Tell me about T-Rex/ Marc Bolan

A friend of mine (forum member Redsprites) was playing a T-Rex CD and I loved it. Sounded just like another CD I love, Imperial Drag. I never realized how much they just lifted from T-Rex. Pretty blatant. Anyway, I went out the next day and bought all the records I could find. This got me curious about Marc and company. Tell me anything about them. What's the best album, favorite tracks, etc...

 

Although I think the titles and track listings were specifically U.S., my favorites are Electric Warrior and The Slider. Both are almost perfect albums and neither has a single bad track. GREAT music! You can't go wrong with either.


"You dance with your lizard-leather boots on and pull the strings that change the faces of men. You diamond-browed hag, you a gutter-gaunt gangster. John Lennon knows your name and I've seen his."

 

You betcha! No doubt on those 2 LP's...Defines the band perfectly. The Electric Warrior Cee Dee is great! You'll love it!

 

And Bolan Boogie remains the best single CD comp of the early years, up to and including EW. BRILLIANT from start to finish!

 

No, they were UK (and presumably everywhere else) albums as well.

 

what they said
If you want to get acoustical whimsical and experimental, the early Tyrannosaurus Rex albums are interesting.
Tanx has some interesting tracks, as does the first T-Rex album from '70.
I don't care much for the post '73 stuff (light of love, dandy in the underworld) but if you go nutz for this band, you'll probably want them all. Marc died in a car accident in '77 so there's nothing beyond that. Mickey finn died just about a year ago.
Their video stuff is also fun, Ringo Starr had one of his best concerts filmed, and it was called Born To Boogie. There's also a Rhino comp called Glam Rock which has some cool Top Of the Pops performances. I'm doing all this early in the moanin' so if I'm hazy on some facts someone here will chime in
You may also want to check out the As and Bs cds made in the UK, it collects all the singles a and b sides. The Ultimate Collection is also a great career overview.

 

The Bolan catalog has been pretty much issued close to its entirety on CD. In addition to the usual stuff, there are a bunch of collections of unreleased tracks and alts that fill in the rest of the story. Any T. Rex library, at the least, must have the 1968-73 catalog, which includes "Debora," "Ride A White Swan," "Hot Love," "Bang A Gong"[aka "Get It On"]and "Jeepster" all definitive Bolan 45's.
There's plenty of comps and album reissues out there on CD, and the vinyl shouldn't be hard to find, either.

ED

 

I agree with dwmann, that the must have T Rex releases are "Electric Warrior" and "The Slider". However, I also believe that you should get one of the various singles compilations, because of all of the excellent singles that the band released in their heyday.



Ed Hurdle
HeavyDistortion

 

Throwing in my 2 cents. In addition to Electric Warrior, my personal favorite is the first T.Rex album after changing their name from Tyrannosaurus Rex. It's simply called T.Rex. It's the link between their acoustic and electric phases. As far as their early years go I think that "A Beard of Stars" is the best Tyrannosaurus Rex album but it is an aquired taste.

 

Wow, thanks guys.

I see Rhino is starting to release the stuff on CD again. I think I have all the stuff on vinyl already though. I'm obsessed with all the delay on the drums. I love that effect.

How did Mickey Finn die?

 

Like was said earlier I think Bolan Boogie is the best comp out there. It does a pretty fair span of time for a single disc. There are tons of comps though including one that just came out last year. IMO though the UK vinyls are by far the best quality and there are lots of different vinyl albums out there (I have almost 60). A lot of his stuff was not released in this country as he did not make it that big here. As a side note the background vocalists for some of his big albums here were Flo & Eddie (Turtles). Later albums have his wife (girlfriend?), Gloria Jones, as background vocalist. Some here may know her from the Jerry Garcia Band. I like a lot of the later stuff though some don't. Another side note the reissue of ELO II when it comes out will have some bonus tracks with Bolan on guitar. There are also some old Bowie and Ike & Tina singles out there with him on guitar.

 

I grew up listening to Electric Warrior, but later on WB put out a T Rex compilation called "T Rexstacy" which is VERY out of print. Most of it seems to compete with Bolan's Boogie, but I like the song lineup A Lot of the T Rex singles are magical, and show some of the best energy....!

 

Mickey Finn died in January of I think kidney and liver problems was the last I heard. Original bongo player Steve (Peregrin) Took choked to death in 1980. Bass player Steve Currie died in 1981 in a car accident. I think the only person left from the "T. Rexstacy " years is Bill Legend.

 

Pretty tragic stuff. Somehow makes it seem more other worldly.

 

I really loved that Imperial Drag CD and totally thought it was T.Rex-ish the first time I heard it. I would suggest getting the Chronicles "A-Sides" compilation and "Electric Warrior" and you are pretty much all set in my opinion. The newest T. Rex comp, "Twentieth Century Boy", with the blue cover has most of the same songs from "A-Sides" and adds the "Electric Warrior" hits (this is on WB in the US, more than likely preventing it from being on an all-inclusive comp up until this point). The only problem is that it sounds like it has tons of Noise Reduction on it.

 

T-Rex

I just picked up a couple of heavy vinyl T-Rex LP's but haven't given them a listen yet. One of them has my favorite T-Rex song: Children Of The Revolution which was later covered (and quite nicely, I might add) by The Violent Femmes.

I will get those titles to you later when at home
Peace
Norm

 

Rhino has a heavy vinyl version of Electric Warrior due out in a couple weeks.