OK, BOOMERS, it's time to talk about Elliott Smith.
I don't know about you, but I'm very late to this party, and have no excuse.
I bought "XO", one of his most accessible, and biggest sellers, at NYCD shortly after it came out, in 1998. I listened to it a few times, and thought it was good. I don't know why I didn't keep playing it.
Maybe it was the hype, which I'm allergic to, or my general distrust for singer songwriters.
My head was elsewhere, anyway.
A few years later, I downloaded his follow-up, "Figure 8", but didn't get around to converting the FLAC files or listening to it.
YouTube knows I like music related videos, so about a month ago the algorithms suggested I watch a short Elliott Smith documentary. I guess we had unfinished business.
Afterwards, I put on "XO", and listened all the way through. It knocked me out. I found "Figure 8", converted the files, and played that. It knocked me out harder. What was going on?
YouTube continued to make suggestions.
Next thing I knew, I'd ordered the rest of his catalogue, and the idea of a Weekend Mix emerged.
Since then, I've spent every day with Elliott and his music.
The most difficult part was whittling it down from six solo releases. Not a bad song anywhere.
Even the posthumous collection of outtakes, "New Moon" is up to par.
Ever since the release of "McCartney" in 1970, I've been fascinated by the idea of artists playing all the instruments, and Elliott was one of the best of them. That his music occupies the space between Big Star's "Third", and The Beatles "White Album" put him exactly in my wheelhouse.
Some sessions for "Figure 8" were recorded at Abbey Road, and "Say Yes" references both Big Star and The Beatles.
The first two albums are entirely acoustic. The next four get progressively more elaborate, and while guest musicians appear here and there, it's really all Elliott.
(Pete Thomas of The Attractions plays drums on "Wouldn't Mama Be Proud")
He was a terrific song writer, and an excellent musician, with an incredible ear for melody and arrangements.
Discography
Roman Candle (1994) Track 20
Elliott Smith (1995) 06, 14, 22
Either/Or (1997) 03,19, 21
XO (1998) 02, 07, 10, 12, 16, 18
Figure 8 (2000) 01, 04, 11, 15, 17, 24
Posthumous releases
From A Basement On A Hill (2004) 05, 08, 13, 23
New Moon (2007) 09
Not that Elliot didn't have his problems. "Either/Or" caught the attention of director Gus Van Zandt, and suddenly Elliott had music in a hit movie. "Miss Misery" received an Academy Award nomination, but he got no Oscar, thanks to Celine Dion, and "Titanic".
He didn't handle success well, and began self medicating on a grand scale.
Between 2000 and 2002 he was consuming vast quantities of hard drugs, reportedly smoking $1500 per day of heroin and crack, and wasting a lot of studio time.
He played some disastrous shows, forgetting words, and not finishing songs.
He got off the drugs, and was working on a double album when he died of self inflicted wounds on October 21, 2003. "From A Basement On The Hill" was released as a single disc.
His final performance was at Redfest, held at the University Of Utah, Salt Lake City, September 19, 2003. The last song he played was The Beatles "Long, Long, Long".
When I wrote Sal that I'd have a Weekend Mix, he said, "Looking forward to Elliott Smith, I hope it isn't all a downer."
For more information, check out wikipedia, or better yet, "heaven adores you", an excellent 2014 documentary.
8 comments:
Thank you very much for this
Elliott Smith was a supremely talented writer. I would put Figure 8 in my top 5 albums of the new millennium. I kind of think of him and Jeff Buckley together; it would have been so interesting to see how their careers would have progressed, and I doubt it would have been what people wanted. At least his catalogue hasn't been relentlessly mined, what we got from him at the time has been left alone to speak for itself. Lots of good music here.
Thank you!
Bryan
There is some truly fantastic stuff here. I have not listened to a note of Elliott Smith since the 90s, mostly because I remember not caring for it. And while some of it sounds both familiar and exactly how I do remember it, there is so much more here that I have been missing. Thanks BBJ. Great post and mix.
I'm pretty familiar with XO, which I love and less so with Figure 8, but that's about all I've listened to of his catalogue.
I am really, really looking forward to this mix.
Many thanks!
Randy
Yep, thanks BBJ, great mix! This guy was very good. His musical legacy should be known.
The 1-2 BW punch of Sal and occasionally yourself - delivering another winner. Looking forward to hearing this, especially based on your 'liner notes.'
I discovered Elliott Smith in a memorable way. Back when companies did such things (and before same company much later eliminated my job after 26+ years - but I digress), my firm sent me from Atlanta to San Fran for a techie training conference for marketing guys like me.
Took a day trip during the conference to Sausalito. Spent a memorably dreamy afternoon off the grid in, like, a kite store there. (This is the type of thing they seem to do in California)
That day at the kite store, all they played was Elliott Smith. I was in a ruminative mood anyway, and it really hit me.
Since then, I was a casual fan. But like you, I'd put it aside in recent years... so this will be a great way to get reacquainted.
p.s. weird to see how short his career actually was before suicide. Really sad.
Eyeopener as I wasn't familiar with his songs at all, thanks!
I second Eric's suggestion of giving Heatmiser's "Mic City Sons" a listen. They had started out as sort of a grunge band, but by this album both Smith's and Gust's songs progressed into little pop masterpieces. Their second album, "Cops and Speeders," also has its moments.
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