The Jam – The Paul Weller Creation discussion part 1

Nice review butch.
Interesting to note the Joe Jackson observation on "The Place I Love" as I've never would have though that, but I always thought something "sounded" similar or vaguely familiar, and couldn't put my thumb on it. Those first two JJ LPs are his best.

 

One of the things that makes it easy to see commonalities between mid-period Jam and the first two Joe Jackson albums is the extent to which the bass forms the harmonic foundation courtesy of Messrs Foxton and Maby respectively.

This may reflect a general fondness for 60s soul and late 60s/early 70s reggae (which, as aficionados will recognise, are very much two sides of the same coin in this respect, particularly via the pervasive influence of Curtis Mayfield on Jamaican writers and arrangers). Weller is, by all accounts, a big rocksteady/early reggae fan, which you wouldn't necessarily pick from listening to his work.

 

Interesting. Jackson talking about Look Sharp! in the NME, 1979:

"I didn't want your typical 1977/1978 new wave band sound. I wanted more of a reggae mix, where you have a very upfront bass and drums and a thin sounding guitar that goes in and out. The idea is to leave a lot of gaps to let the song really come through."

 

OK, I've picked up the Universal Masters Collection disc (interestingly, Tony, it's manufactured in the EU) and Australian pressings of the 1993 budget Beat Surrender compilation and the 2005 two-disc Gold , both of which are also claimed by various internet sources - although not on their own packaging - to contain the original mix of "Funeral Pyre".

I'm just ripping every Jam CD I own and will report in a few hours on my findings. Having already had a random listen to the singles boxes, Snap!, Disc 1 of Hit Parade and various other things in the last couple of weeks, there are some odd or at least inconsistent version choices across the board.

 

Only Snap! and Compact Snap! use the edit on CD, I think.

 

OK, "Funeral Pyre" version roundup so we can get it out of the way: I am happy to be told I'm wrong here, but I think the Snap! mix appears only on Compact Snap!, the 2006 Snap! and Hit Parade.

All other CD versions I have appear to me to feature the original mix (or at least the same mix as one another), including Direction, the singles box, the 1991 Greatest Hits, the budget compilations and the 1997 Very Best of the Jam.

Speaking of the last one, does anyone else hear the channels reversed on some, but not all of the songs (including In The City )?

 

You must be Funeral Pyre'd out by now.

 

When You're Young

When You're Young

A. When You're Young 3:15
B. Smithers-Jones 3:02

Another "youth" tune from our young hero and another attempt at songwriting from our fine bass player....think he was resenting Wellie here? "But the only one smilin is the sun tanned boss"...

 

From the versions i've heard i'd agree, checked Extra's yesterday and that used the "regular" single mix.

Had to order both singles box-sets over the weekend end though - i'm blaming you Cam for starting this off

 

Here's a headline for News of the World:

FOXTON WRITES FIRST GOOD SONG
Also: Rick Buckler wins Chris Martin lookalike contest on Jam 45 sleeve

I think Weller wrote those last few couplets of the song.

 

was it a co-write? did they collaborate? i'd think never myself...curious to ponder...

 

IIRC, he wrote the remainder of the lyrics from "Put on the kettle..." to the end
Someone else will have more accurate info though I'm sure.

 

"When You're Young's" lyrics are supposed to grab you by the collar and shake sense that you're young once and it's a time for carpe deim.

In my mod heyday, we used to hang out at a friend's house, whose wall was white and used to write whatever graffiti one wished. I wrote:
"Life is a drink and you get drunk when you're young"...as this was the state of euphoria that I was feeling at the time.

Now the Japanese lyrics are quite revealing

Sorry for the quality of the scan...not sure what has happened.

 

Well, I've had a fun evening. Here are my summary findings, in chronological order, in relation to the availability of single (and singlish) versions. Direction Reaction Creation uses album versions in preference to singles in all instances except "Precious", for which it uses the 12" version in I think its only CD appearance.

The Modern World

Single version available on Snap!, the 1997 Very Best of the Jam (VB), the singles box, 2002's The Sound of The Jam (SOJ, aka Gold) and Hit Parade (HP).

David Watts

If I'm correct in thinking that the album version begins with the piano mixed relatively prominently and off-centre, the single version is available on the 1991 Greatest Hits (GH), the singles box and HP.

A-Bomb In Wardour Street

Single version with drum intro on Snap!, VB and HP. I'm assuming it's on the singles box but I've mislaid the disc.

Down In The Tube Station At Midnight

All compilations use the single edit (Snap!, GH, VB, the singles box, SOJ and HP).

The Eton Rifles

All compilations other than SOJ and HP use the single edit (Snap!, GH, VB and the singles box).

The Dreams Of Children

The edited ("snipped intro") version is available on Snap!.

Start!

Single version (no trumpets) available on Snap!, the singles box and GH.

That's Entertainment

The "single" version is of course the album version, used on GH, VB and the singles box. Snap! uses Weller's multi-instrumental demo and SOJ and HP use the same version with bass and drums removed.

 

I think my favourite is "You're stoned with a reason that I can't afford", which is profoundly if inadvertently thought-provoking.

 

Apparently it's not. How irritating.

Also, the "David Watts" single mix can be heard on Snap!, not Hit Parade.

 

Thanks for all that research. Interesting to know.
It is great that there isn't a myriad of different mixes/edits like with some groups and what there are, are all pretty easy to get hold of.




When you're young/Smithers Jones.
Another excellent single, the A side half optimistic, half cynical, a perfect partner to Strange Town, some great lyrics on this one "The world is your oyster, but your future's a clam" indeed. Smithers Jones, the best Foxton song I think, I heard the single band version before I heard the album version and was surprised when I first heard that version, but like them both.

This really was a purple patch for the band, makes you wonder why they all look so bleeding miserable on the cover.

 

Getting back to the music, this has reminded me that my copy of the 1991 Greatest Hits sounds fantastic and is as dynamic as hell, even by comparison to Compact Snap! (which is relatively hot for 1984), let alone the more recent compilations. It should be relatively easy and cheap to pick up second hand.

 

I picked up a copy last week actually, I used to have it on cassette in the early 90s but gave it away. Sadly the copy I got ski ski skips through Funeral Pyre, so I will have to find a better copy when I can, it was dirt cheap though so not too bothered.

 

love the new avatar Alan!!!

 

This threads fault, it has encouraged me to listen to a lot of the other music I loved around the this time-frame.
I made a thread about The Beat yesterday.

 

Buy you find out life isn't like that
You try hard to comprehend
That the world in your eyes
Is just a future Japan.

Or how about "They'll let you be a King/But you need applause." Let's all think on that for a bit.

 

When You're Young / Smithers Jones wasn't quite as good as the previous single (how could it be) but it was great; lyrically direct and their production sound was being well-honed. Collecting JAM singles was now a highly-rewarding passtime.

I vastly prefer this version of Foxton's song to the LP re-recording, which I haven't listened to in years. Both of these tracks have been on my hypothetical Setting Sons for decades; on cassette, on minidisk, on CDR, on iPod...

 

What a fantastic thread.

It's funny, Weller is something of an institution in the UK, but it has taken this thread for me to realise that I have not got all the Jam LPs I should have. At its best I love his music, but I seem to have taken him for granted slightly.

A random thought on reading most of the thread so far: how important to Weller was Ray Davies? Specifically, Ray Davies' habit of looking at a tiny aspect of British life, and making it the subject of a song.

I ask this because it occurs to me that Weller's interest in Davies (made manifest by the cover of David Watts) coincides pretty neatly with the maturing of Weller's songwriting. And guess what? His newly observational style looks at tiny aspect of British life and makes them the subject of a song.

I think he quickly finds his own voice, but would Weller have written 'Down In the Tube Station At Midnight', for example, without this kind of antecedent?

 

strange town: again a jam single where the b-side is better then the a; the a side is not so good as the previous ones, but the b-sides is one of my faves

when you're young: also a decent but not great a-side; b-side is also okay, maybe the best foxton song...