Love the LA's. I have a CD by a group called The Crescents early 2000's I believe the singer from the LA's worked with them some. Pretty good CD. I noticed someone post in the comments they sound exactly like Oasis. I would guess the credit should actually go to the LA's.
All the extra paper was probably covered in '60s dust from Lee's mixing board. Hope you didn't throw it out.
Instagram via The La's forum. Lee's wearing a tee shirt etc from onerevolution1981, Liverpool-based casualwear (ie tee shirts, hoodies) designers run by the drummer from The Crescent. There's also an interesting pic there of Lee promoting, ahem, "healthy water" from another Instagram account. Source Hope it's not against forum rules to link to another forum.
Good to see a picture of Lee Mavers. I hope that man has found some peace. I doubt it, but really hope so.
Just saw this, and just ordered. I've gotten all the Viper releases in the past, and every known piece of audio this band has recorded, in whatever form and by whatever means I could get them. This new release looks to have some brand new stuff, at least to me. Has anyone heard these tracks and can report? Going through the list, it starts off with the Picket demos, which I have from various sources, some instrumentals too. Will be interesting to see if these sound any better/different. I also have the De Freitas demos, along with a few cuts not included here. I love those recordings but have always been put off by all the echo slapped on top of everything. Can anyone report what they sound like here? The Stable recordings intrigue me. Surely these are from the same era that yielded the recording of "Over" that Lee proclaimed was the truest realization of his vision put to tape (or something like that)? I also have "Don't Lock Me Out" (an early version of "Knock Me Down") and "Leavin'" from this time period. I have "It's Not Impossible," but under the title of "Fishin' Net." Always loved this track. I certainly do not have "Looking Glass" and I can't wait to hear it. The rest looks brand new to me. I have some other live stuff from 1987 but not this. "The Way We Came" is a new song altogether!
I just listened to some of the samples and I wasn't that enthused. I have been a fan since '87, but I don't quite get into all the different recordings and such. Although I do think that most of the best versions of La's tunes are not the ones from the "official" (Lilywhite) album.
Love the album but my favourite La's recording is here - this one's definitely got some genuine 60's dust on it, Over Not bad for an Evertonian.
No different Still ruined by reverb Yes, the Stable was Paul Hemmings' parents property. Over is in the 2001 La's album as "recorded live in a stable in Liverpool"! Leavin' is also on Callin All (the Viper release), and IMO superior there being a solo performance, worth picking up for the demos alone. "It's not Impossible" is NOT "Fishing Net!" It's only AKA is "Robin Hood"... This baby is the utterly majestic Fishin' Net The live stuff is pretty good and the best thing about it other than just having more La's on vinyl. The Way We Came is interesting, a seven-or-so minute long vaguely psychedelic, jam style thing that seems to add yet another layer to this great band! I took some pics at the recent art gallery exhibition... now in London This next one is the La's posting with Go! Discs... Such smiles
Disappointed but not surprised - sounds like it was slapped on over top of everything on the mixing board or something, so no way to back out of it. Hmm, somehow I got some titles confused, so very glad to have that straightened out. The track you linked to I have listed as "Was It Something I Said." Listening now, I can clearly hear Lee singing the "fishin' net" lyric, so not sure how I ended up mislabeling it. I have that 1990 live version ("utterly majestic" is right) and also one from the 1989 kitchen tape. Oh, and one from the 1998 Crescent tape. It hurts that tracks like these were never fleshed out with a full set of lyrics and a proper arrangement, and recorded properly and released on a second album. Such potential in these tunes. OK, this is the stuff I'm most excited about. Will hear it in a few days' time... That looks fantastic, thanks for posting those! Any more info on that exhibition? Not that I could get over there to see it, but it's great to see there's enough interest to support something like that.
Here's a thought. We have heard very rough versions of some of Mavers' later songs and decent live recordings of "Was it something I said/Fishing Net", "When will I see you again" and "I am the key". I know there are a lot of myths over Lee's recording activities in the past few decades, but presumably there are some sort of studio recordings somewhere of some of the later Mavers tunes. Assuming there are, it seems odd that nothing has leaked out, but - in the absence of any new Mavers recordings, I would settle for a few leaked session tapes. Would love to hear a proper recording of "See you again."
It's a celebration of them circa 87... Before the wheels came off! A photographer, Jake Summerton, provided unseen photos of the band, which made up much of the exhibition It has moved to London at the moment... The La's - 1987 exhibition to launch at The Florrie alongside rarities album - win tickets - Getintothis Agree, that it's very cool for this band to get such an event.
I saw The La's live in around 1991, one of my first concerts and almost certainly one of their last. It was a long time ago but I remember the atmosphere being electric, they were great and they played Alright which was later a hit for Cast and one of their better songs. I've always loved the album and never understood why they were critical of it. I do prefer the version of I.O.U. that was on the B-side of Feelin' and on the deluxe edition. I have more recently picked up the original Way Out 12", I much prefer the album version, as well as the original 1988 There She Goes 12" which is a slightly different mix. Both of these singles have scarce non-album tracks.
The La's have a track on a new Cherry Red compilation "Revolutionary Spirit: The Sound of Liverpool 1976-1988" out next year. The track is called "Get Down Over" which is not one I'm familiar with. Link
Some top tunes on there with Hambi & The Dance, The Room/Benny Profane, The Mel-O-Tones, Ded Byrds and Ex Post Facto, to name but a few.
Re. how to pronounce. If the name is indeed a derivative of lads, then it should be pronounced like "laz" I guess. But I have always said "lahs" because, to me, "laz" sounds goofy if you don't have a Liverpool accent.
The singular of La's is pronounced `Lah'....as John Lennon once sang "Don't forget your mother la!" (Serve Yourself I think it was called)
Mr. B Both seem acceptable depending on yer accent... Either are miles better than The LAs. As in, The Los Angeles, from Liverpool England??
Much appreciated for the clarification on how to pronounce it. Although there's probably not much risk of embarrassment, since basically anyone to whom I have ever spoken the name aloud sadly doesn't know who they are. On another note, I have recently been digging back into them for the first time in a few years and found myself really enjoying the early demos. More so than when I first heard them (although, to be fair, I think the first time I heard them they were worse quality and I think possibly at the wrong speed). Listening again, I can definitely hear that there is a vibe there that they struggled to capture in their multiple attempts to make an album. Also, listening to the multiple attempts at the album, you really hear how some songs become played out over time. Like, to my ears, Lee really sounds tired of "Way Out" on later recordings. He does not appear to be giving it all he's got now.
