Plain Or Pan?
Johnny Marr’s Dansette Delights
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For Johnny Marr, the 7″ is king. The latest edition of Mojo has him picking his 10 essential 7″s (+ 6 8! bonus tracks). He’s even designed a CD cover as well. All you need is the music…..
Keep Searchin’ (We’ll Follow The Sun)
(Stateside B-side, 1964)
Get Off Of My Cloud
(Decca single, 1965)
Metal Guru
(T-Rex Wax Co. single, 1972)
Johnny Marr: “It’s so beautiful and commercial but slightly weird and I could not believe what I was hearing because it was so all-encompassing. It connected with something beyond my regular senses.”
4. The Isley Brothers
Behind A Painted Smile
(Tamla Motown B-side, 1969)
Johnny Marr: “Motown provided a fantastic alternative to the rock music my mates were getting into. I ventured into this place called Rare Records on John Dalton Street in Manchester, I went into the basement and I remember to this day it was like a sea of future happiness.”
5. Iggy And The Stooges
Gimme Danger
(Raw Power LP track, CBS 1973)
Johnny Marr: “I remember getting on the bus and just staring at the front cover in disbelief all the way home. I wasn’t disappointed when I played it because it sounded like I thought it would. It was mysterious, sexy, druggy, riffy and to-the-point.”
6. The Crystals
There’s No Other Like My Baby
(Philles single, 1961)
Johnny Marr: “There is an unpretentiousness to it, and compared to what was passing itself off as weird in rockland with prog music at the time this just sounded weirder to me, and it seemed to come from an odder dimension.”
7. Blondie
Hanging On The Telephone
(Chrysalis single, 1978 )
Johnny Marr: “It reminds me of going to parties and really complaining that I didn’t want to hear Peaches by The Stranglers for the eleventh time and going through record collections with all that ELO shit in them and pulling out *Parallel Lines and going, ‘Alright then, let’s listen to this very, very loud!’”
8. Bob And Marcia Young
Gifted And Black
(Harry J single, 1970)
Johnny Marr: “It was one of the records that both Morrissey and myself liked in the same way. It reminded us both of being youthful fanatics and being outside of the norm… Then, amazingly, when [New Order’s] Bernard Sumner and I started to get close we both discovered that we liked that record in the same way.”
9. The Equals
Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys
(President single, 1970)
Johnny Marr: “Some records you wear down and you wear out but this one… I remember it from being out from when I was a kid but unlike some of the other tracks I play, I don’t listen to it for that reason, I like it because it reminds me of something shared between me and my mate.”
10. The Cribs
Hey Scenesters
(Wichita single, 2005)
Johnny Marr: “A fantastic working class street rock’n’roll 45 that could only have come from a band in this country. It’s like, Move over, this is the new generation. The Jarmans are as hip as street musicians get from any generation.”
Bonus Tracks:
Paul Davidson – Midnight Rider (Tropical single, 1976)
Johnny Marr: “Aside from Keith Richards’ on Gimme Shelter, Midnight Rider contains my favourite ever guitar solo.”
Hamilton Bohannon – Disco Stomp (Dakar/Brunswick, 1975)
TV On The Radio – Wolf Like Me (4AD single, 2006)
!!!Extra Bonus Tracks!!!
Del Shannon – The Answer To Everything
Johnny Marr: “The influence of ‘The Answer to Everything’ on me when writing ‘Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want’ with The Smiths is well documented.” It is? ! ?
Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter (Guitar track from recording session)
Johnny Marr: “Keith Richards was badass. His solo on ‘Gimme Shelter’ is my favourite ever guitar solo.“
Download the entire set + artwork here.
I’ve written about Johnny Marr before. Have a read here
***Woops! Numpty Alert!
In my haste to bring you this excellent compilation, I mistakenly put the wrong TV On The Radio track on the album. Playing it in the car today I though, “Hang on! That’s not ‘Wolf Like Me’! Idiot!” But this is. So if you downloaded the .rar file previously, you’ll need it to correct the tracklisting on the compilation You can also download front and back cover artwork here (made by my good self). Ta!
Aye! Tunes! iCompiled for you
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‘Don’t Look Back’ sang Bob Dylan. And indeed Teenage Fanclub. But sometimes you’ve got to look back before you can move forwards again. 2009 starts with a bang! Plain Or Pan? is almost 2 years old and to celebrate I’ve compiled a selection of the most-loved and downloaded tracks from the blog. This is your very last chance to grab some of those nuggets of pop goodness that you may have missed first time around.
Tracklisting:
Disc 1
1. Sgt Peppers’ vocal track - The Beatles
2. Coca Cola - Jerry Lee Lewis
3. Son Of Sam acoustic – Elliott Smith
4. There She Goes promo – The La’s
5. All The Way Down beat version - The Primitives
6. Boots - Lee Hazelwood
7. Just Dropped In - The Dap Kings
8. Baby I Love You vocal track - Ronettes
9. Hey Hey What Can I Do - Led Zeppelin
10. You Really Got A Hold On Me - Small Faces
11. Your Time Is Gonna Come - Sandie Shaw
12. Mama You Been On My Mind - Rod Stewart
13. In The Heat Of The Morning - Last Shadow Puppets
14. The Loner - Supergrass
15. Down By The River - Joey Gregorash
16. Southern Man - Sylvester and the Hot Band
17. Freaky Dancin’ - Happy Mondays
18. Filthy - St Etienne
19. Gimme Shelter vocal track - Rolling Stones
20. Flume live MOKB/WEEM - Bon Iver
21. Grace - King Creosote
22. Just Like a Woman live in the studio- Jeff Buckley
Disc 2
1. Monkey Gone To Heaven vocal track - The Pixies
2. Handy Man Peel Session - Frank Black & Teenage Fanclub
3. About A Girl BBC session - Teenage Fanclub
4. Dead Leaves And Tne Dirty Ground - Nina Persson
5. Hanging On The Telephone - The Nerves
6. Down On The Street take 2 - The Stooges
7. Tradewinds – Super Furry Animals
8. Riders On The Storm outtake – The Doors
9. I Heard It Through The Grapevine vocal track - Marvin Gaye
10. Coca Cola - Ray Charles & Aretha Franklin
11. Homework – John Lee Hooker
12. Stickman version 1 - Elliott Smith
13. Snow – Trashcan Sinatras
14. Moon River full-length version - Morrissey
15. Autumn Almanac BBC session - The Kinks
16. Everybody Drop It Like It’s Hot - DJ Prince
17. 99 Problems - Jay Z/The Beatles
18. Over live in a stable- The La’s
19. Music When The Lights Go Out Legs 11 demo - The Libertines
You’ll find CD1 here, CD2 here and you’ll find the artwork here. Easy-peasy!
Psssst! I heard through the grapevine that…..
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…there were some Motown studio master tapes floating around on the internet. It took me by surprise, I must say. I mean, who’d have thought these things would ever surface? And guess what? After a bit of poking about in all the right places I found them. I have right here in my sweaty wee hands the master tapes for Marvin Gaye’s ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’. That’s right. The master tapes for Marvin Gaye’s ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’. 10 tracks of pure 60s soul. It’s no wonder the musicians who played on the track were known as the Funk Brothers, as the funk drips from every bit of bassline, every hiss of the hi-hat and every falsetto’d note from Marvin’s sweet voice. “Drums in my ear….just what I need!” he says, and off he goes….
Marvin at the BBC
As usual, download the tracks as one big file, open them up, insert them into Audacity and play God. Although how you can possibly improve on the finished article is beyond me. But you can have loads of fun trying. I particularly like the harmonising female backing singers track. Woop woop a shobeedowop! Here’s Marvin’s vocal-only track for starters. Now get the whole lot.
Not many people know, but Marvin Gaye’s version was actually the 2nd time the song was a hit. Written by Motown staffers Norman Whittfield and Barrett Strong (’Money’, ‘Papa Was a Rolling Stone’ amongst a ton of other big smash hits), it was first a hit in 1967 for Gladys Knight and the Pips. This version sounds nothing like Marvin Gaye’s. Faster and jazzier, it’s a call and response gospel-tinged belter. Think Aretha Franklin. I bet she does a great version of it somewhere. Anybody know?
Gladys and her Pips
Before Gladys and co recorded it, the writers had tried out Smokey Robinson and The Miracles doing a version. Their’s never made it outside the studio until 10 or so years ago, when an album called ‘Motown Sings Motown Treasures’ appeared. The album featured various Motown acts covering one another’s songs, with mixed results. Smokey’s version is more in keeping with Marvin’s, but is a touch faster. To be accurate, I suppose we should say that Marvin’s is more in keeping with Smokey’s, but a bit slower. It took Marvin 2 months to record his version, which is a marathon compared to how quickly records were knocked out in those days. The song was written in a key slightly too high for Gaye, a trick the producers used to ensure his voice achieved that rasp and pained sound in the high notes. The trick obviously worked – Marvin’s is of course the definitive version. Brooding, menacing and ideal music to sell jeans by. It was his first number 1 record, and Motown’s most sold single of the 60’s. It doesn’t get better than that.
More recently, Paul Weller and Amy Winehouse had a go at it. October 25th 2006, BBC Electric Proms to be more precise. It’s not bad. But not a touch on Marvin Gaye’s.
I like to think I know tons about music. Useless facts that come in handy when writing stuff like this. After finishing this post I did a search for some information about ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ and discovered this really indepth Wikipedia article about the song here. It repeats some of what you’ve just read but tells you way more. Have a look. And have fun with the remix, but remember, it can’t be bettered.
Rock Me Joe!
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“There was a guy. An underwater guy…” The Pixies are currently going through a bit of a renaissance in our house just now. I was getting fed up with all the feyness of the Fleet Foxes and their ilk (as much as I still like them) and was looking for something to blow the cobwebs away. Something loud. Actually, something quiet then LOUD. Then quiet again. Then 10 times LOUDER. You know what I mean. So I played ‘Surfer Rosa’ and everything was alright again. Then by coincidence, about an hour later I found the demos to ‘Doolittle‘ on Dimeadozen! A sign? I thought so. So I downloaded them, went back to my other Pixies albums and bootlegs and have been going Black Francis crazy ever since. In the car, on the iPod, on the good old fashioned stereo in the living room, the Pixies are everywhere. Everywhere. And they sound grrrrrrrrrreeeeeaaaaatttt!!!
Pixies ‘88
Who’d have thought anyone responding to an advert seeking musicians “into Peter, Paul & Mary and The Beatles‘ could join forces and create such an unholy tuneful racket? I have been playing a bootleg called ‘Rough Diamonds’ an awful lot. In fact, it just might be the best Pixies non-release there is. It combines all of their BBC sessions at Maida Vale (unlike the incomplete official BBC Sessions CD) with some other studio outtakes from various sources. The sound quality is Grade A excellent. You really should seek it out. While it was never my favourite Pixies track (that would be Number 13 Baby. Or Broken Face. Or Gigantic. Or River Euphrates. Or…), I have been fairly taken by these versions of ‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’
First, we have the demo version of the track that would appear on the Doolittle album. Slightly sparse and a wee bit less rocking than the released version, this version sees the band find their feet around the track. Kim Deal’s backing vocals are buried way too deep in the mix and the band sound quite restrained. By the time the band went to Maida Vale Studio 5 on 18th August 1988 (almost 20 years ago! Shite, I’m getting old), the tune had been transformed into something of a behemoth. It sounds like a ton of reverb has been chucked over the whole thing. The bass sounds fantastic and KIm’s breathy schoolgirl vocals are higher up in the mix. There’s even a wee bit of echo during the “If man is 5 then the devil is 6” bit. Frank Black/Black Francis is at his shouty best. This version goes quiet, LOUD, quiet, LOUDER. It’s a winner!
Pixies ‘08. Peter, Paul, Mary and Ringo
If this isn’t enough for you, how about this? It’s only the studio master tapes of ‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’!!!! 16 tracks of Kim, Black/Frank, David and Joseph Alberto Santiago. One complete ogg vorbis file. Open as usual in Audacity and remix away. More cello? Certainly! Loop the ‘Rock Me Joe’ bit. No bother. More reverb on the snare drum? Certainly sir. Here’s the double-tracked vocals only version. God, the internet is great, isn’t it?
Gimme Shelter? Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!
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Yes! It’s yet another of those fantastic studio master tapes that are all over the internet! It’s hard to top The Beatles Master Tapes. You might say they’ll never be topped. But this is a close second. Very close. This time it’s only THE STONES! THE ROLLING STONES! The master tapes of ‘Gimme Shelter’! Oh yes! No kidding! You may have these tracks already, cos they have appeared almost everywhere online, but I am aware that many visitors to this site come specifically to find studio gems such as these, so if you don’t have it, prepare to be dazzled. Daaaaaaaa-zzled!
A dazzled Mick. Camp? Moi?
Part 1. The History. ‘Gimme Shelter’ appeared on ‘Let It Bleed’ (the cake on the cover was made by Delia Smith, fact #1) and released in 1969. As you all know the song was the soundtrack to the end of the 60s. Rape, murder, it’s just a shot away, and all that. The Hells Angels murdered someone in the crowd at Altamont and the whole of the 60s went tits up and finished. Just like that. The decade that had started so brightly and full of hope ended (musically) on a sour note. But like I said, you all knew that.
Everyone waves bye bye to the end of the 60s
The song was written by Jagger and Richards. Jagger was getting lyrics together between takes of the film ‘Performance‘ that he was making at the time. Richards was playing about with the distinctive intro looking for a song to fit it. Et voila. Recording took place at Olympic Studios in London around February and March 1969 with Jimmy Miller producing. In one of those magical moments that occur now and again, Miller suggested getting a female vocalist to duet with Jagger. Cue Merry Clayton (incorrectly credited as Mary Clayton on the album, fact #2). Clayton’s high pitched, powerful vocal performance made the song. Her vocals are absolutely astounding.
Merry Mary Clayton
If you don’t believe me, here’s the double tracked vocal-only performance. Just Jagger and Clayton battling it out. Listen out around the 3 minute mark as her voice cracks under the pressure and Jagger whoops a celebratory “Oh yeah!”. It. Is. Astonishing. Jagger later said of the finished track, “That’s a kind of end-of-the-world song, really. It’s apocalypse.” And the vocal track certainly backs this up. And if you liked that part enough….
Keith. 27th November 1969. 15 days after I was born. Fact #3
Part 2. The Science Part. The files for these master tapes came originally (I think) from some enterprising kind soul with a Keith Richards fixation and a copy of the ‘Rock Band’ computer game. They are in ogg vorbis format, which means they cannot be played directly into Windows Media or iTunes or anything like that. But fear not. Get yourself Audacity. Install it and open it up. Open a new file from the menu, find the ‘Gimme Shelter.mogg’ file that you’ve just downloaded, double click it and by the wonders of technology, after about a minute you’ll find all 9 tracks open up simultaneously. Press ‘play’ and the whole track as you know it will start. Now let the fun begin. On the left hand side of your screen you will see the option to ‘mute‘ the track. Have fun muting the various tracks. Then click and drag across the track you want to isolate and save it as a wma file. You can make instrumental tracks for karaoke (why?) or you can make guitar-free tracks so that you can jam along. Whatcha waitin’ for?
YOU CAN BE KEITH RICHARDS FOR 4 MINUTES!!!
Me. Yesterday.
Footnote. There have been many, many covers of ‘Gimme Shelter’. Merry Clayton did one herself. I don’t have my copy handy at present or I would’ve included it in this post. Suffice to say, a future ‘Gimme Shelter Covers‘ post is almost guaranteed. From the sublime to the ridiculous, they’ve all done it. Inspiral Carpets, Hawkwind with Sam Fox, Patti Smith, Voice Of The Beehive…..prepare to be irked.
UPDATE Feb. 09
Links were deleted by internet police, but you can find the instrumental guitar tracks here.
16 Track Master Blaster
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In the early to mid 70’s Stevie Wonder was on a bit of a creative roll. In 1972 he released not 1, but 2 albums – the underrated ‘Music Of My Mind’ and it’s more well-known follow up ‘Talking Book’. In the next 2 years he released both ’Innervisions‘ and ‘Fullfillingness First Finale’ . He also happened to play most of the instruments himself! Stick that in yer big hat Jamiroquai. Back in ‘72 he was only 22 (22!) when he wrote and recorded ‘Superstition‘. Considered a throwaway, he gave it to Jeff Beck until his manager heard it, and seeing dollar signs between the grooves, he demanded Stevie keep it for himself. Jeff Beck was given another Wonder composition instead ‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers’, and the pair fell out a wee bit. Beck would eventually record and release ‘Superstition‘ a year later in 1973 on his ‘Beck Bogart & Appice’ album. I think the Eagles may have been taking notes when they were writing ‘Life In The Fast Lane’, but it’s the Stevie Wonder original on ‘Talking Book’ that does it for me every time.
Genius at work
Perhaps it’s the drum beat. Perhaps it’s the clavinet. Perhaps it’s the horns. I don’t know what it is, but put them all together and it makes me dance like the rhythmically challenged West of Scotland male that I am. I love ‘Superstition’. These 16 track master tapes have been floating around the internet for a wee while now, and given the download mania that greeted the Beatles Masters, I know you’re going to love them. They’re ripe for sampling if you’re that way inclined. Me? I just like listening to the individual parts. You can hear the trumpet player taking deep breathes at one point. It’s deconstructed funkiness. Have fun – I even made a ringtone out of the wobbly clavinet part. I just called to say I love you indeed.
Funky beyond compare
Sgt Pepper’s Lovely Hot Cross Bun
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New Links Updated January 2009!!!
Happy Easter, one and all. This post is something of a milestone, seen as it’s my 100th post. Cue trumpets, fanfares and perhaps a gold watch from my employers. Since late last year I was anticipating this post and had decided on something incredible that I would make available for download. But that’ll have to wait for another day. It was all ready to go as well, until some like-minded geeks over on the Teenage Fanclub message boards pointed me in the direction of THE BEST THING EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE INTERNET.
It’s only four of The Beatles‘ studio master tapes! I’ll say that again. It’s. Only. Four. Of. The. Beatles’. Studio. Master. Tapes. The individual 4 or so tracks that make up ‘Sgt Peppers…’, ‘She’s Leaving Home’, ‘A Day In The Life’ and ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’. Yer actual masters! In digital form! Crystal clear! It’s like Paul McCartney is singing right in front of you! Jeeez, the ‘Sgt Peppers’ backing tracks are amaaaaaazing! Here’s a quick burst of George’s stinging guitar and some Salvation Army horns. Like it? Now download the lot! (*see below) Get yourself audacity, load the tracks into it individually and get ready to do a ‘2 Many DJs’-style mash-up and impress your friends. Or, you could set up your computer, load up the tracks and pretend you’re George Martin on one of those Classic Album documentaries, pontificating over the use of the string section in ‘She’s Leaving Home’. “This is a wonderful part (slide the faders) – Paul had the idea for a string quartet – just listen out for the harp…(plink plink)…rather lovely, don’t you agree?” It’s The Beatles! Just the way you like them!
Martin and Lennon ponder how they’ll sound after you’ve had a go at the controls
How are these available? Surely the record companies could be making some money by releasing these in some sort of commercial form? That’s what I was thinking/fearing. This post may be removed quicker than Paul’s moustache, so you better act fast. The story goes that since studio tape is a wee bit fragile after time, some record companies are digitizing many of their master tapes to preserve them as best as possible. But some enterprising body has sneaked a few mixes out and leaked them onto the internet. If you look hard enough there are loads more – Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’ (a certain future post), some Eagles stuff, Nirvana, Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (yes, really!) Seek and ye shall find. It’s a wonderful world out there, it really is. This is musical porn, man. Musical porn.
‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ Studio Master Tapes
‘A Day In The Life’ Studio Master Tapes
‘She’s Leaving Home’ Studio Master Tapes
‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ Studio Master Tapes
Happy remixing!
Any links to other stuff of a similar nature gratefully accepted. Of course.
Oh, and if you’re a latecomer to these fine pages, nice to see you. More Beatles elsewhere on Plain Or Pan – take time to poke about!
