Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The Reivers - Saturday & End of the Day demos

Way back when I started this blog, I enlightened (or in some cases, simply reminded) you, of Austin, TX's long-departed Reivers, formally known as Zeitgeist. So far as I know, the link for their first album, Translate Slowly is still live. In that two-year old post, I mentioned all kinds of stuff about how The Reivers were part of a little known, folk/modern-rock movement sometimes referred to as "The New Sincerity,” which you can educate yourself on by reading this article.
After Translate came and went, The Reivers were scooped up by none other than Capitol Records for their 1987, Don Dixon-produced album Saturday, and it's followup, '89s End of the Day. Amazingly, especially considering the era, The Reivers edgy guitar-rock was not glossed over or stricken with the typical major label white wash. In fact, the demos for these two records often provide a note-for-note blueprint for the finished product (though the mixes here are a bit more stimulating). The EotD demo sessions yielded a considerable number of outtakes, including a taught, gnawingly catchy run through of Daniel Johnston's "Walking the Cow." "Light My Way" and "Fooled So Many" are worth their weight in power chords as well. Enjoy (or not).
Saturday demos
01 title unknown
02 True Love
03 What Am I Doing?
04 Electra
05 Secretariat
06 Once In A While
07 Jeanie
08 Bidin' Time
09 Saturday
10 In Your Eyes
11 Ragamuffin Man
12 A Test
 
End of the Day demos
01 Your Secrets Are Not Safe
02 Fooled So Many
03 Cut Above
04 Inside Out
05 Walking The Cow
06 Star Telegram
07 Almost Home
08 End of the Day
09 Tell Me So
10 Discontent of Winter
11 It's About Time
12 He Will Settle It
13 Lazy Afternoon
14 Dude Man Hey
15 On Green Dolphin Street
16 Truth To Tell
17 He Will Settle It (acoustic)
18 Light My Way
19 Tell Me So

Saturday demos: Here
End of the Day demos: Here

18 comments:

Psyclist said...

killer albums, hopefully the demos are a good addition:) Thx

Monkey Flinging Poo said...

Wow. Thanks!

jackson said...

that made my night, thank you!

titou said...

very good
thank you!!

Unknown said...

One of my favorite bands from the '80s. Thanks so much for posting these!

Unknown said...

Thank you so much. The Reivers are my favorite band. Twenty years later and it's just as powerful.

Jeff Bosie said...

Now that's a treat, thank you very much. I guess there will be a Christmas this year!

BlackSwanSongs said...

Man, I'm a few years late to the party, but having grown up in Austin and seen The Reivers play umpteen times - and until now not knowing these demos existed - it would make my day if you could send these to me somehow. I have a DropBox account. And I have FTP capability. I'd be forever grateful! -Marc (morpha2small [at] gmail)

ocelotto said...

This is the best score I've found in some time. LOVE this band!

ocelotto said...

This is the best score I've found in some time. LOVE this band!

spavid said...

The links have just been fixed.

Charles Swenson said...

Thanks so much for the re-up!

This is a band that I've loved since they were Zeitgeist, buying everything they released. This is a real joy and a aural key to reclaiming the joys of earlier days...

I am so very grateful to your kind and prompt response in restoring this gift to Reivers fans. Please rest assured that your effort is deeply appreciated...

Unknown said...

Hi,
Any chance you could back up the Reiver demos. Both are classic albums.
Dr Dre

Lord Carrett said...

Todays post lead me to this post, but both links are dead. Would you please consider reposting these two collections of demos! - Stinky

spavid said...

Both demo links have been fixed.

caneda said...

pleaseeee re up...thanks in advance..

Unknown said...

thank you so much for keeping the links live on this great music blog, revisiting the reivers archives this week & found second story on youtube finally after 9 years! can't wait to hear these demos & a couple that didn't make the cut that i've never heard before, been in love with bidin' time & walking the cow for years & always thought those were in the top tier of their best. wish i could find the quality time acoustic versions of star telegram & almost home online, need to dig through all the drives & hope i kept them hidden in some treasure chest somewhere. there's a great set from kut austin live in feb. 2008 up at thereivers.net, sounds crystal clear & awesome after all this time still! happy christmas & merry new year!

Christy Schreck said...

Hello,
I just came across these demos but I don't seem to be able to open them or convert to mp3. Any chance to reup or fix them?
Thanks so much!