Supposedly, for the past several years, Del Amitri has been on indefinite hiatus rather than "broken up", but I'll believe it when I see 'em back at work. (Meanwhile, I encourage you once again to check out Justin Currie's solo
albums
.) So, until further notice, I'm calling the period spanning the band's last two releases on either side of their Hatful of Rain
compilation "Late Period" Del Amitri, and lumping the b-sides from those three releases together in this ten-track post. Once again, live cuts and songs which were tapped for inclusion on Lousy With Love
are not included here.
albums.) So, until further notice, I'm calling the period spanning the band's last two releases on either side of their Hatful of Rain compilation "Late Period" Del Amitri, and lumping the b-sides from those three releases together in this ten-track post. Once again, live cuts and songs which were tapped for inclusion on Lousy With Love are not included here.
From the era of the band's Some Other Sucker's Parade
album (not my favorite, but I love the title's implicit "motherf***er"!) comes three tracks that appeared on the two "Not Where It's At" singles (I also love the idea of an answer song to Beck's "Where it's At", with a typical bit of Currian self-effacement; the Dels would never be hipsters' favorites). Then we have songs from the singles that only appeared on Hatful, "Don't Come Home Too Soon" and "Cry to be Found", and finally, four tracks from the "Just Before You Leave" singles from the final D.A. album, Can You Do Me Good
?
album (not my favorite, but I love the title's implicit "motherf***er"!) comes three tracks that appeared on the two "Not Where It's At" singles (I also love the idea of an answer song to Beck's "Where it's At", with a typical bit of Currian self-effacement; the Dels would never be hipsters' favorites). Then we have songs from the singles that only appeared on Hatful, "Don't Come Home Too Soon" and "Cry to be Found", and finally, four tracks from the "Just Before You Leave" singles from the final D.A. album, Can You Do Me Good?
(Continuing Currie's tradition of negatory inversions of famous song titles, "I'm an Unbeliever" appears here. His latest example, from his new The Great War album, actually changes a negative to a positive: "You'll Always Walk Alone". Ouch! But perhaps his most concise transformation is the addition of a mere comma into a famous Springsteen title: "No, Surrender". The song of that name, from What is Love For, is a real masterpiece, a long and scathing societal rebuke on the order of Dylan's "It's Alright Ma" -- and that's not a comparison I'd make lightly.)
album, actually changes a negative to a positive: "You'll Always Walk Alone". Ouch! But perhaps his most concise transformation is the addition of a mere comma into a famous Springsteen title: "No, Surrender". The song of that name, from What is Love For, is a real masterpiece, a long and scathing societal rebuke on the order of Dylan's "It's Alright Ma" -- and that's not a comparison I'd make lightly.)
Here endeth our collection of Justin's songs that were exclusive to the various Dels singles -- a total of THIRTY-TWO songs over and above what's on their albums (I'm not counting the 3 cover tunes, re-recorded "Hammering Heart", or original take on "The Difference Is" among their number), plus another 13 B-side tunes on Lousy, three more added to the first album's reissue (again, not counting the one cover there), and three more A-sides only collected on the best-of! Is there any other band with that many non-LP songs (51!) over the course of a six-album career? That averages out to more than eight extra songs per album.
And yet, we're only halfway through this series! Still ahead in Delsville are a slew of live bonus discs and b-sides, and alternate versions of various songs, totaling another 41 tracks(!) and rounding out Del Amitri's officially released Rare Stuff. (And perhaps I'll go ahead and post "Lousy With Love" after all to close with, just for completeness' sake.) Plus a few extra goodies for Del fans, so do stay tuned. And keep those comments comin'!
Contents (Title/Source):
Canned Laughter Cry To Be Found [Disc 1]
One Step At A Time Cry To Be Found [Disc 1]
Three Little Words Don't Come Home Too Soon
The Septic Jubilee Just Before You Leave [Disc 1]
Belong Belong Just Before You Leave [Disc 1]
I'm An Unbeliever Just Before You Leave [Disc 2]
You Love Me Just Before You Leave [Disc 2]
Spare Pair Of Laces Not Where It's At [Disc 1]
A Grimace Not A Smile Not Where It's At [Disc 2]
Low Friends In High Places Not Where It's At [Disc 2]
Another great upload. I owe you a pint. :)
ReplyDelete"Low Friends in High Places" has always been one of my favorite Del Amitri B-sides ever released. It's such a departure from their usual style that it almost make me wish Currie and Harvie would have done a full record all out in this style. Kind of like, you always knew they could rock this hard - but now you had proof. So much so, that I was actually surprised to see you not call it out by name Jeff.
ReplyDeleteGood collection again. Although, I have to admit - I'm just a tad bit excited to get to the live stuff. It's rare thing now a days to have a band that can sound as good as their recordings, and often times even surpass those recorded tracks with great performances. Del Amitri was one of those bands. I was lucky enough to see them a couple of times before their 'hiatus' and those shows remain in my all time greatest concerts.
Well Jonathan, thanks for calling it out by name yourself! It definitely is a real raver, and I agree that it would have been fun for them to do a whole album like this. Their version of "Ace of Spades" on one of the forthcoming live albums has some of this flavor.
ReplyDelete... and I just almost rhymed "raver" and "flavor"!
ReplyDeleteThe couple times I saw DA live, I was amazed by Iain Harvie's ability to smoke, chew gum and play guitar simultaneously, and still hit his cue perfectly on the harmonies.
ReplyDeleteYay on the Dels!
ReplyDeleteI was out a few days and you have filled the blog with these gems, thanks, thanks
ReplyDeleteThank you, keep on delamitring!
ReplyDeleteF'in wicked post!! Have thought this for a while - the most underrated band of all time... I just want to know which singles were "evidence" and " some one else will " on the b side of ?
ReplyDelete"Evidence" was on the "Nothing Ever Happens" 12" and CD singles.
ReplyDelete"Someone Else Will" first appeared on a UK 10" "Here and Now" single and then on the US CD single for "Roll to Me".
Glad you're diggin' the Del!
This is a great series, is there another way to upload these and share them? Megaupload is no more.
ReplyDeleteI need my Dels fix!