El vis Cos tello - The ALTERNATE Trust

Alternate Takes, Rehearsals, Live Versions

In-studio tracks recorded July-Nov. 1980

soundboard, FM & audience recordings (sound quality: VG to Ex-) 

-none officially released-

click on image for enlarged view

ROB SEZ: By popular demand, here's another installment in the "Classic Albums Revisited" series. (By the way, I'm not going to do alternate versions of every EC album: just a handful that I like — and for which I have rare & worthy material to share.) Recently, I posted a full live version and a full alternate version of EC's classic 1982 album. This time around, it's a single compilation album with a mix of alternate takes, band rehearsals, and live versions. As I put it together, I kept marveling at the creativity of EC's melodies & lyrics and The Attractions' musical swagger. They were crazy great! A few of the alternate takes and rehearsals are admitedly not terribly different from the master takes officially released on the album. But trainspotters like me should enjoy playing "spot the difference." This album's songs were recorded at Eden Studios, Acton, London in the fall of 1980, so I'm guessing the alternate takes were recorded at the same time. The band rehearsals might've been recorded at DJM Studios, Holborn, London a few months earlier. In some cases, my secret source only offered unexciting alternates for some of these songs. When that happened, I went looking for compelling live recordings. As with the last post, most all my master sources this time were high-quality lossy files, which explains why there's no lossless version. Please enjoy.

REPERCUSSION: There is a connection, albeit indirect, between EC and The dB's. When Chris, Will, Gene and Peter got the band going in the late 1970s, they aspired to become an American version of The Attractions. A lofty goal — and one they very nearly achieved, musically speaking.

MP3@320

  

P.S. - Track 07 in this compilation bears a resemblance to the "Alternate Version" found on the bonus disc of the 2003 reissue, particulary in its tempo. Upon careful listening, however, you'll notice there's a distinctly different vocal take in the version included here.  

El vis Cos tello - The ALTERNATE Imp erial Bed room

Demos & Alternate Takes

Islington & London, England

August & November 1981

soundboard recordings (quality: VG to Ex-)

*none officially released*

click on image for enlarged view

ROB SEZ: Continuing my celebration of this amazing album's 40th anniversary, following last week's live version of the album. This week, I'm offering a companion album comprised of band demos, outtakes, and alternate takes from the album recording sessions. Think of this as the "trainspotter" version of the album for EC geeks — like me! As with the live version, I sequenced the tracks in the same order as the original album. (Once again, there's nothing here that's ever been officially released on any version of the album.) This gives you a chance to marvel at the early ideas, lyrics, and band contributions as heard in the demos. And it lets you enjoy the more evolved outtakes and alternates — recorded just a few months later when EC & The Attractions arrived at Air Studios to create their masterpiece. Wait 'til the end for the mystery bonus track: definitely worth waiting for. Comments? Yes, please.

SOURCES: Based on available information, I assume the band demos were recorded in August 1981 at Pathway Studioes in Islington, with the outtakes and alternate takes recorded in November 1981 at Air Studios in London during album sessions. Where exactly did these precious rarities come from? I won't ever say, since it would betray my sources. My music-sharing companions know who they are, and I'm forever in their debt. I received these as high-quality MP3s, which explains why there's no lossless share this time.

MP3@320

P.S. - Track 05 in this compilation bears a resemblance to the "Alternate Version" found on the bonus disc of the 2002 reissue, particulary in its tempo. Upon careful listening, however, you'll notice there's a second distinct vocal line in the version included here, plus it lacks the keyboard overdub that can be heard on the officially-released "Alternate Version." The version in this compilation is an alternate mix with an added vocal part that makes for a distinctly different version of the song.

 

El vis Cos tello - Imp erial Bed room LIVE!

various sources & venues 1981-2016

sbd, preFM, FM & audience recordings

sound quality: (Ex to VG)

-none officially released-

click on image for enlarged view

A Classis Albums Revisited project

of The dB's Repercussion Blog

ROB SEZ: The upcoming 40th anniversary of this masterpiece's release (July 2, 1982) prompted me to fulfill a 20-year dream: to re-create the album, with the same running order, using only live versions.  For the longest time, I assumed it was a fool's errand. There are numerous live recordings of the better-known album tracks. But a couple of the songs have seldom been played live. When they were, the only historical remnant was typically a crappy audience recording. Fortunately for me, there are lots of EC fans out there, posting their gems here & there. A coupla years ago, I made a key discovery: the remarkable El vis Cos tello Wiki. After stumbling onto this fabulous fan-run site, I was finally able to do proper research. Over several years' time, I began compiling candidates for this compilation, listening to hundreds of different recordings, culling them for the very best versions. Fast forward to the past several weekends, when I found some extra hours and started to bring this together. SO: how'd I do? Give it a listen and please leave a comment. (Wanna nominate a better recording you think belongs on the comp? Find the email address at the very bottom of the blog's home page, and please get in touch.) One more thing: the odd spacing & spelling for this post is my attempt to evade the record / publishing company 'bots...

Stay tuned for a related share coming next week.

HOW I CHOSE THE RECORDINGS: I wanted to find that magical intersection between great performances and great (or at least good-enough) sound quality. If a live version more or less copied the studio version on an average night, I just kept looking. I was listening for that something extra: a transcendent performance, a revelatory acoustic version, an unusual arrangement, or an Elvis & Steve duo version that laid bare the beating heart of the song. Because EC with The Attractions has never been surpassed as a live combo, I tended to give the 1980s shows (and '90s reunions) a closer listen. Most of the recordings I finally picked are EC with The Attractions, unless otherwise noted in the comment file tags. I would love to have used only soundboard, preFM or FM recordings, but they were not available in all cases. When I could find nothing of higher quality, my Plan B was to locate the best-sounding audience recordings with a strong performance. In one case, I had to punt: the only live versions of "Boy With a Problem" I considered were from a so-so performance in 1982 and a brief soundcheck run-through that same year. Neither one was good enough. So I went to my "secret source" for a previously unreleased demo version. But hey, the demo sounds like it was recorded live, so maybe it's not really cheating...

FULL DISCLOSURE: I used lossless captures of lossy sources for tracks 7 & 12 since they were the best quality recordings I could find. All the other tracks are from lossless sources.

FLAC

MP3@320