[AZamericonnie]

****Liberty Call****

[Drumbo]

From 1968, this is one of my favorite Byrds tunes of all time. Written and sang by the late Gram Parsons, it's an amazing testament to faith following the "Summer of Love". I hope I don't get put on hiatus for playing it and offending someone.

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

The Christian Life (Rehearsal Take 11)
~ The Byrds ~

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[Drumbo]

As I said last week, "A song is never finished, only abandoned". Here's an example of the endless hours that go into the evolution of a hit:

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

She's A Woman (Rehearsal)
~ The Beatles ~

She's A Woman (BBC Take 1)
~ The Beatles ~

She's A Woman (BBC take 3)
~ The Beatles ~

She's A Woman (Abbey Road Take 3 & 4)
~ The Beatles ~

She's A Woman (Abbey Road Take 7)
~ The Beatles ~

She's A Woman (Abbey Road Take 8)
~ The Beatles ~

She's A Woman (Abbey Road Take 9)
~ The Beatles ~

She's A Woman (Abbey Road Master)
~ The Beatles ~

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Here's one of Van Halen's earliest surviving demos.

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

Get The Show On The Road (Cherokee Studios Demo 1974)
~ Van Halen ~

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Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

Baby It's You (BBC Demo 1963)
~ The Beatles ~

Baby It's You (Capitol Master)
~ The Beatles ~

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[Drumbo]

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

Hungry For You (Demo)
~ Sting ~

Hungry For You (J'aurais Toujours Faim De Toi)
~ The Police ~

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Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

King Harvest Has Surely Come (Rehearsal)
~ The Band ~

King Harvest Has Surely Come (Master)
~ The Band ~

King Harvest Has Surely Come
(Carter Baron Amphitheatre, Washington DC 8-29-1976)
~ The Band ~

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[Drumbo]

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

What Do You Think Of Her Now (Demo)
~ Willie Nelson ~

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[Arrowhead1952]

Good morning to everyone at the Canteen. 44º with drizzle here. Got to work the day shift and have to leave now.

[Drumbo]

The next song was written by Robbie Robertson for The Band's self-titled debut album on Capital Records released in 1969. The Band had previously debuted on "Music from Big Pink", but that was essentially a Bob Dylan album. "The Band" was the first time the four Canadians: Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson along with Arkansas native Levon Helm had ventured out on their own without Dylan or their previous incarnation backing Ronnie Hawkins as The Hawks.

The lyrics tell of the last days of the American Civil War and the suffering of the South. Hundreds of thousands of words have been written about the song and it's epic scope and tragic subject matter. Historically accurate, it preserves a slice of Americana that few songs have ever accomplished.

The song was notably covered by Joan Joan Baez in 1971 and her version peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US and spent five weeks atop the easy listening chart. Her version was also well received in the UK, reaching number six in the pop charts. The Band's version was named #245 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Johnny Cash covered the song on his 1975 album "John R. Cash" and Jimmy Arnold recorded the song on his album "Southern Soul". A fairly large-scale orchestrated version of the song appears on the 1971 concept album "California '99" by Jimmie Haskell, with lead vocal by Jimmy Witherspoon. Others to record versions include Don Rich, Steve Young, John Denver, The Allman Brothers Band and Derek Warfield. The Charlie Daniels Band, Big Country, Dave Brockie, Richie Havens, The Black Crowes, The Jerry Garcia Band and The Zac Brown Band have all included versions on live albums.

The last time the song was performed by Levon Helm was at The Last Waltz in 1976. In a gesture of respect, Helm refused to play the song after 1976 even though he held concerts, which he called "Midnight Rambles", several times a month at his private residence in Woodstock, New York until his death in 2012.

The rare outtake featured here has all the passion and artistry of the master and the orchestrated version from "The Last Waltz" is stunning, garnering a standing ovation.

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Out-take)
~ The Band ~

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Master)
~ The Band ~

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (The Last Waltz)
~ The Band ~

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For this session in 1964 the versions are essentially the same with minor differences in the vocal harmonies on the song's bridge where Paul McCartney takes over the lead vocal from John Lennon. It's one of the few early examples of John and Paul switching lead roles mid-song.

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

Wait (Take 4)
~ The Beatles ~

Wait (Master)
~ The Beatles ~

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This session features Elvis performing an Eddie Rabbit and Dick Heard song that went on to be one of his biggest and most popular mid-career crossover hits. The session features Ronnie Milsap on piano. Released as a single on January 29, 1970 it reached #16 on Billboard's Hot 100 and #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It charted #31 Billboard's Hot Country Singles and did considerably better in Canada where it reached #1 on the Canadian RPM Country chart, #4 on Canada's Adult Contemporary chart and #10 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles list.

The notable differences between the takes are Ron Tuit's innovative drum parts, the overdubbed backing vocals and orchestra on the final and an Elvis inside joke that slipped by the producers on the final master. The lyrics begin, "Seven lonely days and a dozen towns ago" but on the final master Elvis explicitly sings, "a dozen pounds ago".

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

Kentucky Rain (Take 7)
~ Elvis Presley ~

Kentucky Rain (Take 9)
~ Elvis Presley ~

Kentucky Rain (Final Master)
~ Elvis Presley ~

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[Drumbo]

Meanwhile back in America in 1965 The Byrds emerged as America's answer to The Beatles and after visiting with them during The Beatles North American tour, the band's relationship with The Beatles would prove important for both acts, with the two groups again meeting up in Los Angeles some weeks later. During this period of fraternization, The Beatles were vocal in their support of The Byrds, publicly acknowledging them as creative competitors and naming them as their favorite American group. A number of authors, including Ian MacDonald, Richie Unterberger, and Bud Scoppa, have noted The Byrds influence on The Beatles' late 1965 album "Rubber Soul", most notably on the songs "Nowhere Man" and "If I Needed Someone", the latter of which utilizes a guitar riff similar to that in The Byrds' cover of "The Bells of Rhymney".

The 1965 lineup for The Byrds consisted of Jim (Roger) McGuinn (lead guitar, vocals), Gene Clark (vocals), David Crosby (rhythm guitar, vocals), Chris Hillman (bass guitar, vocals) and Michael Clarke (drums). McGuinn was a huge Beatles fan, even naming the group with it's intentional misspelling to mimic The Beatles.

While The Byrds outwardly seemed to be riding the crest of a wave during the latter-half of 1965, the recording sessions for their second album had not been without tension. One source of conflict was the power struggle that had begun to develop between producer Terry Melcher and the band's manager Jim Dickson, with the latter harboring aspirations to produce the band himself, causing him to be overly critical of Melcher's work. Melcher had proved to be the band's George Martin, accomplishing the same type of studio wizardry Martin so successfully achieved with The Beatles. Within a month of the album "Turn! Turn! Turn!" being released, Dickson approached Columbia Records and requested that Melcher be replaced, despite the fact that he had successfully steered the band through the recording of two number 1 singles and two hit albums. Any hopes that Dickson had of being allowed to produce the band himself, however, were dashed when Columbia assigned their West Coast head of A&R, Allen Stanton, to the band.

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better (pre production version)
~ The Byrds ~

I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better (Terry Melcher Master)
~ The Byrds ~

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[Drumbo]

In early 1965, The Beatles hit Abbey Road studios for their sessions for their sixth album "Rubber Soul". It was the first Beatles' album (other than the British version of "A Hard Day's Night") which contained original Beatles material only. "Rubber Soul" was successful commercially and critically, and is often cited as one of the greatest albums in music history. In 2012, Rubber Soul was ranked #5 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

Lyrically, the album was a major progression. Though a smattering of earlier Beatles songs had expressed romantic doubt and negativity, the songs on "Rubber Soul" represented a pronounced development in sophistication, thoughtfulness and ambiguity. In particular, the relationships between the sexes moved from simpler boy-girl love songs to more nuanced and negative portrayals. "Run For Your Life" is often cited as the first stalker song in pop history.

The major differences in these cuts is George Martin's production value and stereo separation applied to the master in the post production mix. While the stereo version of the original release of "Rubber Soul" was similar to that of their earliest albums, featuring mainly vocals on the right channel and instruments on the left, it was not produced in the same manner. The early albums were recorded on twin-track tape, and they were intended only for production of monaural records, so they kept vocals and instruments separated allowing the two parts to later be mixed in proper proportion. By this time, however, the Beatles were recording on four-track tape, which allowed a stereo master to be produced with vocals in the center and instruments on both sides, as evidenced in their prior albums "Beatles for Sale" and "Help!". Looking for a way to easily produce a stereo album which sounded good on a monaural record player, Martin mixed down the four-track master tape to stereo with vocals on the right, instruments on the left, and nothing in the middle.

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

Run For Your Life (Take 5 - Monaural)
~ The Beatles ~

Run For Your Life (Stereo Master)
~ The Beatles ~

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[Drumbo]

Ellas Otha Bates who wrote under the name of Ellas McDaniel and was known by his stage name Bo Diddley was also known as The Originator because of his key role in the transition from the blues to rock, influencing a host of acts, including Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Velvet Underground, The Who, The Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, Elvis Presley and The Beatles, among many others. He introduced an insistent, driving rhythm and a hard-edged electric guitar sound on a wide-ranging catalog of songs, along with African rhythms and a signature beat (a simple five-accent clave rhythm known as the Bo Diddley Beat) that remains a cornerstone of rock and pop.

On November 20, 1955, he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, where he infuriated the host. "I did two songs and he got mad," Bo Diddley later recalled. "Ed Sullivan said that I was one of the first colored boys to ever double-cross him. Said that I wouldn't last six months". The show had requested that he sing the Merle Travis-penned Tennessee Ernie Ford hit "Sixteen Tons", but when he appeared on stage, he sang his signature "Bo Diddley" instead. This substitution resulted in his being banned from further appearances. Diddley was an excellent story teller whose stories varied from time to time, however, Diddley contended to friends and family that he was not trying to double-cross Sullivan and attributed the "misunderstanding" to the fact that when he saw "Bo Diddley" on a cue card, he was under the impression he was to perform two songs, "Bo Diddley" and "Sixteen Tons".

Perhaps his most influential contribution was the blues standard "Mannish Boy" also know as "I'm A Man" and covered by a wide range of artists too numerous to mention. Included here are three notable Bo Diddley versions: a rare early session in 1955 for Chess Records, The Chess Master and a rousing version featuring Bo and Muddy Watters "cutting heads" in 1967 with Little Walter (Marion Walter Jacobs) playing harmonica.

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

I'm A Man (alternate take)
~ Bo Diddley ~

I'm A Man (Chess Master)
~ Bo Diddley ~

I'm a Man
~ Bo Diddly, Muddy Waters & Little Walter ~

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[Drumbo]

The Beatles first recorded this Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller classic combining it with Richard Penniman's (Little Richard) "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" in 1963 at the BBC. In August of 1964, they dusted it off at EMI Studios in London for their fourth album "Beatles For Sale". Their grueling tour schedule left little time for writing or rehearsal so it was natural to fall back on their Hamburg and Liverpool standbys including Chuck Berry's "Rock and Roll Music", Buddy Holly's "Words of Love", and two by Carl Perkins, "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" and "Honey Don't". A cover of Little Willie John's "Leave My Kitten Alone" was recorded at the same session, but rejected from inclusion on the finished album.



Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

Kansas City (Live At The BBC)
~ The Beatles ~

Kansas City (For Sale Sessions - Take Two)
~ The Beatles ~

Kansas City (Stereo Master)
~ The Beatles ~

Leave My Kitten Alone
~ The Beatles ~

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This manic take written by Jack Bruce and Pete Brown from 1968 is one of the dozens of Cream songs that were never included on an album during the band's heyday. Bruce has trouble cramming all the lyrics into the up-tempo phrases and Eric Clapton seems less than enthused with the droning guitar parts. While fitting the classic Cream template it is obviously sub-standard for the supergroup.

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

Hey Now Princess (Demo)
~ Cream ~

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In January, 1966, this single hit #1 on the UK Chart and peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 (edged out by their own song "Help!"). The major difference here is again the post production mix of George Martin, the man behind the curtain. His use of reverb on the lead guitar, echo to "sweeten" the vocals and stereo mix down puts a new dimension on the already superior performance.

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

Day Tripper (Take 3)
~ The Beatles ~

Day Tripper (George Martin Master)
~ The Beatles ~

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[Drumbo]

When it comes to rarities some of us collectors get a big kick out of our secret stash of radio and television advertisements and commercials. Over the years, dozens of bands have "sold out" to the corporate masters who made them offers they couldn't refuse. Coca~Cola has long been a sponsor of the "hipsters" hawking their product.

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

1965 Coca-Cola Commercial
~ Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons ~

1965 Coca-Cola Commercial "Go-Go Better with Coke" (60 sec)
~ Jan and Dean ~

1965 Coca-Cola Commercial "Go-Go Wild" (90 sec)
~ Jan and Dean ~

1965 Coca-Cola Jingle (60 sec)
~ Jan and Dean ~

1967 Coca-Cola Commercial
~ The Moody Blues ~

1969 Coca-Cola Commercial
~ The Moody Blues ~

1969 Coca-Cola Commercial
~ Vanilla Fudge ~

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Of course, not to be left behind, other beverage makers have employed superstars as well:

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

1965 Pepsi Commercial
~ Del Shannon with The Royal Tones ~

1969 Falstaff Beer Commercial
~ Cream ~

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[Drumbo]

This record was part of “Columbia Special Productions” and was “Created Exclusively for Chevrolet Dealers”. It's a rare single by Paul Revere & the Raiders recorded for Chevrolet (distributed exclusively at its dealerships). "SS396" was originally backed with The Raiders doing "Corvair Baby" in 1966. The following year, when Chevy rolled out the Camaro, "SS396" was re-mastered and released as the B-Side to “Camaro” by The Cyrkle. In those days, a visit to the local Chevy showroom scored you a free 45 (RPM).

Demos, Out-takes and Rarities

'66 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396
~ Paul Revere & The Raiders ~

Of course soft drinks, beer and cars weren't the only products being promoted in the 60's by Rock'n'Rollers. Here's one of mine and mylife's all-time favorites - I mean seriously, how many kids were guitar players anyhow? (Guitar not included.)

1967 Vox Wah-Wah Pedal Commercial
~ The Electric Prunes ~

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