R. E. M. - Document, Reconsidered (aka The Athens Variations)

 A Classic Albums Revisited project

Document, Reconsidered

Live & studio recordings, none officially released
Soundboard & preFM sources (quality: Ex to Ex-)

An all-soundboard, all-lossless reassessment of album no. 5, with alternative versions

SAMPLE TRACK: "The One I Love" live in Athens, Aug. 19, 1987 (sbd)

ROB SEZ:  What if R. E. M. took all those adjectives they used to describe album no. 5 (noisy, angular, sparky, crunchy, etc.), kept them firmly in mind while playing the songs as if their lives depended on it, and let the fans hear the results? What if that music (much of it recorded decades ago in Athens, GA) could become a soundtrack to the discontent so many are feeling now? That's the concept that animated this project, but it was just my private pipe dream for many moons.

Fast forward to early 2025, when I gained access to a tasty haul of early 1980s-era R. E. M. 
soundboard recordings.  Among them was a pristine digital file capturing the band's brief, jaw-dropping set at the 40 Watt Club on Aug. 19, 1987 -- recorded just after completing Document with Scott Litt. As I listened, I realized my whacky idea might just have legs. The 9-song set included no less than 5 stunning versions of Document songs, performed with a kind of virtuosic fury that would certainly impress hometown friends and peers. My source also supplied me with a soundboard recording of another brief set at the 40 Watt, this one recorded Feb. 10, 1987. It had 2 additional — impressively angular & noisy — versions of songs that would appear months later on the completed album.  

Those 7 live variants, preserved in excellent audio quality and copied directly from the master analog reels, left me looking for alternative recordings of just 4 more songs from Document. The 1989 vinyl bootleg Finest Worksongs supplied 2 full-band demos, recorded at John Keane's Athens studio in February 1987. That left "King of Birds," with a couple of excellent live versions from the 1989 world tour to choose from. The last song I needed was "Strange," the Wire cover. After listening to dozens of possibilities, I couldn't source anything in good quality with a strong performance. (It didn't help that Michael never seemed to be able to remember the verses!) But then I recalled the Red Rain bootleg CD, featuring the band's live performance in Utrecht, Netherlands in 1987. Although most of the bootleg material was nabbed for Document's 25th anniversary edition bonus disc, a couple of tracks were omitted -- including "Strange."

Job done. Now it's time for you to try out my labor of love. (I suggest sampling the tracks in the Leftovers folder. You might just find something you like better than what I chose.)

By the way: all that "political stuff" Peter and Michael talked about in the late 1980s -- the comments a lot of fans didn't appreciate? Go back and read 'em. They were SPOT ON, applying as much or more today than they did in the late 1980s. "Exhuming McCarthy"? More like revivifying and cloning him. "Crazy, crazy world. Crazy, crazy times." (M. Stipe, "Fireplace")

HUMONGOUS thanks to my source in Athens, someone close to the band in the 1980s. Sincere thanks also to Colin for helpful audio consultation.

FLAC

 

MP3@320

****STAY TUNED**** There's more where this came from...

         

Peter Holsapple - 1989-01-20 - 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA (sbd)

40 Watt Club
Athens, GA
Jan. 20, 1989

soundboard recording (digital transfer from analog copy of the master reel)

PH solo show, with help from Peter Buck & Ilene Markell

01 This Is Where I Belong (The Kinks cover) 

02 Storm Warning

03 Taken

04 If Only ("new song," written in Athens) 

05 Soul Kiss 

06 You Don't Miss Your Water (Wm. Bell cover)* 

07 Lonely Is (As Lonely Does) *

08 Next to Last Waltz *

09 Second Time Around *

10 Changed the Locks (Lucinda Wms. cover) * +

11 Judy * +

12 Drip Drop (Dion cover) * +

13 Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (Aretha Franklin cover) * + 

14 Neverland (brief jump edit) * +

15 Sexual Healing (Marvin Gaye cover) *

16 Darby Hall

17 She Got Soul

Musicians:

 

Peter Holsapple - guitar, vocals

* Ilene Markell, bass
+ Peter Buck, guitar

NOTES:

My human source for this recording is someone actively involved in music in Athens in the 1980s. It's been digitally transferred from a first-generation analog copy of the master reel, recorded by the sound guy that night. When I received the source files, I applied tracking, fading, and one pass of eq.

BIG-TIME THANKS to my source, who shall remain nameless.

FLAC

 

MP3@320

GO BUY PETER'S NEW SOLO ALBUM THE FACE OF 68 on Label 51 Recordings, due any day now.

STAY TUNED. There's more where this came from...

R. E. M. + X. T. C. - One Night in Athens, GA 1981-04-24 (NEW SOUNDBOARD source)

B & L Warehouse
Athens, GA
April 24, 1981

soundboard & audience recordings (M1 soundboard source for R. E. M. set)

R. E. M. - opening set

soundboard recording (M1 - transferred from analog safety copy)

01 Radio Free Europe (fades in) 

02 Burning Down

03 Dangerous Times

04 All the Right Friends

05 Shaking Through

06 Body Count

07 Pretty Persuasion

08 (Don't Go Back to) Rockville

09 Hey Hey Nadine

10 That Beat*

11 Sitting Still

12 9-9

13 Windout

14 Gardening at Night (fades out)

 

      *live debut — as best I can tell

X T C - headline set

  

excellent audience recording (low generation source, exact lineage unknown)

01 Respectable Street

02 Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me) 

03 No Language In Our Lungs

04 Ball & Chain

05 Paper & Iron

06 Love at First Sight

07 Roads Girdle the Globe

08 Scissor Man

09 Towers of London

10 Burning with Optimism's Flames 

11 Living Through Another Cuba

12 Generals & Majors

13 This Is Pop

14 Making Plans for Nigel

15 Helicopter

16 Outside World

17 Statue of Liberty

FLAC

 

MP3@320

ROB SEZ:  Something brand new here, along with something pulled from the archive. What's new is the soundboard recording for the R. E. M. set. My human source is someone close to the band and actively involved in music in Athens in the 1980s. It's been digitally transferred from a first-generation analog copy of the master reel, recorded by the sound guy that night. This version is as close to perfect as you can get, absent the master.

According to Remtimeline, the only other known recording for the R. E. M. set is a so-so sounding audience capture that's been in general circulation since 2011. By contrast, this pristine first-generation soundboard recording represents a very significant upgrade, which I'm happy to put into general circulation. When I received the source files, they only needed tracking and fading. No eq, no compression, no jiggery pokery. The sound guy didn't hit record until a minute into set opener Radio Free Europe, and his tape apparently ran out about a minute into closing song Gardening at Night.

HUGE THANKS to my R. E. M. source, who shall remain nameless.

The X T C set comes from an excellent, low-generation audience recording, for which I am indebted to the kind souls at the now-defunct XTC4U and XTCWeeds.

There's a bonus goodie for X T C fans baked into the download. 

READ a 2018 remembrance of this show by Vanessa Briscoe Hay (of Pylon / Pylon Reenactment Society fame) at Flagpole, with quotes from Mike Mills.

PLEASE ENJOY. Still more to come.