Absolutely agree. As for Reel Around The Fountain the definitive version is the one on Hatful of Hollow The Smiths.
strangely out of place when we're still discussing The Smiths debut. Interesting period for Moz. Sort of the calm before the storm. The storm that was "Your Arsenal"... which was my fave solo period.
I need the twinkly Hammond organ to make this song ("Reel Around The Fountain") feel whole. Now "Still Ill", I prefer the 'Hatful of Hollow' version... but not "Reel Around the Fountain"...
I love a good organ myself but on Still Ill it seems unnecessary and a fish out of water - what were they thinking! But you know... I am way too harsh on this. It's dark and foreboding by comparison. Totally brilliant work, however, once I have heard something the first time, it is nigh-on impossible that I will ever change,
For some reason, it always bothered me that they always got the lyric wrong in "Jeane" when artists covered it (Billy Bragg, Sandie Shaw) and I think it was printed incorrectly in the guitar tab music book... Morrissey does not sing "you still have that greedy grace, as you tidy the place" He instead sings "...you still hold up really great, as you tidy the place." I don't care what it says in print and no matter what we've thought it was for 35 years, he says "you still hold up really great..."
I always heard it as "greedy grace" and poetically speaking, great would not rhyme so well with place, would it? I think you are correct though, it certainly sounds like "hold up really great" although it is somewhat muffled. The Passions Just Like Mine blog questions it as 'ready grace'... Jeane - lyrics And Genius, who IMO are pretty decent on lyrics have "ridding",,, The Smiths – Jeane Lyrics | Genius Lyrics
Catching up...I am all over this thread. Thank you, Turk Thrust! Reel Around the Founatin -- it's a grower, but it really grows. I'll give it a 5. It's come to be one of my favorite Smiths songs. You've Got Everything Now -- 3.5/5. I love how the first album sounds like studio demos rather than a properly "produced" album like The Queen Is Dead. This song feels like nothing particularly special, but I like it's punky energy and I find the lyric mildly amusing. When it breaks out into the chorus with the organ, it really comes alive.
This is still open... Your favourite tracks from The Smiths debut LP are... ... and Reel leads What Difference by a head...
Well, as far as rhyming great and place, Morrissey is a storyteller first and a rhymer second. Though the brilliance of a man once capable of rhyming “your mild best wishes make me suspicious”.. But you know, the context is too perfect to suggest “you still hold up really great..” meaning, you can still try your best and put on a good face when there is ice on the sink and the cupboards are bare... I can’t get to a place in his storytelling where the lyric “greedy grace” makes sense, you know? What does greedy grace mean? Is it a chiefly British expression?
Totally with you. And as I have already made a lyrical faux pas can I hazard at a guess that “your mild best wishes make me suspicious” comes from The More Yiu Ignore Me? I don't want to Goigle and cheat you see, I am happy to be wrong.
That's from "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me"! I'm liking this thread - it made me sit down and listen to three versions of early Smiths tracks last night, and that can't be a bad thing.
Rejection is one thing but rejection from a fool is cruel! (At least I'll have got one thing right this morning). Thank you!
Your Mild best wishes make me suspicious is from “I don’t mind if you forget me” - a fave on Viva Hate...
Viva Hate is still my fave Mozza album. Okay, time for that bath - apologies to OP @Turk Thrust for all these digressions, I believe we are discussing YOU'VE GOT EVERYTHING NOW!
It would be interesting some day to hear the original demo of You've Got Everything Now which according to Simon Goddard clocked in at 6 minutes and featured extra lyrics...
I noticed but was too polite to point it out The Sandie Shaw version of I Don’t Owe You Anything is a work of beauty
My introduction to the Smiths was This Charming Man followed by the Hollow CD. Didn't hear the debut until years later. Enjoying this thread. Thank you for starting it.
I was more familiar with the debut album than Hatful, which my sister got a copy of. Wouldn't be without Hatful, but the debut album is pretty special. Wouldn't change a thing on it. I got the first Japanese CD last year, which is a bit lighter on the drums, but I'd say the mastering overall has a particular quality that is unique to that label. I have several titles released around the same time by Japanese artists on the same label, plus the debut by Aztec Camera and the Requiem for Rough Trade comp, and all have the same, light, feel. It sounds good if you turn it up but compared to some other masterings at first seems a bit weedy.
I have the Japanese issue,of the S/T on c.d....does you're version have related singles tacked on?! Mine has the extras.
Today we will focus on Miserable Lie. I can again only rate this a steady 3/5. Morrissey and Marr probably hoped that this could be an epic masterpiece on their debut album, but unfortunately all 3 versions fall short of that. Johnny has said that he blames the guitar for not having a powerful enough sound and, while that's probably partly true, the band were still very inexperienced and Morrissey was still learning to sing. He would go on to record much more impressive falsetto vocals (eg. Art-Hounds), but here...well, it was a plucky attempt I guess. The album version is probably the weakest of the three with Morrissey being particularly critical of it in his book, "Our live firebrand is choked to death and boxed in, when it had always been up to this point detonated as a step-by-step incline crowned by a yowling falsetto...". Both the Troy Tate production and the Peel Session are superior have a lot more energy, even if Mike never seems entirely in control of his drumming. This song clearly had potential though and it would be cool to see Morrissey attempt it in concert (I fully expect this never to happen! ).
"Miserable Lie" is one of my least-liked Smiths songs. Doesn't have much of a tune and Morrissey's falsetto is painful! I think it's a pity that this made the cut for the album when there were better songs like "Accept Yourself" and "These Things Take Time" which were relegated to b-sides. Having said that, on the album version, the fast section has some nice country-esque licks from Johnny which foreshadow some of his later works. But it just lacks the energy and feel of a full band performance and comes across stilted. The Troy Tate version is much better in that respect, but it doesn't make me like the song any more. Can't give this one any more than 2/5, sadly.
