I found the "cassette demos" disappointing compared to the Flowers demos. There isn't as much harmony singing and the performances aren't as enthusiastic... it feels more like they're just putting the songs down on tape to remember them. And "I Don't Want to Confess" doesn't seem finished. The earlier demos are still loose and spontaneous but it seems like they did some more work working out vocal arrangements and just knew the songs better before they did them.
Yes, I would agree. Elvis also seems to be a bit more prominent on those 3 cassette songs as well, compared to the earlier 9 demos (from disc 2). I still feel that they should have been included on disc 2 with the other duo demos. It would have made it more complete.
I mean, they're demos, they're not supposed to be judged as performances or do anything but, well, demonstrate the song... But I don't think they're buried treasure like the earlier recordings. That live performance of "Mistress" is still the best way to hear Paul and Elvis sing that together.
Update, I am wrong, the Audiolab does have a recess! The combination of 52 year old eyes and not putting the 'big light' on has duped me. Still at least I can play the CD in the car as well with the adapter.
The cassette demos are rougher overall than the disc 2 demos for sure, but I think you're ignoring how rough some of the disc 2 stuff is. Elvis flubs lyrics on several songs and Twenty Fine Fingers in particular sounds like they both really don't know the tune yet. As far as I Don't Want To Confess is concerned, imo it could have been their best song together if it had been finished. And it's really not all that unfinished either, just repeat that amazing chorus again, throw in a solo or a middle 8 and boom you're there. Edit: Also, I think slogging these cassette demos isn't very fair considering they include 1 new song we've never heard before and 1 song we've never heard Paul on before. I'll take that over yet another version of Don't Be Careless Love, even if the fidelity is lower!
I don't see anything in Elvis' letter to contradict the Eight Arms To Hold You account that Paul recorded the backing track in March prior to Elvis rewriting the lyrics. Phil Ramone continued to work with Paul until July, so that allows a few more months for Elvis to "trust all goes well with Mr. Ramone" and be "curious to hear how those lyrics worked out." What I do think is clear from Elvis' letter is that he wrote it after only "Back on My Feet" (which he calls "The Picture We Make"), "Veronica," "Pads, Paws and Claws," and "The Lovers That Never Were" had been written. His comments about "just getting started" with "Lovers" and suggesting another writing session would not make any sense if they had already completed the other songs supposedly recorded the same day as the "Lovers" demo. Elvis' demos for "Veronica" and "Pads, Paws and Claws" are dated May 1987 in the booklet for the Spike reissue, so their first writing session would seem to be no later than that.
The provenance of those three demos really intrigues me. We are told (though not definitively) that they are from 1990 or 1991. But if that is the case: what brought them together again three years after their original batch of writing sessions? I know they remained friendly, despite their musical disagreements, but it seems odd they just decided to suddenly resume their collaboration again. Which leads me to... why did they write just the three songs? Were they unhappy with what they came up with? Only Mistress and Maid was ever properly recorded, as far as I'm aware. Why didn't they finish I Don't Want to Confess? The bones of a very good song are there. why is the fidelity of the recordings so poor compared to the 1987 demos? Were they not recorded in a studio? Was the resumption of their partnership so spontaneous they had only a bog-standard tape recorder on which to record their work? Questions, questions. I'm wondering if these songs were actually written and recorded early in 1988, before their partnership broke down. Perhaps they meant to go back and record them properly, but it just never happened -- which would account for the rough nature of the tapes. As no detail was forthcoming in the deluxe box set, we may never know. Sigh.
RS gave it a 4 star review. Did it get much good press when it came out originally? Like "Distractions, + This One "
I've only started now to delve into listening to the duo demos from 1987 on Disc 2 and the Band demos from 1988 on Disc 3. Question: Are the Band demos completely 100% remade demos, or do some of them incorporate elements of the earlier demos (of just Paul and Elvis) with additional overdubs? And what's with the secret bonus track (on Disc 2) of "The Lovers That Never Were" (Geoff Emerick's mix)? Is this the duo demo with later overdubs (such as bass drum and backing vocals?)?
Well wasn't Back On My Feet produced by Ramone? According to the Flowers book, Paul and Elvis apparently met while they were recording their albums in 1982 and 1983 and they'd fight over the arcade machine. I guess their first meet up was in early 1987 since they got together and collaborated on a few songs. Later on in 1987, they collaborated on the nine songs inlcuded on the bonus CD's. So the letter from Elvis to Paul could be Elvis wishing Paul luck on the ongoing Ramone sessions or Elvis doesn't know that the sessions have ended.
Received my copy of the My Brave Face/Flying To My Home 45 in the mail today. Very cool collectible, especially like the yellow and purple vinyl blend.
I agree that the "Shallow Grave" cassette demo is as strong as the CD2 demos! I actually even prefer it to the excellent Attractions version on Costello's album All This Useless Beauty, simply because I think Paul & Elvis' vocal interplay is the most fun thing about the demo. "Mistress & Maid" is a fun curiosity (with, obviously, the roughest sound quality) but isn't as good as Elvis' solo demo of the song or the (agreed, definitive) live performance with EC & Paul. "I Don't Want To Confess" is also pretty damn good for a not-quite-finished song that both of them apparently forgot all about! I got the RSD physical cassette tape at Rough Trade NYC today, and it was pretty funny to see a box of what looked like amateur mixtapes mostly ignored by the throngs of people looking through all the RSD exclusives. When I went to pay for the various items I was getting, somebody asked me about the tape I was buying and was stunned to find it was a Paul McCartney/Elvis Costello RSD exclusive-- it was the first he had heard of its existence, and he had passed right by the box of tapes moments earlier!
I ignored them from my list because they weren't recorded during what could loosely be called the Flowers sessions.
Bumping the above questions. Also: Were some elements of the 1988 Band demos later incorporated into the finally released versions on Flowers In The Dirt?
The band demos were completely re-made, although the bonus Emerick mix of Lovers is an overdubbed version of the original demo.
I definitely remember "Beatles Monthly" announcing that Capitol was going to release it as a US single around March or April 1990. Then it appeared on the Japanese reissue of "Flowers In The Dirt" instead, and Paul started performing it live during the spring 1990 leg of his world tour. So it seems that Paul had some plan to do something bigger with it at the time than just putting it on the extended Japanese version of his latest album.
