Stranger than Fiction, Larger Than Life: the Finn Brothers song-by-song discussion thread

Perihaka single version gets a 4.5/5.

I had to drop out of sight for the last few songs on the Tim Finn lp, but any comments I would have made showed up from others. Thank you all for the many insights that have given me a fresh perspective on several of the songs. And a special thanks to @Jaffaman for the links, it's a rare treat to have your participation here.

 

That’s very nice of you. Always a pleasure to join in. Not sure it’s that rare though... I’ve been on this forum since 2005

 

Votes for "Parihaka" [single version]

1-0
2-0
3-2
4-4
5-5
Average: 4.3545

 

Today we'll finish off the Tim Finn era with two live-in-the-studio B-sides recorded by the Finn Brothers on KCRW, on February 29th 1988. Both songs were released as a B-side to "Crescendo". "Six Months On a Leaky Boat" was later rereleased as a B-side to "Fall At Your Feet".

The entire KCRW broadcast, in its raw form, can be heard on YouTube. It's a high-spirited very entertaining performance. Both brothers sound incredible.

I think the B-sides were equalized and better sounding on the release (at least my copy of "Six MOnths in a Leaky Boat" from "Fall at Your Feet" was --I've never heard the "Crescendo" single), but the performances are both great regardless of sound.

"Six Months in a Leaky Boat" starts at 2.37 here.

 

And here's "Show a Little Mercy".



Tomorrow, we'll start going through a few stray Nickless Crowded House cuts from 1989 and one of the Murchison Street Finn Brother demos before moving on to Tim's 1990 songs.

The Nickless Crowded House songs will be:

• "Doctor Livingstone"(N.Finn)
• "My Legs Are Gone"(N. Finn)
• "I Love You Dawn"(N. Finn)
• "My Tele's Gone Bung"
• "Time Immemorial" (Neil Finn)

 

There are also the other Neil Finn 4-track demos from the Woodface Deluxe Edition, CD 2 tracks 1-4. They’re from 1988-89.

 

OK, I'll add "Burnt Out Tree"[home demo] and "Be My Guest" to that list. I will wait for "As Sure as I Am", "She Goes On" and "Italian Plastic" will wait until the studio versions are discussed.

 

There's also "I May Be Late".

 

The two KCRW b-sides are nice versions, but I prefer the studio originals in each case. "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" is given a nice acoustic reading with some whistling at the end to add to the sea chantey feel of the song. I'll give "Show A Little Mercy" 3.5 and "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" 4.0.

 

That one, too. I was in a bit of a rush when I was writing that getting the kids out the door.

 

Regarding the KCRW songs: I especially like the "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" version, but I've yet to hear a version of that song I didn't really like.

"Show a Little Mercy" is incomplete, but I think that this version has more emotion for me than the Froom-produced version: I can almost hear what all the fuss was about. I can definitely hear potential here that in my opinion was pressed flat by the self-consciously adult contemporary sheen of the album version.

What strikes me about the whole performance in general is how relaxed the brothers seem, as if playing together is the most natural and fun thing for them in the world; and how on the same page they are throughout the thing, and how similar their humor together is, with them reacting identically more often than not. They are both in great voice too, and I don't think Tim's vocals ever sounded more pure than this performance.

I don't really feel like rating the songs individually, but Id definitely give the overall broadcast performance a 5/5.

 

The live versions are hard to rate as they are not meant to be full studio versions. Also, the youtube versions above sound distorted to me. I'm not sure what I should rate. So, again I'm not going to be giving numerical ratings, just discussing them. I hope that I won't set a precedent

Show a Little Mercy live with just acoustics and vocals shows off the beauty of the song. Nice acoustic guitar solo there. It really is a classic song and is one of those songs that should have been a hit - somewhere, sometime.

Six Months ... it's such a well known song that it's hard to evaluate it. This seems a quite normal live version. The song is wonderful, and this performance of it is OK. I think that Show a Little Mercy has more magic in the performance.

 

I agreed with your dating elsewhere, they fit in well as Conversation/View era songs. I can confirm that they're definitely not from any of the I Like It Rare compilations, nor Tim's Rarities/Demos/Live Performances Vol. 1 CD of 2008 ... quite a fruitful time for Tim!

 

It's nice to have the KCRW performances of Show a Little Mercy and Six Months In A Leaky Boat to be able to savor the songs without all the trappings of fully produced records. And I do love those records. I also love all of the acoustic demos and radio appearances that have become available from throughout their careers. The next few weeks of discussing demos will be a pleasure.

"Show a Little Mercy" and "Six Months In A Leaky Boat" each get a 4/5

 

How certain are we that those Nickless songs are indeed so? I'd be really surprised if Dr Livingstone really was devoid of any of Nick's work. It just seems so much more funky than Neil could play.

 

Six Months in a Leaky Boat sounds very good and I prefer this arrangement of Show a Little Mercy to the studio version.

I won't rate either, but playing acoustically suits Tim.

 

I would say nothing is certain!

It doesn't seem particularly funky or Nick-like at all to me-- I've always thought that it kind of sounded a little basic for Nick. But he could certainly play it.

On that Foreplay release, I must say he plays it identically to the record, if I remember correctly-- and he plays it as if as if it's old hat, which it surely wouldn't have been. Or was it? It seems really off the cuff and unrehearsed yet ends up being excellent.

I don't think the bass on "I Love You Dawn" or "Time Immemorial" sounds like Nick at all though. That, I expect is either Neil or "Joe Somebody" as Mark Hart called him.

The only evidence I have is the Bourke book that states the only Nick song worked on in that period (and he lists off the songs) was "Whispers and Moans" after which, apparently, Neil fired him...which is a discussing point in and of itself because the bass-playing in the finished version of "Whispers and Moans" is pretty brilliant in my opinion, iconic even.

Anyway, Bourke states they never went back and revisited those tracks and only "Doctor Livingstone" made the light of day. (at time of publishing, pre-Afterglow, of course.)


However, things are a bit fuzzy and wonky in the whole Woodface narrative in my opinion. It's a real mess. The fact that Bourke doesn't get too specific on all the bass-playing is, frankly, a big failing in that part. That's important info! Maybe the band prevented that info from being published.

WE also know that Neil played bass on quite a lot of the Finn Brothers tracks, but not all of them;, and Ricky Fataar played drums on some of those songs as well...but not all of them, or some but not all of Fataar's parts were wiped and replaced by Paul's.

I also read an interview with Youth in which he claimed Nick had told him in 1993 or whatever that he had hardly played on Woodface at all, and that it was all session players; and the context was that that Nick was surprised that Neil wanted to record as a band again in Kare Kare.

 

I spend a fair bit of time listening to (snd sometimes performing) voices and acoustic guitars--solo, duo, trio--so I'm always fascinated by Finn performances of this time. "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" comes across very well in this setting--even stripped to its core, it remains a fantastic song, delivered with energy. "Show a Little Mercy," on the other hand, is just kind of there. I don't hear anything particularly revelatory here, and the performance doesn't do anything to change my opinion that this is a middling Tim song.

Six Months: 4/5
Show a Little Mercy: 3/5

 

It's always great to hear the Finn Brothers unplugged and both "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" and "Show a Little Mercy" are excellent in this format. The whole KCRW radio show is brilliant - they both sound very relaxed and in synch, both in terms of the music and the banter. It must have been incredible for those who were lucky enough to be present in the radio studio when this was recorded.

As individual songs, they both get 4,5/5 while the whole radio show gets 5/5 from me.

 

I agree it’s frustrating the available information on who played on “Woodface” is so sparse. I tend to think it is being kept quiet on purpose, likely because -we- would be disappointed about the lack of involvement from Nick and Paul.

The only tidbit I have to add is that I remember reading an interview with Neil in which he revealed both he and Nick play bass on “Weather with You”: Neil on the verses and Nick on the choruses, or vice versa...

 

Yes. That part is in the Bourke book too.

I suspect that when we finally get to the Woodface tracks one by one I will be bringing this topic up a lot. In short I believe that there is a lot of Nicklessness going on on Woodface, probably not as much as Youth implied in his interview, but somewhere in between none and all.

 

And I’ll probably be repeating myself in saying that it doesn’t matter who played on the songs when the final results are as brilliantly perfect as they are!

 

It doesn't matter; no more than it matters that Pet Sounds was played mostly by the Wrecking Crew. The end result and the music is all that matters.

But it's interesting and the complex human truth is always more interesting to me than the simplified rock and roll myth.
Also credit should go where it's due.

 

Six months:

4-3
5-1
Average: 4.125

Mercy:
3-1
4-2
5-1
Average: 3.75

 

Today we'll start about the beginnings of what would become the Woodface album. This began in 1988-1989 with some home demos recorded by Neil Finn and some sessions at Platinum Studios.

The home demos we'll be discussing at this time are:

• Burnt Out Tree
• I May Be Late
• You Got Me Going (which we've already discussed)
• Be My Guest

There were other demos but as they made it onto the album, we will discuss those alongside their respective songs once we get to the album proper.

Regarding the sessions at Platinum Studios:
Neil was producing and they were recorded by Chris Corr, I believe.

Neil was apparently suffering from some creative block and fired Nick during the sessions, saying that "he was not pushing his [Neil's] creative buttons." Later he admitted that the difference of personalities between Neil, the responsible workmanlike family man and Nick, the wild Bohemian party boy made it easier. Most of the people around Neil, including Mark Hart, Mitchell Froom, Gary Stamler and others were not happy with the event and eventually Nick persuaded Neil to let him back in the band.

But a few songs were recorded without him in this period which lasted between a few weeks and a few months. (Accounts differ.) Mark Hart joined these sessions after Tim's tour ended and the bass on these songs were played either by Neil himself or by "Joe Somebody", as Mark remembered.

The songs recorded were

• Doctor Livingstone"(N.Finn)
• "My Legs Are Gone"(N. Finn)
• "I Love You Dawn"(N. Finn)
• "My Tele's Gone Bung"
• "Time Immemorial" (Neil Finn)

They also recorded a song called "Good Luck Morning",which has never been released, though may be released on Neil's site some day. It's also possible that there was a studio version of some of the home demos that were also not released.