So You Say You Lost Your Baby

Cover version of the month #111

Death in Vegas w/ Paul Weller cover Gene Clark w/ The Gosdin Brothers

Gene Clark w/ The Gosdin Brothers version

Death in Vegas w/ Paul Weller version

Gene Clark departed The Byrds in 1966 after a whirlwind period of recording, releasing, and touring. In just a few years, the band had blazed a trail—three albums, a string of hits (including two number-one singles), and pioneering sounds that reshaped the landscape of guitar music. From the chiming 12-string perfection of Mr. Tambourine Man and Turn, Turn, Turn to the psychedelic folk-jazz brilliance of Eight Miles High, The Byrds (pardon the pun) were in full flight.

Clark was at the heart of it all, including penning the pure adrenaline rush of I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better—one of favourite songs by The Byrds. Gene, as well as writing songs, playing guitar and singing, was effortlessly cool with a tambourine in hand.

The Byrds had soared, but what goes up must come down. With a lineup brimming with talent and strong-willed songwriters, creative tensions were inevitable. Clashes ensued, departures followed. Clark was the first to leave, with David Crosby not far behind. 

Clark didn't hang around, releasing his debut album Gene Clark With The Gosdin Brothers (later reissued as Echoes) in January 1967. Clark wrote 8 songs and co-wrote another couple. 

One of those songs was So You Say You Lost Your Baby, 2-minutes 7 seconds of utter bliss. In that short time there is driving rhythms, beautiful orchestration, a dreamy melancholic melody and emotional vocals, mixed effortlessly with stunning harmonies.

Riding in on an electric guitar riff that sends tingles down your spine, So You Say You Lost Your Baby is performed, arranged and produced absolutely perfectly. Strings float in behind Gene Clark as he begins to sing;

Well you're smolderin' with fly words

Catch the moment on the run

The Gosdin Brothers harmonise effortlessly;

And you stand inside your wind stilts

Watch the sentence act begun

There's a brief pause before a gorgeous little lift in the strings after the second verse and chorus, Clark and the Gosdin Brothers sound sublime together, the beat drives things to conclusion

So you say you lost you're baby

Do you know that you're the one?

Almost 40-years down the line, Death in Vegas, Richard Fearless and Tim Holmes, were forging a reputation for fantastic taste in music, production and ambition. Psychedelia was in their hearts; taste, knowledge and appreciation of great songs from 60's, mixed and matched with passion for electronic music and all the possibilities it brought.

2003's Scorpio Rising album saw them collaborate with Liam Gallagher on a sprawling title track, Hope Sandoval on the heart melting Killing Smile, Dot Allison on the dreamy wonder Diving Horses and Paul Weller on their version of So You Say You Lost Your Baby.

That Death in Vegas stay very true to Clark's original is testament to the band and Weller's love and affection for the song. The main difference is probably the fact that Weller is singing on his own with no harmonies. Death in Vegas also play a little with the aforementioned string lift after the second verse and chorus. Weller's voice, as I witnessed first hand at the Barrowland last November, is exceptionally strong, perfect for this slice of psychedelic pop. 

Noel Gallagher was so taken with the album that he approached Death in Vegas to produce Don't Believe The Truth. The sessions collapsed after 3-4 weeks with Gallagher reflecting that Fearless and Holmes were trying to polish a turd. An honest assessment. If the songs had been up with Gallagher's best then it is tantalising to think of the string arrangements and effects that DiV could have introduced. But that's potentially another blog for another time. 

The Gene Clark original and the cover by Death in Vegas and Paul Weller of So You Say You Lost Your Baby are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs listed below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE

Previous covers of the month blogs

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt

14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine

16. California Soul

18. Wonder wall 

19. Dancing In The Dark

20. Always On My Mind

21. Ceremony

22. Heroes

23. Different Drum

24. Wild Horses

25. Respect

26. Mr Tambourine Man

27. I Heard It Through The Grapevine

28. Superstar

29. Twist and Shout

30. Purple Rain

31. Baker Street

32. Not Fade Away

33. Stop Your Sobbing

34. I Don't Want To Grow Up

35. Serious Drugs

36. Dancing With Myself

37. How Does It Feel To Feel?

38. Love Buzz

39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash

41. Discoland

42. Varshons 2 by The Lemonheads

43. The Langley Schools Music Project
44. Witchi Tai To
45. Our Lips Are Sealed
46. Sunshine Of Your Love
47. Here Comes The Sun
48. I Think We're Alone Now
49. Don't Let Me Down 
50. It's Oh So Quiet
51. Alcoholiday 
52. Summer Holiday
53. Who Do You Think You Are?
54. Head On
55. Nothing Compares 2 U

56. Hey Jude

57. Seven Days Too Long

58. L.O.V.E Love

59. Into Your Arms

60. Heart Of Glass

61. Take Me To The River

62. We Can Work It Out 

63. Talking In My Sleep

64. Lola

65. Lost In Music

66. My Little Red Book

67. Isn't It A Pity

68. Walk On By

69. Walk Away Renee

70. Tainted Love

71. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

72. Listen The Snow Is Falling

73. Mrs Robinson

74. He's Gonna Step On You Again

75. In My Life

76. Caravan Of Love

77. The Only Way Is Up

78. Dancin' Round & Round

79. With A Little Help From My Friends

80. Killing Me Softly

81. Ain't No Mountain High Enough

82. Drop

83. Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay

84. Sympathy For The Devil

85. I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor

86. Love Will Tear Us Apart

87. Indian Rope Man + bonus Strawberry Fields Forever + This Wheels On Fire

88. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

89. Love The One You're With

90. Cum On Feel The Noize

91. Addicted To Love

92. Valerie

93. Ride On Time

94. Let's Dance

95. It Must Be Love

96. I Fought The Law

97. For What It's Worth

98. Do Your Thing

99. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself

100. Don't Leave Me This Way

101. Shout!

102. God Only Knows

103. The Last Time

104. Bridge Over Troubled Water

105. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart

106. Louie Louie

107. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

108-110. I'm A Loser, Yesterday and Beware of Darkness 

Chestnut Mare

Trust me #56
Chestnut Mare by The Byrds

I first read about Chestnut Mare by The Byrds in an old NME / Melody Maker that I bought in Virginia Galleries in Glasgow. There was a shop that sold band t-shirts, posters and old music weeklies, so I got a stack of vintage NME and Melody Maker's that featured The Stone Roses, as I was so head over heels in love with the band. I'm guessing this was in 1992 when I'd regularly head into Glasgow on a Saturday to walk round town and visit the likes of FLIP clothing and Missing Records with the £10 or so I'd make every week from a bacon round on a Friday after school.

The NME (cover below) followed the Roses out on a European tour and the journalist talked enthusiastically about the tunes and artists played by the band on their bus; Hendrix, The Misunderstood, Burning Spear and Chestnut Mare by The Byrds.

In the months ahead I bought a CD compilation of The Misunderstood which had magnificent sleeve notes that talked of a radio session where they left their guitars feeding back to walk out of the studio for a cigarette break and then returned to just keep on playing. Check their song Never Had A Girl (Like You Before). CLICK HERE 

20 Essential Tracks by The Byrds was the compilation I bought by The Byrds. What a fantastic introduction to the band! Teenage Fanclub had covered Mr Tambourine Man and I had a cassette of them doing that from the Reading Festival. With endorsements from both the Roses and the Fanclub, it was clear that The Byrds were a band I should be checking out.

Of course I fell for Roger McGuinn's chiming 12-string Rickenbacker guitar sound - just as Squire, Blake and McGinley clearly had. The Dylan covers (I'd go on to buy The Byrds Play Dylan) and the early singles were impeccable. Then you had the later day stuff like the beautiful Ballad of Easy Rider and then the song mentioned in the NME article - the stunning Chestnut Mare.

Chestnut Mare really stood out on the compilation as it sounded so different to everything else; the sound of McGuinn singing about trying to catch and tame a wild horse; always alone, never with a herd, prettiest mare I've ever seen. What a stop-you-in-your-tracks sound - McGuinn singing over his guitar before the rest of the band fall in as he sings the first short chorus, that The Byrds reach in just 18-seconds! 

I'm going to catch that horse if I can

And when I do I'll give her my brand

Things slow down again to allow McGuinn to talk about chasing this mare for weeks, 

I'd catch a glimpse of her every once in a while

Takin' her meal, or bathing

A fine lady

McGuinn then goes on to talk about the day he got real close, so he snuck up on her nice and easy, got my rope out and I flung it in the air

McGuinn's voice rises slightly with the excitement of recounting this moment, and after a second The Byrds really are in full flight for the full extended chorus. Listen to those guitars!

I'm going to catch that horse if I can

And when I do, I'll give her my brand

And we'll be friends for life

She'll be just like a wife

I'm going to catch that horse if I can

Continuing his tale, McGuinn talks about catching the mare, taking a chance and jumping on.

And she takes off, runnin' up on to the ridge

Higher than I've ever been before

His mare is then spooked by a sidewinder all coiled and ready to strike and his mare jumps off the edge, me holdin' on

Then there is a hazy psychedelic 2-verse middle section (lasting for almost a full minute from 2-minutes 16 seconds) as McGuinn and his mare appear to be gliding and riding over the moon, straight for the sun, before they start to fall ...

That glorious chorus kicks in again, before McGuinn resumes his story ... they have fallen 'bout a mile down I'd say and they land in this little pool of water 'bout six feet wide and one foot deep. I love the way McGuinn describes the force with which they hit it - we splashed it dry.

That's when I lost my hold and she got away

But I'm gonna try to get her again some day

I love the urgency in the way Roger sings that last line and then for the final chorus. McGuinn's 12-string combines gloriously with Clarence White's country-style acoustic and electric guitar picking, there is also the occasional delightful slide. Chestnut Mare is a beautifully told and sung tale, the band play sublimely and the production is simply divine. 

Revisiting this song for my Trust Me section has led to me listening to The Byrds almost exclusively for around a week. I've been adding quite a few songs to my Never Ending Mixtape, including Wasn't Born To Follow, Draft Morning and One Hundred Years from Now. 

Chestnut Mare is an incredible song, originally written in 1969 for a country rock musical that Roger McGuinn was working on. It never came about ... maybe it will some day. 

In the meantime, I hope this blog causes you to go on a Byrds binge like I have. Chestnut Mare is added to my Trust Me playlist. You can find a list of all the songs on it to date below, along with links to the blogs.

Search for Everything Flows - Trust Me on Spotify , or CLICK HERE

The Byrds - Chestnut Mare (audio - full version)

The Byrds - Chestnut Mare (live)

Previous Trust Me blogs

1. Something On Your Mind by Karen Dalton

1A. Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells

2. I Am, I Said  by Neil Diamond

3. Where's The Playground Susie?   by Glen Campbell

4. If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lighfoot

5. Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon

6. Gone With The Wind Is My Love by Rita and the Tiaras

7. In The Year 2525 by Zager and Evans

8. The Music Box by Ruth Copeland

9. The Ship Song by Nick Cave

10. Sometimes by James

11. I Walk The Earth by King Biscuit Time

12. Didn't Know What I Was In For by Better Oblivion Community Centre

13. When My Boy Walks Down The Street by The Magnetic Fields

14. The Man Don't Give A F**k by Super Furry Animals

15. All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun by Jeff Buckley and Liz Fraser

16. Are You Lookin' by The Tymes

17. A Real Hero by College & Electric Youth

18. Feelings Gone by Callum Easter

19. Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground

20. Did I Say by Teenage Fanclub

21. Don't Look Back by Teenage Fanclub

22. Your Love Is The Place Where I Come From by Teenage Fanclub

23. Belfast by Orbital

24. Clouds by The Jayhawks

25. Dreaming Of You by The Coral

26. Everlasting Love by Love Affair

27. Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke

28. Teenage Kicks by The Undertones

29. Shaky Ground by Sneeze

29. Rill Rill by Sleigh Bells

30. I Can Feel Your Love by Felice Taylor

31. The State We're In by The Chemical Brothers w/ Beth Orton

32. Sunshine After The Rain by Ellie Greenwich

33. Losing My Edge by LCD Soundsystem

34. Mondo 77 by Looper

35. Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton

36. Rat Trap by The Boomtown Rats

37. How High by The Charlatans

38. I Can't Let Go by Evie Sands

39. Pop Song 89 by R.E.M.

40. Summertime Clothes by Animal Collective

41. There She Goes by The Las

42. We're Going To Be Friends by White Stripes

43. Autumn Sweater by Yo La Tengo

44. Sister Rena by Lomond Campbell

45. Revolution by The Beatles

46. Lazarus by The Boo Radleys

47. Wrote For Luck by Happy Mondays

48. American Trilogy by The Delgados

49. Loser by Beck 

50. Silent Sigh by Badly Drawn Boy

51. Comedy by Shack

52. Take The Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven

53. Freakscene by Dinosaur Jr

54. Thank You For Being You by The Pastels

55. I Think I'm In Love by Spiritualized

Evan Dando 12-string on a beach

Following on from my last blog, I was checking Evan Dando's YouTube channel and found this gem!

Just a video of Evan Dando being Evan Dando. Playing his 12-string on a beach on a sunny winters day. Wooly hat, layered up, yellow shades - super cool. Playing super cool tunes. Everything I love about Evan - his taste in, and love of, music just shines through.

Evan plays;

You Tore Me Down - Flamin' Groovies

Eight Miles High - The Byrds

I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better - The Byrds

Start Again - Teenage Fanclub

CLICK HERE if you don't see the video below.

Teenage Symphonies To God

Back in the 1960's, an acid fried Brian Wilson described the songs he was writing for his Smile project as "teenage symphonies to God". Quite a description! I'm kind of amazed that it took until 1994 for a band to steal the phrase for an album title.

The band in question was Velvet Crush, from Providence, Rhode Island. Formed by Paul Chastain vocals/bass and  Rick Menck on vocals/drums, the two had played in bands through the 80's before forming Velvet Crush. On Teenage Symphonies To God they were joined by Jeffrey Borchardt on guitar. 

Velvet Crush signed to Creation Records in the UK, perhaps aided by a cover version of Teenage Fanclub's Everything Flows as an extra track on their 1991 CD single Ash & Earth. 

Chastain and Menck's Teenage Symphonies To God are not as complex as the arrangements Wilson was working on all these years ago. Their symphonies are like the ones thousands of American kids blasted out in garages and basements throughout the country - guitar(s), bass, drums - power pop. 

Lord knows what happened to my CD copy of it. I always loved the artwork - super cool. And it has been great to listen back to the songs - full of hooks, harmonies and warm guitars. If Teenage Fanclub were influenced by Big Star around this time, then Velvet Crush sound like Big Star.

Opening with Hold Me Up, you're immediately into the sun soaked world of Velvet Crush and it's a rather lovely place to be, particularly at time when it gets dark around 4pm and every time you turn on the news you don't know what will be coming next. 

Velvet Crush can rock out/jam on, beautifully demonstrated on their cover of Matthew Sweet's Something's Gotta Give, where they sounds like a dream band you could discover playing in your local bar.

They can bring it down too, #10 is absolutely beautiful. A different kind of Big Star. And then you have the likes of Weird Summer and Time Wraps Around You, both full of harmonies and chiming Byrds-esque guitar, sounding and feeling wonderful.

Speaking of The Byrds, Velvet Crush cover Why Not Your Baby by Gene Clark, their harmonies at their peak, a variety of guitar sounds colliding to sound glorious. 

Star Trip is possibly my favourite song on the album. Sun kissed and dreamy guitar sounds and melodies.

I'm on a dream cloud

Higher than the sun but I'm coming down

From my dream, my dream cloud

I shot for the stars but I hit the ground

I can't feel it, it feels alright

Keep On Lingerin' closes the album, Velvet Crush highlighting that The Flying Burrito Brothers also feature heavily in their record collection.  

Overall, Teenage Symphonies To God has a lovely waves of warm guitar sound and an infectious sense of energy. I've really enjoyed listening to the album again and I hope you do too. Or if you decide to check it out for the first time then let me know what you think.

Star Trip

#10

Never Ending Mixtape Part 32

This months additions to the Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify begin with three songs from Scottish artists; The Bluebells Forever More, Flying by newcomers Hairband with the beautiful refrain I know a place where we can try to learn how to fly and Girasol by Lightships (Gerry Love).

Elsewhere we have Scotland represented by Stealer's Wheel, Eurythmics and Teenage Fanclub. In between we have a gem from Nick Drake that you imagine Stuart Murdoch must have listened to a few hundred times. Rainbows by Dennis Wilson is a song that I am always blown away by, Carole King at her absolute best with Where You Lead, Gene Clark is well represented, we have Burt Bacharach and even Petula Clark. And if you don't get a shiver down your spine when you listen to Harry Nilson's Without You then ......

Search for Everything Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or CLICK HERE.

The playlist is now approaching 900 songs. Play from the start, anywhere in between, click on shuffle or scroll to near the end to play the latest additions that are listed below.

Forever More - The Bluebells
Flying - Hairband
Girasol - Lightships
Hazey Jane II - Nick Drake
Reason to Believe - Karen Dalton
The Shining - Badly Drawn Boy
Come Pick Me Up - Ryan Adams
Rainbows - Dennis Wilson
Spanish Dance Troupe - Gorky's Zyngotic Mynci
All You Good Good People - Embrace
Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheel
Where You Lead - Carole King
Here Comes The Sun (live) - Ritchie Havens
Up With The People - Nixon
Wow and Flutter - Stereolab
Tired of Waiting for You - The Kinks
Strength of Strings - Gene Clark
Some Misunderstanding - Gene Clark
Why Not Your Baby - Dillard and Clark
Eight Miles High - The Byrds
You Tore Me Down - Flamin' Groovies
I Got Kinda Lost - Chris Bell
Fallen Star - Flamin' Groovies
Johannesburg - Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson
Without You - Harry Nilsson
South American Getaway - Burt Bacharach
Don't Sleep In The Subway - Petula Clark
(They Long To Be) Close To You - Burt Bacharach
You Don't Own Me - Dusty Springfield
Love Is A Stranger - Eurythmics
Thorn In My Side - Eurythmics
So Much Love - Dusty Springfield
Then He Kissed Me - The Crystals
Don't Look Back - Teenage Fanclub
Going Places - Teenage Fanclub

Never Ending Mixtape Part 18

Welcome to the latest additions to The Never Ending Mixtape, which smashes the 400 song barrier without breaking sweat as a whole heap of songs are added to my Spotify Playlist.

We start with the sublime Rocket Man by Elton John, leading into a Dylan song that reminds me of the magical time I saw him at the Barrowland Ballroom. we have two sublime covers by The Fuzzy Bunnies and The Icypoles, the smooth seductive sound of Barry White, a Donovan song that I thought was a lost Belle and Sebastian number when I first heard it, the majestic Carole King, fantastic indie guitar from Guided By Voices and The Replacements, a beautiful Lennon song sung by Yoko, some gems from The Boo Radleys Giant Steps album and a couple of tracks by Royksopp that reminds me (pardon the pun) of dating my wife back in 2001/2 and going clubbing. Their Melody AM album was a post club favourite.

There is also 3 gems from New Order, including 2 from their Technique LP, we have Stevie Wonder covering The Byrds/Dylan, 2 from The Supremes, a beauty from Martha Reeves, a masterclass in songwriting from Gordon Lightfoot and 3 timeless pieces of rock n roll from Eddie Cochran.

You can search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or simply check it out below. You'll need to scroll to near the end for the latest additions (listed below). Or just press shuffle and enjoy. New additions are added and blogged about monthly.

Enjoy!

Rocket Man - Elton John

I'll Be Your Baby Tonight - Bob Dylan

Love Hurts - Gram Parsons

I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better - The Byrds

Wasn't Born To Follow - The Byrds

Blue Boy - Orange Juice

L.O.V.E. Love - Orange Juice

The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore - The Fuzzy Bunnies

Love Thy Will Be Done - The Icypoles

Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right - The Mayberry Movement

Let The Music Use You (12-inch) The Nightwriters

It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me - Barry White

Wear Your Love Like Heaven - Donovan

It's Too Late - Carole King

Glad Girls - Guided By Voices

Swinging Party - The Replacements

The Joker - Steve Miller Band

Time Of The Season - The Zombies

Remember Love - John Lennon and Yoko Ono

You Are Here - John Lennon

Take It All In - St Etienne

Wish I Was Skinny - The Boo Radleys

Lazarus - The Boo Radleys

I Don't Know Why I Love You - The House of Love

Eple - Royksopp

Remind Me - Royksopp
Age Of Consent - New Order

All The Way - New Order
Run - New Order
Disappointed - Electronic
Mr. Tambourine Man - Stevie Wonder
Bad Weather - The Supremes
Love Child - The Supremes
I Can't Dance To The Music You're Playing - Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot
Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran
C'Mon Everybody - Eddie Cochran
Somethin' Else - Eddie Cochran

Never Ending Mixtape Part 14

 My Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify is now approaching 300 songs. I add to the playlist every month and then round up the latest additions in a blog.

As someone who vowed never to use Spotify or a streaming service, I have to admit I'm a convert! I still love and buy vinyl, but the ease of access that Spotify offers is unarguably incredible.

So after reading Johnny Marr's autobiography and wanting to dig into The The, all I had to do was search on Spotify and I discovered 2 absolutely sublime 12-inch remixes of Uncertain Smile and Perfect. They are sensational.

Elsewhere on the latest additions to the Never Ending Mixtape we have some real heavyweights like T-Rex, Bowie and Lou Reed, cult heroes Big Star and Gram Parson's Flying Burrito Brothers and this must be the only mixtape to have 2 Groove Armada tunes sandwiched between one by Todd Rundgren and an R.E.M demo!

You can search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify and play from the start, delve in anywhere, play on Shuffle or scroll to the end for the latest addition. Or simply CLICK HERE


Association - Teenage Fanclub
Uncertain Smile (12-inch remix) - The The
Perfect (12-inch remix) - The The
Our Lips Are Sealed - Fun Boy Three
Together In Electric Dreams - The Human League
Cosmic Dancer - T-Rex

Life's A Gas - T-Rex
Sound and Vision - David Bowie
Queen Bitch - David Bowie
Space Oddity - David Bowie
I'm So Free - Lou Reed
I Love You - Lou Reed
In The Street - Big Star
Thirteen - Big Star
September Gurls - Big Star
Hot Burrito #2 - The Flying Burrito Brothers
My Back Pages - The Byrds

Chestnut Mare - The Byrds
I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better - The Byrds
Another Girl, Another Planet - The Only Ones
Couldn't I Just Tell You - Todd Rundgren
At The River - Groove Armada
If Everybody Looked The Same - Groove Armada
Mike's Pop Song (demo) - R.E.M
Nightswimming - R.E.M

Mr Tambourine Man

Cover version of the month #26

Hi we're called Teenage Fanclub and this is a song by The Byrds

This is how I was introduced to the legendary Bob Dylan song. I recorded Teenage Fanclub live from Reading off the radio back in 1992. I was immediately hooked on the chiming guitars and flowing lyrics and the imagery of the song, the title too!

The Fanclub version was pretty true to the 2-minutes of pure guitar pop genius that The Byrds produced in homage to Dylan back in April 1965, only a month after Dylan had released his classic Bringing It All Back Home LP. The jingle-jangle mentioned in Dylan's chorus is replicated by beautiful 12-string Rickenbacker in the Byrd's version.

The Byrd's manager had acquired an acetate of Dylan's original recording of the song, ear-marked for Another Side Of Bob Dylan, but the author decided the song was special and he hadn't captured it correctly, so he held it back for his next LP, re-recording it in January 1965. Ironically the month The Byrds recorded their version!

One of Dylan's many masterpieces, Mr Tambourine Man is a flowing psychedelic poem that lasts 5-minutes and 27 seconds, during which time Dylan barely pauses for breath (either singing or playing harmonica) and a guitarist called Bruce Langhorne plays some exquisite lead guitar.

The Byrds cut out most of the verses and in 2 and a half minutes they produce something utterly compelling and vital. The harmonies are glorious, the guitar riff is one that must surely have made kids pick up a guitar. Roger McGuinn's lead vocals are sublime, suiting the dreamy and surreal lyrics penned by Dylan.

 Dylan played around with Mr Tambourine Man a lot, producing a remarkable version on his Live At The Budokan album which was one of the first Dylan albums I bought. Listen to the flute and the incredible organ solo - what a band! You can listen to this version below along with the original, the glorious Byrds cover and also one by Stevie Wonder.

Previous covers of the month

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt
14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine
16. California Soul
18. Wonder wall 
19. Dancing In The Dark
20. Always On My Mind
21. Ceremony
22. Heroes
23. Different Drum
24. Wild Horses

25. Respect

Top 10 Teenage Fanclub covers

Cover(s) of the month #5

Teenage Fanclub have never been shy in terms of wearing their influences on their sleeves. The band have released countless cover versions on b-sides or one-off singles and played them regularly at their shows.

I got into the band as a 15-year old, thirsty for discovering all kinds of music. I couldn't have picked a better band than the Fanclub to fall in love with - and they were from Bellshill, just up the road from Carluke! The Byrds, Dylan, Neil Young, Big Star, Alex Chilton, The Beatles, Madonna,  The Velvet Underground, Yo La Tengo, Sebadoh....all artists covered by TFC.

My favourite? - well it is either Free Again which they released on an extremely limited 7-inch (and I have one) or this - an absolute romp through The Byrds Feel A Whole Lot Better on the White Room.

I decided to compile my favourite ten cover versions performed by Teenage Fanclub. Here they are with links to the Fanclub version and also the original.

Unfortunately there were no links to their cover of Association by International Airport (details here) so that isn't included but it is well worth tracking down if you can.

Top 10 Teenage Fanclub covers

1. Feel A Whole Lot Better
Norman and Gerry take turns on lead vocals, the Fanclub at their joyous best. The Byrds released this as the b-side to Mr Tambourine Man - also covered by Teenage Fanclub.

2. Free Again
What a tune, a romp through the Alex Chilton song, an artist truly loved by the band.

Norman on stage with Alex

3. Don't Cry No Tears
A Neil Young song released on the b-side of the Everything Flows CD single. One of the first songs I ever learned to play on the guitar.

4. I Heard You Looking
Absolutely f**king beautiful. Almost 13-minutes of instrumental genius on this cover of a Yo La Tengo song. Released on the Neil Jung (alternate version) CD single.

5. Burned
Multi-format releases in the 90's was the perfect excuse for Teenage Fanclub to record a cover version or three. This, the original was by Buffalo Springfield, was on one of the Sparky's Dream CD's and Gerry Love just sounds like he is loving singing it.

Gerry Love - back in the day

6. He's Be A Diamond
This just flows superbly - perfect for Teenage Fanclub. Originally by The Bevis Frond.

7. Take The Skinheads Bowling
I used to have a couple of Fanclub cassette bootlegs, including a brilliant one from the Reading Festival when the band played this. A cover of a Camper Van Beethoven song. Just brilliant.

8. It's So Hard To Fall In Love
A brilliant Sebadoh song that the Fanclub covered on the bonus disc released with Thirteen. This disc also featured a cheeky romp through Goody Good Gumdrops by The 1910 Fruitgum Company.

9. Mr Tambourine Man
I loved the Reading Festival bootleg I had. Teenage Fanclub came on stage, played an instrumental and then introduced themselves by saying 'Hi we're called Teenage Fanclub and this is a song by The Byrds.' I bought The Byrds greatest hits that week and subsequently discovered Bob Dylan.

10.  Like A Virgin
Guitar pop punk rip through the Madonna classic - what's not to like?!

Five for Friday, 10/02/12

We start with a song I hadn't listened to in ages and then it came on my ipod shuffle.

I remember being blown away when I first heard this. I love the spoken word/story bits that just rush headlong into the chorus. The chiming guitars, melodies and harmonies send warm tingles down my spine.

It is no secret that I am a huge Teenage Fanclub fan. They turned me on to The Byrds (and loads of other amazing bands) through their interviews and fine selection of covers that they played live or snuck on to a b-side. This week the bands Gerry Love stuck a couple of videos from their 'Man-Made' album up on to YouTube. 'Fallen Leaves' is Gerry Love at his best, soothing vocals, great hooks and the sound of sunshine.

What could I lead on to via 'Fallen Leaves'?

How about a 'Shady Lane' by Pavement? This was a favourite of mine along with my great friend Reddy, we used to love the 'oh my god, oh my god.......' section and sing-a-long drunkenly when we were having carryouts and raiding each others record collections.

Speaking of my friend Reddy, we went to (and still do, although not as much) loads of gigs together. One of the drunkest ever gigs I have been to was Ben Folds Five at King Tuts. I think I had finished work and gone to meet Reddy at his student union and hung out there until Tuts. I vaguely recall jumping about like a loony to this with Reddy and clearing a bit of space on the Tuts dancefloor in front of the stage as we played air piano along to Ben!


The second part to this story occurred in 1999 when we were on holiday in New York and discovered Ben Folds was playing Central Park. We got tickets and went to a bar for the day, then to the gig where we drank pints of wine for some reason! We tried to climb a security banner to get backstage to tell Ben Folds we had seen him at Tuts, only to get over the fence and thrown back out! Blitzed we met two girls and promptly fell asleep on their picnic rug for most of the gig and woke to the sound of Underground and then proceeded to jump about like loonies again for the last few songs. We had people asking to take our pictures as we were so drunk! Anway, this is a great song!

I'll end todays song with a cover version by a Glasgow singer/songwriter who goes under the guise of Beerjacket. I bought his latest album this week and I'll review it in a future blog. This is the song that first turned me on to his music. Rather sublime.