Category: Lost Album

In October 2020, I put together a couple of Smashing Pumpkins playlists. What this lead to was playing through their back catalogue from Gish to Adore and all points in between. Apart from the stylistic differences between the records (no doubt down increased budgets and Billy Corgan’s ego), the band hit a real purple patch around the recording of the ‘Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness’ album. I say band and not just Corgan because this was the last period where they actually were a band. James Iha contributed a good number of tunes during this period, he and D’Arcy actually contributed musically (instead of having any parts they played replayed by Corgan) and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin even contributed vocals to the song ‘Farewell & Goodnight’. The band dynamic would never be the same after Chamberlin was fired from the band during the Mellon Collie tour after he and touring keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin both suffered a drugs overdose. Melvin died but Chamberlin, who had struggling with substance abuse for a fews years before this time was given his marching orders to ostensibly protect his health. 

Corgan, and the rest of the band to a lesser extent, must have lived in rehearsal rooms and the studio, laying down numerous takes of what feels like 100 tunes before settling on the 28 that made up the original ‘Mellon Collie’ album. With so many musical outtakes left in the can, the Pumpkins ended up releasing many of them at the time as B-Sides to the ‘Mellon Collie’ singles which would be collected into a box set called ‘The Aeroplane Flies High’. I remember seeing this release before hearing about it and its presentation was what drew me in to begin with. The five singles had been collected in a box that look liked the carry cases used to transport 7 inch singles in, included a handle. 

The box set also contained some exclusive recordings of cover songs which were included on the ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’ single. When I initially played it, I found it impenetrable. There were 33 songs on it and the ‘Pastichio Medley’ seemed to take an eternity to finish. Come to think of it, that first play through of this box set might be the only time I have listened to that track all the way through. This set was not something to play all the way through, but to dip a toe into once in a while to take in the delights that could be unlocked and what delights they were to behold. This is not just some collection of third rate outtakes put out to fleece the fans of their hard earned cash. It proved to be full of A-Grade material that showcased a different dimension to the band and so I come to this collection. 

Whilst playing it again recently, I wondered what this set would sound like if it was complied as an album in the style of ‘Pisces Iscariot’. The band’s record label had had a go themselves at this by releasing a 12 track promo album from the box set back in 1996, but when playing the track in that order did not do the parent release justice. I thought that following the template of ‘Pisces Iscariot’ would allow for more songs as that contained 14 tracks. What I didn’t release until putting this compilation together was how long ‘Pisces Iscariot’ was, clocking in 57 minutes. That must have been a strain on the LP version, which as far as I can tell was not edited down. 

My version of ‘The Aeroplane Flies High’ clocks in at 51 minutes but is still based on the LP format. Therefore, both sides should match up in terms of side length, because back in the day, you had to take into consideration the cassette buying fans. Like ‘Pisces Iscariot’, there are 14 songs on the record, one written by James Iha (and includes guest vocals from Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt), a bonus 7 inch single (for those lucky enough to get hold of an early copy) and two cover versions. The biggest difference between this and ‘Pisces Iscariot’ is that the bonus single contain the cover versions.

This version does include one song that was released on the LP version of ‘Mellon Collie’ but as this only ever released in the UK back in 1996 and in very limited numbers, this would have been new to most listeners. 

What was evident from listening back to the deluxe editions of ‘Mellon Collie’ and ‘The Aeroplane Flies High’ is that Billy Corgan had great musical ideas to burn. If this album had been released instead of the box set, this would have been seen as more than just a spiritual successor to ‘Pisces Iscariot’ and been as big a hit as the box set had been (well, in the USA anyway). 

Side A

1. Blank
2. Transformer
3. Set The Ray To Jerry
4. Marquis In Spades
5. The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)
6. Medellia Of The Grey Skies

Side B

1. …Said Sadly
2. Mouths Of Babes
3. Cherry
4. Jupiter’s Lament
5. Meladori Magpie
6. Pennies
7. The Last Song
8. Tonite Reprise

Bonus 7” Single

1. Clones (We’re All)
2. You’re All I’ve Got Tonight

The front cover has been adapted from The Aeroplane Flies High Promo CD release.

By the time Led Zeppelin’s forth album came out in November of 1971, they were well on their way to becoming one of the biggest bands in the world. The band had released four albums in three years since 1969 and during the recording of those albums, some fully formed songs were left in the can. There was talk about putting out their fourth album as a double, or even as a set of four EP’s. This plan was ditched though and fans had to wait until 1973 for their fifth album, ‘Houses of the Holy; to come out. A gap of a year between albums was not unheard of at this point, but was still rare. 

In April of 1972,  the band moved to Mick Jagger’s home, Stargroves, to record their next LP. Hiring the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, they set to work. They also had to find the time to rehearse for the live shows that took place in Australasia, North America, Japan and the UK. So as to not to lose momentum, what if the band’s management thought that a stop gap album of outtakes would keep the band in the public consciousness, and also find a home for the material the band had been stockpiling*. With the release of the Led Zeppelin box sets in the 1990s and the deluxe edition in the second decade of this century, this task has been made considerably easier. 

Looking back at the first album, there was ‘Sugar Mama’. Credited, when it was eventually released, to Page and Plant, this was an old blues standard given the Led Zep treatment. ‘Baby Come On Home’ is also pulled from those first album session tapes. Another song credited to Page and Plant, but was based on a song of the same title written by the legendary Bert Burns so he received a co-writing credit as well. There were no unreleased finished songs from the second album and when looking at the deluxe edition of that album which came out in 2014, it is easy to see why. The bonus tracks on that collection are mostly backing tracks and rough mixes for the songs that were released on the parent album. The second album most probably suffered from a dearth material as they did spend a good deal of 1969 touring. It is amazing they produced anything at all that year, let alone an album with some rock classics on it as ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and ‘Heartbreaker’ on it. The rest of the album isn’t too bad either. 

After the hectic touring and recording schedule that was 1969, Page and Plant retreated to Wales to take a break and to write some new material. This lead to a more pastoral sounding album and a number of outtakes, raining from the beautiful ‘Bron-Yr-Sur’ to the reimagined blues medley of ‘Key To The Highway/Trouble in Mind’. The sessions for this album produced the only song to have been released at the time this album could have been compiled, and that is ‘Hey Hey, What Can I Do’. This was the B-Side to the ‘Immigrant Song ‘single, but as this single was not released in the UK, this album (if it had been released) would have been the first time many British fans of the band would have heard it. 

There would have been a case for putting on a couple of studio jams, and two could have been put forward. ‘Jennings Farms Blues’ (which would develop into Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp) as well as ‘St. Tristian’s Sword’. Both of these were recorded during the  Led Zeppelin III sessions. Both being unfinished run throughs meant that they do not warrant too many repeat listens. However, it could have been felt that putting them in the record as a bonus seven inch record would have made the record better value for money for the bands fans. Doing this would have made this record one of the first to put in a bonus single in this way. Led Zeppelin’s fourth album contributed the rest of the album outtakes but this would not have been enough to fill out an entire album. Another look through the archive would have meant using a song that was recorded for the BBC that had not been released before. ‘Travelling Riverside Blues’ was chosen and ‘We’re Gonna Groove’, which had been recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1970, but with some guitar overdubs and the audience noise removed.

One song that was considered for this collection and not used was ‘No Quarter’. An early version of this had been recorded at the fourth album sessions, but had been left unfinished. It would be resurrected for the ‘Houses Of The Holy’ album. 

Considering this is an album of outtakes and live tracks, this is a pretty solid collection. With ‘Houses Of The Holy’ not coming out until March 1973, this would have been a perfect stop gap for the band whilst they continued to tour and work on new material. The late summer of 1972 would have been a perfect time to release this, especially as Led Zeppelin would have just finished their North American tour and before they went to Japan and the UK in the October.

Would this album have ever been considered back in 1972? No chance. Considering it has taken the best part of 50 years for some of this material to come out, there was no way this would have come out in 1972. A shame really as I suspect there would have been a few bands back in the day who would have loved such a high quality record being released under their name. 

Side A

1. Poor Tom – Third Album Outtake – Original Released on Coda (1982)
2. Down By The Seaside – Fourth Album Outtake – Originally Released on Physical Graffiti (1975)
3. Night Flight – Fourth Album Outtake – Originally Released on Physical Graffiti (1975)
4. Baby Come on Home – First Album Outtake – Originally Released on Box Set 2 (1993)
5. Hey Hey What Can I Do – Third Album Outtake – Originally Released on the B-Side of Immigrant Song (1970)

Side B

1. Key To The Highway/Trouble In Mind – Third Album Outtake – Originally Released on Led Zeppelin III Deluxe Edition (2014)
2. We’re Gonna Groove – Recorded Live 1970 – Originally Released on Coda (1982)
3. Sugar Mama – First Album Outtake – Originally Released on CodaDeluxe Edition (2015)
4. Boogie With Stu – Fourth Album Outtake – Originally Released on Physical Graffiti (1975)
5. Travelling Riverside Blues – BBC Session – Originally released on Box Set 1 (1990)
6. Bron-Yr-Aur – Third Album Outtake – Originally Released on Physical Graffiti (1975) 

Bonus Single

1. Jennings Farm Blues – Third Album Outtake – Originally Release on Led Zeppelin III Deluxe Edition (2014)
2. St. Tristan’s Sword – Third Album Outtake – Originally Release on Led Zeppelin III Deluxe Edition (2014)

Album artwork found on Reddit can created by u/Mellow_404.

*This actual happened when the band completed the sessions for the album Physical Graffiti. They had three sides of music they wished to release and placed some outtakes on there to make up the numbers. 

In 2016, The Rolling Stones released ‘Blue & Lonesome’, their first covers LP and it was harking back to their roots as it consisted entirely of blues based music form the likes of Little Walter, Willie Dixon and Magic Sam. The album was a critical and commercial success as it made the top five in the majority of the major record buying markets. With this in mind, I was surprised that The Stones had not done this before. 

Looking back at their earliest albums where they were more covers than originals, The Stones showed their was more to they influences than the blues by covering R&B and Rock n Roll numbers. This would continue until the writing team of Jagger and Richards got into their stride just before the release of the ’Aftermath’ album. However, during those formative years they recorded a good deal of material, especially when they were touring in the USA that has not escape the vault in a legitimate sense. Considering that The Rolling Stones are one of the premier league 60s bands, it is surprising that a reissue campaign of deluxe editions or archival releases has not seen the light of day. This might have something to do with the stand off with ABKCO which is a story for another time. 

As has already been noted, Jagger and Richards were really coming together as a song writing partnership and were so happy with the songs that they had recorded in late 1965 that they wanted to rush release the sessions as an album called ‘Could You Walk On The Water’. A cover was put together using a shot taken a photoshoot at a Californian reservoir. Decca, the bands record label refused to release it but the cover would see the light of day when it was used on the compilation ‘Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass)’. Another recording sessions would lead to another batch of original songs being recorded and were used on ‘Aftermath’. 

However, what if Jagger and Richards had still not found their writing chops by late 1965, or if they decided to clear some of the songs that they had recorded so they could come out all guns blazing in 1966 as a band that could produce albums of self written material? If we look at the bands recordings up until the end of 1965, there is enough in the can to produce an album of a similar structure to what had gone before. If we also look at the UK releases up to 1965’s ‘Out Of Our Heads’, each had twelve songs so was there enough to produce a good blues/R&B style record? There was, even though I did start off with ‘I Want To Be Loved’ as the opening track which dates from 1963 as the opening song. It had been the B-Side of ‘Come On’, their first single and had not been included on a UK album release at that time. 

The A-Side of this record is very much a blues inspired affair, with a rare instrumental by the band in the form of band composition ‘Stewed & Keefed’. Side B opens with another rarity in form of a song written by Bill Wyman. As far as I can tell, he only received credit for three compositions during his time in the band (even though he would claim that he contributed to a lot more). Like the A-Side, the focus is blues with the Jagger/Richards songs showing their Chuck Berry and Chicago blues influences on their sleeves. 

As albums go, this would have not sounded out of place in the mid 60s, especially when comparing it to other Stones albums of the time. This would also have been quite a nice release for the Christmas market in 1965, especially if you consider that the bands US fans got ‘December’s Children (& Everybody’s)’. With a title that the record company did not like and with bands always moving on and not looking into their archives at this time, an album like this would not have been released in the 60s. However, it would have been a nice 60s equivalent to the ‘Blue & Lonesome’ released 50 years later. 

Side A

1. I Want To Be Loved* (Dixon) Olympic Studios, London – 10th May 1963
2. Tell Me Baby, How Many More Times (Broonzy) Chess Studios, Chicago – 10th/11th June 1964
3. Go Home, Girl (Alexander) Decca Studios, London – 16th July 1963
4. High Heeled Sneakers (Higginbotham) Chess Studios, Chicago – 10th/11th June 1964
5. Stewed & Keefed (Phelge) Chess Studios, Chicago – 10th/11th June 1964
6. Meet Me At The Bottom (Dixon) Chess Studios, Chicago –  8th November 1964

Side B

1. Goodbye Girl (Wyman) Chess Studios, Chicago –  8th November 1964
2. Don’t Lie To Me (Jagger/Richards) Regent Sound Studios, London – 12th May 1964
3. Reelin’ & Rockin’ (Berry) Chess Studios, Chicago – 11th June 1964
4. Key To The Highway (Segar) Chess Studios, Chicago –  8th November 1964
5. Looking Tired (Jagger/Richards) RCA Studios, Hollywood – 6th September 1965
6. I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (Redding/Butler) RCA Studios, Hollywood – 12th/13th May 1965 

All of these songs were unreleased up until the end of 1965 except for ‘I Want To be Loved’ which had been the B-Side of ‘Come On’, the bands first UK single. 

The front cover of the LP is taken from ‘I Design Album Covers’ website (https://idesignalbumcovers.tumblr.com).

After posting my version of what Dave Davies 60s solo album could have sounded liked, I have been playing a number of my Kinks records once more. I also replayed my version ‘The Great Lost Kinks Album’ from December 2020 (https://www.thesquirepresents.co.uk/the-kinks-the-great-lost-kinks-album-uk-version/) and felt that if this had actually been released what else Pye, the bands record label would do to make the most of The Kinks catalogue. 

In real life, Pye Records was already doing this. In 1973 they released ‘All The Good Times’ which was a four LP set including the complete ‘Lola’ and ‘Arthur’ albums, with two additional discs of deep cuts and singles. Pye didn’t stop here and it seems that they were releasing at least one Kinks compilation LP somewhere in the world throughout the 70s. Looking at the track listing, you can see that they are cash in on the bands name as there seems to be little thought in the way in which the tracks are complied.

The 70s were at least ten years too early too early for the explosion in reissues and reassessments of bands back catalogue that would occur after the advent of the CD. It would take until the turn of the century before the idea of releasing compilations directed at the collector would become a viable money maker so I would be asking a lot of the people at Pye Records in the 70s to do a compilation such as this. Unlike the previous compilation which looked exclusively at material that was rare and unreleased at the time, this LP includes all of the B-Sides that were released on Pye in the UK. 

These are in chronological order which was quite a pleasant surprise as I felt that I would have to move a few about so that the sides of the LPs would match up. Keeping them in order shows the progression the band made from their early R&B roots up until their more English centric music that they were producing by the end of their tenure on Pye. They also show that Dave Davies was beginning to stretch his writing muscle as a number of his songs start to appear.  I am sure that there wouldn’t be many musicians/bands who would have written songs of this quality, let alone put them on the B-Sides of singles. 

All mixes are mono and the A-Side of these singles is also listed. These singles are solely UK releases. The combination of songs on singles from other countries were sometime different. 

Side  1

1. I Took My Baby Home (Long Tall Sally)
2. You Do Something To Me (You Still Want Me)
3. It’s All Right (You Really Got Me)
4. I Gotta Move (All Day & All Of The Night)
5. Come On Now (Tired Of Waiting For You)
6. Who’ll Be The Next In Line (Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy)
7. I Need You (Set Me Free)
8. Never Met A Girl Like You Before (See My Friends)

Side 2

1. Where Have All The Good Times Gone (‘Till The End Off The Day)
2. Sittin’ On My Sofa (Dedicated Follower Of Fashion)
3. I’m Not Like Everybody Else (Sunny Afternoon)
4. Big Black Smoke (Dead End Street)
5. Act Nice & Gentle (Waterloo Sunset)
6. Love Me ‘Till The Sun Shines (Death Of A Clown – Listed as a Dave Davies solo single but both songs were included on The Kinks’ album, ‘Something Else By The Kinks’)

Side 3

1. Mr. Pleasant (Autumn Almanac)
2. Funny Face (Suzannah’s Still Alive – Listed as a Dave Davies solo single but the B-Side appears on The Kinks’ album, ‘Something Else By The Kinks’). 
3. Polly (Wonderboy)
4. She’s Got Everything (Days)
5. There’s No Life Without Love (Lincoln County – Listed as a Dave Davies solo single, both songs would be reissued on the 1998 CD reissue of The Kinks’ album, ‘Something Else By The Kinks’).
6. Creeping Jean (Hold My Hand – Listed as a Dave Davies solo single, both songs would be reissued on the 2011 CD reissue of The Kinks’ album, ‘Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire’) 
7. King Kong (Plastic Man)

Side 4

1. Mindless Child Of Motherhood (Drivin’)
2. This Man He Weeps Tonight (Shangri-La)
3. Mr. Churchill Says (Victoria)
4. Berkeley Mews (Lola)
5. Rats (Apeman)
6. Moments (God’s Children)

The sleeve of this compilation was adapted from the back cover of the Death Do Us Part EP released in 2016

With Dave Davies playing some gigs tonight just up the road from me, I thought it was time to look at an album that could have been.

The Kinks have had a long career, but in terms of unreleased albums, there is not a lot to choose from. There was ‘Four More Respected Gentlemen’ which was compiled by the the bands American Record label purely for the US market. There was also the twelve song version of ‘The Village Green Preservation Society’ album that did come out in certain European markets. There was even talk of that album being released as a double and The Reconstructor has done a sterling job putting that together over at their site http://the-reconstructor.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-kinks-village-green-preservation.html.

However, one that does get a lot of mention is the lost album by Dave Davies. Before 1967, Dave Davies had written songs which had either been album tracks or related to single B-Sides. However, Pye Records saw potential in releasing a Dave Davies song as a solo single so they pulled ‘Death of a Clown’ from the ‘Something Else by the Kinks’ album and it reached number 3 in the UK charts. Sensing that there could be money to made, Pye set Davies the task of having an album ready to be released in either 1968 or 1969. A second single in the form of ‘Susannah’s Still Alive’ came out late in 1967 and reached number 20 in the UK chart so the album release date was pushed back to see how the next single would fare. That would be ‘Lincoln County’ which failed to dent the charts. ‘Hold My Hand’ was released in January 1969 but this also failed to make any inroads into the charts so the solo album was dropped with some of the songs being used as B-Sides to Kinks singles. Dave Davies himself has said that even though he liked some of the songs he produced, his heart was not fully in the project so his lack of interest also helped to kill off the project. 

What if those two later singles had been more successful, and if Davies had been more committed to the project. Enough material was recorded to fill up an album. The release of the ‘Hidden Treasures’ in 2011 testifies to that. With this what-if, I was looking to present a cohesive album that would have been released in the early months of 1969. That means that neither of the singles from 1967 would be used on it. ‘Death of a Clown’ had already been released on a Kinks album and ‘Susannah’s Still Alive’ would have sounded out of date by that time. We would also have to assume that none of the songs would have been released as Kinks B-Sides*. 

If the album had come out, it would have been at a time when bands were either becoming more heavy (Led Zeppelin) or getting more rootsy, especially after they had digested The Band’s ‘Music From Big Pink’. Davies’ album would have seemed as though it was from a different age and would most probably been his equivalent of ‘The Village Green Preservation Society’ and been appreciated after the event. The album though was not released but at least we can now appreciate the music that it would have contained. 

Side A

1. Mindless Child Of Motherhood
2. Lincoln County
3. Hold My Hand
4. Thee’s No Life Without Love
5. Do You Wish To Be A Man?
6. Are Your Ready

Side B

1. Creeping Jean
2. Crying
3. This Man He Weeps Tonight
4. Groovy Movies
5. Mr. Shoemaker’s Daughter
6. Mr. Reporter (Alt. Mix)

*I have complied this compilation using stereo mixes only. By 1969, few albums were released in mono. Mono mixes tended to be saved for single releases because AM radio was still the main format in which broadcasters would transmit pop music, especially in the UK at that time. 

The from cover was adapted from the LP, ‘The Album That Never Was’ that was an early attempt compile a solo Dave Davies record from this 60s sessions. That album was originally released in 1987.

I suppose that it was only a matter of time before I had a crack at this. ‘Smile’ by The Beach Boys is the the Holy Grail of unreleased records. The whole things started with the release of the ‘Good Vibrations’ single. Sounding like nothing that had been before, and since, ‘Good Vibrations’ was made up of sections edited together to make a whole. Essentially what we got was a pocket symphony lasting just over three and a half minutes. 

This was a complete departure musically with the lyrics reflecting the burgeoning psychedelic movement. Brian Wilson’s approach was justified as it was a top ten single in most of the major record buying markets, and went to number 1 in the USA and UK. Emboldened by the success of the single, Wilson looked to make an album using the same modular approach as ‘Good Vibrations’. Over a ten month period, sessions for ‘Smile’ would continue before collapsing for a myriad of reasons. These included:

The band (who were not involved in the majority of the Smile sessions in a musical way since Wilson used the legendary Wrecking Crew of top notch sessions musicians to interpret his vision) were confused by this new direction. For the early sessions, they had been away on tour and were unaware of Wilson was up to in the studio. 

Brian Wilson was gradually becoming more unstable during the recording sessions. This became apparent during the recording of the song ‘Fire’ when Wilson felt that the music had caused conflagrations in the area around the studio. This increased stability and paranoia may have increased due to his drug intact.

The band decided to take out a lawsuit against their record label for the non payment of royalties. Even if the album had been ready to go in mid 1967, it is unlikely that it would have been released at that time until the lawsuit was settled. With the music scene in the 60s never sticking to one genre too long, a delayed ‘Smile’ may well have been out of place musically and that would have effected sales.  

The fact that the method Brian Wilson was using to put this album together was taxing at best, and near impossible in reality. With all of the music committed to tape, the only way to fit all of the sections together was by cutting and splicing the material together. Wilson had also spent so much time listening to the music, he could not longer see where the project was going as he couldn’t make up his mind what sections were worth using and where they would fit together. 

These were not the only reasons why this album was not finished but it could be argued that these were the core. The Smile album has hung like a weight around the neck of the bands ever since the sessions collapsed in 1967. A version of ‘Heroes & Villains’ was released as a single, but did not match the success of ‘Good Vibrations’. Wilson felt that ‘Heroes & Villains’ would take the band away from the girls and surf music songs that they had been known for. It also ended Wilson’ self imposed need to compete with The Beatles. The failure of that single was taken to heart by Wilson and he slowly distance himself from the creative process. 

‘Smile’ was never finished but that did not stop The Beach Boys from raiding the archive to include songs form the project to fill out that gaps left by Brian Wilson’s lack of creativity. ‘Cabin Essence’ and ‘Our Prayer’ would both appear on the ’20/20’ album. Sound effects from ‘Workshop’ would be included as the coda to the ’20/20’ version of ‘Do It Again’ ‘Surf’s Up’ would become the title track of their 1971 album with Carl Wilson recording the lead vocal that Brian was either unwilling or unable to record (due to the damage to his voice from smoking and drug habit). This version would also include the ‘Child Is The Father To The Man’ vocals included in the coda, which was included by Carl. ‘Mama Says’ from ‘Wild Honey’ was based on a section from the song ‘Vega-Tables’ and a part for the bridge if ‘Little Bird’ from the ‘Friends’ album also has a nod to the ‘Smile’ project in the form of the brass sound that was ultimately used.

Still ‘Smile’ refused to go away. When the band negotiated a contract with Warner Brothers Records in 1969, it was stipulated that they needed to provide a complete ‘Smile’ by 1973. Even though Carl Wilson said that the release was imitate, ‘Smile’ still didn’t appear. In the late 70s, the idea of releasing the sessions as a series of records, but this and a similar idea that was put forward in the early 80s came to nothing. It would take until 1993 and the ‘Good Vibrations: 30 Years of The Beach Boys’ box set for the first officially sanctioned release of ‘Smile’ material. At the same time, the sessions were becoming widely bootlegged, especially when CD replaced vinyl as the format of choice for the listener. It would take until 2004 for something resemble Smile to come out. 

After the success of taking ‘Pet Sounds’ out on the road, Wilson was persuaded to go back to ‘Smile’ and a series of live concerts were performed at the Royal Festival Hall in London in 2003. An album followed in 2004, which did not include any of the original sessions and with original lyrical contributor Van Dyke Parks coming on board to finish off the words that had been left unsaid in the 60s. The concerts were a huge success and I was lucky enough to see it on opening night. The album was Wilson’s most successful solo work to that date. This in turn lead to the release of 2011s ‘The Smile Sessions’ where a version of ‘Smile was presented using the 2004 release as a template. It also include a number of sessions as well as a comprehensive guide to the recording sessions. The release was a success and won the Grammy for best Historical Album.

So why produce my own version? The great things about ‘Smile’ is that because it was never finished, nor a running order set out until 2004, it is easy to make your own. Using the 2011 mix as a guide and only including material from the box set, I split the music into two sections. Section 1 is labels ‘Heroes & Villains’ as the riff used for that song crops up in a good number of the tunes included here. This finishes with Cabin Essence. Section 2 is The Elements. This includes songs that reference each of the four elements; earth (‘Vega-Tables’), water (‘Cool, Cool Water’), air (‘Wind Chimes’) and fire (Mrs O’Leary’s Cow’). Apart from the fire element, these songs did not make up Brian Wilson’s proposed song cycle for this suite, but like so much of ‘Smile’ he did not record all of the pieces so I have just utilised some of the material for my own ends. As a bonus song, I have included the double sided ‘Heroes & Villains’ single that was included in the 2011 box set. 

A number of these songs were never destined for the original ‘Smile’ record, but as they were all on the 2011 box set, they were fair game as far as I was concerned. This is also a rare compilation for me as I did not look to make the music fit to the playing time of a vinyl record. This was designed to utilise the expanded playing time of a CD. Enjoy. 

1. You’re Welcome
2. The Heroes & Villains Suite
3. Barnyard
4. My Only Sunshine (The Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine)
5. Wonderful
6. Wonderful (Version 3)/ Child Is The Father Of Man
7. Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock)/Love To Say Dada Pt.1
8. He Gives Speeches
9. I’m In Great Shape
10. Cabin Essence
11. Our Prayer
12. Good Vibrations
13. Holidays
14. Wind Chines
15. The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow)
16. I Wanna Be Around/Workshop
17. Vega-tables
18. Love To Say Dada Pt.2
19. Look (Song For Children)
20. Cool, Cool Water
21. You’re With Me Tonight
22. Surf’s Up
23. Good Vibrations (Reprise)
24. Heroes & Villains (Part 1)
25. Heroes & Villains (Part 2)

For the cover artwork, I decided against using the sleeve that was produced back in 1967, but instead went for a fan version. This was produced by Dillon Carson and I did need to do a little bit of editing on it as his track listing did not match my own. I also added in the Capitol Records logo. More of his work can be found on his website: https://www.dilloncarson.com.

He is also responsible for responsible for the cover artwork on the 2021 Beach Boys box set, ‘Feel Flows: The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971’.

Dana Gillespie has had an interesting career. She was once the British junior water-skying champion, appeared in the West End in musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar, was cast in a number of films and recorded numerous albums since her first was released in 1968. That album was ‘Foolish Seasons’. It was recorded with a number of famous session players such as Big Jim Sullivan and Herbie Flowers as well as John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page before they formed Led Zeppelin. The album was only released in the USA at the time and became a bit of a collectors item. It was finally released in the UK including two previously unreleased songs and new cover artwork for Record Store Day in April 2022. However, this LP was not Gillespies first time on vinyl. 

She has started her recording career in 1965 by releasing ‘Thank You Boy’. This was the first of three singles she released on Pye Records, each of whom contained a cover but the B-Sides were all written, or at least co-written by Gillespie herself. Not bad for someone who was 15 years old when their first single came out. None of the singles troubled the charts but as far as I can tell, they have not been compiled in one place before. To complement the re-release of ‘Foolish Seasons’ on the last Record Store Day, I thought it would nice to follow that up with a compilation of all of Gillespies’ Pye Singles. 

Side A

1. Thank You Baby
2. You’re A Heartbroken Man
3. Donna Donna

Side B

1. It’s No Use Saying If
2. Pay You Back With Interest
3. Adam Can You Beat That

I am not be the first person to come up with the concept of looking at the worst recordings from an artists back catalogue. I believe that the first was the infamous bootleg, ‘Elvis’ Greatest Shit’ which was released in 1982 showcasing some of the worst recordings from the King’s career. This is also not the first time I have looked at some of the worst recordings of The Beach Boys. ‘Volume 1’ in this series was posted back in November of 2021. This collection was not only inspired by the aforementioned fake Elvis album, but a Beach Boys bootleg called ‘Endless Bummer, The Very Worst of The Beach Boys’. As I said back in November of last year, it sure does live up to its title. There is a drunk Carl Wilson trying to make his way through ‘Good Vibrations’, Mike Love making a quick buck on some adverts, a Spanish language version of their massive mid 80s hit, ‘Kokomo’ as well Brian Wilson’s father berating him in the recoding studio. However, all of these recording have not been released commercially as far as I can tell, and it is unlikely that they ever will be. 

In these collections, I look at songs that the band officially released and in this case, they all come from their albums. This collection looks at the period between 1967 and 1979. This is a much wider span of years than ‘Volume 1’, but that is down to a number of factors. 

The group became more of a band after the collapse of the ‘Smile’ sessions. Each member contributed songs, and therefore the work load that had once sat on Brian Wilson’s shoulders has now been distributed around a lot more evenly. The release schedule of the albums was a lot more spread out. Where as between 1962 and 1967, the band released 13 studio and one live album. Between 1968 and 1973, they released one new studio album a year. There was then a break of three years before releasing a record a year between 1976 and 1980. 

That period between 1968 and 1973 could be seen as a real purple patch for the band. The albums always contained some excellent material and this was their most consistent period. None of the albums is a classic but as a whole, they are a lot more constant than the period before ‘Pet Sounds’. The amount of filler is dramatically reduced. Like Dylan though, they seemed to leave a lot of A-Grade material in the archive. Thankfully, this has been making its way into the world via bootlegs but more recently archive releases by the band. 

The three year gap between records during the period 1973 and 1976 derailed the band somewhat. A compilation was released called ‘Endless Summer’ which contained some of their most popular songs from the sixties. The compilation sold millions and their manager told the band to start playing some of this material in their sets. The band obliged and with this rise in popularity, they became one of the must see live bands of the mid 1970’s. Brian Wilson meanwhile had taken the death of his father badly and retreated into drug addiction which took him out of action for about two and half years. The knock on effect of both of these events was that The Beach Boys became more of an oldies act. 

What followed were a series of underwhelming albums which has pretty much been the way of The Beach Boys ever since. Instead of setting the trends, they were now following them, trying to stay relevant. This will become more apparent in ‘Volume 3’. So what goodies as it were are served up in they second helping?

Side A

1. A Day In The Life Of A Tree (Surf’s Up)
2. I’d Love Just Once To See You (Wild Honey)
3. Transcendental Meditation (Friends)
4. Take A Load Off Your Feet (Surf’s Up)
5. Johnny Carson (Love You)
6. Solar System (Love You)
7. I Wanna Pick You Up (Love You)

Side B

1. TM Song (15 Big Ones)
2. Match Point Of Your Love (M.I.U. Album) 
3. Some Of Your Love (Keepin’ The Summer Alive)
4. Hey Little Tomboy (M.I.U. Album)
5. Sumahama (L.A. (Light Album))
6. Shortening’ Bread (L.A. (Light Album)

A Day In The Life Of A Tree – Written from the point of view of a tree and how pollution was slowly killing it. Very much ahead of its time, but according to Al Jardine, it was so depressing that they conned their manager Jack Riley into singing it. Riley may well have been a good manager, but a singer he was not. 

I’d Love Just Once To See You – not a terrible tune by any stretch of the imagination, but it is the lyrics that are the problem here. Something that will come up time and again on this compilation. It is a song about a mundane day but with a little bit at the very end that would have been funny to a very young person, but not for everyone else. Once you know the payoff, it does’t warrant to many repeat listens. 

Transcendental Meditation – I thought that meditation was all about being relaxed. Well, this does not make me relaxed. The brass instruments jar against the noise the rest of the musicians are making and the lyrics sound like they are being sung purposefully badly. A weak effort on an otherwise pretty good album. 

Take A Load Off Your Feet – Who needs a song that tells you how to look after your feet? Well, Al Jardine thought we did. Compared to what was also recorded during the sessions for the ‘Surf’s Up’ that was left in the archive, this was a weak effort. It might have been fun to make but a good song this is not. 

Johnny Carson – Johnny Carson was best known as a talk show host, but mostly in the United States. Anyone not living or at least visiting the USA between 1962 and 1992 when the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson was airing would not have had any idea who this guy was, and why there was a tribute song to him on a Beach Boys album. When the man himself was asked about the song, he said “It was not a work of art”. 

Solar System – Brian Wilson has written some of the greatest pieces of music of all time, but even thought the man himself says he is proud of this effort, this is just a song about stars and planets. The lyrics also sound a bit lazy. “If Mars had life on it, I might find my wife on it”. Oh dear. 

I Wanna Pick You Up – Bring Wilson said this was about a girl/woman (it is unclear which) who is too big to pick up. Is this song about song about an infant even? The lyrics state “pat, pat, pat on her butt, butt”. If it isn’t an infant, then what the hell are these lyrics trying to tell us? 

TM Song – Starting off with a fake argument (the band tried this track on ‘Cassius’ Love v ‘Sonny’ Wilson’ contained on ‘Volume 1’), this is another song about Transcendental Meditation. Still not the most relaxing of listens. 

Match Point Of Your Love – The tune is pretty good, but the lyrics are absolutely terrible. How many tennis metaphors can be made in a song? Too many in this songs case. 

Some Of Your Love – Judging by the lyrics, this sounds as though it was written about a girl in school. the age of the girl is not revealed but by this point in their lives, The Beach Boys were all pushing 40 years of age. Not creepy at all then.

Hey Little Tomboy – In these times of gender fluidity, I’m surprised that there hasn’t been some complaints about this song. Being it is a bit obscure might have helped. The songs is about trying to stop a girl being a tomboy and start being more feminine so the boys would like her. The fact that the songs narrator is Mike Love and tells the tomboy to sit on his lap whilst he is thinking about all of the changes he sees for her could be the most unsettling thing The Beach Boys ever recorded. Remember, this is the band that recorded a song written by Charles Manson. 

When Girls Get Together – Originally recorded for the ‘Sunflower’ album, ten years earlier, this song details that all women seem to talk about are the men in their lives. They don’t have time to waste on what the weather is or that they can’t solve a mystery. Another lyric that has not stood the test of time. 

Shortening’ Bread – Brian Wilson was fixated with recording this song. This is a traditional song and Wilson had the band record numerous versions of this song. In fact, he played it so often that he caused Iggy Pop to proclaim him nuts after subjecting Mr Pop to one of his numerous renditions, that went on and on and on etc. Only one version has been released. In future, we might get a whole album dedicated just to Brian Wilson’s recordings of this song. I do hope not. 

Ding Dang – At under a minute, this must be one of the shortest Beach Boys song. Written by Wilson and Roger McGuinn of The Byrds one night when the former had visited the latter to acquire some amphetamines. Wilson obsessed over this song as well, recording numerous versions but ultimately the one that came out was the same as the version McGuinn and Wilson worked on a few years before. 

I was tempted by a number of songs from ‘Smiley Smile’, especially ‘Little Pad’ which starts off with The Beach Boys obviously stoned, but the rest of the track is pretty good. Shame they didn’t edit out the start. 

After a little break whilst I looked at the mono masters of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, we finish the month looking once again at the work of Curt Boettcher and the band he produced his masterpiece with, The Millennium. This seven piece band included a number of musicians that Boettcher had worked with on previous projects. Guitarist/singers Lee Mallory and Sandy Salisbury had been a member of The Ballroom. Drummer Ron Edger in The GoldeBriars. Their ‘Begin’ album is one of the few rediscovered albums that actually lives up to the hype. Is is a great record. Columbia records invested an estimated $100,000 into the LP, making it the most expensive record recorded up to that point. You can hear when’re the money went. The production is superb. 

As good as it was, the album and singles did not sell and only came to the attention of most record buyers years later. Now, as with The Ballroom recordings, The Millennium produced a number of songs after the ‘Begin’ sessions finished with ‘Just About The Same’ being put forward as a potential single release. It did not come out due to the commercial failure of the ‘Begin’ album and the fact that none of the singles charted. These additional recordings, including a number of demos have be released on a series of compilation albums since the late 1990’s. 

Looking over the ‘Magic Time’ compilation and ‘The Millennium At Last’, there were a number of songs listed under The Millennium name and I wanted to see if there was enough material for a second album. After playing through them, I found that I had so many that I could put together an LP as well as a number of singles. The production is nowhere were as lush or sophisticated as ‘Begin’, but that is understandable as many of these songs were demos or basic backing tracks that are waiting for additional instrumentation. 

The Millennium did not get the chance to finish this record but no one seems to know why. Some people claim others were dropped by the label, they just decided to split (keeping together a seven piece band cannot be easy) or say that Boettcher himself was fired and the rest of the band decided to call it a day. Whatever the reason, by the end of 1969 The Millennium was over and their one artefact was all but forgotten until being rediscovered in the 1990s. Luckily for fans of Sunshine Pop, the band left enough music for possible what-if second album projects such as this. 

Side 1

1. Come To Me Baby
2. I Just Don’t Know How To Say Goodbye
3. Can You See
4. Suspended Animation
5. Dying With You
6. Share With Me
7. Little Lost & Found

Side 2

1. Together In The End
2. Baby, It’s Real
3. A Younger Me
4. Midnight Sun
5. Sunshine Girl
6. Magic Island
7. I Can Still See Your Face

Singles

1. Just About The Same
2. Blight

1. Good People
2. How Much I Love You

1. Navajo Girl
2. Sometime Or Another

1. Will You Ever See Me
2. The Blue Marble

The cover for this compilation is from the Poptones compilation of the same name with the Columbia logo added.

This compilation could not be reproduced due to more than one song not being available on Spotify.

On 12th May 1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience released their debut album, ‘Are You Experienced’. American Hendrix had been brought to the UK by ex-Animals bass player, Chas Chandler, who had seen the potential the guitar player. Chandler recruited band members Mitch Mitchel and Noel Redding and the group started performing live gigs. It was through his performances that the great and the good of the UK music scene watch him perform. By the end of 1966, their debut single, a cover of ‘Hey Joe’ was released. The single crashed into the top ten of the UK singles charts and the band went into the studio to record an album. 

‘Are You Experienced’ featured a diverse number of styles with rock, R&B, traditional blues and even a science fiction inspired song called ‘Third Stone From The Sun’. The album peaked at number two in the UK, only being kept off the top spot by ‘Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band’ by The Beatles. Number 2 is still pretty good considering there was a lot of competition in 1967.

Hendrixs’ homeland seemed to be immune to his charms until the band performed at the Monterey Pop Festival. Performing a literally inflammatory set which included string fire to his guitar, Hendrix went from being a no one to someone promotors wanted to book. The Experience played gigs with Big Brother & The Holding Company as well as the Jefferson Airplane. They even went on tour with The Monkeys, but as the audiences of the two band were at polar opposite’s to one another, this arrangement only lasted six shows. The story goes that The Monks requested the Experience join them on tour because they were fans of Hendrix. Chandler said he had engineered this to get the group some publicity. Whatever the truth, these six shows must have been something to see just for the sheer contrast of the groups. 

The band returned to the studio and the more experimental ‘Axis: Bold as Love’. This was released in December 1967. Using more new studio effects such as phasing where the sound revolves around the listener, ‘Axis’ paved the way for what was to come next in the masterpiece that is ‘Electric Ladyland’. If any artist was born to master the stereo format, Hendrix was it. This was still the time when mono mixes were the ones artists would spend the time on as the majority of the record buying public would only have players with one speaker. This was also before FM radio so if you heard a song on the wireless, you would have only heard it in mono anyway. 

With ‘Axis’, Hendrix was showing what an album could sound like if time was taken on the stereo mix but as was the trend at the time, these first two albums were released in mono as well as the singles. In celebration of the 55th Anniversary of the release of ‘Are You Experienced’, here is a complete collection (as far as I know) of the mono mixes released by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. This includes the first two albums and all off the single mixes. It also includes some rare mono mixes as well. These include a number of songs recorded for ‘Electric Ladyland’ that sneaked out in mono, even if the parent album in its entreaty have not. On Disc 1, I have included the single mixes of “Electric Ladyland’ songs, most of which were mixed for DJ’s so they could be played on the radio. Disc 2 includes all of the songs from the Uruguayan version of ‘Electric Ladyland’. This was more of a highlights release as it was only one disc, but it was released in mono. Was this just a fold down of the stereo or dedicated mixes. Unfortunately, my ears are not tuned enough to tell the difference. The same configuration of tracks was released in mono in Brazil as well but I have not been able to track down a version of this one. 

I am surprised that Experience Hendrix, the company set up by the Hendrix family to manage his name, likeness and music have done something like this themselves, considering the amount of material they have put out down the years, some of which can be best described as scraping the barrel. The nearest we got was when the first two albums were re-released in 2017, but these were on vinyl only. 

Disc 1

1. Foxy Lady
2. Manic Depression
3. Red House
4. Can You See Me?
5. Love Or Confusion
6. I Don’t Live Today
7. May This Be Love
8. Fire
9. Third Stone from The Sun
10. Remember
11. Are You Experienced
12. Hey Joe
13. Stone Free
14. Purple Haze
15. 51st Anniversary
16. The Wind Cries Mary
17. Highway Chile
18. Burning Of The Midnight Lamp
19. The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam’s Dice
20. Crosstown Traffic (DJ Promo Single Version)
21. Gypsy Eyes (DJ Promo Single Version)
22. All Along The Watchtower (DJ Promo Single Version)

Disc 2

1. EXP
2. Up From The Skies
3. Spanish Castle Magic
4. Wait Until Tomorrow
5. Ain’t No Telling
6. Little Wing
7. If 6 Was 9
8. You Got Me Floatin’
9. Castles Made Of Sand
10. She’s So Fine
11. One Rainy Wish
12. Little Miss Lover
13. Bold As Love
14. ….And The Gods Made Love
15. Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland)
16. Crosstown Traffic
17. Little Miss Strange
18. Long Hot Summer Night
19. Gypsy Eyes
20. Burning Of The Midnight Lamp
21. Still Raining, Still Dreaming
22. House Burning Down
23. All Along The Watchtower
24. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)