'First and Last and Always' studio reels

Unknown songs and demos, who wrote what, who sang what, the usual biographies, discography gubbins, photos of Eldritch with no sunglasses, etc, etc, etc, yadda, yadda, yadda....
Fodderstompf
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I racked my brain for a few weeks about the 2006 release of FALAA
and the 'A to Z of Sisters Songs' list / the track sheet to 'Wide Receiver'
in the artwork.

Robert Zombie's account of the Dave Allen talk suddenly cleared
everything up:
"At some point Eldritch decided to tip-ex out all the working titles
that were on the tapes so they had to listen to everything and
relabel it all."

First I thought the 'A to Z' list was most likely written down at the
beginning of the Strawberry sessions, just to see what songs the
band had in the pot to begin with. Allen's quote made me think it
could rather be a list written at the end of the sessions, an overview
of the songs recorded.

I looked at the two lists again and I asked myself why the numbers
of the list are encircled (as if it were of real importance) and why
there is sometimes only one song title in one row and sometimes
up to three song titles in another. Then I looked at Eldritch's "Reel
Six" note on the 'Wide Receiver' tracksheet.

Then it began to dawn on me that it's a list of the reels, so it reads
this way:

Reel One: Tones / No Time to Cry
Reel Two: Emma / Walk Away
Reel Three: Poison Door / A rock and a Hard Place
Reel Four: Scottish One A / Scottish One B
Reel Five: Possession / Spit on Your Grave / Evil Come Evil Go
Reel Six: Marianne / Wide Receiver (as marked on track sheet)
Reel Seven: Nine While Nine
Reel Eight: Little Wing
Reel Nine: Andy's Little Wing
Reel Ten: Down to E..... / On the Wire

It makes an awful lot of sense if you think about it:
- both studio versions of 'First and Last and Always' are mentioned
(under its working title 'Scottish One'), both were eventually used
(the first one on the original FALAA pressing, the second one on
the Japanese pressing/CD release).
- both studio versions of 'Some Kind of Stranger' are mentioned
(under its working title 'Little Wing') Allen explained why there
two different versions of the track.

The four unidentified song titles left are 'Tones', 'Spit on Your
Grave', 'Evil Come Evil Go' and 'Down to E.....'.

These must be working titles for
a) the remaining album tracks 'Black Planet' and 'Amphetamine
Logic'.
b) The only other track that was completed with Eldritch vocals
plus backing vocals was 'Garden of Delight' (the vocals are in fact
'down to E' when you listen to them...).
c) That leaves one unidentifiable track, and the title of 'Tones' could
suggest it was an instrumental.

Songs that were recorded after the Strawberry sessions (such as
the 'No Time to Cry' b sides 'Blood Money', 'Bury Me Deep') could
not have been included on the Strawberry song list.

With practically all of these tracks completed this leaves one
question: what the hell did they do at Genetic Studios for nearly
two months?

I rest my case. Will you pleease buy me a beer now? :D
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robertzombie
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Allen did mention Genetic studios but I can't quite remember what he said about it (wishing I'd recorded his story now!)

It was either mastering or vocals I think.


Before I forget. Allen also mentioned the night he played the final mix of Some Kind Of Stranger to Eldritch. Allen set fire to the mixing desk and played the track as loud as possible! 8)
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stufarq
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Fodderstompf wrote:Songs that were recorded after the Strawberry sessions (such as the 'No Time to Cry' b sides 'Blood Money', 'Bury Me Deep') could not have been included on the Strawberry song list.
Why not? They could have been recorded at Strawberry and then rerecorded (ie the released versions) later.
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Surely if the B-sides had been recorded at the Strawberry sessions, they'd have used them (presumably Craig would have recorded a bass part) rather than using the later versions with synth bass?
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
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markfiend wrote:Surely if the B-sides had been recorded at the Strawberry sessions, they'd have used them (presumably Craig would have recorded a bass part) rather than using the later versions with synth bass?
You think 'Blood Money' has a synth bass? I can only hear it on
'A Rock and a Hard Place' ...

I always thought those 'No Time to Cry' b sides were recorded
after the Oct/Nov 1984 tour during the winter break ... perhaps
back at Strawberry, when Eldritch produced the unreleased
Salvation mini album, because he produced those b sides as
well.
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Well documented elsewhere on HL: Craig threw a hissy-fit and the NTTC B-sides were recorded without him.
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
—Bertrand Russell
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"Tones" might not be a song at all, but simply "tones." Back in the analog days, there would be a set of tones at the beginning and end of tapes. This is, incidentally, where Tones on Tail took their name. If you're old enough to remember buying music on cassette, you've probably heard them. I had a lot of tapes with tones at the beginning and the end (for example, the Police's Synchronicity springs to mind in this regard).
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mh
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According to Wayne's sleevenotes on the First Chapter reissue, both Wake and Serpent's Kiss also date to these sessions, so there's 2 more candidates.

I always got the impression that GoD was a later song, perhaps from the aborted 2nd LP. :?:
markfiend wrote:Well documented elsewhere on HL: Craig threw a hissy-fit and the NTTC B-sides were recorded without him.
http://myheartland.co.uk/viewtopic.php? ... c&start=50
Chairman Bux wrote:
Ramone wrote:
Dark wrote:Apparently it's synth bass, I can't even hear any bass on them.
I shared a room with Adams in Germany after a Mishun show and he 'spilled the beans' on the split and synth bass story. He's not on No Time Cry's b-sides. As for the split..... It all escapes me. Bugger!
The bass parts on Blood Money and Bury Me Deep are all synths.
If I told them once, I told them a hundred times to put 'Spinal Tap' first and 'Puppet Show' last.
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I always got the impression that GoD was a later song, perhaps from the aborted 2nd LP. :?:
No, Gary Marx says the Hussey version was recorded at Strawberry
(along with 'Frail and Torn' on the very same afternoon).

Eldritch had obviously put some work into recording his vocals,
complete with multi-tracked backing vocals. But I doubt that
this song ever was an album contender, rather a potential b side.
As far as I understood Eldritch's later comment "there are a few
bootlegs in existence of me trying to sing Wayne's words, and you
can hear that I'm not convinced by them"
(Swedish TV 1993)
the track was not used because the lyrics made Eldritch cringe ...
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markfiend wrote:Well documented elsewhere on HL: Craig threw a hissy-fit and the NTTC B-sides were recorded without him.
http://myheartland.co.uk/viewtopic.php? ... c&start=50
Chairman Bux wrote:
Ramone wrote:
Dark wrote:Apparently it's synth bass, I can't even hear any bass on them.
I shared a room with Adams in Germany after a Mishun show and he 'spilled the beans' on the split and synth bass story. He's not on No Time Cry's b-sides. As for the split..... It all escapes me. Bugger!
The bass parts on Blood Money and Bury Me Deep are all synths.
Well, I actually do hear a bass on 'Blood Money', and it doesn't
sound like a syth at all. It also doesn't sound like Eldritch's bass
playing (as heard on 'Wide Receiver', 'Giving Ground' and 'Torch'),
and it doesn't sound like Adams' playing style either, so it could
be Hussey or Marx stepping in.
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sultan2075 wrote:"Tones" might not be a song at all, but simply "tones." Back in the analog days, there would be a set of tones at the beginning and end of tapes. This is, incidentally, where Tones on Tail took their name. If you're old enough to remember buying music on cassette, you've probably heard them. I had a lot of tapes with tones at the beginning and the end (for example, the Police's Synchronicity springs to mind in this regard).
Hm, I doubt that Strawberry's 48 track used cassettes ... :eek:
although I know what you mean.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Reel
Last edited by Fodderstompf on 01 Sep 2010, 15:40, edited 1 time in total.
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Fodderstompf wrote:
markfiend wrote:Well documented elsewhere on HL: Craig threw a hissy-fit and the NTTC B-sides were recorded without him.
http://myheartland.co.uk/viewtopic.php? ... c&start=50
Chairman Bux wrote:
Ramone wrote: I shared a room with Adams in Germany after a Mishun show and he 'spilled the beans' on the split and synth bass story. He's not on No Time Cry's b-sides. As for the split..... It all escapes me. Bugger!
The bass parts on Blood Money and Bury Me Deep are all synths.
Well, I actually do hear a bass on 'Blood Money', and it doesn't
sound like a syth at all. It also doesn't sound like Eldritch's bass
playing (as heard on 'Wide Receiver', 'Giving Ground' and 'Torch'),
and it doesn't sound like Adams' playing style either, so it could
be Hussey or Marx stepping in.
I'm pretty sure it's a synth, or at least a sampled note(s) being put through a sequencer(or something), it has the same "machine like" quality as the main bass part to Driven Like the Snow, where it just doesnt sound like its being played by an actual person (imo anyway)
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I'm pretty sure it's a synth, or at least a sampled note(s) being put through a sequencer(or something), it has the same "machine like" quality as the main bass part to Driven Like the Snow, where it just doesnt sound like its being played by an actual person (imo anyway)
Yes, that's what I meant: it sounds very wooden, as if
it wasn't done by a bass player. But to my ears it sounds
played, not programmed or sampled.
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mh
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Believe me, if the Chairman says that it's a synth bass, then you can work on the basis that it is a synth bass and that no further discussion is necessary. ;)
If I told them once, I told them a hundred times to put 'Spinal Tap' first and 'Puppet Show' last.
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Aye. The Chairman's posts are definitive. It's probably best not to ask how he knows... :innocent:

And the tale is corroborated by Ramone.
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
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markfiend wrote:Aye. The Chairman's posts are definitive. It's probably best not to ask how he knows... :innocent:

And the tale is corroborated by Ramone.
:notworthy: Anyway - I'll put all of it into the Wikipedia
article on FALAA I'm currently writing ... unfortunately
it's in German, but you could ask Von for a translation! :lol:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_and_Last_and_Always

It's work in progress ...
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sultan2075
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Fodderstompf wrote:
sultan2075 wrote:"Tones" might not be a song at all, but simply "tones." Back in the analog days, there would be a set of tones at the beginning and end of tapes. This is, incidentally, where Tones on Tail took their name. If you're old enough to remember buying music on cassette, you've probably heard them. I had a lot of tapes with tones at the beginning and the end (for example, the Police's Synchronicity springs to mind in this regard).
Hm, I doubt that Strawberry's 48 track used cassettes ... :eek:
although I know what you mean.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Reel
Oh yeah, that's basically what I meant; they frequently (thought not always) would show up on commercially produced cassettes as well.
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markfiend wrote:Surely if the B-sides had been recorded at the Strawberry sessions, they'd have used them (presumably Craig would have recorded a bass part) rather than using the later versions with synth bass?
No, I meant that they could easily have recorded versions of those songs, not been happy with them and then recorded different versions at a later date and used those for the b-sides. My point was that some of the unknown Strawberry songs could still have been versions of the b-sides even though they're not the same recordings.
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Fodderstompf wrote:
markfiend wrote:Aye. The Chairman's posts are definitive. It's probably best not to ask how he knows... :innocent:

And the tale is corroborated by Ramone.
:notworthy: Anyway - I'll put all of it into the Wikipedia
article on FALAA I'm currently writing ... unfortunately
it's in German, but you could ask Von for a translation! :lol:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_and_Last_and_Always

It's work in progress ...

Cool ... :eek: ... :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:

Wie hast du das denn geschafft? Sonst sind die bei der deutschen Wiki ja nicht gerade kooperativ ... 8) ...
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markfiend
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stufarq wrote:No, I meant that they could easily have recorded versions of those songs, not been happy with them and then recorded different versions at a later date and used those for the b-sides. My point was that some of the unknown Strawberry songs could still have been versions of the b-sides even though they're not the same recordings.
Oh yes, OK, agreed.
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
—Bertrand Russell
Fodderstompf
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Being645 wrote:
Fodderstompf wrote:
markfiend wrote:Aye. The Chairman's posts are definitive. It's probably best not to ask how he knows... :innocent:

And the tale is corroborated by Ramone.
:notworthy: Anyway - I'll put all of it into the Wikipedia
article on FALAA I'm currently writing ... unfortunately
it's in German, but you could ask Von for a translation! :lol:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_and_Last_and_Always

It's work in progress ...

Cool ... :eek: ... :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:

How did you manage this? They usually aren't that cooperative at German Wikipedia ... 8) ...
Dunno, I put a lot of other articles on Wiki over the last years
and nobody complained:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penetration_%28Band%29
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut_the_Crap
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleenex_%28Band%29
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Turns_Blue and some more...
Fodderstompf
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markfiend wrote:
stufarq wrote:No, I meant that they could easily have recorded versions of those songs, not been happy with them and then recorded different versions at a later date and used those for the b-sides. My point was that some of the unknown Strawberry songs could still have been versions of the b-sides even though they're not the same recordings.
Oh yes, OK, agreed.
Makes sense. There was a long gap over the winter period '84/85 ...
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mh wrote:Believe me, if the Chairman says that it's a synth bass, then you can work on the basis that it is a synth bass and that no further discussion is necessary. ;)
I can't hear Craig Adams on 'A Rock and a Hard Place' either -
now, that would have seriously pissed me off!
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Fodderstompf wrote:
markfiend wrote:
stufarq wrote:No, I meant that they could easily have recorded versions of those songs, not been happy with them and then recorded different versions at a later date and used those for the b-sides. My point was that some of the unknown Strawberry songs could still have been versions of the b-sides even though they're not the same recordings.
Oh yes, OK, agreed.
Makes sense. There was a long gap over the winter period '84/85 ...
when the singer was near dead from failing to deliver Black October in time and the relentless touring - lazy bastard
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