To finish off the month, I have put together a special Beatles What-If project. Being in lockdown allowed my imagination to wander somewhat, but I do hope that you enjoy this alternative history project of what The Beatles Anthology albums could have been.
The Long & Winding Road Vol.1
In 1995, The Beatles released their Anthology project that consisted of a TV series, albums, and a coffee table book. They had also thrown open the doors on the archives to allow unreleased studio recordings to be officially heard for the first time. The project had been running from 1970 when Neil Aspinall, future head of the Apple Company, put together a compilation of archival footage that he called The Long & Winding Road. The film was ready by 1971, but as relations between the band members were not as good as they could have been, they were not involved in the project. This film itself became a part of the archive but permission was given to use some of the footage so that Eric Idle could complete his Rutles project. The project was resurrected in 1980 when John Lennon said that he would be getting back together with the other Beatles for a reunion concert and that it would be used as the end of the Long & Winding Road film. Tragically, Lennon was killed before this could happen.
Up to this point, Beatles fans had been poorly served by archival material being released. Between 1970, when the band split up, and 1995 when the Anthology project saw the light of day, there were a couple of live albums. The Live at the Hollywood Bowl and Live! at the Star-Club In Hamburg, Germany albums, both from 1977. In 1980, EMI had asked house engineer John Barrett to listen to and catalogue The Beatles session tapes whilst he recovered from cancer treatment. This led to a multi-media event called ‘The Beatles at Abbey Road’, which included some unreleased material being heard for the first time since they had been recorded. All of the surviving Beatles attended the event and Harrison said that he was happy for his solo take of While My Guitar Gently Weeps to be released. EMI prepared an album called Sessions, but The Beatles undertook legal proceedings to prevent it coming out. All of the songs that were put forward for the Sessions album would be released on the Anthology albums.
These albums contained material that had not been released before and this took the form of some live cuts, TV appearances, demos and alternative mixes of previously released songs. What these albums showed was that there was little in the way of songs that were not used anywhere else. Most of these songs came from the early days of the band and their recordings before signing with EMI in 1962. What was also missing were any curiosities that had come out down the years, and are little known outside of the most dedicated Beatles fans.
What if the project had been released in 1980 as planned, but instead of what we got in 1995, these records were made up of some of the aforementioned curiosities, some unreleased mixes and demos. I have seen this as a continuation of my Collection of Beatles Oldies LPs, so as these would still be readily available in this alternative timeline, none of the songs included on those collections are included here. These albums would be released three single LPs and would have a cover photo close to the period when the music was recorded. That is why Pete Best is included on the sleeve for Vol.1 as Ringo Starr does not play on many of the songs on that record. All of the sleeves are based on the U.S. version of the Rarities album that was released in 1980.
I have tried to show where these songs can be found as a number of them have been released officially down the years, but some are still in the archive (or on bootlegs, if you know where to look). There is a gap in these collection between 1963 and 1966, mostly down to the fact that the best archival recordings from that period had already been used on the first Collections of Beatles Oldies LP. I would hope that The Beatles in this timeline would see fit not to double up on material to give their fans the best value for money compilations they could.
Side A
That’ll Be The Day – The Quarrymen – Demo
In Spite Of All Danger – The Quarrymen – Demo
Hallelujah, I Love Her So – Home Demo
You’ll Be Mine Home – Demo
Cayenne – Home Demo
My Bonnie – With Tony Sheridan
Ain’t She Sweet – With Tony Sheridan
Cry For A Shadow – With Tony Sheridan
‘Till There Was You – Decca Demo
Like Dreamers Do – Decca Demo
Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 would be released on the Anthology 1 album (1995).
Track 6 was originally released as a single, but the band was credited as The Beat Brothers (1961)
Track 7 was originally released as a single (1964)
Track 8 was originally released on the ‘Mister Twist’ EP (1962)
Track 9 is currently unreleased.
Track 10 would be released on the Anthology 1 album (1995).
Side B
Take Good Care Of My Baby – Decca Demo
The Sheik Of Araby – Decca Demo
Love Of The Love – Decca Demo
Crying, Waiting, Hopping – Decca Demo
Three Cool Cats – Decca Demo
Hello Little Girl – Decca Demo
Besame Mucho – EMI Demo (Pete Best on Drums)
Love Me Do – EMI Demo (Pete Best on Drums)
Please Please Me – Andy White on Drums
Bad To Me – Home Demo
I’m In Love – Home Demo
Tracks 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9 would be released on the Anthology 1 album (1995).
Tracks 1, 3 & 4 are currently unreleased.
Tracks 10 & 11 would be released on the The Beatles Bootleg Recordings (2013)
The Long & Winding Road Vol.2
Side A
A Beginning (Take 4)/Don’t Pass me By (Take 7) – Studio Recording
Child Of Nature – Esher Demo
Step Inside Love – Studio Jam
Los Paranoias – Studio Jam
Circles – Esher Demo
Junk – Esher Demo
Can You Take Me Back (Take 1) – Studio Recording
Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 8 would be released on the ‘The Beatles – 50th Anniversary Box Set’.
Track 7 would be released on the Anthology 3 album.
Side B
It’s All Too Much – Full Length Version
What’s The New Mary Jane – Studio Outtake
The Inner Light – Stereo Mix
Tomorrow Never Knows – Matrix XEX 606-1 – Mono
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) – U.S. 8-Track Stereo Mix
Inner Grove Sgt Pepper’s
Track 1 is currently unreleased.
Track 2 would be released on Anthology 3 (1996).
Track 3 would be released on The Beatles EP Collection (1981)
Track 4 was released on the first pressing of the Revolver LP. When ‘Revolver’ was initially mixed, a different master for ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ was sent off to be pressed. The mix is known as Remix 11. Although subtle, it is different to the standard Remix 8 which was ultimately to replace it. The story goes that each group member was given the first copies from the production line and John Lennon went off to listen to it. But, it turned out that he was unhappy with the mix or that the wrong one had been used and he informed George Martin. Production was then stopped as the new masters were cut and the pressing plates were replaced. First pressings have XEX 606-1 whereas the standard press has XEX 606-2 and beyond (www.thebeatles-collection.com). This version has not been made available since.
Track 5 was released on the 8-Track version of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band (1967) The 8 track edition of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band features a longer edit of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise), created to fill more of the tape and “even out” the recording sides. At about 1:15, where Paul’s “Woo!” is heard, the previous 15 seconds are replayed and that “Woo!” is heard again before the song completes (www.aboutthebeatles.com).
Track 6 was released on the initial UK pressing of the Sgt Pepper album (1967). Later pressings, especially in the USA did not include this track.
The Long & Winding Road Vol.3
Side A
Come Together – Brazilian Mono Mix
Teddy Boy – Get Back – 1st Version
Dig It – Get Back – 1st Version
Something – Inc. Coda Jam
The Ballad Of John & Yoko – NZ Censored Edition
Track 1 was released in Brazil (1970). Both Abbey Road and Let it Be were released in Mono in Brazil. They were not dedicated Mono mixes though, but a fold down of the Stereo one.
Tracks 2, 3, & 4 are currently unreleased. Tracks 2 & 3 were the original versions of songs that would be released later as the Let It Be album. Track 4 includes an extended piano jam that an was exorcised from the final version.
Track 5 was made specifically for New Zealand radio with references to Christ edited out. This version has not been made commercially available.
Side B
Come & Get It – Studio Demo
Old Brown Shoe – Australian Mono Single Mix
Don’t Let Me Down – Get Back – 1st Version
Watching Rainbows (Edit) – Demo
All Things Must Pass – Studio Demo
Goodbye – Home Demo
Get Back (Coda) – Get Back – 1st Version
Tracks 1 & 6 would be released on Abbey Road 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (2019)
Track 2 was released in Australia (1969). It is not a dedicated Mono mix, but is a fold down of the Stereo.
Tracks 3, 4 & 7 are currently unreleased. Tracks 3 & 7 were versions of songs that would be released later as the Let It Be album. Track 4 is a songwriting jam from the Let It Be sessions.
Track 5 would be released on Anthology 3 (1996).
A Spotify playlist could not be created for these collections due to the amount of songs that have still not been officially released.
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.
As I posted a compilation of The Velvet Underground earlier this month, I thought I would continue by looking at the lost forth album the band had been recording in 1969. This seems to be a staple of many of the what-if album websites but the beauty of these things is just that. It is a what-if album. It was never released and so anyone can take the songs and speculate as much as they like about the running order would be, cover imagery etc. The story of this album has also been told many times but here is a summery.
By the time the band had come to record their third album founding member John Cale had been fired, they had moved to MGM from Verve (an MGM subsidiary) and the sound had changed. This was down to the removal of Cale, who seemed intent to drive the band towards a more drone, noise infused future. Reed on the other hand, seemed to want to achieve some sort of commercial success with the band and having Cale in the band would have stopped this from happening. The fact that the band did not achieve much success during their life time is neither here nor there. They have definitely sold a lot more units since. Multi-instrumentalist Doug Yule was brought in as Cale’s replacement and he was there in time to record the third album. This album had few of the rough edges that had been present when Cale was in the band, and the subject matter of the songs had become more intimate. With the album recorded by the end of 1968, the band hit the road opening a good deal of 1969 playing live.
In between live dates, the band was also in the studio laying down fourteen songs that the band members do not seem to have been in agreement as to what the purpose of recording them was. Lou Reed and Maureen Tucker both said that these songs would have been the basis of the next album. Doug Yule says that these songs were professional demos and Sterling Morrison says that this was just a way of looking busy whilst they were looking to get out of their contract. Whatever the reason, these songs have been released numerous times down the years but it is the versions that were included on the 2014 Super Deluxe Edition of the ‘Velvet Underground’ album that will will form the basis of this release.
Out of the fourteen songs that were released as part of the compilation, two did did not make the cut. That was Rock & Roll as this came out as part of the ‘Loaded’ album and I did not want an overlap of songs. The other is I’m Sticking With You’ which sounds a though it should have been added to an album that was directed towards children or a B-Side. Out of the remaining songs, Andy’s Chest was relegated to a B-Side of whatever song was released from this album as an A-Side. Most probably an edited version of Foggy Notion, even though it no doubt would have been banned due to its lyrical content. That means there is a gap to be filled in with the running time as labels like to release albums with similar playing times on each side. Therefore I had a look at other unreleased material and there was a demo recording of Countess From Hong Kong, Though it was a co-write between Reed and Cale, the demo dates from the second half of 1969 so would fit into the time frame of this record. This takes the album up to about 23 minutes per side, which is long for an album of the time but not unheard of.
So why didn’t the album come out? If, as Morrison says, the band were just killing time, then there was no intention of releasing it at all. However, if we go with Tucker and Reed’s version of events, then it could have been down to the fact that in 1969, MGM were in financial trouble. One of the ways of reducing this would have been to strip their artists roster of any band that were proving to be unprofitable. The Velvet Underground would have fit this category and so they were out. What MGM did not allow the band to do was to take the master tapes with them. By the time The Velvet Underground had signed with Cotillion Records, they had moved on and only a few of the songs were taken forward to what would be the ‘Loaded’ album. What this ‘lost’ album does is nicely bridge the gap between the recording of the ‘Velvet Underground’ and ‘Loaded’ albums showing the progression the band was making. As it was, these songs lay in the MGM vaults until the mid 80s when they were released along with some other outtakes from the Cale era.
Would this album have turned The Velvet Underground into a commercial group? Doubtful but Lou Reed did not abandon the songs completely as many of them would appear on his solo records throughout the 1970s’. The front cover of this collection was adapted from a gig poster that band played at the Paramount Theatre in Springfield. Unfortunately, I don’t know the date of the gig as the poster didn’t say.
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.
Back in March, I posted a what-if about Derek & The Dominos’ Layla album had been a double disc expanded edition with the best of the off cuts from the first and second album sessions, with a couple of bonus’ thrown in for good measure. Derek & The Dominos only released the one album during their short life time, but a second album did come out early 1973. This was not the fabled second studio album though, even though the tapes from the 1971 sessions had occasionally been dusted down and listened to up until 1974, when Clapton released his sophomore solo album. This was the live album ‘In Concert’. After completing the Layla seasons, the band went on a tour of the USA with support coming from Toe Fat and a relative unknown by the name of Elton John. Bobby Whitlock, the band’s keyboardist, has said that like the album sessions that preceded it, there were a good number of drugs being consumed during the tour. Elton John noted though that this did not affect their performance whilst on stage, where he would watch from the sidelines to see what they were doing, especially Whitlock.
The band played a number of shows on the 23rd and 24th October at the Fillmore East in New York City. All of these shows were recorded (supposedly without the band’s knowledge) and as it would turn out, these are the only record of the band live that is not an audience recording/bootleg. After playing the Layla album to death, I was surprised to find that there was a live album. In the pre-internet age, it was not easy to find out about artists discographies. You had to hope that your local record shop had it in stock. This album also received heavy rotation on my CD player even though I would eventually replace it, along with the Layla CD with original pressings of the vinyl. These early CDs were notorious for that lack of care and attention that record companies had taken with their back catalogues, and would release a version from whatever master tapes they had lying around. I remember the amount of hiss on some of the Cream CDs from the time had the same problem, especially when it came to Fresh Cream (nice clean sound) and Disraeli Gears (sounded like it had been recorded with Dolby on and then transferred via five tape machines to attain maximum hiss. If you listened carefully, you could hear some music in there somewhere).
What surprised me about ‘In Concert’ was the lack of Layla. Was it down to the fact that Duane Allman, so instrumental in the sessions for the parent album only joined them for a couple of shows on the tour and this was not one of them. Without that second guitar player, would the song have worked in a live setting? What was a surprise was hearing songs that were not on Layla. These included Got To Get Better In A Little While (destined to be recorded during the second album sessions) and Roll It Over (the B-side of the band’s withdrawn first single). Having only released one album, the band were reliant on playing songs from Clapton’s back catalogue including songs that he had played during his days with The Powerhouse, Cream, Blind Faith and his first solo album.
Due to the constraints of the vinyl LP, there were a number of songs that were recorded but not released. Some of these would appear later on 1988’s Crossroads boxset and 1994’s ‘Live at the Fillmore’. Having liked the ‘In Concert’ album so much, I thought it was time to put together an extended live album for the band using all of these sources. This did leave me a little short on the second CD but with the release of the 40th Anniversary boxset, there was a live bonus in the complete set of songs that the band had played on The Johnny Cash Show; the only television performance the band made. All four songs recorded for the show (even though only two were broadcast) have been included at the end as bonus tracks.
Disc 1
Why Does Love Got To Be So Bad?
Got To Get Better In A Little While
Nobody Knows You When You’re Down & Out
Roll It Over
Key To The Highway
Tell The Truth
Blues Power
Have You Ever Loved A Woman
Disc 2
Bottle Of Red Wine
Little Wing
Crossroads
Presence Of The Lord
Let It Rain
It’s Too Late (Johnny Cash Show)
Got To Get Better In A Little While (Johnny Cash Show)
Matchbox (Johnny Cash Show)
Blues Power (Johnny Cash Show)
The front cover is similar in design to the Layla Expanded Edition from March, but instead of a black background, I went for red. The photos are taken from the Live at the Fillmore front cover, with an added picture of Clapton playing to cover over the credits on the original release.
A Spotify playlist could not be produced due to one or more songs not being available on that platform.
Derek & the Dominos – The Live Collection Disc 1Derek & The Dominos – The Live Collection Disc 2
If one member of your family has found success in the music business, why not have a go yourself. Here we take a look at some of the people who have had a famous relative and have had go at making records of their own.
The Next Time You Feel Important – Freddie Lennon (Father of John Lennon)
Leaves – Murry Wilson (Father of The Beach Boys Wilson Brothers)
Deep Water (Mono Single Mix) – Grapefruit (Alexander Young, brother of Angus & Malcom from AC/DC)
Some Velvet Morning – Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood (Daughter of Frank Sinatra)
Reality – Carolyn Franklin (Sister of Aretha Franklin)
Woman – Mike McGear (Brother of Paul McCartney)
The Ballad of Bruce Lee – Robert Lee (Brother of Bruce Lee)
When I’m A Man – Simon Townshend (Brother of Pete Townshend)
If You Ever Believed – Lucy Simon (Sister of Carly Simon)
Hey, St. Peter – Flash & The Pan (George Young, brother of Angus & Malcolm from AC/DC)
Normally I would only look to share one what-if album a month because they take a bit longer to put together than the compilations I post. However, the lockdown has given me a little bit more time and this particular piece also fits in nicely with the recent posts about Bowie that went online in February and April.
Bowie did not see much in the way of success during the 60s, but he was laying down the groundwork for what would come later. He reeled a number of singles on the Vocalion Pop, Parlophone and Pye labels but none of them troubled the charts. Even with these singles behind him, he managed to secure a deal with Deram, a subsidiary of Decca Records. He released three singles and one album whilst on the label but none were chart hits, even though The Laughing Gnome made number 6 in the UK when it was re-released in 1973. The majority of these records were released in 1967, which was one of the most experimental years for music but this curious mix of music hall/ Anthony Newley style numbers fell on deaf ears. Bowie wrote a number of new songs and presented them to the label as potential singles but they were rejected effectively ending his association with Deram & Decca. However, this compilation looks at what might have happened if these songs had not been rejected and Bowie continued to be a Deram recording artist into 1968.
Even though the recording sessions for the follow-up album were meant to start in the Spring of 1968, I have taken a view that anything that was demoed in that year could be used. I have also discounted any song that was used on the 1969 ‘David Bowie’ album as well, so no Space Oddity I’m afraid. What we have here is a solid, if not spectacular album which is a little rough around the edges, but that was down to the fact that very few of these songs were actually recorded in a studio. Most are simply demos. Would these songs have been changed once Bowie brought them into the studio? Who knows, but what we have here is a rough idea of what a second Bowie on Deram album would have been like, with accompanying singles.
London, Bye, Ta, Ta – Originally this song was going to be the B-Side of the unreleased ‘In The Heat of the Morning’ single, but it sounded like a great place to start the album off and would have been wasted on the flip of a seven inch. It looks at how London is changing and has become something of a strange young town to the song’s narrator.
Mother Grey – The influence of Ray Davies on Bowie’s early songwriting was evident on his debut album. With the release of these 1967/8 demos, you can see that Bowie had still not got all of this out of his system with Mother Grey. The song covers the domestic drudgery of Mother Grey as she cleans the house, makes dinner and polishes the picture frame of the son who has moved out of the family home. Similar to Ray Davies’ ‘Two Sisters’ then.
The Reverend Raymond Brown (Attends The Garden Fete On Thatchwick Green) – This would not have sounded out of place on his debut album, seeing as it follows a cast of characters in an imaginary village. Various characters are mentioned including Rev. Brown who leads the village band during a fete whilst lusting after a local beauty and the local women gossiping about Sally who has got herself pregnant. All a bit Ray Davies.
Goodbye Threepenny Jones – An observation song from Bowie where he watches a performing artist performing a show with stories of sadness and despair. Bowie’s companion is heard laughing during these stories and then Joe is thanked for the show and asked not to come again.
Angel, Angel, Grubby Face – Would this one have made the cut if the second album sessions had gone ahead, seeing as it has a very similar melody line (in places) to London, Bye, Ta, Ta? This song looks at the hustle and bustle of city life with the relatively peacefulness of the countryside. The Village Green Preservation Society before it came out I suppose.
When I’m Five – Bowie must have thought highly of this song at the time because he not only recorded a studio version, but he also cut a version at the BBC for a radio session. This BBC version would be used as the soundtrack to the short promo film ‘Love You ‘Till Tuesday’. Is it a song for children, or just a child. Bowie sings as though he were a child and would have been this album’s ‘Laughing Gnome’.
Ching-A-Ling – For a short time in 1968, Bowie was part of a folk trio with Hermione Farthingale (his girlfriend at the time) and initially Tony Hill who was soon replaced by John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson. The only known studio recording session completed by the band was ‘Ching-A-Ling’ which producer Tony Visconti had booked without the approval of Bowie’s management as a way of getting a record contract. As it was, it didn’t. Bowie would record another demo in 1969 but that would be the last time he revisited the song.
Love All Around – A lovely Bowie melody that seems to be a love song, but some of the lyrics in the chorus are a bit hard to hear due to his enthusiastic strumming. This causes the recording to become a bit distorted in places.
The Mirror – Bowie spent time studying mime with Lindsey Kemp and this would be a source of income for him between 1967 and 1969. Kemp asked Bowie to write some songs for a show he was putting on called ‘Pierrot in Turquoise’ and this is one of those songs. The only known recording of these songs date from 1970 when the Pierrot show was broadcast on the BBC under the title of ‘The Looking Glass Murders’. These date from the time period of the second Deram Album and one of the songs, ‘Threepenny Pierrot’ was re-written to be London, Bye, Ta, Ta.
Karma Man – Bowie had been studying Buddhism since the mid 60s and this song looks at a man who sits crossed legged with all of his world possessions on him. That being his clothes and beads. Could it be Bowie commenting on capitalism or just putting forward what he had seen from his studies of Buddhism? This song looks to have taken inspiration from Syd Barrett without sounding too much like the one time Pink Floyd front man.
Love Song – When Hermione Farthingale broke up with Bowie and left Feathers, he and ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson continued to record demos and play the odd gig together. When they recorded a demo tape, it included a number of Bowie originals as well as a couple of covers. Bowie would include covers in a number of his early 70’s LPs including this song. Love Song written by Lesley Duncan; who the musicians can be heard talking about at the beginning of the song as she was a back-up singer for Dusty Springfield at that time.
Life Is A Circus – Another song from the Feathers demo tape. This was originally recorded by an obscure folk group called Djinn. Bowie may well have come across them as Djinn had asked Tony Visconti to be their producer. It would be this demo tape that secured Bowie a contract with Mercury Records.
Let Me Sleep Beside You – A blatant attempt at a hit single, and would have made a good A-side so it keeps that position here. Artists didn’t always put singles on their albums in the 1960’s. With some suggestive lyrics about a girl now being a woman, this was rejected by his label because of the song’s message. Strange as this was the label that in January 1967, had allowed The Rolling Stones to release “Let’s Spend the Night Together’. I suppose the difference being that the Stones sold a lot of records and Bowie, at this stage, had not.
Columbine – Another song from the ‘Pierrot in Turquoise’ project.
In The Heat Of The Morning – One of the songs put forward by Bowie to Dream as a potential single. This was one of the first recordings Bowie made with Tony Visconiti and this, like ‘Let Me Sleep Beside You’, was Bowie looking for a more commercial sound. Deram were not impressed though and the working relationship between the label and Bowie came to an end.
April’s Tooth Of Gold – A song detailing young people and their interesting fashion sense and the older generation not having a clue as to what is going on. The characters and language used may well have been out of date by the time of the second album sessions, so relegation to a B-Side would have been a fitting home for it. The strumming is a bit reminiscent of Autumn Almanac by The Kinks.
The release of ‘Conversation Piece’ in 2019 shows the leap that Bowie made between his two self titled albums was not as great as would first appear. With the demos opening a door on a songwriter honing his craft, would a second Dream album have allowed Bowie the development time to make that leap? Maybe, maybe not.
Some of Bowie’s earlier material can be heard on the Songs of David Bowie podcast. http://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/episode-87-the-songs-of-david-bowie/
Side 1
London, Bye, Ta Ta – 1
Mother Grey – 2
The Reverend Raymond Brown (Attends The Garden Fete On Thatchwick Green) – 2
Goodbye Threepenny Joe – 2
Angel, Angel, Grubby Face – 2
When I’m Five – 1
Side B
Ching-A-Ling – 2
Love All Around – 2
The Mirror – 3
Karma Man – 1
Love Song – 2
Life Is A Circus – 2
Singles
Let Me Sleep Beside You – 1
Columbine – 3
In The Heat Of The Morning – 1
April’s Tooth Of Gold – 3
Key
1 – Taken from David Bowie (1967) Deluxe Edition
2 – Taken from Conversation Piece
3 – Demo from Looking Glass Murders (Currently Unreleased)
The cover of this compilation is adapted from The Dream Anthology release from 1997.
Due to the still unreleased nature of some of these songs, it has not been possible to produce a Spotify playlist
