the feelies - classic or dud?

Chicago got an awesome cover of 'Carnival (Box Car of Sorts)' last night - Holy Cow - the 'Only Life' tracks they played were so damn special powerful too... Hoping someone taped and puts on DIME.

oh cool, would like to hear their REM cover ... and yeah a Feelies cover comp would be good. Maybe it's up to me. Has anyone else done it? Some good Neil Young tracks, and the "Outdoor Miner" they were doing last year sounded amazing.

I have a Feelies covers comp I downloaded some years ago. This is the tracklist:

Head Held High
I'm a Believer
The Obedient Atom
Outdoor Miner
Roadrunner
Run Run Run/European Son/What Goes On
Sweet Jane
Barstool Blues
I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms
Mannequin
Sedan Delivery
See No Evil
She Said She Said
White Light White Heat

Of course, then there is the promo live CD with Egyptian Reggae, Dancing Barefoot, and Everybody's Got...Monkey.

They did "Paint It Black" at the very end, too.

coupla things missing from that comp: eno's third uncle, love/bacharach's little red book, mc5's looking at you ... fun to be happy by love tractor ... "obedient atom" is an unreleased original, i think.

don't think i've heard them do "sweet jane"

"Obedient Atom" was, I believe, a post-Crazy Rhythms Stiff single.

I don't think Obedient Atom ever came out.

yeah hopefully that'll be one of the crazy rhythms bonus tracks this fall. what i've read is that "obedient atom" is kinda what got them dropped from Stiff back in the day -- they delivered it as their first post-CR single and Stiff said no thanks. Live versions are cool, though, kinda droney, Eno-esque stuff.

You're right Dan - this interview with the Voice indicates it didn't ever get officially released:

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/archives/2008/07/interview_glenn.php

FYI, the Feelies "Sweet Jane" has Lou Reed on lead vocals. It's just okay.

ah, maybe i have heard it -- i remember my friend playing a bootleg of Lou and the Feelies way back when.

I asked about The Obedient Atom, wanted to release it. They didn't seem too interested. I don't think it's that likely to be one of those bonus tracks, but we can hope!

aw come on, if it's the only crazy rhythms-era outtake, they HAVE to release it. THEY HAVE TO.

Review of last night's show. I pretty much agree, except I didn't like the "Nobody Knows" very much. I'd be happy to hear a new album once it's finished, but I was dying to hear more songs from Crazy Rhythms.

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2009/06/concert-review-feelies-at-millennium-park.html

i think "Nobody Knows" sounds OK, but don't really like "Time Is Right" ... I could be mistaken, but both of those songs seem to be about getting the band back together.

Fantastic show last night. "Raised Eyebrows" was my fave.

Mercer's solo was waaay off on Time Is Right (I think that's which one) -- like, so bad it had to be on purpose?

Otherwise, watching Stan Demeski was a joy. Dude is unflappable. Barely moved his torso the whole time and totally threw down. Hard to believe Dean Wareham had him and *and* Justin Harwood behind him and let them go...

You know one of the many things I love about the Feelies? They love the VU, but aren't afraid to show it. Feelies covering the VU is so on the nose it's OTM. Was it only Yung Wu that covered Eno's "Big Day?" That album needs to come out again, too.

Show last night was great. Perfect weather. My daughter danced like a nut.

Were you and your daughter on the concrete part between the lawn and seats? There were two little girls dancing the whole time, or swinging around or riding on dads' shoulders. Then there was a black guy who didn't seem to know the songs but was feelin' it with some awesome moves.

ha, i can totally see little kids enjoying the Feelies

Well, she was there with a friend, but she kind of made the rounds. Most of the totally nuts dancing was way back on the lawn, though at one point they were wiggling around up front on the concrete. She wanted to see the band's heads!

Okay, more details about the reissues:

Release date for both The Feelies re-issues on Bar None: September 8, 2009

Both albums will be issued in original sequence with download cards included in each package that will give purchasers access to bonus tracks as well as the original albums. The band felt that the original records functioned as discrete works on their own that should not be compromised with additional tracks not part of the original sequence, hence offering bonus tracks thusly

Crazy Rhythms CD/LP reissue track listing:
Side One:
1. The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness
2. Fa cé-La
3. Loveless Love
4. Forces At Work
Side Two:
5. Original Love
6. Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except Me And My Monkey)
7. Moscow Nights
8. Raised Eyebrows
9. Crazy Rhythms
*** NOTE: Their cover of "Paint It Black" was left off the reissue as
per the band's request. A&M added it without the band's permission
and it was a recording from the late 80s with a different line-up than
what was the "Crazy Rhythms" line-up.

Crazy Rhythms bonus tracks:
1. Fa cé-La [single version] - originally released as a 7" on Rough Trade.
2. The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness [Carla Bley demo version]
3. Moscow Nights [Carla Bley demo version]
4. Crazy Rhythms (Live) - From the 9:30 Club (Washington D.C.),
recorded March 14, 2009.
5. I Wanna Sleep In Your Arms (Live) - From the 9:30 Club (Washington
D.C.), recorded March 14, 2009. Modern Lovers cover.

The Good Earth CD/LP reissue track listing:
Side One:
1. On The Roof
2. The High Road
3. The Last Roundup
4. Slipping (Into Something)
5. When Company Comes
Side Two:
6. Let's Go
7. Two Rooms
8. The Good Earth
9. Tomorrow Today
10. Slow Down

The Good Earth bonus tracks.
1. She Said, She Said - originally on the "No One Knows" vinyl EP on
Coyote Records through Twin/Tone Records (US). Beatles cover.
2. Sedan Delivery - originally on the "No One Knows" vinyl EP on
Coyote Records through Twin/Tone Records (US). Neil Young cover.
3. Slipping (Into Something) (Live) - From the 9:30 Club (Washington
D.C.), recorded March 14, 2009.

Download cards will be included in each respective CD & LP reissue.
The full album + bonus tracks will be included on each. Domino will
be the hosting site for the downloads as they have the rights to the
albums outside the U.S. & Canada.

Bar/None's LP reissues were mastered by Andy VanDette at Masterdisk in NYC
www.masterdisk.com
Pressings will be handled by Rainbo Records and will be 180 gram
www.rainborecords.com

Original tapes were unfortunately not found. Andreas Meyer from Tangerine Mastering used
digital files for both.

Tapes obtained from the band were used for the Fa cé-La [single
version], The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness [Carla Bley demo
version] and Moscow Nights [Carla Bley demo version]. The live tracks
were recorded by their live sound engineer Andy Peters.

Insound will be exclusively carrying a limited
edition 7" reissue of the original "Fa cé-La" single. www.insound.com
Side A:
Fa cé-La (single version)
Side B:
Raised Eyebrows (album version)

Pressing for this single will also be handled by Rainbo Records.
Street date for the single is TBD.

big news here is the Carla Bley demo versions, or at least that's what I'm most interested in. definitely support removing "paint it black" from crazy rhythms -- a nice version, but not necessary at the end of that record. Good Earth bonus tracks = not very exciting, since I've already heard those covers. also still pretty unsure about the 2009 live material -- I'm sure they're good, but I can't help but feel they don't belong here.

Wish they'd re-release the studio version of 'I Wanna Sleep in Your Arms." I think it was on a single/EP with "Raised Eyebrows" and "Fa Ce La."

i think the studio version of "I wanna sleep in your arms" comes from a later version of the band, around Time For A Witness ...

yeah: http://www.thefeeliesweb.com/disc/singles3.htm

but anyway, too bad that my dream of a Crazy Rhythms-era live comp will remain just a dream for the time being. Guess we'll just have to stick with bootlegs!

wait wait demos with CARLA BLEY? of all ppl?

well, they were recorded at her studio -- dunno if she was actually involved otherwise, or even present ...

what's REALLY annoying is that the "Obedient Atom" is nowhere to be found --
"DAVE: We spend three days recording "The Obedient Atom" in Carla Bley's studio. It was an instrumental with some chanting at the end. When Stiff heard that, their hair started falling out. "Is this what the next album is going to sound like?"
from here http://www.furious.com/perfect/ooloo.html

oh, and there i was trying to work out with bley arrangements

oh, and there i was trying to work out what they'd sound like with bley arrangements

No no, go back to "Aerobics with Carla Bley" please.

lol

i can kind of imagine a Carla Bley workout vid
http://www.mantlermusic.com/Artists/carla_bley.jpg
sweatin' it to the ... what?

sweatin' it to the feelies

with instructions by paul haines

Free Jazzercise

"Okay so by now your ab crunches in 14/5 time have gone arrythmic. Don't repeat this for ten minutes, but keep going."

"remember: the exercise you don't do can be as important as the exercise you do."

"And...unbreathe."

Just got the reissues in the mail. Marvellous sound and of course, hey, it's the Feelies' first two albums, naturally they're great.

My ears are jealous of yours Ned. Can't wait to hear these - my cassette of Crazy Rhythms was on its last legs years ago (and the rip I have just isn't up to snuff).

Hey Ned, can you describe how different it sounds from previous editions ? I hope it doesn't sound too big.

Not at all, if anything I think it captures the subtleties better than ever -- the opening of "The Boy With Perpetual Nervousness" actually surprised me!

This is what I was hoping for.
Its like the remastered version of "Here come the warm jets", when I finally had the chance a lot of details previously drowned by hiss.

:D can't wait! (also, still lol-ing over Carla Bley as fitness instructor)

Thanks Ned. Excited !

yeah, super-excited to hear the cleaned up sound on these -- Both of those records are so textured and subtle. Even Good Earth, which seems more straightforward the Crazy Rhythms, has all of these layers of sound happening on every song.

Holy crap, I wasn't actually expecting this to be so good.