Elliott SmithLive @ Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco
(May 18th, 1998)
I think it's safe to say that most everyone has gone through a phase with Elliott Smith in which his music dominates your CD player, record player, iPod, and your life basically . And, I'm sure for some of you his music is more than a phase, but rather a lifelong-love affair. His lyrics were so personal they seemed to be able to strike a chord with people across-the-board. It didn't always feel like you were really listening to his music; instead it was like you were commiserating a troubled soul.
Elliott, who changed his name from Steve because he thought it sounded too much like a "jock" name, began having traumatic flashbacks of his step-father sexually abusing him while he was a kid. Nobody can confirm whether he was sexually abused as a child, not even Elliott, who was never positive that his flashbacks stemmed from reality. Some people have suggested that Elliott suffered from false memory syndrome. Either way it's certain that his drug and alcohol addiction played a key role in his deteriorative mental state.
I found this album while browsing through the Internet Archive website. The website provides lots of live bootlegs from musicians all over the world; though some of the files can be low quality. Luckily, this one of Elliott performing at BOTH is one the best. Elliott Smith did lots of Beatles covers during his shows, and in this one he does a pretty good job covering John Lennon's, "Jealous Guy." Although he almost forgot the lyrics about 3/4 of the way through, he calmly recovered and finished it off nicely.
It is soon to be five years since the mysterious passing of Elliott Smith. For those of us living in the Bay Area, there will be an Elliott Smith photography exhibit opening February 28th at Queens Nails Annex. If anybody wants to join me let me know.
Tracklisting:
1) Angeles
2) Division Day
3) Waltz #2
4) Clementine
5) St. Ides Heaven
6) Between the Bars
7) Alameda
8) Rose Parade
9) Oh Well, Ok
10) Needle in the Hay
11) Jealous Guy
12) Say Yes
13) Pictures of Me
14) I'm So Tired
15) Bled White
16) A Question Mark
17) Southern Belle
18) Coming Up Roses
19) The Biggest Lie
Download Elliott Smith - Live at Bottom of the Hill (5.18.98)
Recommended Tracks: "Angeles," "Waltz #2," "Between the Bars," "Jealous Guy," "Say Yes"
BTW
I couldn't upload Faces in the Rocks because the file size was too big. You're just going to have to check it out on your own. The song below will give you an idea of what her music is all about.
MP3: Mariee Sioux - “Wizard Flurry Home”
5 comments:
Very interesting post -- I'd heard about this a bit when he died but didn't know the details. It's nice to see that his music is surviving even though there's no big publicity machine behind him.
On a technical note: I just noticed that your pink text isn't readable in Google Reader or some other aggregators; this could be just a matter of using a web-safe pink (I use the same template for one of my blogs, but I leave the text white, and it shows up as black in aggregators). Personally, I like to read blogs on their "real" home, but for those who only read in aggregators, the text color would be an obstacle...
I had no idea my pink text wasn't reading in aggregators. Thanks for the heads up. See you soon!
it's always been difficult to read your blogs on google reader. only the title, links and image are what's prominent. the exhibit seems interesting; i'd be down.
I had a male stalker buy me two elliott smith albums as gifts...never ever opened them because i was too creeped out, and have refrained from ever listening...i would say ill give it a try, but no promises
good looks are a curse!
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