When it comes to these what-if records, Smashing Pumpkins really are the band that just keep on giving, especially when it come to the period between their formation in 1988 and initial breakup in 2000. The scale of the material that the band recorded and did not release must be akin to Bob Dylan, in that the could have quite easily released a number of Bootleg Series style releases, but instead, they focused on placing this material on the deluxe editions of their original albums. The first two, ‘Gish’ and ‘Siamese Dream’ only hinted at what was to come. Maybe main songwriter Billy Corgan felt that the best of the outtakes had already been released on their ‘Pisces Iscariot’ album. With that record also being released in a deluxe edition, it would seem not. As has been mentioned in previous posts on the Pumpkins, Corgan shared a lot of material via his website in the early 2000, some of which have not see an official release either.
It was with the deluxe editions of ‘Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness’ and ‘The Aeroplane Flies High’ that the true depth of material that the band had in the archive become clear. These rereleases included so much music it was impossible to sit through them in one sitting. I already tackled what ‘The Aeroplane Flies High’ would have sounded like if it had been released as a single album in the same manor as ‘Pisces Iscariot’, but what about ‘Adore’?
‘Adore’ came out at a challenging time for the band. Not only was Corgan finding the pressure to produce a record that matched ‘Mellon Collie’, but the band was reeling from the sacking of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin due to drug issues. Band relations were also at a low point with Corgan latter summing up these sessions as the work of a group falling apart. Corgan was also having to contend with the death of his mother as well as going through a divorce. Considering we got anything at all was a minor miracle.
There were clues as to what was coming with ‘Adore’ with their previous releases. The song ‘1979’ included electronic elements as well as stand alone singles ‘Eye’ and ‘The End Is The Beginning Is The End’. ‘Adore’ would not only include the use of drum machines (harking back to the earliest days of the band when they did not have a drummer) but more acoustic guitar and piano. Corgan felt that he was no longer making music for teenagers, but to everyone. Judging by the number of albums sold (which by most peoples standards were quite good), the album lost the band a lot of fans instead of gaining them. Sales were down significantly on ‘Mellon Collie’ and was the first time a Pumpkins album had sold less than the preceding one.
In preparation for ‘Adore’, the band recorded around 30 songs and at one point of its production, it was going to be a double album. As it was, the album was so long that it was decided that the vinyl version would need to use two discs, even though side 4 was left blank. For this, I was tempted to have a go at putting together a double, but I thought it would be better to have a look at what a record of sessions outtakes would sound like, especially as this was the first album since ‘Siamese Dream’ not to have a compilation of sessions material released after it. There wasn’t exactly a shortage of songs on the ‘Adore’ reissue to choose from.
The album itself is based on a vinyl format, so I was limited to about 24 minutes per side. The opening song of the compilation is ‘Let Me Give The World To You’, which was almost on the parent album until Corgan got wind that the record label were keen to release this as the first single. Corgan was adamant that this would not be a single, but the only way to prevent that would be to take the song off of ‘Adore’, which is what he ended up doing. The song was rerecorded for the ‘Machina’ project. It did see a limited release on the ‘Machina II’ album in 2000. As an opening song for this collection, it is a good place to start.
For the rest of the record, I focused on the songs that used minimal electronics. The collection focuses on the acoustic and more mellow of the songs. The more electronic music was relegated to the B-Sides of the single. I would also have the band release one single from this, which would be an alternative version of ‘Do You Close Your Eyes?’. As this was also the era where two CDsingles would come out per release with different B-Sides, there are four extra tracks from the sessions that could have been released.
For the title of the album, I chose ‘Adhor’ as this is the opposite of ‘Adore’ I also used a picture taken by Yalena Yemchuk who took the picture for the original album as well.
As a whole, it works well and once again shows how much quality material Corgan was writing at this time, and how much of it was forgotten about as he moved on to the next project.
Side A
Let Me Give The World To You (Adore Outtake)
Valentine (Sadlands Demo)
Sparrow (Sadlands Demo)
My Mistake (Take 1/CRC Demo)
Chewing Gum (CRC Demo)
Czarina (Take 1/Adore Outtake)
Side B
Do You Close Your Eyes When You Kiss Me? (CRC Demo)
I feel that in the past, I have been a little bit harsh on The Beach Boys with my ‘Endless Bummer’ compilations. Some of the songs they have released are timeless classics. Their story is also one of the great soap operas in music with family feuds, drug abuse, mental health problems and Mike Love. Their story begins in the late 1950’s when a 16 year old Brian Wilson has been soaking up the piano playing of his father, Murray Wilson and the vocal harmony group, the Four Freshman. Brian would teach his family members how to sing the background harmonies, gaining experience for what he would do in the recording studio. In 1958, he received a reel-to-reel tape recorder which he used to overdub his voice along with the aforementioned family.
When his youngest brother Carl received a guitar for Christmas, the pair of them (along with Carl’s friend David Marks) would start playing together. Brian also started to write songs and other people who would become part of The Beach Boys family started to appear on the scene. These were Mike Love, cousin to the Wilson’s and Al Jardine who was a classmate of Brian. Brian suggested that he, Carl, Love and Jardine should team up as a group which was given the name, The Pendletones, a pun on Pendelton which was a style of shirt that was the fashion at the time.
This is where the third Wilson brother comes in to the picture. Middle brother Dennis was the only surfer in the group and it was on his suggestion that the group should write songs about the sport and the lifestyle it inspired. From this came the songs ‘Surfin’ and ‘ Surfin’ Safari’. Murray Wilson had had some experience of the music business and most importantly, some contacts. He introduced The Pendletones to publisher Hite Morgan which lead to the group recording a demo of ‘Surfin’. Murray shopped the demo to Herb Newman who owned the Candix Record label. Candix would release the song (backed with ‘Luau’) but had changed the name of the group to The Beach Boys because the labels promotion man felt it would associate them more directly with the surf-music genre. By the end of 1961, ‘Surfin’ had sold 40,000 copies.
Morgan asked some of The Beach Boys to add some vocals to some backing tracks he had recorded previously with some other musicians. These became the single credited to Kenny & The Cadets’ with Brian on lead vocals, backed with Carl and Jardine along with the Wilsons’ mother, Audree. Another member of Kenny & The Cadets was Val Polite who I believe was a member of the LA based vocal group, The Jaguars. Jardine would leave The Beach Boys to study dentistry and was replaced by David Marks. However, Candix had always struggled with cash flow problems and having a successful single actually didn’t help. Candix would go bankrupt and Murray Wilson tried to find the band a new label. Considering they had had a national hit, be it a small one (‘Surfin’ made number 75 in the Billboard top 100), labels such as Dot and Liberty turned them down feeling that the band where a one minor hit wonder.
Capitol Records eventually signed the group to a seven year contract and work began on their debut album, ‘Surfin’ Safari’ and it because that album is 60 years old this month that I have put together this collection. This project originally started out as deluxe edition of that album. The Beach Boys have been one of the few bands (in my opinion) that in recent years, have served their fans well by opening up the vaults to the gold contained within. However, what they did not do very often was focus on one album releasing session and live tracks for the period. This would have been the first of those deluxe editions but when it came to it, this actually proved to be a bit tricker than it would be for other bands. That is because The Beach Boys put out so much product in a relatively short time, even by the standards of the 1960s. Just to put this into context, they released ten albums between 1962 and 1965. That does not include the single only tracks and the work Brian completed with other artists. He was a very busy man for the majority of the 60s. No wonder he had a break down at the end of the ‘Smile’ sessions.
So instead of a deluxe edition of the albums, what I have put together instead is a collection that looks at a particular year, except with this first collection that covers the first three from their first home demos until the start of the sessions for their second album, ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.’. I have looked to include as many variations of a song that I could find. This includes demos, false takes and rehearsals. I took inspiration for these collections on the mighty fine compilation, ‘Becoming The Beach Boys – The Complete Hite & Dorinda Morgan Sessions’. This would take a song and have all of the versions of it before moving on to the next one. Granted, it does make it a bit of a heavy listen after the fifth breakdown of a take.
I would also not normally include any songs that had the hand of Brian Wilson in it that wasn’t released under The Beach Boys name but on this one occasion, I have included those Kenny & The Cadet recordings here. Therefore, all of the other Brian Wilson solo recordings and outside productions are not included here as I think they should have a box set all to themselves. These tracks have also not been presented in the order in which they were recorded. I have followed the running order of the parent albums and added songs that were unreleased at the time where there was space.
Disc 1 – 1960 Home Recordings
The first CD is a collection of home demos showing Brian getting use to working with the tape recorder as well as working out how to get the best performances out of the group. As a final note, it is interesting that there is a version of ‘Sloop John B’ on these early recordings as The Beach Boys would resist this around the time of their masterpiece ‘Pet Sounds’ LP.
All of the songs on this disc were taken from ‘The Garage Tapes’ bootleg, except for track 2 which came from the ‘Hawthorne, CA: Birthplace Of A Musical Legacy’ compilation and track 11 which comes from the ‘Rarities 1962-1968’ bootleg. Even though the years on that bootleg are later than the music contained on this disc, track 11 sounds like the other home demos the band recorded so it goes here instead of later.
Vocal Rehearsal
Happy Birthday Four Freshmen
Surfin #1
Surfin #2
Surfin #3
Surfin #4
Surfin #5
Surfin #6
Surfin #7
Surfin #8
Surfin (Rehearsal)
Bermuda Shorts #1
Bermuda Shorts #2
Sloop John B
Good News
Holly Gully
Happy Birthday
Dream
To Spend One Night With You
Brian At The Piano
July 18th Celebration
White Christmas
Murray Directs Brian At The Organ
Disc 2
Discs 2 & 3 are from the ‘Becoming The Beach Boys – The Complete Hite & Dorinda Morgan Sessions’ with a couple of extra tracks from the earlier compilation ‘Studio Session 61-62*’ which included a couple of takes that were unavailable anywhere else. An alternative version of ‘Barbie’ is taken from the rare Japanese only compilation ‘Still I Dream Of You: Rare Works of Brian Wilson” from 1993 where it was listed at Take 2.
Surfin’ (Demo)
Surfin’ (Takes 1 & 2)
Surfin’ (Take 3)
Surfin’ (Take 4)
Surfin’ (Take 5)
Surfin’ (Take 6)
Surfin’ (Take 7)
Surfin’ (Take 8)
Surfin’ (Master)
Luau (Demo Take 1)
Luau (Demo Take 2)
Luau (Demo Take 3)
Luau (Takes 1 & 2)
Luau (Takes 3, 5 & 6)
Luau (Take 7)
Luau (Takes 8, 9, 10 & 11)
Luau (Take 12)
Luau (Master)
Lavender (Demo)*
Lavender (Rehearsal Take 1)
Lavender (Rehearsal Take 2)
Lavender (Rehearsal Take 3)
Surfin’ Safari (Takes 3 & 4)
Surfin’ Safari (Takes 5 & 6)
Surfin’ Safari (Take 10)
Surfin’ Safari (Overdub Take 1 On Take 6)
Surfin’ Safari (Overdub Take 2 On Take 10)
Surfin’ Safari (Master)
Surfin’ Safari (Stereo Overdub)
Disc 3
Surfer Girl (Take 1)
Surfer Girl (Take 2)
Surfer Girl (Take 3)
Surfer Girl (Take 4)
Surfer Girl (Take 5)
Surfer Girl (Take 6)
Surfer Girl (Master)
Surfer Girl (Overdub Lead Vocal)
Judy (Take 1)
Judy (Take 2)
Judy (Overdub Takes 1 & 2)
Judy (Overdub Take 4)
Judy (Master)
Judy (Demo – April 1962 Guitar Solo)
Beach Boys Stomp (A.K.A. Karate) (Take 1)
Beach Boys Stomp (A.K.A. Karate) (Rehearsal Take 2)
Beach Boys Stomp (A.K.A. Karate) (Overdub Take 1 On Take 1)
Beach Boys Stomp (A.K.A. Karate) (Overdub Take 2 On Take 1)
Beach Boys Stomp (A.K.A. Karate) (Candix Session)*
Beach Boys Stomp (A.K.A. Karate) (Master)
Barbie (Overdub Take 1) – Kenny & The Cadets
Barbie (Overdub Take 2, 3 & 4) – Kenny & The Cadets
Barbie (Overdub Take 5) – Kenny & The Cadets
Barbie (Overdub Take 7) – Kenny & The Cadets
Barbie (Mono Single Master) – Kenny & The Cadets
Barbie (Mono Album Master) – Kenny & The Cadets
Barbie (Alt. Version) – Kenny & The Cadets
Barbie (Stereo) – Kenny & The Cadets*
What Is A Young Girl Made Of (Demo) – Kenny & The Cadets
What Is A Young Girl Made Of (Overdub Take 1) – Kenny & The Cadets
What Is A Young Girl Made Of (Overdub Take 3) – Kenny & The Cadets
What Is A Young Girl Made Of (Overdub Takes 4 & 5) – Kenny & The Cadets
What Is A Young Girl Made Of (Overdub Take 6) – Kenny & The Cadets
What Is A Young Girl Made Of (Overdub Take 7) – Kenny & The Cadets
What Is A Young Girl Made Of (Mono Master) – Kenny & The Cadets
What Is A Young Girl Made Of (Stereo) – Kenny & The Cadets*
Disc 4
Discs 4 & 5 cover the sessions for the ‘Surfin’ Safari’ along with any other song that was recorded in 1962. This does include some versions of songs that would appear on the album that came out the following year. This includes both the mono and duophonic mixes of the album.
** Surfin’ Safari
*** Surfin’ Safari (1990 Reissue)
****Surfer Girl
***** Little Deuce Coupe
^ Good Vibrations: Thirty Years Of The Beach Boys (Box Set)
^^ Unsurpassed Masters Vol.1 (Bootleg)
^^^ Unsurpassed Masters Vol.3 (Bootleg)
^^^^ In The Beginning (Bootleg)
Surfin’ Safari (Mono)**
Surfin’ Safari (Duophonic)**
Surfin Sarafi (2021 Stereo Mix)+++
Country Fair (Instrumental)^^
Country Fair (Overdub 2, Take 13)^^
Country Fair (Mono)**
Country Fair (Duophonic)**
Ten Little Indians (Mono)**
Ten Little Indians (Duophonic)**
Chug-A-Lug (Mono)**
Chug-A-Lug (Duophonic)**
Little Girl (You’re My Miss America) (Instrumental Takes 1 & 2)^^
Little Girl (You’re My Miss America) (Instrumental Takes 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8)^^
Little Girl (You’re My Miss America) (Instrumental Takes 9, 10, 11 & 12)^^
Little Girl (You’re My Miss America) (Instrumental Take 13)^^
Little Girl (You’re My Miss America) (Instrumental Take 15)^^
Little Girl (You’re My Miss America) (Mono)**
Little Girl (You’re My Miss America) (Duophonic)**
409 (Mono)**
409 (Duophonic)***
Land Ahoy (Instrumental Take 1)^^
Land Ahoy (Overdub 1, Takes 2 & 3)^^
Land Ahoy (Overdub 1, Take 4)^^
Land Ahoy (Overdub 1, Take 5)^^
Land Ahoy****
The Surfer Moon (Instrumental Take 1)^^
The Surfer Moon (Instrumental Take 2)^^
The Surfer Moon (Instrumental Take 3)^^
The Surfer Moon (Vocal Overdub, Take 19)^^^^
The Surfer Moon (1st Stereo Mix, Vocal Take)^^^
The Surfer Moon (2nd Stereo Mix, Vocal Take)^^^
The Surfer Moon (Mono)****
The Surfer Moon (Stereo)****
Their Hearts Were Full Off Spring (Demo)^
Disc 5
** Surfin’ Safari
*** Surfin’ Safari (1990 Reissue)
****Surfer Girl
***** Little Deuce Coupe
+ Made In California (Box Set)
++ Hawthorne, CA: Birthplace Of A Musical Legacy
+++Sounds Of Summer: The Best Of The Beach Boys (Expanded Super Deluxe)
^ Good Vibrations: Thirty Years Of The Beach Boys (Box Set)
^^ Unsurpassed Masters Vol.1 (Bootleg)
^^^ Unsurpassed Masters Vol.3 (Bootleg)
^^^^ In The Beginning (Bootleg) Surfin’ (Mono)**
Surfin’ (Duophonic)**
Heads You Win, Tails I Lose (Overdub 1, Take 13)^^
Heads You Win, Tails I Lose (Overdub 1, Take 14, 15 & 16)^^
Heads You Win, Tails I Lose (Overdub 1, Take 17)^^
Heads You Win, Tails I Lose (Mono)**
Heads You Win, Tails I Lose (Duophonic)**
Summertime Blues (Instrumental, Takes 1 & 2)^^
Summertime Blues (Instrumental, Take 3)^^
Summertime Blues (Instrumental, Take 4)^^
Summertime Blues (Overdub, Take 5)^^
Summertime Blues (Overdub, Takes 6 & 7)^^
Summertime Blues (Overdub, Take 8)^^
Summertime Blues (Overdub, Take 9)^^
Summertime Blues (Overdub, Take 10)^^
Summertime Blues (Overdub, Take 11)^^
Summertime Blues (Overdub, Take 12)^^
Summertime Blues (Mono)**
Summertime Blues (Duophonic)**
Cuckoo Clock (Instrumental)^^
Cuckoo Clock (Overdub 2, Take 12)^^
Cuckoo Clock (Mono)**
Cuckoo Clock (Duophonic)**
The Shift (Mono)**
The Shift (Duophonic)**
Cindy, Oh Cindy (Instrumental, Take 1)^^
Cindy, Oh Cindy (Instrumental, Takes 2, 3 & 4)^^
Cindy, Oh Cindy (Instrumental, 5, 6 & 7)^^
Cindy, Oh Cindy (Instrumental, Take 8)^^
Cindy, Oh Cindy (Vocal Take)^^
Cindy, Oh Cindy***
Lonely Sea (Mono)**
Lonely Sea (Stereo)**
Lonely Sea (Original Long Mono Version)+
Surfin’ U.S.A. (Demo With Drums)++
The cover image was taken at the same photo session that produced the shot used for ‘Surfin’ Safari’ LP sleeve.
Even though the first series of ‘The Boys’ came out in 2019, this was another one of those shows that I did not see until lockdown. Based upon a comic book, ‘The Boys’ is set in a world where superheroes are seen as heroes by the general public but in the background, they are arrogant and/or corrupt. I am not going to say too much more because if you have not seen it, it is well worth a watch.
What I didn’t realise until earlier this month was that there was a spin off series that came out between seasons 2 and 3. It was called ‘The Boys Present: Diabolical’. This series was made up of eight episodes all on a different theme and using a different animation style for each. When looking on line, the only soundtrack I found was based upon the original music created for the series. I wanted one that included all of the songs used in this series so this is it. Unlike the majority of my playlists, this one is not designed to be replicated on vinyl.
Arirang – Hyesu Wiedmann
Kimokawaii – Leo Birenberg & Zach Robinson
Laser Baby’s Day Out – Julie Bernstein & Steven Bernstein
Only Wanna Be With You – Hootie & The Blowfish
Pusher Man – Curtis Mayfield
Boyd In 3d – Sherri Chung
Queso – Pell
An Animated Short Where Pissed-Off Supes Kill Their Parents – Ryan Elder
Levitating – Dua Lipa
I’m Your Pusher – Christopher Lennertz & Matt Bowen
Gimmie – All Talk
Bffs – Leo Birenberg & Zach Robinson
Take My Picture – Five Knives
Nubian Vs. Nubian – Dara Taylor
Augenbling – Speed
John & Sun Her – Hyesu Widmann
Old Town Road – Lil Has X (ft. Billy Ray Cyrus)
One Plus One Equals Two – Christopher Lennertz & Matt Bowen
Frog Quest 2 – Nervy Talkie
The artwork is taken from the official soundtrack cover.
In October 2020, I put together a couple of Smashing Pumpkins playlists. What this lead to was playing through their back catalogue from Gish to Adore and all points in between. Apart from the stylistic differences between the records (no doubt down increased budgets and Billy Corgan’s ego), the band hit a real purple patch around the recording of the ‘Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness’ album. I say band and not just Corgan because this was the last period where they actually were a band. James Iha contributed a good number of tunes during this period, he and D’Arcy actually contributed musically (instead of having any parts they played replayed by Corgan) and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin even contributed vocals to the song ‘Farewell & Goodnight’. The band dynamic would never be the same after Chamberlin was fired from the band during the Mellon Collie tour after he and touring keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin both suffered a drugs overdose. Melvin died but Chamberlin, who had struggling with substance abuse for a fews years before this time was given his marching orders to ostensibly protect his health.
Corgan, and the rest of the band to a lesser extent, must have lived in rehearsal rooms and the studio, laying down numerous takes of what feels like 100 tunes before settling on the 28 that made up the original ‘Mellon Collie’ album. With so many musical outtakes left in the can, the Pumpkins ended up releasing many of them at the time as B-Sides to the ‘Mellon Collie’ singles which would be collected into a box set called ‘The Aeroplane Flies High’. I remember seeing this release before hearing about it and its presentation was what drew me in to begin with. The five singles had been collected in a box that look liked the carry cases used to transport 7 inch singles in, included a handle.
The box set also contained some exclusive recordings of cover songs which were included on the ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’ single. When I initially played it, I found it impenetrable. There were 33 songs on it and the ‘Pastichio Medley’ seemed to take an eternity to finish. Come to think of it, that first play through of this box set might be the only time I have listened to that track all the way through. This set was not something to play all the way through, but to dip a toe into once in a while to take in the delights that could be unlocked and what delights they were to behold. This is not just some collection of third rate outtakes put out to fleece the fans of their hard earned cash. It proved to be full of A-Grade material that showcased a different dimension to the band and so I come to this collection.
Whilst playing it again recently, I wondered what this set would sound like if it was complied as an album in the style of ‘Pisces Iscariot’. The band’s record label had had a go themselves at this by releasing a 12 track promo album from the box set back in 1996, but when playing the track in that order did not do the parent release justice. I thought that following the template of ‘Pisces Iscariot’ would allow for more songs as that contained 14 tracks. What I didn’t release until putting this compilation together was how long ‘Pisces Iscariot’ was, clocking in 57 minutes. That must have been a strain on the LP version, which as far as I can tell was not edited down.
My version of ‘The Aeroplane Flies High’ clocks in at 51 minutes but is still based on the LP format. Therefore, both sides should match up in terms of side length, because back in the day, you had to take into consideration the cassette buying fans. Like ‘Pisces Iscariot’, there are 14 songs on the record, one written by James Iha (and includes guest vocals from Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt), a bonus 7 inch single (for those lucky enough to get hold of an early copy) and two cover versions. The biggest difference between this and ‘Pisces Iscariot’ is that the bonus single contain the cover versions.
This version does include one song that was released on the LP version of ‘Mellon Collie’ but as this only ever released in the UK back in 1996 and in very limited numbers, this would have been new to most listeners.
What was evident from listening back to the deluxe editions of ‘Mellon Collie’ and ‘The Aeroplane Flies High’ is that Billy Corgan had great musical ideas to burn. If this album had been released instead of the box set, this would have been seen as more than just a spiritual successor to ‘Pisces Iscariot’ and been as big a hit as the box set had been (well, in the USA anyway).
Side A
Blank
Transformer
Set The Ray To Jerry
Marquis In Spades
The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)
Medellia Of The Grey Skies
Side B
…Said Sadly
Mouths Of Babes
Cherry
Jupiter’s Lament
Meladori Magpie
Pennies
The Last Song
Tonite Reprise
Bonus 7” Single
Clones (We’re All)
You’re All I’ve Got Tonight
The front cover has been adapted from The Aeroplane Flies High Promo CD release.
By the time Led Zeppelin’s forth album came out in November of 1971, they were well on their way to becoming one of the biggest bands in the world. The band had released four albums in three years since 1969 and during the recording of those albums, some fully formed songs were left in the can. There was talk about putting out their fourth album as a double, or even as a set of four EP’s. This plan was ditched though and fans had to wait until 1973 for their fifth album, ‘Houses of the Holy; to come out. A gap of a year between albums was not unheard of at this point, but was still rare.
In April of 1972, the band moved to Mick Jagger’s home, Stargroves, to record their next LP. Hiring the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, they set to work. They also had to find the time to rehearse for the live shows that took place in Australasia, North America, Japan and the UK. So as to not to lose momentum, what if the band’s management thought that a stop gap album of outtakes would keep the band in the public consciousness, and also find a home for the material the band had been stockpiling*. With the release of the Led Zeppelin box sets in the 1990s and the deluxe edition in the second decade of this century, this task has been made considerably easier.
Looking back at the first album, there was ‘Sugar Mama’. Credited, when it was eventually released, to Page and Plant, this was an old blues standard given the Led Zep treatment. ‘Baby Come On Home’ is also pulled from those first album session tapes. Another song credited to Page and Plant, but was based on a song of the same title written by the legendary Bert Burns so he received a co-writing credit as well. There were no unreleased finished songs from the second album and when looking at the deluxe edition of that album which came out in 2014, it is easy to see why. The bonus tracks on that collection are mostly backing tracks and rough mixes for the songs that were released on the parent album. The second album most probably suffered from a dearth material as they did spend a good deal of 1969 touring. It is amazing they produced anything at all that year, let alone an album with some rock classics on it as ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and ‘Heartbreaker’ on it. The rest of the album isn’t too bad either.
After the hectic touring and recording schedule that was 1969, Page and Plant retreated to Wales to take a break and to write some new material. This lead to a more pastoral sounding album and a number of outtakes, raining from the beautiful ‘Bron-Yr-Sur’ to the reimagined blues medley of ‘Key To The Highway/Trouble in Mind’. The sessions for this album produced the only song to have been released at the time this album could have been compiled, and that is ‘Hey Hey, What Can I Do’. This was the B-Side to the ‘Immigrant Song ‘single, but as this single was not released in the UK, this album (if it had been released) would have been the first time many British fans of the band would have heard it.
There would have been a case for putting on a couple of studio jams, and two could have been put forward. ‘Jennings Farms Blues’ (which would develop into Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp) as well as ‘St. Tristian’s Sword’. Both of these were recorded during the Led Zeppelin III sessions. Both being unfinished run throughs meant that they do not warrant too many repeat listens. However, it could have been felt that putting them in the record as a bonus seven inch record would have made the record better value for money for the bands fans. Doing this would have made this record one of the first to put in a bonus single in this way. Led Zeppelin’s fourth album contributed the rest of the album outtakes but this would not have been enough to fill out an entire album. Another look through the archive would have meant using a song that was recorded for the BBC that had not been released before. ‘Travelling Riverside Blues’ was chosen and ‘We’re Gonna Groove’, which had been recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1970, but with some guitar overdubs and the audience noise removed.
One song that was considered for this collection and not used was ‘No Quarter’. An early version of this had been recorded at the fourth album sessions, but had been left unfinished. It would be resurrected for the ‘Houses Of The Holy’ album.
Considering this is an album of outtakes and live tracks, this is a pretty solid collection. With ‘Houses Of The Holy’ not coming out until March 1973, this would have been a perfect stop gap for the band whilst they continued to tour and work on new material. The late summer of 1972 would have been a perfect time to release this, especially as Led Zeppelin would have just finished their North American tour and before they went to Japan and the UK in the October.
Would this album have ever been considered back in 1972? No chance. Considering it has taken the best part of 50 years for some of this material to come out, there was no way this would have come out in 1972. A shame really as I suspect there would have been a few bands back in the day who would have loved such a high quality record being released under their name.
Side A
Poor Tom – Third Album Outtake – Original Released on Coda (1982)
Down By The Seaside – Fourth Album Outtake – Originally Released on Physical Graffiti (1975)
Night Flight – Fourth Album Outtake – Originally Released on Physical Graffiti (1975)
Baby Come on Home – First Album Outtake – Originally Released on Box Set 2 (1993)
Hey Hey What Can I Do – Third Album Outtake – Originally Released on the B-Side of Immigrant Song (1970)
Side B
Key To The Highway/Trouble In Mind – Third Album Outtake – Originally Released on Led Zeppelin III Deluxe Edition (2014)
We’re Gonna Groove – Recorded Live 1970 – Originally Released on Coda (1982)
Sugar Mama – First Album Outtake – Originally Released on CodaDeluxe Edition (2015)
Boogie With Stu – Fourth Album Outtake – Originally Released on Physical Graffiti (1975)
Travelling Riverside Blues – BBC Session – Originally released on Box Set 1 (1990)
Bron-Yr-Aur – Third Album Outtake – Originally Released on Physical Graffiti (1975)
Bonus Single
Jennings Farm Blues – Third Album Outtake – Originally Release on Led Zeppelin III Deluxe Edition (2014)
St. Tristan’s Sword – Third Album Outtake – Originally Release on Led Zeppelin III Deluxe Edition (2014)
Album artwork found on Reddit can created by u/Mellow_404.
*This actual happened when the band completed the sessions for the album Physical Graffiti. They had three sides of music they wished to release and placed some outtakes on there to make up the numbers.
In 2016, The Rolling Stones released ‘Blue & Lonesome’, their first covers LP and it was harking back to their roots as it consisted entirely of blues based music form the likes of Little Walter, Willie Dixon and Magic Sam. The album was a critical and commercial success as it made the top five in the majority of the major record buying markets. With this in mind, I was surprised that The Stones had not done this before.
Looking back at their earliest albums where they were more covers than originals, The Stones showed their was more to they influences than the blues by covering R&B and Rock n Roll numbers. This would continue until the writing team of Jagger and Richards got into their stride just before the release of the ’Aftermath’ album. However, during those formative years they recorded a good deal of material, especially when they were touring in the USA that has not escape the vault in a legitimate sense. Considering that The Rolling Stones are one of the premier league 60s bands, it is surprising that a reissue campaign of deluxe editions or archival releases has not seen the light of day. This might have something to do with the stand off with ABKCO which is a story for another time.
As has already been noted, Jagger and Richards were really coming together as a song writing partnership and were so happy with the songs that they had recorded in late 1965 that they wanted to rush release the sessions as an album called ‘Could You Walk On The Water’. A cover was put together using a shot taken a photoshoot at a Californian reservoir. Decca, the bands record label refused to release it but the cover would see the light of day when it was used on the compilation ‘Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass)’. Another recording sessions would lead to another batch of original songs being recorded and were used on ‘Aftermath’.
However, what if Jagger and Richards had still not found their writing chops by late 1965, or if they decided to clear some of the songs that they had recorded so they could come out all guns blazing in 1966 as a band that could produce albums of self written material? If we look at the bands recordings up until the end of 1965, there is enough in the can to produce an album of a similar structure to what had gone before. If we also look at the UK releases up to 1965’s ‘Out Of Our Heads’, each had twelve songs so was there enough to produce a good blues/R&B style record? There was, even though I did start off with ‘I Want To Be Loved’ as the opening track which dates from 1963 as the opening song. It had been the B-Side of ‘Come On’, their first single and had not been included on a UK album release at that time.
The A-Side of this record is very much a blues inspired affair, with a rare instrumental by the band in the form of band composition ‘Stewed & Keefed’. Side B opens with another rarity in form of a song written by Bill Wyman. As far as I can tell, he only received credit for three compositions during his time in the band (even though he would claim that he contributed to a lot more). Like the A-Side, the focus is blues with the Jagger/Richards songs showing their Chuck Berry and Chicago blues influences on their sleeves.
As albums go, this would have not sounded out of place in the mid 60s, especially when comparing it to other Stones albums of the time. This would also have been quite a nice release for the Christmas market in 1965, especially if you consider that the bands US fans got ‘December’s Children (& Everybody’s)’. With a title that the record company did not like and with bands always moving on and not looking into their archives at this time, an album like this would not have been released in the 60s. However, it would have been a nice 60s equivalent to the ‘Blue & Lonesome’ released 50 years later.
Side A
I Want To Be Loved* (Dixon) Olympic Studios, London – 10th May 1963
Tell Me Baby, How Many More Times (Broonzy) Chess Studios, Chicago – 10th/11th June 1964
Go Home, Girl (Alexander) Decca Studios, London – 16th July 1963
High Heeled Sneakers (Higginbotham) Chess Studios, Chicago – 10th/11th June 1964
Stewed & Keefed (Phelge) Chess Studios, Chicago – 10th/11th June 1964
Meet Me At The Bottom (Dixon) Chess Studios, Chicago – 8th November 1964
Side B
Goodbye Girl (Wyman) Chess Studios, Chicago – 8th November 1964
Don’t Lie To Me (Jagger/Richards) Regent Sound Studios, London – 12th May 1964
Reelin’ & Rockin’ (Berry) Chess Studios, Chicago – 11th June 1964
Key To The Highway (Segar) Chess Studios, Chicago – 8th November 1964
Looking Tired (Jagger/Richards) RCA Studios, Hollywood – 6th September 1965
I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (Redding/Butler) RCA Studios, Hollywood – 12th/13th May 1965
All of these songs were unreleased up until the end of 1965 except for ‘I Want To be Loved’ which had been the B-Side of ‘Come On’, the bands first UK single.
After posting my version of what Dave Davies 60s solo album could have sounded liked, I have been playing a number of my Kinks records once more. I also replayed my version ‘The Great Lost Kinks Album’ from December 2020 (https://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/the-kinks-the-great-lost-kinks-album-uk-version/) and felt that if this had actually been released what else Pye, the bands record label would do to make the most of The Kinks catalogue.
In real life, Pye Records was already doing this. In 1973 they released ‘All The Good Times’ which was a four LP set including the complete ‘Lola’ and ‘Arthur’ albums, with two additional discs of deep cuts and singles. Pye didn’t stop here and it seems that they were releasing at least one Kinks compilation LP somewhere in the world throughout the 70s. Looking at the track listing, you can see that they are cash in on the bands name as there seems to be little thought in the way in which the tracks are complied.
The 70s were at least ten years too early too early for the explosion in reissues and reassessments of bands back catalogue that would occur after the advent of the CD. It would take until the turn of the century before the idea of releasing compilations directed at the collector would become a viable money maker so I would be asking a lot of the people at Pye Records in the 70s to do a compilation such as this. Unlike the previous compilation which looked exclusively at material that was rare and unreleased at the time, this LP includes all of the B-Sides that were released on Pye in the UK.
These are in chronological order which was quite a pleasant surprise as I felt that I would have to move a few about so that the sides of the LPs would match up. Keeping them in order shows the progression the band made from their early R&B roots up until their more English centric music that they were producing by the end of their tenure on Pye. They also show that Dave Davies was beginning to stretch his writing muscle as a number of his songs start to appear. I am sure that there wouldn’t be many musicians/bands who would have written songs of this quality, let alone put them on the B-Sides of singles.
All mixes are mono and the A-Side of these singles is also listed. These singles are solely UK releases. The combination of songs on singles from other countries were sometime different.
Side 1
I Took My Baby Home (Long Tall Sally)
You Do Something To Me (You Still Want Me)
It’s All Right (You Really Got Me)
I Gotta Move (All Day & All Of The Night)
Come On Now (Tired Of Waiting For You)
Who’ll Be The Next In Line (Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy)
I Need You (Set Me Free)
Never Met A Girl Like You Before (See My Friends)
Side 2
Where Have All The Good Times Gone (‘Till The End Off The Day)
Sittin’ On My Sofa (Dedicated Follower Of Fashion)
I’m Not Like Everybody Else (Sunny Afternoon)
Big Black Smoke (Dead End Street)
Act Nice & Gentle (Waterloo Sunset)
Love Me ‘Till The Sun Shines (Death Of A Clown – Listed as a Dave Davies solo single but both songs were included on The Kinks’ album, ‘Something Else By The Kinks’)
Side 3
Mr. Pleasant (Autumn Almanac)
Funny Face (Suzannah’s Still Alive – Listed as a Dave Davies solo single but the B-Side appears on The Kinks’ album, ‘Something Else By The Kinks’).
Polly (Wonderboy)
She’s Got Everything (Days)
There’s No Life Without Love (Lincoln County – Listed as a Dave Davies solo single, both songs would be reissued on the 1998 CD reissue of The Kinks’ album, ‘Something Else By The Kinks’).
Creeping Jean (Hold My Hand – Listed as a Dave Davies solo single, both songs would be reissued on the 2011 CD reissue of The Kinks’ album, ‘Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire’)
King Kong (Plastic Man)
Side 4
Mindless Child Of Motherhood (Drivin’)
This Man He Weeps Tonight (Shangri-La)
Mr. Churchill Says (Victoria)
Berkeley Mews (Lola)
Rats (Apeman)
Moments (God’s Children)
The sleeve of this compilation was adapted from the back cover of the Death Do Us Part EP released in 2016
With Dave Davies playing some gigs tonight just up the road from me, I thought it was time to look at an album that could have been.
The Kinks have had a long career, but in terms of unreleased albums, there is not a lot to choose from. There was ‘Four More Respected Gentlemen’ which was compiled by the the bands American Record label purely for the US market. There was also the twelve song version of ‘The Village Green Preservation Society’ album that did come out in certain European markets. There was even talk of that album being released as a double and The Reconstructor has done a sterling job putting that together over at their site http://the-reconstructor.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-kinks-village-green-preservation.html.
However, one that does get a lot of mention is the lost album by Dave Davies. Before 1967, Dave Davies had written songs which had either been album tracks or related to single B-Sides. However, Pye Records saw potential in releasing a Dave Davies song as a solo single so they pulled ‘Death of a Clown’ from the ‘Something Else by the Kinks’ album and it reached number 3 in the UK charts. Sensing that there could be money to made, Pye set Davies the task of having an album ready to be released in either 1968 or 1969. A second single in the form of ‘Susannah’s Still Alive’ came out late in 1967 and reached number 20 in the UK chart so the album release date was pushed back to see how the next single would fare. That would be ‘Lincoln County’ which failed to dent the charts. ‘Hold My Hand’ was released in January 1969 but this also failed to make any inroads into the charts so the solo album was dropped with some of the songs being used as B-Sides to Kinks singles. Dave Davies himself has said that even though he liked some of the songs he produced, his heart was not fully in the project so his lack of interest also helped to kill off the project.
What if those two later singles had been more successful, and if Davies had been more committed to the project. Enough material was recorded to fill up an album. The release of the ‘Hidden Treasures’ in 2011 testifies to that. With this what-if, I was looking to present a cohesive album that would have been released in the early months of 1969. That means that neither of the singles from 1967 would be used on it. ‘Death of a Clown’ had already been released on a Kinks album and ‘Susannah’s Still Alive’ would have sounded out of date by that time. We would also have to assume that none of the songs would have been released as Kinks B-Sides*.
If the album had come out, it would have been at a time when bands were either becoming more heavy (Led Zeppelin) or getting more rootsy, especially after they had digested The Band’s ‘Music From Big Pink’. Davies’ album would have seemed as though it was from a different age and would most probably been his equivalent of ‘The Village Green Preservation Society’ and been appreciated after the event. The album though was not released but at least we can now appreciate the music that it would have contained.
Side A
Mindless Child Of Motherhood
Lincoln County
Hold My Hand
Thee’s No Life Without Love
Do You Wish To Be A Man?
Are Your Ready
Side B
Creeping Jean
Crying
This Man He Weeps Tonight
Groovy Movies
Mr. Shoemaker’s Daughter
Mr. Reporter (Alt. Mix)
*I have complied this compilation using stereo mixes only. By 1969, few albums were released in mono. Mono mixes tended to be saved for single releases because AM radio was still the main format in which broadcasters would transmit pop music, especially in the UK at that time.
The from cover was adapted from the LP, ‘The Album That Never Was’ that was an early attempt compile a solo Dave Davies record from this 60s sessions. That album was originally released in 1987.
I suppose that it was only a matter of time before I had a crack at this. ‘Smile’ by The Beach Boys is the the Holy Grail of unreleased records. The whole things started with the release of the ‘Good Vibrations’ single. Sounding like nothing that had been before, and since, ‘Good Vibrations’ was made up of sections edited together to make a whole. Essentially what we got was a pocket symphony lasting just over three and a half minutes.
This was a complete departure musically with the lyrics reflecting the burgeoning psychedelic movement. Brian Wilson’s approach was justified as it was a top ten single in most of the major record buying markets, and went to number 1 in the USA and UK. Emboldened by the success of the single, Wilson looked to make an album using the same modular approach as ‘Good Vibrations’. Over a ten month period, sessions for ‘Smile’ would continue before collapsing for a myriad of reasons. These included:
The band (who were not involved in the majority of the Smile sessions in a musical way since Wilson used the legendary Wrecking Crew of top notch sessions musicians to interpret his vision) were confused by this new direction. For the early sessions, they had been away on tour and were unaware of Wilson was up to in the studio.
Brian Wilson was gradually becoming more unstable during the recording sessions. This became apparent during the recording of the song ‘Fire’ when Wilson felt that the music had caused conflagrations in the area around the studio. This increased stability and paranoia may have increased due to his drug intact.
The band decided to take out a lawsuit against their record label for the non payment of royalties. Even if the album had been ready to go in mid 1967, it is unlikely that it would have been released at that time until the lawsuit was settled. With the music scene in the 60s never sticking to one genre too long, a delayed ‘Smile’ may well have been out of place musically and that would have effected sales.
The fact that the method Brian Wilson was using to put this album together was taxing at best, and near impossible in reality. With all of the music committed to tape, the only way to fit all of the sections together was by cutting and splicing the material together. Wilson had also spent so much time listening to the music, he could not longer see where the project was going as he couldn’t make up his mind what sections were worth using and where they would fit together.
These were not the only reasons why this album was not finished but it could be argued that these were the core. The Smile album has hung like a weight around the neck of the bands ever since the sessions collapsed in 1967. A version of ‘Heroes & Villains’ was released as a single, but did not match the success of ‘Good Vibrations’. Wilson felt that ‘Heroes & Villains’ would take the band away from the girls and surf music songs that they had been known for. It also ended Wilson’ self imposed need to compete with The Beatles. The failure of that single was taken to heart by Wilson and he slowly distance himself from the creative process.
‘Smile’ was never finished but that did not stop The Beach Boys from raiding the archive to include songs form the project to fill out that gaps left by Brian Wilson’s lack of creativity. ‘Cabin Essence’ and ‘Our Prayer’ would both appear on the ’20/20’ album. Sound effects from ‘Workshop’ would be included as the coda to the ’20/20’ version of ‘Do It Again’ ‘Surf’s Up’ would become the title track of their 1971 album with Carl Wilson recording the lead vocal that Brian was either unwilling or unable to record (due to the damage to his voice from smoking and drug habit). This version would also include the ‘Child Is The Father To The Man’ vocals included in the coda, which was included by Carl. ‘Mama Says’ from ‘Wild Honey’ was based on a section from the song ‘Vega-Tables’ and a part for the bridge if ‘Little Bird’ from the ‘Friends’ album also has a nod to the ‘Smile’ project in the form of the brass sound that was ultimately used.
Still ‘Smile’ refused to go away. When the band negotiated a contract with Warner Brothers Records in 1969, it was stipulated that they needed to provide a complete ‘Smile’ by 1973. Even though Carl Wilson said that the release was imitate, ‘Smile’ still didn’t appear. In the late 70s, the idea of releasing the sessions as a series of records, but this and a similar idea that was put forward in the early 80s came to nothing. It would take until 1993 and the ‘Good Vibrations: 30 Years of The Beach Boys’ box set for the first officially sanctioned release of ‘Smile’ material. At the same time, the sessions were becoming widely bootlegged, especially when CD replaced vinyl as the format of choice for the listener. It would take until 2004 for something resemble Smile to come out.
After the success of taking ‘Pet Sounds’ out on the road, Wilson was persuaded to go back to ‘Smile’ and a series of live concerts were performed at the Royal Festival Hall in London in 2003. An album followed in 2004, which did not include any of the original sessions and with original lyrical contributor Van Dyke Parks coming on board to finish off the words that had been left unsaid in the 60s. The concerts were a huge success and I was lucky enough to see it on opening night. The album was Wilson’s most successful solo work to that date. This in turn lead to the release of 2011s ‘The Smile Sessions’ where a version of ‘Smile was presented using the 2004 release as a template. It also include a number of sessions as well as a comprehensive guide to the recording sessions. The release was a success and won the Grammy for best Historical Album.
So why produce my own version? The great things about ‘Smile’ is that because it was never finished, nor a running order set out until 2004, it is easy to make your own. Using the 2011 mix as a guide and only including material from the box set, I split the music into two sections. Section 1 is labels ‘Heroes & Villains’ as the riff used for that song crops up in a good number of the tunes included here. This finishes with Cabin Essence. Section 2 is The Elements. This includes songs that reference each of the four elements; earth (‘Vega-Tables’), water (‘Cool, Cool Water’), air (‘Wind Chimes’) and fire (Mrs O’Leary’s Cow’). Apart from the fire element, these songs did not make up Brian Wilson’s proposed song cycle for this suite, but like so much of ‘Smile’ he did not record all of the pieces so I have just utilised some of the material for my own ends. As a bonus song, I have included the double sided ‘Heroes & Villains’ single that was included in the 2011 box set.
A number of these songs were never destined for the original ‘Smile’ record, but as they were all on the 2011 box set, they were fair game as far as I was concerned. This is also a rare compilation for me as I did not look to make the music fit to the playing time of a vinyl record. This was designed to utilise the expanded playing time of a CD. Enjoy.
You’re Welcome
The Heroes & Villains Suite
Barnyard
My Only Sunshine (The Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine)
Wonderful
Wonderful (Version 3)/ Child Is The Father Of Man
Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock)/Love To Say Dada Pt.1
He Gives Speeches
I’m In Great Shape
Cabin Essence
Our Prayer
Good Vibrations
Holidays
Wind Chines
The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow)
I Wanna Be Around/Workshop
Vega-tables
Love To Say Dada Pt.2
Look (Song For Children)
Cool, Cool Water
You’re With Me Tonight
Surf’s Up
Good Vibrations (Reprise)
Heroes & Villains (Part 1)
Heroes & Villains (Part 2)
For the cover artwork, I decided against using the sleeve that was produced back in 1967, but instead went for a fan version. This was produced by Dillon Carson and I did need to do a little bit of editing on it as his track listing did not match my own. I also added in the Capitol Records logo. More of his work can be found on his website: https://www.dilloncarson.com.
He is also responsible for responsible for the cover artwork on the 2021 Beach Boys box set, ‘Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971’.
Dana Gillespie has had an interesting career. She was once the British junior water-skying champion, appeared in the West End in musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar, was cast in a number of films and recorded numerous albums since her first was released in 1968. That album was ‘Foolish Seasons’. It was recorded with a number of famous session players such as Big Jim Sullivan and Herbie Flowers as well as John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page before they formed Led Zeppelin. The album was only released in the USA at the time and became a bit of a collectors item. It was finally released in the UK including two previously unreleased songs and new cover artwork for Record Store Day in April 2022. However, this LP was not Gillespies first time on vinyl.
She has started her recording career in 1965 by releasing ‘Thank You Boy’. This was the first of three singles she released on Pye Records, each of whom contained a cover but the B-Sides were all written, or at least co-written by Gillespie herself. Not bad for someone who was 15 years old when their first single came out. None of the singles troubled the charts but as far as I can tell, they have not been compiled in one place before. To complement the re-release of ‘Foolish Seasons’ on the last Record Store Day, I thought it would nice to follow that up with a compilation of all of Gillespies’ Pye Singles.
