Wish I Was There
We all know the thrill of being at one of those live performances where everything just clicks. Band is hot, the lead singer is so into the performance nothing else matters. I have been to a few of those (not as many as I would like) and I have been to the dialed in performance (ZZTop at the Beacon comes to mind) as well.
My article today is NOT about being at those live performances but being in the studio when an artist just does it. No overdubbing, no reworking the song fifty ways. They just sit down and play. While the tape is going. That’s it. They may want to do it again and again but that one special version is the one they keep.
With the advent of the release of remastered albums, we have been given 14 different takes of the same song. Since most of these remastered albums are streamed to you, the record company has the ability to include those 14 takes of “Get Back” or 10 versions of “Pinball Wizard” all in the name of giving the consumer everything and more. I will try not to include any of those on today’s list but who knows, I may find a great version of “Sugar, Sugar” somewhere.
My first selection is Delaney and Bonnie’s “Never Ending Song of Love” from their Motel Shot album. The guitar sounds simple, the background singing seems to be coming from the bathroom of that motel. They wrote the song, played it, it sounded good, let’s go with it. Such a simple, fun song to listen to with a great message.
From heartfelt love to Guns and Roses’ “Used to Love Her. I know my segues stink but this is another great song that sounds like the band had a great time recording it and the lyrics almost sound like they were made up on the spot. Surely they rehearsed the song and the lyrics were definitely worked out beforehand but GNR just made it sound so natural.
An odd song from an odd band “Blister in The Sun” by The Violent Femmes would be another one to be in the studio for. It sounds so raw and the minimal amount of production makes this an easy choice. Another Violent Femmes song that could fit the bill is “Gone Daddy Gone”. Could have been recorded in someones basement at 3 am.
“Hurt” by Johnny Cash has to be included on this list. This song, recorded when Cash was 70, is a Nine Inch Nails cover that Cash loved. There are so many emotions that can be drawn from the playing of this song and apparently it was done in just three takes.
I think a lot of people will argue with me here but I personally believe that Mick Jagger has such a unique way of singing almost every Stones song pretty much any song the Stones did from 1962 till 1980 could be included but what I am looking for here is watching a band in the studio have fun, improvise and play something unique and with the Stones I will go with “Sing This All Together”. Starting with the sick sounding trumpets to the chorus, this song sounds like the band got stoned and came up with some sort of jam that sounded fun. The album is sort of like that as well. It was 1967, the band was fighting jail terms, had dozens of hangers on and there was rampant drug use. Pretty much explains the recording of Their Satanic Majesties Request.
Anyone who has ever listened to David Bromberg knows that almost every one of his songs sounds like first take. His lyrics are usually hysterical and a little funky but almost every song sounds like he plopped down in the studio and just went with whatever came out. Sure there were lyrics but I think they might just have been a guide. Hard to pick one but I dug a little deeper and came up with “The New Lee Highway Blues”. A song about the road and how much he hated touring.
Faces, like The Stones, had a sound and a lead singer,Rod Stewart, that sounded like they just went into the studio and recorded. Stewart, like Jagger, always seemed to have his own interpretation and the band just went along for the ride. A great example of that is “Cut Across Shorty”. The song was written back in 1960 by Marijohn Wilkin and Wayne Walker and was covered by Eddie Cochran first but I still think this is the best version of the song. Ronnie Wood, who pretty much played every instrument on the record and Stewart seem to be having a real good time.
My last song this time around is “Thirty Days in The Hole” by Humble Pie. From the beginning you know these guys just played the song loose. Obviously it is about drugs and the trouble the band had dealing with the abuse. Without thinking of the backstory you can surely get a sense that the band had fun recording the song.