Opal - Early Recordings/Happy Nightmare Baby

if anyone's interested i just posted a 1984 opal show here: http://ow.ly/4tAZq probably the same one city worker mentions above? anyway, it's great.

grazie!

CD80 mix upthread needs more Rain Parade but no idea what i'd remove :/

i'd remove all the mazzy star (i like 'em, but..)

re-upped this with a better link -- track order was all out of wack.

weird, there's a vinyl bootleg of that 1984 clay allison gig floating around: http://www.discogs.com/Clay-Allison-Live-At-The-Electric-Banana-5221984/release/5456137
anyone got it?

I have this. My wife is a major Kendra fan so I bought this for her for her birthday last year. Sound quality a solid B, and the songs / performances sound terrific. Cool cover art, too, not very bootleg-y. Definitely worth the plunge.

yeah, i've heard the tape previously -- pretty cool performance (and fairly different from Early Recordings in some respects, if i remember correctly. some pretty heavy moments).

yep, if it's not too pricey, I'd get one... I got it as a gift and agree with Jimmywine's assessment!

I need to look and see if that was one of the shows that came up on Dime a few years back, there were a bunch. If it's the one I'm thinking of, it is pretty great.

pretty sure it's the one i posted upthread a few years ago (link is dead however)

Re that Early Recordings II bootleg, Matt Piucci found out about it earlier this year and was really pissed off as a couple of the songs are apparently not Opal songs at all but are I guess Rain Parade demos or just Matt P solo, and he was somehow under the impression that David Roback was responsible for putting it out!

weird! what an odd career roback has made for himself. still seems crazy that the opal stuff hasn't been collected/reissued properly.

agreed, just madness

numero group putting out a deeeluxe box set w/ early recordings + happy nightmare, plus live & unreleased action (hopefully not matt piucci solo demos, haha) ... i would buy it.

that is so weird about Early Recordings II, I'll have to give that a closer listen

that version of "indian summer" on ERII -- so good. though this one w/ hope is very good too...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1wnAsSB71M

so that LP is not one of the 4 shows I have, another thing to add to the list. when looking, I also found this tragically lost item with three more early songs that have never appeared anywhere afaict:

http://www.discogs.com/Clay-Allison-Clay-Allison/release/7679417

oops, they are on Early Recordings II, carry on

gahhhh compilation tracks and ephemera I was not aware of

a Syd Barrett cover!!! some song called "Ghost Highway" from a Rough Trade promo tape?!?!

https://www.discogs.com/artist/158032-Opal-2?filter_anv=0&subtype=Compilations&type=Appearances

yeah, found that barrett cover on youtube a little while ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFV4geZ-IHA
pretty good!
didn't know about "ghost highway" -- the same song that mazzy star did?

it might just be that track, yeah

OPAL - 1987, Sept.17, Live VIDEO, w. Kendra Smith singing, San Diego, SST Records Fest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd8g6AROi18

nice!

Wow!

holy shit I was at that gig!

too bad the mic was right next to Suki's foldback! What a great find.

Before this event took place, SST had scheduled a festival in the L.A. area with Sonic Youth headlining but it fell through, so instead they held this festival on the steps of the main gym at UC San Diego, with Opal headlining.

I remember this, a free, all day thing at the Santa Fe dam in Irwindale! My friend and I drove out there only to find it had been cancelled.

"Fell From the Sun" has to be one of the top ten songs in the universe.

in case anyone missed it, Kendra Smith recorded a song for the Leave No Trace soundtrack last year and it's amazing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnoME6cyi_U

^^^^

It looks like 'Early Recordings' is being reissued November 1 on a label called Salley Gardens. Salley Gardens Publishing is listed on every Mazzy Star release.

wow!

nice

FINALLY

Looks like a straight reissue, no bonus tracks or what have you... not even "hear the wind blow". Amazon track listing could of course just be wrong, but there's no other real info about it yet!

this better not be some sketchy Amazon boot

It's Prime and ships from and sold by Amazon so that's a good sign.

ha, i don't think i knew that "hear the wind blow" isn't on some versions ...

it's not on the vinyl version, it was a CD bonus track originally

^^ yeah it was a B-side

I thought Hear the Wind Blow was only ever on the Early Recordings CD... they could add Soul Giver and Freight Train, those b-sides never appeared on CD before I don't think?

oh yes you are correct, was thinking abt Freight Train

the version of Soul Giver on that 12" is the same as on Happy Nightmare Baby iirc

hrmmmm

I’m Kendra Smith’s manager - while we are in discussions, nothing has been approved yet. This had better not be real, just yet.

— Pat Thomas (@PatThomas1964) October 3, 2019

I must admit I'm glad to know that she has a manager

haha, yeah, seems unlikely, but that guy is legit, I think.

normally I'd be suspicious if the artist themselves said nothing about a reissue, but with Opal I'd be more suspicious if they did.

haha, yeah, seems unlikely, but that guy is legit, I think

I didn't know he was handling Kendra's stuff, but Pat is definitely legit.

I played Early Recordings for the first time in maybe ten years and I have to say I remember liking it more than I do. I think in my old age I actually prefer Happy Nightmare Baby. I don't remember all the lousy slide playing on this album! Total respect and admiration for Roback as a guitarist but Kendra remains the draw for me. And I still love the Rainy Day album more than all the Opal and Mazzy Star albums combined.

That said, if a reissue of Early Recordings materializes, I'll probably buy it, as my copy of this is beat to hell.

This is now in stock...