubtable Main Street Records: 'Drummer wanted to play really fast. Influences: Black Flag, Minor Threat.'
J Mascis answered the ad and his dad drove him down to Westfield in the family station wagon for an audition. Barlow was awed the moment Mascis walked in the door. 'He had this crazy haircut,' says Barlow. 'He'd cut pieces of hair out of his head--there were bald spots in his hair. He had dandruff and he had sleepy stuff in his eyes. Everything "sucked," which was, like, amazing. I was like, "Oh my god, he's too cool."'"
from Our Band Could be Your Life, by Michael Azerrad, 2001