Ric Ocacek & Benjamin Orr- Pre-Cars Demo Sessions 1974-1975

 

Many years later, as members of a popular band called, The Cars.

 

In the early days of this blog, a semi-regular feature called, "Before We Was Famous" (...Before He/She) featured recordings from musicians before they gained wider success or attention. Sometimes there were demos (Lou Reed, Uncle Tupelo), independent, self-produced recordings (Kathleen Edwards, The Refreshments, Emily Haines), early ignored releases (Mary Lou Lord, Norah Jones) or before a name change (The Shins (Flake), Fountains of Wayne (Pinnwheel), Electrocutes (The Donnas), Bangles (The Bangs), just to name a few that I can remember. I've always been fascinated by artist's early works and how they may or not differ from later works. Sometimes the music differs a lot, maybe through a direction change or an attempt to have more commercial appeal. I often wonder if some artist's early works display their "true" sound and how and what influences their direction. Sometimes it's just a matter of polishing up their sound, with better production or a producer that can act as an editor that presents a more cohesive sound.

 

Benjamin Orr And Ric Ocasek had played in a variety of bands (Milkwood, released one album) before forming, The Cars and they recorded several demos with different lineups as, Richard and the Rabbits, Ocasek & Orr and Cap'n Swing. What we have is a sampling of some of the songs recorded during those sessions that included other future Cars, including Greg Hawkes (Richard and the Rabbits, Ocasek & Orr) and guitarist Elliot Easton (aka: Elliot Steinberg- Cap'n Swing). The info file includes the complete lineups of the groups that recorded these demos. My initial impression of these songs is that it sounds nothing like the Cars, even though the Cars would form in 1976. The sound of these demos are full band, fully produced songs and the sound quality is good. Their style sounds like the early 70's, slick, over-produced, something Todd Rundgren would put out. Interesting, but not overly original or anything that stands out. It's a respectable collection of songs and somehow Orr, Ocasek, Easton, Hawkes and former Modern Lovers drummer, David Robinson altered and revamped their sound to produce a much more unique and appealing sound on the Cars debut album, which is considered one of the best debut albums from the 70's.

Enjoy!

Please do NOT sell or profit from this recording!

Do NOT convert to lossy formats, except for personal use

Please share!

 

Ric Ocasek
Benjamin Orr
Demo Sessions Circa 1974-75
Studio Unknown
Location Unknown but presumed Boston, MA

JEMS Transfer: 1970s Demo Cassette > Nakamichi CR-7A (azimuth adjustment) > Sound Devices USBPre 2 > Audacity 2.0 capture 2496 > MBIT+ resample to 1644 > iZotope RX8 > iZotope Ozone 8 > Audacity > TLH > FLAC

01 Harlequin (Richard and the Rabbits)
02 Sam’s Decision (Richard and the Rabbits)
03 Mid Spring
04 Your Always Brighter (with guest vocals and different than the Cap'n Swing version)
(recorded as "She's Always Brighter" by Richard and the Rabbits at some time)
05 Never Gonna Get Over You (different than circulating Ocasek & Orr version)
06 Twilight Superman (different than circulating Richard and the Rabbits & Cap'n Swing versions)
07 Everyday (same as circulating Ocasek & Orr version)
08 Start It All Again (a Richard and the Rabbits version was recorded at some time)

RIC OCASEK and BENJAMIN ORR- 1974-1975 The Pre-Cars Demo Sessions FLAC. rar

Brinsley Schwarz- Live Archive Vol. 3

 

 

Speaking of Nick Lowe, I came upon a great sounding Brinsley Schwarz live recording from the (unofficial) Live Archives series from Vogon in the UK. The two previous Live Archive volumes were from Tilburg, Netherlands and Sheffield from 1974, while Volume 3 is from Groningen in 1975. I haven't heard the first two volumes, so I can't comment about the sound quality, but Volume 3 sounds amazing! If the date of this recording is correct (March 1975), the band would dis-band later in the month, so this is amongst their last shows together. The performance is top notch and features an early working of, Cruel to Be Kind which would become a monster hit for Nick in 1979 from his Labour Of Lust album. I'll keep a look out for the first two volumes! A must-hear for Brinsley Schwarz and Nick Lowe fans!

Enjoy!!

Please do NOT sell or profit from this recording!

Do NOT convert to lossy formats, except for personal use

Please share!

#16yearsoftrouble

 

BRINSLEY SCHWARZ
Live Archive Vol. 3 (2020)
The Vera Club
Groningen, Holland
March, 1975

1. You've Been Cheating    2:46
2. Small Town Big City    4:31
3. Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)    4:01
4. Down In Mexico    3:41
5. You Ain't Living Until You're Loving    3:10
6. We Can Mess Around    2:43
7. Happy Doing What We're Doing    4:11
8. Surrender To The Rhythm    3:39
9. Country Girl    2:49
10. Hooked On Love    2:24
11. Trying To Live My Life Without You    3:01
12. Cruel To Be Kind    3:15
13. Private Number    3:33
14. I've Cried My Last Tear    2:19
15. Walking The Dog    2:27
16. I Can't Help Myself    2:39

 

BRINSLEY SCHWARZ- Live Archive Vol. 3 FLAC. rar

 

**If the above link doesn't work, try downloading this link which I uploaded to DropBox. For a limited time only!

BRINSLEY SCHWARZ- Live Archive Vol. 3 FLAC. rar (DB link) 

 

So It Goes- Nick Lowe- 1975 Stiff Demos

 

Photo by Dick Wingate

 

A New York Daily News article from 2007 quoted Nick Lowe as saying his greatest fear in recent years was "sticking with what you did when you were famous." "I didn't want to become one of those thinning-haired, jowly old geezers who still does the same shtick they did when they were young, slim and beautiful," he said. "That's revolting and rather tragic." 

 

For many musicians and bands this is the formula they stick with to keep the old fans happy and let the new fans enjoy what they are famous for. Nick Lowe has had a long and interesting career. His first stab at success was with Brinsley Schwarz (the band) from the 1969 to the mid-70's. They produced a whopping six full length albums (not counting compilations) and when the band split Bob Andrews and Brinsley Schwarz (the guitar player) joined Graham Parker and the Rumour, while Ian Gomm and Lowe began solo careers. Around this time, Lowe joined up with Dave Edmonds, who produced New Favorites Of...Brinsley Schwarz, to form Rockpile with Billy Bremner and Terry Williams. This unit produced albums under Edmonds name (Tracks On Wax 4 and Repeat When Necessary) and Nick Lowe's second solo record, Labour Of Lust, along with Seconds Of Pleasure from 1980. For me, I first became aware of Nick Lowe through his biggest hit, Cruel To Be Kind which got radio play at the time and though I didn't realize it at the time, this song would later rank high in my favourite song list. I would go as far to say it's the perfect pop song (or power-pop?) and Labour Of Lust still gets lots of love on my turntable and iPod. Lowe remained steadily active through the 80's and I own all his albums up until 1988's, Pinker and Prouder. He also served double duty at times as a highly respected producer and was involved with some ground breaking releases from Graham Parker, The Damned and Elvis Costello. I honestly haven't followed Lowe through his releases in the 90's and 2000's when he moved away from power pop to a more balladeer, singer-songwriter mode.

In this decade, Nick Lowe has experienced a bit of revival of sorts. In 2011, Yep Roc re-released, Labour Of Lust and Wilco covered the song, I Love My Label which led to a joint tour, that exposed Lowe to a younger, hip audience. More recently, the mexican wrestling mask wearing surf-guitar band, Los Straitjackets became Lowe's backing band and toured together providing a very interesting dynamic both visually and musically. I've listened to some of those shows and they are fantastic, sparking with genuine energy that comes across in the music and performances. I've always been a reader of good music biographies and one that I am considering next is Cruel To Be Kind: The Life And Times Of Nick Lowe that came out about a year ago. I am curious about some the behind the scenes stories and his interaction within the bands he was in and the musicians he produced. Sounds like an interesting read. So, why hasn't Rockpile reunited? How about Brinsley Schwarz? Don't know if he touches on those subjects or if he wants to revisit that "same shtick when he was young..."

During the period between the breakup of Brinsley Schwarz and the formation of Rockpile, Nick Lowe recorded some demos for Stiff Records in 1975. Some of these songs were recorded later and appeared on later albums (Tonight on Jesus of Cool/PPFNP, Here She Comes- sounds like an early version of Deborah from Tracks On Wax 4) and Little Darlin' was recorded by Dave Edmonds. I'm sort of surprised, the demo for So It Goes isn't here. The song was Stiff Records' first single and Lowe was their first artist and he became the label's in-house producer. Though he was already a seasoned musician, recording artist and performer, these demos are a very important document from Lowe's early solo career.

Enjoy!

#14yearsoftrouble

Please do NOT sell or profit from this recording!

Do NOT convert to lossy formats (except for personal use)

Please share!

 

NICK LOWE

Stiff Demos (1975)

(Some solo, some band)

soundboard

01. Here She Comes Again
02. Tonight
03. Living In The 70's
04. Time And Time Again
05. She's My Baby
06. I Respect You for That
07. Little Darlin'
08. So Heavy (original version)

Bonus tracks
09. Halfway To Paradise (alternate version)
10. Is It You (live)
11. Lonely Just Like Me (live w/Imp. Birds)
12. Juju Man

 ***NEW link!!***

NICK LOWE- 1975 Stiff Demos FLAC. rar 

The Guess Who- Playhouse Theatre, Winnipeg, MB, April 1975

 I thought this post would be appropriate because of two things in the news recently. The old Playhouse Theatre (aka: Pantages Playhouse Theatre) where this show was recorded was recently sold to new owners that will continue to operate the theatre. The theatre was up for sale last year and closed it's doors at the end of 2018 with the hope someone might be interested in keeping it running. The new owners paid just over half a million dollars (CDN) for the heritage property. The other bit of interesting news involves former Guess Who frontman, Burton Cummings coming across a little wacky in his new hometown of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Apparently, Cummings wasn't too impressed with his neighbors, a dance fitness studio, that was playing it's music too loud. Cummings and other residents have complained and it has led to the studio facing 6 noise bylaw charges against the owner of the business. Cummings' complaint led to city council to re-evaluate business licenses for areas with homes and businesses. This seems fair and I have no doubt that residences should have protection from noise and loud music, I would hate to live close to a bar or outdoor music venue, but the owner has tried to reach out to Burt to discuss a solution, but so far he has declined. Remember it is just an indoor dance studio (that opens it's windows...maybe a suggestion is to close them?) and Burt, well he has a concert theatre venue in downtown Winnipeg named after him because he was a famous rock star in his former life, so you'd think he might be more tolerant or... not.

This live recording is a radio broadcast of the Guess Who live at the Playhouse Theatre in 1975. This was about 6 months before the band split up in October with frontman, Burton Cummings in the band. The band would later form in different incarnations without Cummings, with original  bass player, Jim Kale registering and taking control of the band name and to this day, the Guess Who continues to tour and record albums with drummer, Garry Peterson the lone original member. The 1975 band personnel and sound was a far cry from the hit-making "classic" lineup from the late 60's. Peterson and Cummings were in the band, but Randy Bachman (who had left in 1970) was long gone with a succession of guitar players replacing him and in 1974, Domenic Troiano joined the band.

I grabbed this recording from Dime, thanks to Krw co for posting and sharing. I have seen this live recording CD for sale at McNally Robinson (semi-officially released?) and for sale at my local record store as an unofficial bootleg (probably downloaded from the same source), so get it here while you can. The sound quality is excellent and the performance is fine. If you're even a moderate fan of mid-period Guess Who this is a must hear and for fans that want to hear that Bachman/Cummings sound of the 60's, this still holds it's ground, though there is a lot of filler. Regardless, this is an important document from one of the greatest bands from Winnipeg at one of finest concert venues still being used today.
Enjoy!

Please do NOT sell or convert to lossy formats
Please share!

THE GUESS WHO
Winnipeg Playhouse Theater
Winnipeg Manitoba Canada
April 15TH 1975

Soundboard/FM Broadcast From
The Joe Maloney Collection
Presented By Krw_co

Lineage Unknown Generation Soundboard/FM Broadcast
to CDR Clone to EAC Secure Mode to TLH FLAC Level 8

   Disc 1
1 Down and Out Woman
2 Dirty
3 Hand Me Down World
4 Albert Flasher
5 Diggin` Yourself
6 Star Baby
7 Those Show Biz Shoes
8 Straighten Out
9 Seems Like I Can't Live With You
10 Clap For The Wolfman

   Disc 2
1 Medley (The Way We Were/Laughing/These Eyes/Undun/Hang On To Your Life/American Woman)
2 Roseanne
3 When the Band was Singing
4 Long Gone
5 No Time
6 Dancing Fool
7 Instrumental Interlude
8 Orly / DJ Talking

THE BAND
Burton Cummings  vocals keyboards
Garry Peterson   Drum backing vocals
Domenic Troiano  Guitars backing vocals
Bill Wallace     Bass backing vocals

GUESS WHO- 1975-04-15 Disc 1 FLAC. rar 
GUESS WHO- 1975-04-15 Disc 2 FLAC. rar