WARNERS/RHINO POGUES BOX SET, 2008

[Kriss]

Look what Spider wrote on his blog

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... indicate=1

How stupid can it get?

Spider doesn't seem to be one to tolerate fools. I'll wager the tossers at UMG and/or WMG are going to get an earful.

[mcguck]

really dumb question Mr C.--who's speaking at the beginning and end of song one, "The Kerry Polka"
"one 2 3 4..."
"there's always one, isn't it?"

and what's the person in question referring to? A good first take?

[philipchevron]

really dumb question Mr C.--who's speaking at the beginning and end of song one, "The Kerry Polka"
"one 2 3 4..."
"there's always one, isn't it?"

and what's the person in question referring to? A good first take?

I'm glad you asked me that, cause it means I get to answer it.

It's James Fearnley, whose cheery presence has always ensured his garrulousness or volubility in the studio, a fact I could not resist commemorating on the box set. That and the fact that the comment underlines the essentially but unapologetically loose and unpolished nature of much of the material to follow on the collection. "There's always one, isn't there?" is James' comment on the fact that that particular take of "The Kerry Polka" disintegrates at the end into a bit of a train wreck or concentration deficit, the sort of thing that has never bothered any of us in the slightest (and continues not to!). I'm not sure who the "one" is in this instance. Andrew, possibly. I also got a kick out of the fact that the first words heard on the box set are in a Manchester, not Irish accent.

James has always been the person to talk most between takes in the studio, though I did notice, in listening to the archive, that in the very early days, the culprit was more often Jem, who usually had something to say before the take had quite finished. The voices at the end of the box set, after "Goodnight Irene", belong to both James and Jem.

There was a great deal of this japery on my earlier drafts of the box set, but I found they grew tiresome after repeated listening and edited most of them out. My favourite remaining one is at the top of Disc Two, when Spider says something like "What am I supposed to be doing now?" and then, apparently without drawing breath, lurches into "Repeal Of The Licensing Laws" on the whistle: it's only because the whistle was almost certainly overdubbed (rather than taken "live" with the backing track) but I enjoy the seeming impossibility of the moment.

[DzM]

Amazon has bumped their price to $95 smackers.

Wow.

[IrishRover]

praoise the loird, gooid news, oi shoiuld sooin be oine proiud oiwner of Pogues Boix Set Yeah, Tom's coimoin' froim OIreland, he'll get oit there and oi'll pay hem when he arroives.. thois boix ois actually soimethoing that ois a must foir me, real deal, genuoine, all stuff.. noit soime coipoies woithoiut anythoing; oi guess tois' goinna be a thoing that woill always be dear & cloise woith me, hoipe oine day when oi break free froim thois 3rd woirld oi can broing oit foir Shaneo, Philip and all to soign, twoiuld be such an hoinoiur; oim lookoin' foirward to hear unreleased stuff, woill send moire oimpressions when oi get the boix..

[GUEST]

Anyone agree that the Peace and love demos sound better than the album versions. Just listened to Boat Train and Lorca I thought they were head and shoulders above what appeared on the album. You can hear what Shane is singing for a start.

[GregM]

I totally agree about the Peace and Love demos. I believe I've read elsewhere that if Steve Lillywhite were to do the album again, he would not try to bolster Shane's vocals like he did--by doubling them up, having other band members sing with him, and so on--his opinion being that those effects detracted more from the songs than weak vocal performances would have. And that's why these demos are so great: unadulterated vocals. I love this version of "Boat Train" and have probably listened to it thirty-some times since getting the box set.

[philipchevron]

I totally agree about the Peace and Love demos. I believe I've read elsewhere that if Steve Lillywhite were to do the album again, he would not try to bolster Shane's vocals like he did--by doubling them up, having other band members sing with him, and so on--his opinion being that those effects detracted more from the songs than weak vocal performances would have. And that's why these demos are so great: unadulterated vocals. I love this version of "Boat Train" and have probably listened to it thirty-some times since getting the box set.

It has to be said that Shane - indeed, the whole band - was in better shape when we recorded the demos than when we cut the album. By then, disillusion, not to mention various drug cocktails, had set in. We gave Lillywhite an uphill battle from the very beginning. Steve probably made the best choices he could at the time in respect of how to disguise/flatter/enhance/obscure the lead vocals, but he is, I think, right to concede, 20 years later, that there was probably a better way around the problem. Oddly enough, with success there appears to come some unspoken additional pressure from the record company to make records a certain way, with a particular sound etc, and in the event, Steve was trying to make the record as much for the Brothers Warner in the UK and Island Records in the USA as for The Pogues. In an ideal world, these are not incompatible goals, as the previous album proves, but I think this one collapsed as under the weight of expectation as much as it suffered from our own flawed humanity, and it ended up representing the best interests of no one.

Amazing it's still a great album, however flawed. What else was there that month, the new Rick Astley?

[DaBanjo2]

At least Lillywhite did a decent job of double-tracking the vocals...unlike the annoying and obvious double-tracking of Spider on nearly every single track of Waiting for Herb.

[Charlie W]

Been on holiday from work and had a chance to give the box set a real good listen. Here are my favourites...

1. The Rocky Road To Dublin
2. NW3
3. The Donegal Express/The Hen And The Cock Are In Carrickmacross
4. Hot Asphalt
5. Danny Boy (Always wanted to hear Shane sing this.)
6. The Travelling People
7. North Sea Holes (The best of the E. MacColl covers on the box set, but think they are all cracking).
8. The Last Of The McGee
9. Young Ned Of The Hill (Dub Version)
10. Haunted - Demo (Like Andrew's count in at the beginning, think its Andrew...? This demo version has a more Pogues earthy vibe than the sheen of the version in Disc 1 but have always loved this song since I manged to find the "Sid and Nancy" soundtrack on tape sometime ago....!)
11. Junk Theme (love the experimental vibe - Velvet Underground influence)
12. Glued Up and Speeding (Everything I imagined the Millwall Chainsaws to have sounded like)
13. Hot Dogs With Everything (Just glad that the Pogues got a chance to overtly go for some full throttle punk considering the backgrounds of many in the band. Spider and Shane's backing vocals, are top.)
15. Lullaby Of London (agree with previous posts, love what Terry does with this at the end)
16.Thousands Are Sailing (great to hear Philip sing this)
17. The Bailinalee
18. Boat Train
19. Night Train To Lorca (Agree with previous post, think this and the Boat Train demos work better than the originals.)
20. Aisling (A Shane classic!)
21. Murder - Version 2 (The Pogues doing Ska, works for me and you can't argue with the sentiment)
22. Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah - 12" Single remix (Reminds me of when it is played live, just wish there was a version which has Darryl's rapping on it, always a favourite moment when done live, what was he actually singing..?)
23. Maidrin Rua (Never really got "Six To Go" but always wanted to hear more of this song as think it is a lovely tune. Who coughs at the beginning...?)
24. Miss Otis Regrets/Just One Of Those Things (Always loved this but only had it on the Poguevision video, just think the two songs are great and work together but they are so different. The video always makes me smile its so colourful and looked great fun to make.)

Thanks for putting this together Philip. Looking forward to Brixton in December and seeing you up on stage. What are the chances of something a bit different from the box set making it into the live set. Perhaps we could have a vote..., then again having read about Shane's views on band democracy not sure that this will work!

[IrishRover]

oi goit the Boix Set toiday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dbohn]

I walked into a small independent music store on the east side of Milwaukee Thursday, and saw a copy in stock. It was listing for less than all my usual sources, so I took it as a sign and bought it on the spot.

I'm currently in the middle of Hot Dogs, and working my way through, having previously listened to a half-dozen random tracks. Brilliant!

I do have one question that Philip could probably answer, though if anyone else knows, please chime in:

Who is singing on Jem's "Aria"?

[Zuzana]

Who is singing on Jem's "Aria"?

Andrew Ranken. And the song has already proven inspiring enough to earn a separate thread.

[dbohn]

Thanks Zuzana, I had a suspicion that those were Andrew's vocal folds, but given the rather extreme processing done to make the track sound old, I thought I'd check.

The "Aria" thread is quite interesting. And I think it safe to say that the Aria is a unique track in the Pogues discography.

[philipchevron]

given the rather extreme processing done to make the track sound old, I thought I'd check.

Ha! Believe me, the crappy old cassette tape this came from, complete with skewed azymouth, is not so far from the final version. Myself, Jem and Nick Robbins had the unusual challenge of simultaneously cleaning the track up and grunging it down.