Word got out a month or so ago regarding a greatly expanded 20th anniversary edition of the Stone Roses eponymous debut to be coming down the pike this summer. Indeed, it was confirmed exactly two weeks ago that the "Legacy Edition" of the Stone Roses would be hitting the streets on August 11th in a variety of configurations, most notably including a disk of "lost demos." (You can peruse a full tracklisting via Pitchfork). Upon hearing this joyous news I was promptly reminded that I had tucked away a fan-curated assemblage of entirely unreleased Stone Roses demo and rehearsal recordings. While some of the tracks in the roster of the "demos" portion of the deluxe-ified reissue may overlap with what's included in this post, the vast majority of these puppies are apparently not being brought to market. Cool. Even cooler, the music itself, with a lineup including alternate renditions of all the singles generated by said album, album tracks, b-sides, and then some. What comprises the "then some" you ask? How about two takes of a jangly jewel left on the cutting room floor called "Sun Still Shines?" Almost as cool, another diamond in the rough, "Heart on the Staves," (which later appeared in another take on the eventually-to-be-official "boot" of early Roses studio tracks, Garage Flower). There is also the unspeakably scarce early rehearsal cut "Boy on the Pedestal," that I barely saw a mention of on a recent Google plundering.
Still not licking your chops? Well, this collection rounds out with two cuts from the pre-Roses outfit The Waterfront, who included John Squire, Ian Brown, and Mani in it's lineup. Hardly prodigious, but given they were youngsters at the time, I think we owe them a little slack. As for the "classics," we get a very spare, acoustic work-in-progress of "She Bangs the Drums" (presumably Ian solo), and quite revelatory renditions of "I Wanna Be Adored," "Elephant Stone," and "Waterfall," among many others. In short, a veritable windfall of Savage Young Roses - the genesis revealed if you like! If this doesn't tide you over til the reissue, you can also partake in an ongoing series of podcasts regarding the album that started it all.
01. I Wanna Be Adored
02. Heart On The Staves
03. Tell Me
04. This Is The One
05. Boy On The Pedestal
06. All Across The Sands
07. Hardest Thing In The World
08. Sun Still Shines
09. She Bangs The Drums
10. Waterfall
11. Hardest Thing In The World
12. Elephant Stone
13. Sun Still Shines
14. Going Down
15. Sugar Spun Sister
16. Waterfall
17. Shoot You Down
18. She Bangs The Drums
19. Waterfall
20. Made Of Stone
21. This Is The One
22. Elizabeth My Dear
23. (On A Beach In) Normandy
24. When The Wind Blows
1-3: Piccadilly Radio sessions 24/03/85
4: Strawberry Studios, Stockport, 1985, 3am (first ever take)
5-8: Rehersals, Chorlton, Manchester, 18/03/86
9-10: circa '86
11: Demo, Yacht Club studios, Bredbury, Manchester 1986
12-15: Chorlton, Manchester, 12/12/86
16-17: Demos, Manchester Late '87
18-21: Suite-16 Studios, Manchester May '88
22: Battery Studios, London Jan '89
23-24: Demos 1983. Pre-Roses band called The Waterfront who included Squire, Mani & Ian. Kaiser is singing as Ian didn't turn up.
Hear
4 comments:
I am impressed.
wow! thanks!
I read Kaiser was the actual singer of the band back then as Ian was in his scooter club days and was always on scooter runs and thus not into the band and reharsals
Great! Thanks.
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