Well, it is that time of year for numerous cards depicting snow scenes, overindulgence and Slade blaring out of the radio. Christmas is a peculiar time as it is unlike any other time of the year because it has its own soundtrack. No other festival has so many songs written about or for it. The trick seems to be that if you can write a song that is played every year, you can pretty much keep yourself going for when your material is all but ignored. Jona Lewie has said as much about his song, Stop the Cavalry. The irony being the Stop the Calvary was not written as a Christmas record, but a protest song. Anyway, here is my attempt at a top notch Christmas compilation.
There is nothing particularly obscure here and part from some of the later songs on CD2, these were the records soundtracked my childhood Christmas. There aren’t any recordings from before the 1960’s, and CD 1 stops later in that decade. Almost the whole of the Phil Spector Christmas album is here, as well as a number of Elvis records. CD 2 is the heyday of the 70s and 80s where awesome original Christmas records were still being written and released. Once we get into the 90s and beyond, the quota of songs goes right down. This just goes to show (in my opinion) how few great Christmas records have been produced since the 1980s. People are still releasing Christmas themed records every year but to me, they pale in comparison to what has been included here.
There aren’t too many songs I feel missed out on being selected. ‘Feliz Navidad’ by Jose Feliciano would be one, Another would be East 17’s ‘Stay Another Day’. However, like Jona Lewie, this wasn’t written as a Christmas record either and only had a winter themed video as well as jingle bells inserted into it to appeal to the festive market. At least Jona Lewie mentioned Christmas in his song. Well, as the great Noddy Holder would say “It’s Christmas!!!”
Disc 1
White Christmas – Darlene Love
Frosty The Snowman – The Ronettes
Blue Christmas – Elvis Presley
Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
Sleigh Ride – The Ronettes
The Bells Of St. Mary – Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! – Dean Martin
Santa, Bring My Baby Back (To Me) – Elvis Presley
Santa Baby – Eartha Kitt
Run Rudolph Run – Chuck Berry
Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers – The Crystals
Jingle Bell Rock – Bobby Helms
Winter Wonderland – Darlene Love
The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year – Andy Williams
Here Comes Santa Claus – Bob B. Soxx & The Blues Jeans
Sleigh Ride – The Ventures
Little Saint Nick – The Beach Boys
Santa Claus Is Back In Town – Elvis Presley
Marshmallow World – Darlene Love
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer – The Crystals
This Time Of The Year – Brook Benton
I’d Like You For Christmas – Julie London
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – The Crystals
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – Darlene Love
What Christmas Means To Me – Stevie Wonder
Blue Holiday – The Shirelles
You’re All I Want For Christmas – Brook Benton
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – The Ronettes
The Christmas Song – Nat ‘King’ Cole
If Everyday Was Like Christmas – Elvis Presley
Disc 2
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – John Lennon & Yoko Ono
River – Joni Mitchell
Stop The Cavalry – Jona Lewie
Last Christmas – Wham!
Driving Home For Christmas – Chris Rea
All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey
Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday – Wizzard
Merry Xmas Everybody – Slade
I Believe In Father Christmas – Greg Lake
2000 Miles – The Pretenders
Christmas Wrapping – The Waitresses
Wombling Merry Christmas – The Wombles
Lonely This Christmas – Mud
Do They Know It’s Christmas – Band Aid
Merry Christmas Everyone – Shakin’ Stevens
Mele Kalikimaka (Christmas In Hawaii) – KT Tunstall
Warm This Winter – Gabriella Climi
Silent Night – Jewel
The Little Drummer Boy – David Bowie & Bing Crosby
Fairytale Of New York – The Pogues & Kirsty MacCall
Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End) – The Darkness
There aren’t too many compilations that can be said that have been a major influence on what was to come afterwards as by definition, these types of records are all about harking back to the past. However, the Nuggets double disc set from 1972 is one of, if not the most important and influential. It was compiled by Lenny Kaye, who would become the lead guitarist in the Patti Smith band. At the time , he was a writer and working at Village Oldies record shop in New York. Not only did he compile the record, he wrote the sleeve notes as well. These contained one of the first uses of the term Punk Rock. Many other compilation series would follow including Rubble, Pebbles and Back From The Grave all of which followed the Nuggets template. That is unearthing rare records, mostly from smaller record labels that specialised in garage rock and psychedelic eras.
I never managed to get hold of the original vinyl version of this compilation. However, in 1998 Rhino decided that they would re-release the album on CD, but instead of just putting out the original version, they decided to expand it with an additional 91 songs in a rather fetching box set. Not all of the records were obscure, with some making to top ten in the US and some didn’t fit into the time frame which said all the records were released between 1965-69. For example, Louie Louie by the Kingsmen was released in 1963. That’s just nitpicking though as even with the the addition of 91 songs there are few that could be considered filler. What I wanted to see was if I could reduce this brilliantly curated box set down to one CD, which was also mean that it would fit onto a double LP like the original album.
Let It Our (Let It All Hang Out) – Los Hombres
Fight Fire – The Golliwogs
Wooly Bully – Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs
I Want Candy – The Strangeloves
You Ain’t Tuff – The Uniques
Stop – Get A Ticket – Clefs Of Lavender Hill
I Live In The Springtime – The Lemon Drops
Dirty Water – The Standells
Lies – the Knickerbockers
A Public Execution – Mouse
Open Up Your Door – Richard & The Young Lions
Oh Yeah – Shadows Of Night
Pushin’ Too Hard – The Seeds
Don’t Look Back – The Remains
Liar, Liar – The Casterways
Sugar & Spice – The Cryan Shames
My World Fell Down – Sagittarius
Open Your Eyes – The Nazz
Nobody But Me – The Human Beinz
Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White – The Standells
Action Woman – The Litter
I Ain’t No Miracle Worker – The Brogues
Laugh, Laugh – The Beau Brummels
I Wonder – The Gants
Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love) – The Swingin’ Medallions
Run, Run, Run – The Gestures
Psycho – The Sonics
So What! – The Lyrics
The Little Black Egg – The Nightcrawlers
Falling Sugar – The Palace Guard
I could not attached a Spotify playlist as one or more songs were not available on that format.
I had not heard of the Smashing Pumpkins until they made an appearance on a British TV show in which they didn’t seem to know if they should be promoting their new record as slagging each other off. I seem to remember that the show was much missed (by me anyway) Rapido, but I might have got that wrong. The next time they came up in conversation was with a guitar player who told me that the album that they were plugging that day was not their debut, as I had thought, but their second album. The first album was called Gish. Making my way to Kingston Upon Thames and to the Record Shop: my favourite place to buy vinyl and like Rapdio, I have greatly missed it since it closed down at the end of the 90’s. They had a copy of Gish so I thought I would give it a go. Gish was a curious mix of rock, alt rock and psychedelia but I enjoyed it, so I went back and bought the already released Siamese Dream as well.
From 1993, every year was taken up until with a new Pumpkins release. Pisces Iscariot was a rather fine collection of B-Sides and rarities. Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness was the first triple vinyl album I had ever bought. The bonus for us vinyl buyers was that the release had two tracks that were not available anywhere else. That made up fro the fact that I missed out on the bonus single that had been included on the Pisces Iscariot album. I managed to pick up a copy of the Siamese Singles vinyl box set, which was a bit of an indulgent purchase considering I was at University at the time. This included some fine B-Sides not available anywhere else at the time. Then there was another indulgent purchase with the Aeroplane Flies High box set which the first time I had bought any of the bands work on CD. Even though there were a few duff tracks on here ( I think I have managed to get all the way through the Pistachio Medley just the once), it showed there was still gold to be found if looked hard enough. 1997 was a quiet year for releases with only one single coming out, The End is the Beginning is the End from the Batman and Robin film. However, the year was not quiet on the recording front. James Iha recorded his first solo album and the Pumpkins prepared their Adore album. Adore was a real departure from what went before and even though it was not as popular as their previous albums, it did receive critical praise and I liked the new direction the band seemed to be taking. What was curious about the vinyl edition was that it was released in mono. It would take until 2014 and the deluxe edition that I would hear the album in stereo. They would start the new decade with the Machina album, which would also see the end of the original incarnation of the band. The following decade would see a reformation (of sorts) and in the 2010’s, an extensive reissue programme that was meant to encompass all of the albums from their initial phase. As of October 2020, Machina has yet to feature in this programme.
With the Smashing Pumpkins, it would seem that most of the websites that look at lost records go for a reconstruction of the Machina album, seeing as the second part is relatively easy to find due to Billy Corgan himself allowing it be downloaded for free across the internet. Was it available on his website from the turn of the century? I cannot remember but It would not surprise me if it was as Corgan was actually quite generous with rare or unreleased Pumpkins material at the time. The Squire Archive has a number of CD-Rs of material culled from that site. Unfortunately he stopped being so generous a long time ago. Most of these downloads were from the early days of the band, with a lot of it being sessions conducted by the band before it had a record deal. Some of these songs made it on the bonus discs during on the reissues from 2011 onwards but not all of them. What I thought I would do is to produce a discography for the band from the pre-Gish era as if they had produced not only an album, but singles and an EP. What I did not want to do was double up on material so none of these songs appeared on Gish or Pisces Iscariot.
The band was formed in 1988 when Billy Corgan met James Iha whilst the latter was working in a record shop. Soon afterwards, D’arcy Wretzky was recruited on bass and they played a few shows backed by a drum machine. However, after one show at the Cabaret Metro, the owner told them he would only book them again if they had a real drummer. It was at this point that that Jimmy Chamberlain was drafted in after being recommenced by a friend of Corgans’. His recruitment changed the sound of the band immensely as Chamberlain was quite a powerful player, which allowed the rest of the band to, in the words of Corgan “rock harder than we could ever have imagined”.
Corgan had recorded a few songs using equipment in his father’s home studio but in late 1988, they were ready to record some material for an album, which was quite a commitment considering they did not have a record contract. The band had played a number of gigs and had made the decision that they should put all of their earnings towards recording. Through word of mouth they found out about Mark Ignoffo who was a recording studio in the basement of his parents house. The band recorded a number of songs, three of which (I Am One, Daydream and Rhinoceros) would end up on Gish but only after they had been re-recorded. These sessions would be used as the basis for a number of demo tapes that the band would use to either secure gigs or to solicit record labels. Two songs would be used on a compilation called ‘Light Into Dark’ and these were My Dahlia and Sun. They would also contribute tracks to other compilations albums before Gish was released as well as signing with Sub Pop. It was with the release of the ‘My Dahlia’ single that caused enough interest in the record industry for a number of labels to show some interest in them. However, the band decided to sign with Caroline, a subsidiary of Virgin Records.
So, what are we left to play with to make this first LP that never was. I thought I would keep the two single A-Sides that they released prior to signing with Caroline in their original versions. Both of these songs would be re-recorded for Gish. The original B-Side for I Am One is also the same. La Dolly Vita and Honey Spider would be used elsewhere so I used a cover on the flip instead. The Pumpkins didn’t do many covers that were released, but those they did tended to be on the B-Sides of singles. One was Cinnamon Girl which was originally by Neil Young. I was quite surprised to find that Jackie Blue was not a Pumpkins song, but was by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. I suspect that Billy Corgan would have only wanted his own songs or co-writes with second guitar players James Iha on there. However, I did not feel that any of the other songs I tried to replace it with fitted with the flow of the record.
The album itself is made up of songs that made up one of the demo tapes the band shopped around in 1989. It was re-produced for the Pisces Iscariot deluxe edition from 2012. Jackie Blue had been released on the previously mentioned ‘Light Into Dark’. Two of the songs come from the downloads Billy Corgan made available all those years ago. C’Mon and Honey Spider, which may well be the same as the version found on the B-Side of the Tritessa 12” single, but I do not have one of those in the collection so I have not been able to confirm this. There is also a song called Psychodelic which would also see the light of day on an early demo tape which has yet to see a re-release. It is known to the Pumpkins fans as the ‘Moon Demo Tape’. Lastly, there is Cinder Open, which sounded really good as an opening song, but a bit on the long side. I therefore edited it down to two minutes and used the remainder of the song to finish this collection off. Overall, this is a pretty good album.
However, I did have a few songs left over that I felt were too good to ignore but there wasn’t enough for another album, so these could have been released as a special 12 inch single. Seven songs would have been good value for money as well. The majority of these songs came from the downloads Corgan had put on his webpage as well as some of the other songs from the ‘Moon Demo Tape’. There is La Dolly Vita, the missing Tritessa B-Side and Smiley, which was a Gish era demo, but it was not used on the album so it could have found a home for itself here. It is a shame that when the deluxe editions came out that these songs were not on those records. There was certainly room for them on the Gish as this was an album from the last days of the vinyl era and was only 46 minutes long.
For the album cover, I used the same image that was used on 2001’s Greatest Hits compilation. I called it ‘End’ because of not only the road sign that the band are standing in front of, but I thought it would be a bit of a Billy Corgan thing to do to call their first album by a name that sounds like it should be the last. The Vanilla artwork is a recoloured version of their logo from the Siamese Dream era, but I could not find anything else that I liked that had not been used somewhere else before. The band had not quite found their feet at tis time, but this would have been a good introduction of the band if they had secured a record record before they actually did.
Side A
Cinder Open (Edited to 2:00) – Pisces Iscariot (Deluxe Edition)
Blood Records was created by the same people that brought us the subscription vinyl service, Flying Vinyl (you can hear the two podcasts we produced about them by following the links below). Where as Flying Vinyl deals with the joys of the single, Blood Records is all about the 12”, with their release schedule already including LPs and EPs. These releases are exclusive to the site and are for the most part, hand numbered. The quicker you are to order, the lower the number you will receive. They tend to be signed by the people involved as well as coming on all sorts of wonderful shades of vinyl. There have even been a number of LPs pressed on what can only be described as a zoetrope picture disc. These do have to be seen to be believed.
For this months Record Store Day (RSD), I have decided to produce a sampler disc, in the style of the classics such as ‘Nice Enough To Eat’ and ‘El Pea’ that were released by Island Records in the late 60s and early 70s. This sampler covers the period between 2018 and 2019. In that time, Blood Records released ten records but it is impossible to give a complete picture of the label as some of the LPs released were various artists affairs. The songs that have been selected from those albums has just been a case of picking one that I liked as well as fitting into the time limitations fo the format.
The sleeve artwork was taken from the Blood Records Facebook account and is one of the earlier logos with the dates covered by this compilation added.
A second volume of songs from the late 60s US Acid Rock (sort of) scene. A few artists from the first volume make another appearance here as well as some well known faces that did not. There are also some obscure artists like Michelle proving that much like the UK psych scene, there was so much good music coming out at the time that some of it disappeared through the cracks. Enjoy.
Disc 1
Codine Blues – The Charlatans
Rag Mama Rag – The Band
Let’s Work Together – Canned Heat
Combination Of The Two – Big Brother & The Holding Company
Omaha – Moby Grape
Superbird – Country Joe & The Fish
Live & Let Live – Love
Dark Star – The Grateful Dead
Sister Of Mercy – Leonard Cohen
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 – Bob Dylan
Lemonade Kid – Kak
Red Balloon – Tim Hardin
Think Twice – Salvation
Domesday – Stained Glass
Guess Things Happen That Way – Terry Manning
The Pusher – Hoyt Axton
Free Up – The Surprise Package
Doodle – Skip Spence
Disc 2
Mercedes Benz – Janis Joplin
Evil Ways – Santana
Time Was – Canned Heat
Roll With It – The Steve Miller Band
California Earthquake – Cass Elliott
Electric Saiilor – Kak
8:05 – Moby Grape
Old Man – Love
Lie To Me – Kaleidoscope
Light Your Windows – Quicksilver Messenger Service
As much as I like Psychedelic music, my knowledge of the scene from the USA is not as good as it is for other countries from around the world. The brand of Psych from the US sometimes is lumped under the title of Acid Rock, which generally means that songs have heavy, distorted guitars with extended jams and lyrics full of drug references, either blatant or subtle. However, like most labels of music, it is pretty meaningless.
A lot of the groups and singers on this compilation either came out of the Garage Rock or Folk Rock scenes. Those bands that developed from Garage Rock into the Psych era took with them the distorted guitar sound and sound effects, which is major contrast from British Psych which took its cues from childhood imagery and the Music Hall Tradition. As time went on, the guitars became heavier and would eventually evolve into heavy rock and metal.
For this compilation, I looked at using music from the golden age of what could be considered Acid Rock music, which is arguably between 1966 and 1970. Not all of these artists are rockers, with the likes of Joni Mitchell and Time Rose making an appearance. What I was going for here was the feel of the US in the late 60s and I hope that I achieved this. Enjoy.
Disc 1
The Fish Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag – Country Joe & The Fish
Spirit In The Sky – Norman Greenbaum
Going Up The Country – Canned Heat
Hey Grandma – Moby Grape
Alabama Bound – The Charlatans
Night In The City – Joni Mitchell
Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was in) – Kenny Rodgers & The First Edition
For What Its Worth – Buffalo Springfield
That’s It For The Other One (Edit) – The Grateful Dead*
Good Vibrations – The Beach Boys
The Weight – The Band
The Pusher – Steppenwolf
The Red Telephone – Love
Karmic Dream Sequence #1 – The Millennium
Mr Skin – Spirit
In A Gadda-Da-Vidda – Iron Butterfly
*Edited at 6:26
Disc 2
Wooden Ships – Crosby, Stills & Nash
The Golden Road (To Ultimate Devotion) – The Grateful Dead
Underdog – Sly & The Family Stone
Do You Follow Me – The United States Of America
Down on Me (Live) – Big Brother & The Holding Company
Morning Dew – Tim Rose
Magic Carpet Rode – Steppenwolf
Two Days ‘Till Tomorrow – The Beau Brummels
The Crystal Ship – The Doors
Sugar Man – Rodriquez
1982-A – Sons Of Champlin
Up & Down – The Serpent Power
Volunteers – Jefferson Airplane
Fool (Single Version) – Blue Cheer
How Can I Miss You When You Won’t Go Away – Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
Bryte ’N’ Clear Day – Kak
Bummer In The Summer – Love
Murder In The Heart For The Judge – Moby Grape
Five To One – The Doors
Sure ‘Nuff ’N Yes I Do – Captain Beefheart & HIs Magic Band
Oh Fleetwood Mac. If there had been one of those American mini series (that seemed to be on the TV regularly when I was kid) about this band, it would have gone on for a year. The band have been so many musicians (well, guitar players really), different line ups and morphed from blues purists to purveyors of soft rock that it has been difficult to keep up.
My first introduction to the band was ‘Rumours’, the multi million selling album from 1977 that means that no-one in the UK can listen to the songs ‘Chains’ without thinking that motor racing is about to come on the television. My next memory was of the band was the album ‘Tango In The Night’ which came out ten years afterwards and even though not up to the sales and standard of ‘Rumours’ was still a pretty good album. Their 1988 ‘Greatest Hits’ record (the one with the green sleeve) was one of the first CDs I ever bought but this dealt with the soft rock period from 1975 up until that time. This was the period of time where I was first getting into looking into band histories as well as buying my own records and this included my first tentative steps into the world of second hand record shops. Fleetwood Mac were the first band where actively went out to buy all of their records.
What I found when starting to look for the Mac back catalogue was lots of album where there were hairy guys on the cover and no women in the band. Was this a fake Fleetwood Mac (there actually was one of these in the 70s) or a time in the bands history I knew nothing about. As it was, the latter was the correct answer. This hairy bloke band were the group that had produced ‘Albatross’, still the only Mac single to be a number 1 hit in the UK. I had heard of that but I didn’t really put two and two together and didn’t realise these were the same band. I found out that this earlier incarnation was a blues band, and as I was listening to a goo deal of that style of music at the time, I thought I would give them a go. My first purchase of what is known as the Peter Green era was a double LP from the Castle Group called the Collection. It dealt with their records from their time on the Blue Horizon and Immediate record labels. I was instantly hooked. Great guitar playing from Peter Green and if like some humour or Elmore James riffs, you will like the contributions from the other guitar player in this early line up, Jeremy Spencer.
I then made my way through all of the early albums and didn’t buy any of the more famous 70s and 80s albums for a good number of years. With a limited budget, the blues was winning out in the race of my pounds. I then got to ‘Then Play On’, their third album and the first with third guitar player Danny Kirwan. This was a development of the sound. It still had a blues base but it was moving on from the twelve bars. It was also lacking in any Jeremy Spencer songs. He was given an opportunity to record his songs on an EP that would have come with the LP, but this would remain unreleased until the 1990s. This era would end with Peter Green leaving and the band losing their fan base for the next five years. This second era will be dealt with the next CD compilation.
This first Fleetwood Mac era has had numerous compilations and box sets, but it has been poorly served by reissues. They are a bit of a mess, especially when they left the Blue Horizon label and signed with Reprise/Warner Brothers. The ‘Complete Blue Horizon Sessions’ covered the first two albums and contains, supposedly, the entire recording output on that label. It is a good place to start of you can find a copy as it is over twenty years old now. ‘Then Play On’ has suffered from multiple different variations and when it was eventually given a deluxe edition in 2013, it was a bit short of bonus tracks.
If you can find copies of the compilations ‘Show-Biz Blues’ and ‘The Vaudeville Years’ you will hear how much they had left in the can. These compilations have not been readily available down the years and this era continues to be poorly served. In 2019 there was a live compilation of ‘recently’ discovered tapes which was bit lacking in the documentation stakes. The record also included songs that were labeled as demos but I believe that these are actually BBC sessions that did not make the ‘Live at the BBC’ in the 1990s. Someone really needs to make an effort to sorting out this period in the bands history in the same way in which the classic Buckingham-Nicks lineup were compiled over the last few years. The music from this era is great and considering at the time Fleetwood Mac were outselling The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in the UK, it is a shame that this period is not as well known as it should be.
Disc 1
Hellhound On My Trail
I Believe My Time Ain’t Long
The World Keep On Turning
Black Magic Woman
My Baby’s Good To Me
I Loved Another Woman
Allow me One More Show
Mean Old Fireman
Can’t Afford to Do It
Shake Your Moneymaker
Love That Woman
Love That Burns
Rollin’ Man
My Heart Beat Like A Hammer (Take 2)
Need Your Love Tonight
I’m Coming Home To Stay (1st Album Outtake)
Lazy Poker Blues
Doctor Brown
Watch Out
Stop Messin’ Around
My Baby’s Sweeter
Rambling Pony No.2
Need Your Love So Bad
A Fool no More
No Place To Go
Disc 2
Long Grey Mare
Baby Please Set A Date
Blues With A Feeling
Mean Mistreatin’ Mama
Can’t Believe You Wanna Leave
Looking For Somebody
Trying So Hard To Forget
Sandy Mary
Only You
Tallahasse Lassie
Homework
Early Morning Come
That’s Wrong
Got To Move
Heavenly
When I See My Baby
I Can’t Hold Out
Coming Home
(That’s What) I Want To Know
Worried Dream
Jumping At Shadows
Leaving Town Blues
You’re So Evil (1st Album Outtake)
Disc 3
Intro
Coming Your Way
Closing My Eyes
Show-Biz Blues
My Dream
Although The Sun Is Shining
Like Crying
Something Inside Of Me (Take 1)
Tell Me From The Start
Like It This Way
One Sunny Day
Rattlesnake Shake
Oh Well (Part 1)
Oh Well (Part 2)
Albatross
Man Of The World (Single Version)
Someone’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight
(Watch Out For Yourself) Mr Jones
Mighty Cold
Love It Seems
Without You
Before The Beginning
The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)
Farewell
This playlist is dedicated to the memory of Peter Green who passed away recently. That news, as well as the death of Danny Kirwan back in 2018 shut the door on any hope of the blue based line up of Fleetwood Mac reformingto play some gigs. All that is left is the great music which these two fine guitar players left us with.
These play lists could not be reproduced with one or more songs not being available on Spotify.
Fleetwood Mac – The Collection Vol.1 Disc 1Fleetwood Mac – The Collection Vol.1 Disc 2Fleetwood Mac – The Collection Vol.1 Disc 3
Here is the second volume of The Beatles Collection I put together. Disc 1 uses songs that were recorded around the time of the ‘White Album’, using some demos, singles and outtakes to create a one CD version. It would seem that my choices were pretty consistent as only one song that was used on the A Doll’s House post did not make the cut here, and that would be Savoy Truffle (http://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/the-beatles-a-dolls-house/). There are lot more George Harrison songs on this compilation, showing the improvement he had made as a songwriter at this time. What these discs show; if proof were needed, is just how prolific they were at that time.
The Beatles are one of the few bands where I feel they improved with age. The songs got better as they went along, and when I pull out one of their records to play, they tend to be from Revolver onwards. Rarely do I go for one of the earlier LPs. The songs are still good but as a cohesive whole, those earlier records just don’t cut it for me. That is most probably why the early material covers one CD whereas the songs from Revolver onwards cover three. Each to their own I suppose. Not using any covers most probably helped though.
Disc 2 covers the sessions for Let It Be and Abbey Road. I was quite surprised when going back over this, how many of the mixes from Let It Be…Naked I used. I would have felt that the original Phil Spector produced versions would have been ingrained into my brain that I would have gone with those regardless. The whole of Side 2 of Abbey Road was used (except for Her Majesty) as this was a perfect way of completing this compilation.
Disc 1
Back In The USSR
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is Warm Gun
Martha My Dear
Lady Madonna
Hey Bulldog
I’m So Tired
Blackbird
Piggies
Mother Nature’s Son
Not Guilty
Yer Blues
Julia
Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me & My Monkey
Sexy Sadie
Cry Baby Cry
Across The Universe (Wildlife Version)
Revolution 1
Long, Long, Long
Hey Jude
Junk (Demo)
Disc 2
One After 909
Two Of Us
Come Together
Something
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer
Oh! Darling
Get Back
I’ve Got A Feeling
Revolution
Don’t Let Me Down
All Things Must Pass (Demo)
Let It Be
I Want You (She’s So Heavy)
Here Comes The Sun
Because
You Never Give Me Your Money
Sun King
Mean Mr. Mustard
Polythene Pam
She Came in Through The Bathroom Window
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End
The front cover is taken from the compilation 1967-1970 and shows the band looking down from the stairwell of the now demolished London headquarters of EMI in Manchester House, London. This was a re-creation of the shot used on the 1962-1966 compilation and it was planned to be used on the front cover for their Get Back LP but as that album did not come up, it was repurposed here.
This was compiled before the release of the deluxe editions, so the Anthology 3 version of Not Guilty was used. The full length version of this song can be used as there would still be enough room to still fit into the playing time of one CD.
This month, I will only be posting Beatles specific playlists. Having completed a couple of what-if Beatles compilations over the past few months, I thought it was time to look at some playlists I put together a few years back. So much has been written down the years about the band that nothing I could write here would add anything new, so the notes for this collection will be brief. The Beatles are without doubt one of the most influential bands of all time and they were a band that I spent a lot of my childhood listening to. My father had bought the singles, EP and album collections home when they came out in the early 80s and I played them, a lot. I look forward to each new release, but after the Let It Be anniversary in 2020, what else will be released? Well quite a lot (if you know where to look) but it is whether they can actually agree to release it or not.
This first volume covers the time period from 1963 to 1967 and it brings into sharp focus how much the music changed within those four years. It is also clear how much the band were influenced by what was around them as they developed their songwriting craft. Genres that come and go are pop, rock n roll, folk rock, folk and psychedelia, and I am sure that I have missed one or two off from this list.
In this first volume, you may noticed an almost complete lack of George Harrison songs. Only Taxman has made the cut and that is purely down to personal preferences. I used The Beatles in Mono boxed set to compile this compilation because these are the mixes The Beatles approved of. I also decided against using any of the covers that the band performed on their records because Lennon & McCartney were producing classic songs, so there was just enough room to fit their songs onto a standard length CD. There was no need to include any songs they did not write themselves. Maybe I’ll do a covers only album in future.
Disc 1
I Saw Her Standing There
Please Please Me
There’s A Place
All My Loving
I Won’t Be Long
I Want To Hold Your Hand
She Loves You
Can’t Buy Me Love
And I Love Her
If I Fell
A Hard Day’s Night
I Should Have Known Better
Tell Me Why
Things We Said Today
I’ll Be Back
I’m Down
Help!
I’ve Just Seen A Face
Yesterday
You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
I’ll Get You
I Feel Fine
Ticket To Ride
Day Tripper
I’m A Loser
Eight Days A Week
Girl
Michelle
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
I’ll Follow The Sun
You Won’t See Me
Every Little Thing
In My Life
Disc 2
Taxman
Drive My Car
We Can Work It Out
Nowhere Man
Paperback Writer
RainHere, There & Everywhere
ForNo One
Got To Get You Into My Life
Good Day Sunshine
And Your Bird Can Sing
I’m Only Sleeping
Elanor Rigby
She Said She Said
Strawberry Fields Forever
Penny Lane
All You Need Is Love
I Am The Walrus
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Getter Better
Fixing A Hole
She’s Leaving Home
Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite
Lovely Rita
Good Morning Good Morning
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
A Day In The Life
The front cover is taken from the compilation 1962-1966 and shows the band looking down from the stairwell in the now demolished London headquarters of EMI in Manchester House, London. Images form this photo shoot would also be used for the covers of the bands debut LP (Please, Please Me) and their 1963 EP, No. 1.
Spotify does not have the Mono mixes on its platform, so I had to compile this using the Stereo versions instead. Damn you Spotify.
There was a time when I just didn’t understand the fascination people had with The Velvet Underground. I had heard ‘a best of’ album when I was at school and I just didn’t get it. Maybe it was down to the fact that I was spending my time listening to Hendrix, Cream, Traffic, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and little else. The guitarists in those bands were some of the best that have ever lived. The guitar playing in VU was not up to their high standard. Too much noise, not enough clean notes, that sort of thing. However, three things happened to change that. First up, I heard Candy Says on a documentary about Andy Warhol and I thought that was a good song. Then, a friend at University played me Sunday Morning, the opening song on the debut album and I also thought that was good too. However, it was when I was working in a shop after leaving University that I heard the Loaded album. I really enjoyed this and could not believe it was The Velvet Underground. This was around the time when that album was released in a Deluxe Edition called The Fully Loaded edition which I snapped up and played quite a lot at the time.
This was it, until a few years later when I saw the Peel Slowly and See box set at a reduced price, so I took a punt. I was quite surprised by the first disc, which contained demos of some of the songs I had found impenetrable back in my school days. It was as though the early line up of VU were a folk band. There were multiple takes of the same songs, but with a bit of editing, I am sure these would make a good EP release for Record Store Day or equivalent (see below). I then worked my way through the entire box and I found that I enjoyed a number of the songs that in the past I would not have listened to. These include Heroin, Venus in Furs and Run, Run, Run. It was with this box set that I made my first attempt at a career overview, limiting myself to what was in the box and the Fully Loaded edition of Loaded. Like many others, songs from the Squeeze album were not considered for inclusion. It was not until the internet became a part of my life that I even knew that the band continued on for a few years after Lou Reed left.
The band can be split into two distinctive eras, the first with John Cale and the second with Doug Yule. The Cale era is definitely the more experimental, and it was due to Cale’s desire to go even further with the experimentation that led to his firing. Reed, being the principal songwriter, wanted the band to become more than just an underground act, so adopting a more commercial sound was necessary. Cale didn’t fit in with these plans, so he was out. CD1 covers the more experimental side, whereas CD2 covers the more commercial sounding material. The band did not achieve commercial success during their lifetime, but due to some notable fans (such as David Bowie), they have been an influence on those who came afterwards and the records have sold steadily ever since. It just goes to show how popular the band has become as not every band gets to have the majority of their albums re-released in multi disc box sets.
With the release of the 45th Anniversary editions of the four key albums (once again, Squeeze was not part of the reissue campaign), I decided to look again and see if the different versions of the songs including mono mixes, demos and alternative takes/mixes would improve the compilation. What you hear are the results with the different versions listed next to the title. What does surprise me is that all of the versions of these songs are available on Spotify, so both discs can be heard through that platform. The cover artwork was one I found online many moons ago so I cannot acknowledge who made it.
Disc 1
All Tomorrow’s Parties (Mono)
I’m Waiting For The Man (Mono)
Run Run Run (Sceptre Sessions Acetate)
Stephanie Says
There She Goes Again (Mono)
Femme Fetale (Mono Single Mix)
I’ll Be Your Mirror (Mono)
The Fairest Of The Seasons*
These Days*
Winter Song*
Chelsea Girls*
Heroine (Alt. Version)
Venus In Furs (Mono)
Here She Comes Now
Guess I’m Falling In Love (Live)
Sister Ray
* These songs are from Nico’s album, Chelsea Girl. When this was compiled, the sleeve notes from the 45th Anniversary Edition of The Velvet Underground & Nico album were used. Those notes suggested that the Velvet Underground played on every song of that album. This does not appear to be the case but I liked this mix of songs so I am going to keep it as it was.
Disc 2
Who Loves The Sun
Sweet Jane (Full Length Version)
Rock & Roll (Full Length Version)
Cool It Down
Lonesome Cowboy Bill
Head Held High (Alt. Mix)
Foggy Notion
Jesus (Closet Mix)
New Age (Full Length Mix)
What Goes On (Closet Mix)
I Can’t Stand It
Beginning To See The Light (Closet Mix)
Pale Blue Eyes (Closet Mix)
Candy Says (Closet Mix)
I’m Set Free
Ride Into The Sun(Demo)
Ocean
Oh! Sweet Nuthin’
Bonus EP
As mentioned above, I said that the demo’s the band recorded before the release of their first album would make a good EP, so I thought I would put it together. I listened to all of the songs and picked what I considered to be the best take. The song Prominent Men only has one take so that limited the choice with that one. It also sounds nothing like anything else that the Velvet Underground ever did, being as it sounds as though it is Lou Reed trying to be Bob Dylan, harmonica and all. These acoustic versions are not the best sonically, being as they were outside of the studio environment, but there is a certain charm about them and show what the band could have been if they had decided to be a folk trio instead of the band that they became once drummer Mo Tucker came on board.
Annoyingly (even though we should be thankful these exist at all), on each take of Venus in Furs there is some sort of background noise. Be it a car going past outside the loft apartment in which they recorded them, or the squeaking of what can only be assumed to be a chair of some sort. Luckily, this is the only song affected in this way. As these songs were demos recorded in a loft, the arrangements are different from what they would become on the debut album. The arrangement for Heroin is already in place, building the tension and releasing again. All Tomorrow’s Parties sounds like Reed is once more channelling his inner Dylan where as I’m Waiting For The Man is reminiscent of a pre World War 2 blues record, with slide guitar accompaniment (and a spoken version of the lyrics, courtesy of John Cale by the sounds of it).
The artwork for this EP uses a logo found on line over the picture of the tape box that was used as the cover to the CD box in the version of the Peel Slowly and See compilation I bought all those years ago. I assume that it was the same box that contained the tape on which the songs were recorded. The songs are all on Spotify but have not been edited down into the individual takes. I have supplied the take and the time it starts.
Venus In Furs (Demo) Take 3 – 10:24-15:36
Prominent Men (Demo) Take 1
Heroin (Demo) Take 5 – 8:33-13:31
I’m Waiting For The Man (Demo) – 5:20-9:49
Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (Demo) Take 12 – 9:50-15:30
All Tomorrow’s Parties (Demo) Take 6 – 9:48-12:13
Even though these are demos, this EP would clock in at an impressive 27 minutes and 52 seconds. If this were to be released on vinyl, a 12 inch record would be needed.
