Alphabet Town

Hi all, it’s been quite some time! We took some time off after powering through finishing the song guide last year, but now we are back on our grind and slowly returning into the swing of things.

Unfortunately, 2018 didn’t and doesn’t appear to have much in the way of official Elliott updates, but rest assured, there was plenty that happened in the fandom. For our purposes, we have 14 updates to the song guide to share with you all. Here is a summary.

* 4 previously unheard Heatmiser Songs! - These have been circulating for the last few years, but it was only recently that they came to our attention. Two songs are by Elliott, and two songs are by Neil Gust. These are from a live performance in November 1992.

* An alternate title for “Waltz #2 (XO)”!

* A ten second audio clip, hidden away at the beginning of the studio version of Mr. Goodmorning. Is this just a jam? Is it a previously never-before heard song that is fading out? Tantalizing as hell!

* Finally, and most notably, back in April, engineer Chris Chandler posted on Instagram a pile of lyric sheets from 2001, when he and Elliott were working on an album together. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Chris Chandler (@neuhauspress) on Apr 8, 2018 at 2:31pm PDT

Since that time, the r/elliottsmith Discord community has worked diligently to take an attempt at transcribing these lyrics. There is “Stickman” and then there are 7 never-before heard-of songs, and while it’s unclear if these were ever recorded, let’s just say they will command your attention. Entries and lyrics for all 8 songs have been created/updated below:

Stickman Untitled Song with Lyrics #3 Untitled Song with Lyrics #4 Untitled Song with Lyrics #5 Untitled Song with Lyrics #6 Untitled Song with Lyrics #7 Untitled Song with Lyrics #8 Untitled Song with Lyrics #9

Introducing the COMPLETE Elliott Smith song guide, a resource that provides exhaustive info about the over 450 songs that Elliott participated in, in any way shape or form, including audio, video, lyrics, recording dates, performance dates, and so much more. This includes stuff dating all the way from 1983 to 2003, spanning about 20 years worth of creating music, and is unique because it includes songs recorded by Elliott in the 10 or so years of his life before “Roman Candle” that very little has been known about publicly until very recently. For what it’s worth, Elliott recorded 6 albums worth of music before Heatmiser even existed.

Tracklist:  Speed Trials (remastered)  Alameda (remastered)  Ballad of Big Nothing (remastered)  Between the Bars (remastered)  Pictures of Me (remastered)  No Name No.5 (remastered)  Rose Parade (remastered)  Punch and Judy (remastered)  Angeles (remastered)  Cupid’s Trick (remastered)  2:45 AM (remastered)  Say Yes (remastered)  My New Freedom (live) ^*  Pictures of Me (live) ^*  Angeles (live) ^*  Some Song (live) ^*   Rose Parade (live) ^*  New Monkey (keys)*  I Don’t Think I’m Ever Gonna Figure It Out (remixed/remastered) *  I Figured You Out *  Bottle Up and Explode! (alternate version) * 

^ recorded live at YoYo a GoGo 1997 in Olympia, WA  * previously unreleased 

Hello Friends,

Happy holidays, unfortunately the much time-consuming song guide was not completed this year as I had hoped. However, it is still being worked on. A few highlights from it for those who enjoy learning of obscure updates about Elliott’s music:

* Few Laps, a Fruit Cup and a Funeral - many longtime Elliott fans will remember seeing this in BMI registries with no explanation. Outreach to those involved with Elliott’s music now provides no indication as to what this is, other than the fact that it clearly was some sort of audio composition created by and performed by Elliott. Beyond that, total mystery. If you have an idea, please comment!

* From a Poison Well - some alt lyrics written in 1999 can be viewed at the link, courtesy of long time fan ghost/snowballinhell. The likely evolution of the song: “First Timer” (New Moon Version - early ‘97) -> “First Timer” (Live Version, Feb 14, 1997) -> “From a Poison Well” (lyric sheet, 1999) -> “From a Poison Well” (studio version, 2003)

* Gimme Gimme Teenage Head - digging through some old, now-deleted content reveals that Elliott and “Happy Ending”, his girlfriend’s band, made some progress on the attempt to create recordings for the band in 2003. The one title we have deducted was recorded based on some comments from the page of the label that was supposedly going to release the music. It’s a Primal Scream cover. Obviously, Elliott would have only been producing. Here is the original.

* Glamourine - Brandt Peterson’s “Just a Little Prick” ultimately made it to the Heatmiser demo tape, but this song did not.

* Glass Onion - In his pre-Roman Candle days, Elliott, either by himself or with some of his collaborators in that time period, recorded or performed this Lennon-penned Beatles song from the White Album.

* I Didn’t Understand - There are at least two unreleased versions that exist. The first is a solo acoustic demo recorded in 1997. The second is what appears to be a piano version with orchestral instrumentation also added during the “strings” session for XO. In the end the second version was scrapped and the acapella version was used instead for the album.

* I Figured You Out - Elliott recorded a proper solo version with him on vocals during the Either/Or sessions before “giving” this to and recording it with Mary Lou Lord.

* Instrumental (Hidden) - Shortly after the end of “Junior Mint” on Heatmiser’s Yellow No. 5 EP, some silence ensues followed by the band kicking off a casual instrumental jam that has not been acknowledged anywhere previously.

* Isolation - According to the director of Thumbsucker, Elliott had “partially completed” this John Lennon cover to contribute to the soundtrack, at the time of his death.

* Joy to the World - The tracklisting for the first Stranger Than Fiction album reveals that this song, which fans previously thought to be part of “The Machine,” is actually a separate tune that “The Machine” simply fades into seamlessly.

* Jump Across the Mountain - As of December 2016, William Todd Schultz has decided to share a clip of this Stranger Than Fiction song. It remains unclear if he will ever share the full recording.

* San Diego - The Birddog “Killer” EP recorded in 1996 with Elliott producing reveals this song which has not previously been acknowledged amongst Elliott’s contributions. As with “Killer” and “Parked Car Homestead,” Elliott also produces this song which ultimately did not appear on the later release The Trackhouse The Valley The Liquor Store Drive-Thru which probably explains its omissions from all previous descriptions of Elliott’s guest discography.

Work on the song guide continues, though as you can see exciting revelations and discoveries tend to slow things down :) I’m also taking a shot at transcribing lyrics to a bunch of songs where Elliott guest-starred that have arguably never been transcribed before. Take a look and see if you can help.

Thank you!

“Certificate of Appreciation presented to Steven Smith whose gifts in the past year have helped provide 6000 meals for hungry boys and girls. May you be richly blessed for your exceptional love and generosity."

--Larry Jones (Feed the Children)

(If you are inspired by Elliott’s support of the great cause of combating hunger, I invite you to support me in a 5K I am running next Saturday where I will be trying to do some of the same, to raise awareness about this important issue. The charities I’ll be running for are Humanity First USA, Why Hunger, and the Boys and Girls Club of Lake County. Thanks in advance for your generosity!)

The two session entries for Elliott’s solo debut are complete!

The first one is culled from a combination of books, articles, and personal notes/comments and can be read here.

The second one, which I think invites some more interesting questions, can be read here.

In time, when all of these are complete, you will be able to read through all of them and learn about Elliott’s music making without any of the extracurricular stuff that usually ruins discussions about his music.

New series here, where I am going to start hyping up content that is either in or will make its way to our song guide and sessions history, both very much in progress but will be a massive source of information when all is said and done. The way to do this is to share random tidbits of Elliott music info every day that you may be unfamiliar with.

* Elliott wrote at least 4 versions of “King’s Crossing” that are known to exist. He wrote one version in 1988 and recorded it as “3″, he wrote another version in 1999 and performed it and eventually recorded it in 2003, he wrote another version that you can hear live here, and he wrote a fourth version that looks like a lyrical “mix” of all the previously mentioned versions that you can read the handwritten lyrics for very briefly in the new DVD Heaven Adores You. The original version from 1988 had lyrics by Garrick Duckler, and Elliott contributed the music and vocals. A small portion of Garrick’s original lyrics always remained with Elliott’s future rewritten versions, even up until 2003. * Elliott recorded “King’s Crossing” at least 3 times during his career - once in 1988 for Murder of Crows (a clip can be heard in the new DVD Heaven Adores You), once in 2000 as a solo acoustic demo (no one has heard this yet!), and lastly in 2003 for From a Basement on the Hill (we have all heard this one). * Elliott took these pictures after he finished recording the song on October 12, 2003. Sadly, these are the last known photographs of Elliott that were taken before he passed away.

Elliott Smith - First Timer (Live) - Valentine’s Day ‘97