Entertainment For Lively Minds
Elliott Smith
Posted by Retro Man on 23 March 2011 - 6:08pm.
I just heard a track by Elliott Smith, "Son of Sam", it was bloody good. He's one of those artists I've never knowingly heard, always imagined him to be a depressing, doomy folkie type with an acoustic guitar (not usually my thing) but this was an uptempo corking little number and I want to investigate further.
Anyone here got any recommendations on where I should start?
Thanks
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XO
Wonderful album.
Ditto.
Figure 8.
XO and Figure 8 both great
(love the latter, though cut it down to 35 minutes and it'd be EVEN better), as are the posthumous 'From A Basement On The Hill' and 'New Moon'.
(I should probably qualify that
by pointing out I think ALL albums should be about 35 mins long.)
ditto
I love figure 8. I will have to listen to it again very soon.
Crikey, I was just reading about him
on Wikipedia...bit of a tragic story.
Either/Or
Either/Or is great too, a little less polished and a bit more lo-fi than XO and Figure 8 but there are some strong songs on it.
The three mentioned are the biggies and all excellent
Also fantastic is the posthumously released "From A Basement On The Hill" which includes this:
It is a very sad story. We lost a major talent.
Or watch
Good Will Hunting. Enjoy especially the final scene.
Figure 8 is a blinding album
one of my favorurites. I had a ticket to see him play at the Festival Hall but he cancelled due to "unforseen circumstances" so I went to see Joe Strummer instead. Both were dead within the year. Right Jonah I am
Ben Folds wrote a nice tribute to him
At his best he really was
At his best he really was something else. I'd say that either/or, xo and Figure 8 are all nigh-on perfect. But everything he did (even Heatmiser) has something going for it.
He's one of those acts whose image is slightly at odds with the actual music. You'd expect everything he did to be shambolic, lo-fi, stoner misery - and, to be fair, there is a bit of that (especially the first two albums).
But the lyrics are clever and sharp, the arrangements (even on the songs where there's just guitar) intricate and beautiful, and the tunes are proper nourishing, involving, even complex things. They made me realise how uninspired his contemporaries were. He uses lots of strange chords and the songs vere off in odd directions. That guitar part that runs through 'Son of Sam' is almost baroque. This might sound like muso twaddle but, crucially, his records don't.
Actually he's a bit like Judee Sill I suppose.
Speaking as a musician who struggles to tune a guitar (despite never taking anything stronger than a lemsip flu strength) I've never understood how someone who was, by all accounts, a fairly hapless junky managed to do such focused, layered stuff.
Also, I saw him live once. But he wasn't much cop.
agree with all this, bar the last line
Either/Or and XO are my two favourites, but they're all good.
I saw him live half a dozen or eight times and he was usually at least very good, and usually truly excellent.
Last time I saw him with a band they did a full monty cover of Don't Fear The Reaper, complete with long guitar solo and psychedelic section. You tell he was just having a laugh while confounding expectations.
Top man. Sad story.
Only got to see him once
on 2nd stage at Reading Festival which I fought my way down the front for. Was ratehr good. Was a big Beatle George fan judging by the amount of songs he covered of his live
yes indeed
I believe the last song he ever performed live was George's "Long Long Long"
fair enough
I think I caught him on an 'off' night. I've heard bootlegs that sound good, I should have qualified that he wasn't much cop that night.
You're not alone
I saw Elliott Smith a whole bunch of times, and was always disappointed. I always thought he (or, more precisely, Quasi, his backing band) butchered his songs live, clumsily losing all the grace and delicacy of the studio recordings.
to be fair...
I think I was partly lucky (in that there are plenty of stories of him nodding out on stage, or getting into a rut of starting and abandoning songs and being a bit half-arsed), and partly biased (in that I love his music so much that I would allow him too much slack).
I didn't think Quasi were that bad though, Fraser. Maybe not ideal, but not *too* shabby.
I saw him in a club a couple of days after he'd been on the Oscars performing before 40 million people or something like that? -- and thought to myself on the way over "well, there goes my little secret, the place will be packed".
Nope. About the same as usual, half full, and at least half of them talked through it, also as usual.
If exposure like that can't up your pull, what do you have to do...?
Quasi
I think it was mainly Janet Weiss I couldn't get to grips with. With Sleater-Kinney her playing seemed to work really well, but I thought she lacked the necessary lightness of touch when playing with Elliott. She came across as leaden. And I liked Quasi on their own.
indeed
When I saw him it was with Quasi. I don't know if they had a detrimental effect on his set but their (support) slot wiped the floor with him.
In fact I really ought to go and investigate them further...(nearly 15 years later that support slot pays off)
Either/Or
Is my favourite, especially 'Between the Bars' - check all the cover versions on You Tube
My favourite
I think artists are often
I think artists are often over-praised once dead but I loved his music when he was alive and nothing has changed my viewpoint. To my mind he was a really great artist who was massively under appreciated; by all accounts a bit of a mess but this never came across form his music alone. In some ways he was a bit like Judie Sill as she was a complete mess but made wonderful life affirming music. But the whole lot and you will not be disappointed
Either / Or is an excellent, classic album
and New Moon is the collection of b-sides, demos, 'lost' songs etc which I dearly love & come back to again & again. IMHO Elliott has done & could do no wrong; even his patchy, overlong final (not properly finished) last album 'From a Basement On The Hill' has songs of exquisite beauty on it, such as 'Twighlight', 'King's Crossing' & 'Pretty (Ugly Before)'.
I completely agree with Sam & Janet that he was often misrepresented as some whiny guy with a guitar but, to me, he was a fully-rounded artist who could beef up his sound with the best of 'em. His lyrics were witty & at times scathing & angry, as well as poignant, soulful & introverted. I'm so pleased to hear that someone wants to discover more of his work: here are some more recommendations for you Retro Man...
'Bottle Up & Explode' 'Wouldn't Mama Be Proud?'
'Waltz #2 (XO)' 'Go By' 'Half Right'
'Happiness' 'All Cleaned Out'
'Alameda' 'Angeles'
Seriously, I could go on & on...
Difficult to overstate the quality of his songwriting
5-star masterpieces:
"Either/Or"
"XO"
"Figure 8"
4½ stars - excellent albums
"From a Basement on the Hill"
"Elliott Smith"
4 stars - very good albums
"New Moon"
"Roman Candle"
Records below 4-star quality: none
I loved Elliott Smith's music, and the only time my writing has ever appeared in print in a proper book was when my piece on Elliott was included in the second edition of the Rough Guide to Rock. I've never worked harder to earn £25.
Saw him live twice. The first time was in a club with a stage about 6 inches high. Eliott insisted on sitting down, so no one could see him at all. But he produced a brilliant set. The second time I saw him he seemed out of sorts, distracted.
What a wonderful musical legacy he left. And what a damn shame that things ... turned out as they did.
Retro
last time I was in Fopp they had at least a trio of his albums at 3 quid a pop so if you have time get down there before the Mingle on Friday. Or LMK what yer fancy and i'll pick em up for you while I'm there
I love it when a plan comes together
I have a meeting in Covent Garden on Friday. Should be finished at 5pm. Was looking for a a diversion for an hour or so before I trooped to the pub. Fopp it is then.
Thanks DFB
I've sent you a message.
Can't remember why I bought Figure Eight.
I saw it in Our Price and I think I'd heard some bits of his stuff on Mark Radcliffe's show. Popped it on when I got home.
Son Of Sam started. It snagged me as it did Retro Man (a man with whom I share many musical preferences) and I sat and listened to the whole album. Twice. And loved it to absolute death. Still do. I've only done that with about five albums of artists I'd never heard previously. One of them was my first Matthew Sweet album, Living Things.
That's the level we're operating at, Senor Retro..
Either / Or, XO, Figure 8. As everyone says. Everyone should have those three. The rest are a bit harder going, but still worth a listen.
Thanks, I appreciate all the comments...
I'm really looking forward to hearing more now, especially as Lenny mentions he had the same effect as Matthew Sweet!
Oh, I love Elliott Smith.
I saw him live twice. Once at ULU, where he was utterly wonderful. Once at Glastonbury, where he seemed very lost. I had tickets to see him for a third time, but he died before that concert. I was distraught when I heard the news, horrific circumstances. One of life's poor, lost souls.
Echoing many on here, my favourites are Figure 8 and XO.