Sadly except for the great Screaming Trees song on Singles I am out of the loop on Mark's music. Any good points to start? Does he have some acoustic centered albums at all?
One of my favourite Lanegan albums is the ''Live At Leeds" cd. It's just Mark with Dave Rosser on acoustic guitar
1 Field Song
2 One Way Street
3 No Easy Action
4 Miracle
5 The River Rise
6 Like Little Willie John
7 Don't Forget Me
8 Can't Catch The Train
9 Message To Mine
10 Mirrored
11 Resurrection Song
12 Julia Dream
13 One Hundred Days
14 On Jesus' Program
15 When Your Number Isn't Up
16 Hangin' Tree
There are 2 different versions of this, I think because of copyright laws. The Australian version doesn't have On Jesus' Program, and has Sunrise instead of Julia Dream, and Where The Twain Shall Meet instead of Hangin' Tree.
Someone has put all of the tracks from the cd on Youtube. This is just haunting...
For the rest of 1992, all through 1993, and well into 1994, the Trees were on the road. Sure we had some time off here and there, but when you have a break and head home for a rest, you know in the back of your mind that you’ll be starting another tour in two or three weeks, so psychologically it feels like you are perpetually on the road. The good side of all that touring was that we had so many shows booked, and Sweet Oblivion was a growing success, that the label finally decided we should have a tour bus. Or maybe our manager, Kim White, and her ballsy approach to the music business forced them to give us one. We also had a top ten hit with “Nearly Lost You” and the follow up single, “Dollar Bill” was climbing the chart behind it. Whatever the case, the label finally saw that we had the potential to sell albums and grow our base substantially, so they gave us enough tour support that we could afford to rent one tour bus, a small crew of 4 guys, and a trailer for our gear, which the bus towed behind us. All eight of us rolled together in that bus, and all eight of us made it home alive.
The back of the bus became a kind of musical sanctuary, because we didn’t get hotel rooms unless we had a day off (which almost never happened), so most nights we rolled out of town after the show and drove through the night to the next city. During those all-night drives, I would sit in the back with Mark, along with my drum tech, John Hicks, and sometimes Van or Lee would join us, although the Conner brothers tended to hold court in the front of the bus watching classic cult movies – on VHS tape. The Conner family famously owned the main video rental business in their hometown of Ellensburg, so the brothers were exceptionally well-versed in all the classic and cult films. Sometimes a member from the opening band might joins us, and we would all sit there in the back of the bus and listen to every album imaginable, all night long as we crisscrossed the lower 48 states and Canada (and later Europe). That’s when the back of the bus because a classroom for me.
You see, I must preface all this by saying that my musical background was quite different from the Trees, in that I had gone to college and music school where I studied studied jazz and classical music. I could sight read sheet music and play multiple instruments: drums, upright bass, vibraphone, marimba, and even a little piano. I was the “schooled” member of the band, however I was also unaware of much of the American and European underground music that was also happening, or had already happened. Looking back on it, I was extremely naïve to be joining such a band as the Trees and Mark alluded to this in his book, Sing Backwards And Weep” where I was this big goofy kid with a huge jazz collection, but no knowledge of the Velvet Underground. This is true, I mean, I had heard of the Velvet Underground and I knew of their NYC origins, but to be totally honest, I didn’t really like their droning, lo-fi music and I didn’t own any of their albums. I just wasn’t a music hipster - and I never became one either.
My tenure in Skin Yard had exposed me to most of the bands that were on our sister label, SST, and of course Sub Pop and the Seattle music scene had exposed me to many other indie bands around the US and Europe. But I was decidedly unaware of a lot of the American punk and alternative underground, especially the old stuff from the 1960s and 1970s. It was Mark who started playing those albums for me, schooling me about the music I wasn’t taught in music school.
Now it’s also important to remember that in 1992, every classic album was being reissued on CD, so we bought CDs constantly, every time we stopped the bus anywhere near a record store. We bought CDs from both new bands and all the classic reissues, of every musical genre imaginable. A lot of what Mark played for me and everyone else listening in the back of the bus was what I would call songwriter music. So we listened to Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Gordon Lightfoot, Townes Van Zandt, Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen, Tim Buckley, Tim Hardin, Patti Smith, and of course, a lot of classic outlaw country, and a lot of the blues, particularly the delta blues.
Blues was something Mark and I connected on at a spiritual level, and many years later I would work with some actual delta blues legends. In fact, the very last thing I was working on with Mark in 2021 is a blues documentary that I’ll talk about in a later story. So blues was our go to music, especially the old spooky delta stuff. We also went through all the classic rock, and to be honest, I hadn’t even listened to most of the Led Zeppelin catalog, even though everyone was comparing my drumming to John Bonham. I hadn’t even studied Zeppelin yet, so the first Zeppelin album Mark played for me was “Physical Graffiti” and then I became obsessed with Zeppelin at the ripe old age of 25, which is about the same age the members of Zeppelin were when they made that album.
I have to say I owe Mark a lot for playing me all that music (hundreds of individual songs and albums) because it made me think about music as a poetic expression, as opposed to all the fancy ornamentations I had learned in music school. Both approaches are important of course, I mean Miles Davis went to Julliard and studied European classical music before he went on to reinvent jazz, so music school teaches you some very important stuff. But what Mark showed me was how the pantheon of songwriter music was equally important, especially from the lesser known and more obscure songwriters – that’s where the gold was according to Mark.
As I approach my 55th year on the planet, I would say that this is a gospel truth: the best music in almost every genre is the stuff you don’t hear on the radio and doesn’t have mainstream success. Because all the crap you hear on the radio – that’s all paid for in various forms of payola. That side of the business has never really changed, it just keeps finding new and different ways to pay for radio time for the major label artists. But what is also true, is that great artists will always make unique and original records, and the best records are usually the ones that are not on the radio or even on most people’s radar. But the musicians all know who made those records, and we seek them out with a fevered diligence.
So that was the atmosphere in the back of the Screaming Trees bus, back in the early to mid 1990s. All that incredible music playing, saturated in every kind of booze and occasionally drugs, as we chain smoked cigarettes and told countless stories, most of which were exaggerated, and some that were outright lies.
I barely slept back then - I was so excited about life and playing music for other people who loved music as much as I did, that being in a real rock band seemed like the greatest job imaginable. But that kind of life can only be survived in measured doses, because even with our young twenty-something bodies (which is less than half the age I am now), it takes an iron constitution to pull it off. And for most of the 1990s, the Trees did pull it off, and rather well, actually.
If I can summarize the most important thing I learned from Mark in those years, it was this: Listen to the spirit of the song. Listen to its spirit and really think about the words that are being sung and what the artist is trying to say. Look for the interesting and unusual production ideas that propel the musical ideas. It’s always about the song, first and foremost, because the song has it’s own life and spirit, and a great artist will always capture that. If you hunt for them, you’ll find other like-minded artists who honor that same credo. Because the song is life. The song is the meaning of life. The song gives people meaning, and the song gives them a reason to believe.
So if you’re courageous enough take up the sacred path of being a musician or a songwriter (or a real producer, for that matter) make god damn sure that if you put a song down on tape for the world to hear - make sure you did everything you possibly could to make that song as great as it can be. The world has plenty of average and mediocre songwriters, that’s for sure. Mark hated mediocrity and you can find plenty of it on the radio right now. But when we’re all gone, nobody cares about your placement on a radio chart – people care about the songs that gave them a reason to live, and that’s what they’ll remember.
There are three songs that I distinctly remember Mark loving enough to sing along with in their entirety. One of those songs was “He Stopped Loving Her Today” by the legendary country artist, George Jones. This is one of the greatest songs ever written, and it’s sung by one of the greatest singers of all time, in any genre.
Another was “Reason To Believe” by Tim Hardin, a rather obscure but brilliant songwriter from the 1960s.
The third song was “Shanty Man’s Life” by Dave Van Rock, which is a classic American folk song that is extremely haunting in it’s original recording. I remember hearing Mark sing along to all of those songs, from top to bottom, perfectly. So if you’d all do yourselves a favor, please listen to those three songs on your music devices and imagine Mark singing along. Because I heard him do it, and it was magical. A true artist knows gold when he or she hears it.
Photos by the great Dean Karr
Post edited by goldrush on
“Do not postpone happiness”
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
was able to snag a signed copy right after I heard the news. Soon after, they took it down from being able to purchase. I honestly wasn't sure if mine would come signed or not. But it did. kinda cool. Looking forward to digging into this.
was able to snag a signed copy right after I heard the news. Soon after, they took it down from being able to purchase. I honestly wasn't sure if mine would come signed or not. But it did. kinda cool. Looking forward to digging into this.
I’m sure Premier has a stack of the signed bookplates left over to slap on books to meet demand. They’re on there for $100 now. I got a couple on preorder for 40% off because they took so long to send me my signed Flea book. Good people to deal with.
was able to snag a signed copy right after I heard the news. Soon after, they took it down from being able to purchase. I honestly wasn't sure if mine would come signed or not. But it did. kinda cool. Looking forward to digging into this.
I’m sure Premier has a stack of the signed bookplates left over to slap on books to meet demand. They’re on there for $100 now. I got a couple on preorder for 40% off because they took so long to send me my signed Flea book. Good people to deal with.
yeah, maybe they just panicked and took it down before they knew their inventory, then put it back up. because I checked about an hour after my order went through...."page not found".
was able to snag a signed copy right after I heard the news. Soon after, they took it down from being able to purchase. I honestly wasn't sure if mine would come signed or not. But it did. kinda cool. Looking forward to digging into this.
I'm currently 32 Chapters in. Great read!
Athens 2006 / Milton Keynes 2014 / London 1&2 2022 / Seattle 1&2 2024 / Dublin 2024 / Manchester 2024
I just realized I have been on the receiving end of two very recent free Mark downloads. If anyone wants this too, let me know, and I'll send you a copy.
shit, I'm listening now. wow. this is an amazing record. and I just read up on it, that he was so unprepared to record this record, he wrote several of the songs in the parking lot right before they began the sessions. unreal.
shit, I'm listening now. wow. this is an amazing record. and I just read up on it, that he was so unprepared to record this record, he wrote several of the songs in the parking lot right before they began the sessions. unreal.
It’s great, isn’t it? I think it may have gone under the radar a little because of the title. It sounds like it’s a filler album of old demos, but it’s a really strong record in its own right.
“Do not postpone happiness”
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
Gary Lee Connor has posted his last conversation with Mark:
ML: Hi Lee. I have moved to Europe, The States feels like a dark and dangerous place and I'm not comfortable there any longer. I have done alot of soul searching and self reflection since the book was released and I feel I owe you a deep apology. I do not expect you to forgive me but I want you to know that I strongly regret the way i portrayed you in it, its to my great shame, and you did not deserve it. We were just kids from a rural town and what we accomplished was a veritable miracle given where we were from. Had it not been for you, none of that would have happened,and despite our juvenile jealousies, individual problems, my addictions, and our likely placements on the autism spectrum, we achieved things those who played the Ranch could only have dreamed of. As I cleaned out my house before coming to Ireland, I came across some hardrives with Trees demos and was blown away by some of the tunes. A song called Hearts and Diamonds hit me in an emotiional place and another called Piano Song actually made me cry. I am scheduled to make a record in London in January and I would like to extend my sincere sorrow for causing you, Janet, and all of your loved ones any pain. I'm just going to throw this out there, but if you are willing, I would like to perhaps record the two songs mentioned for inclusion on my next record, and thereby somehow mend what I've done wrong and show the world that you and I had real power and were a talented team despite my obvious problems
GLC: You’re lucky to get out of the US as you say it is very fucked up here. Janet and I are both doing quite well. She is teaching online and we have not left the house because of the Pandemic since March. I’m finishing up a new album to get out in a few weeks. I still love writing and recording songs but just do it for fun and art like in the beginning. I found a small label in Italy that does vinyl for me and what I am doing now is very artistically satisfying for me but with no pressure from anyone but myself. Both those songs are great and it would be cool for you to record them. Forget about the stuff in the book. I never read more than a couple pages and just heard other stuff second hand on Facebook and I don’t pay much attention to it anymore now that it’s out there and people have read it. So go ahead and do the songs, I never got to make it to Ireland but it sound like an interesting place to live. Let me know if you need help figuring out the songs, I don’t think they are too hard. Lee
ML: That makes me very happy, thank you. I would be most happy if you sang the harmony on the piano song with me and played the absolutely bitching guitar outro on it as well. No one can else do it like you Lee and it would show the world that despite my juvenile bullhit, you and I were and are a special partnership. If you have protools at home or logic or reason, you could do it remotely. give it some thought. and thank you for being such a gentleman.
He has also uploaded the 2 songs that Mark was referring to:
Gary Lee Connor has posted his last conversation with Mark:
ML: Hi Lee. I have moved to Europe, The States feels like a dark and dangerous place and I'm not comfortable there any longer. I have done alot of soul searching and self reflection since the book was released and I feel I owe you a deep apology. I do not expect you to forgive me but I want you to know that I strongly regret the way i portrayed you in it, its to my great shame, and you did not deserve it. We were just kids from a rural town and what we accomplished was a veritable miracle given where we were from. Had it not been for you, none of that would have happened,and despite our juvenile jealousies, individual problems, my addictions, and our likely placements on the autism spectrum, we achieved things those who played the Ranch could only have dreamed of. As I cleaned out my house before coming to Ireland, I came across some hardrives with Trees demos and was blown away by some of the tunes. A song called Hearts and Diamonds hit me in an emotiional place and another called Piano Song actually made me cry. I am scheduled to make a record in London in January and I would like to extend my sincere sorrow for causing you, Janet, and all of your loved ones any pain. I'm just going to throw this out there, but if you are willing, I would like to perhaps record the two songs mentioned for inclusion on my next record, and thereby somehow mend what I've done wrong and show the world that you and I had real power and were a talented team despite my obvious problems
GLC: You’re lucky to get out of the US as you say it is very fucked up here. Janet and I are both doing quite well. She is teaching online and we have not left the house because of the Pandemic since March. I’m finishing up a new album to get out in a few weeks. I still love writing and recording songs but just do it for fun and art like in the beginning. I found a small label in Italy that does vinyl for me and what I am doing now is very artistically satisfying for me but with no pressure from anyone but myself. Both those songs are great and it would be cool for you to record them. Forget about the stuff in the book. I never read more than a couple pages and just heard other stuff second hand on Facebook and I don’t pay much attention to it anymore now that it’s out there and people have read it. So go ahead and do the songs, I never got to make it to Ireland but it sound like an interesting place to live. Let me know if you need help figuring out the songs, I don’t think they are too hard. Lee
ML: That makes me very happy, thank you. I would be most happy if you sang the harmony on the piano song with me and played the absolutely bitching guitar outro on it as well. No one can else do it like you Lee and it would show the world that despite my juvenile bullhit, you and I were and are a special partnership. If you have protools at home or logic or reason, you could do it remotely. give it some thought. and thank you for being such a gentleman.
He has also uploaded the 2 songs that Mark was referring to:
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
This video was supposed to be the 3rd part of the live session we shot on 28.02.2022. Mark Lanegan passed away just a few days before. We are honored that he has shared his enormous talent with us.
“Do not postpone happiness”
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
I woke with the chorus of The Circus Is Leaving Town looping around my head recently and I knew I had to hear it before the day could make sense. It's such a great song, and one of Lanegan's best vocals.
Gary Lee Connor has posted his last conversation with Mark:
ML: Hi Lee. I have moved to Europe, The States feels like a dark and dangerous place and I'm not comfortable there any longer. I have done alot of soul searching and self reflection since the book was released and I feel I owe you a deep apology. I do not expect you to forgive me but I want you to know that I strongly regret the way i portrayed you in it, its to my great shame, and you did not deserve it. We were just kids from a rural town and what we accomplished was a veritable miracle given where we were from. Had it not been for you, none of that would have happened,and despite our juvenile jealousies, individual problems, my addictions, and our likely placements on the autism spectrum, we achieved things those who played the Ranch could only have dreamed of. As I cleaned out my house before coming to Ireland, I came across some hardrives with Trees demos and was blown away by some of the tunes. A song called Hearts and Diamonds hit me in an emotiional place and another called Piano Song actually made me cry. I am scheduled to make a record in London in January and I would like to extend my sincere sorrow for causing you, Janet, and all of your loved ones any pain. I'm just going to throw this out there, but if you are willing, I would like to perhaps record the two songs mentioned for inclusion on my next record, and thereby somehow mend what I've done wrong and show the world that you and I had real power and were a talented team despite my obvious problems
GLC: You’re lucky to get out of the US as you say it is very fucked up here. Janet and I are both doing quite well. She is teaching online and we have not left the house because of the Pandemic since March. I’m finishing up a new album to get out in a few weeks. I still love writing and recording songs but just do it for fun and art like in the beginning. I found a small label in Italy that does vinyl for me and what I am doing now is very artistically satisfying for me but with no pressure from anyone but myself. Both those songs are great and it would be cool for you to record them. Forget about the stuff in the book. I never read more than a couple pages and just heard other stuff second hand on Facebook and I don’t pay much attention to it anymore now that it’s out there and people have read it. So go ahead and do the songs, I never got to make it to Ireland but it sound like an interesting place to live. Let me know if you need help figuring out the songs, I don’t think they are too hard. Lee
ML: That makes me very happy, thank you. I would be most happy if you sang the harmony on the piano song with me and played the absolutely bitching guitar outro on it as well. No one can else do it like you Lee and it would show the world that despite my juvenile bullhit, you and I were and are a special partnership. If you have protools at home or logic or reason, you could do it remotely. give it some thought. and thank you for being such a gentleman.
He has also uploaded the 2 songs that Mark was referring to:
Comments
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
www.headstonesband.com
www.headstonesband.com
Picked up a 3 today. Only 2 left.
www.headstonesband.com
Download card for ‘Houston - Publishing Demos 2002’.
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
www.headstonesband.com
www.headstonesband.com
www.headstonesband.com
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
ML: Hi Lee. I have moved to Europe, The States feels like a dark and dangerous place and I'm not comfortable there any longer. I have done alot of soul searching and self reflection since the book was released and I feel I owe you a deep apology. I do not expect you to forgive me but I want you to know that I strongly regret the way i portrayed you in it, its to my great shame, and you did not deserve it. We were just kids from a rural town and what we accomplished was a veritable miracle given where we were from. Had it not been for you, none of that would have happened,and despite our juvenile jealousies, individual problems, my addictions, and our likely placements on the autism spectrum, we achieved things those who played the Ranch could only have dreamed of. As I cleaned out my house before coming to Ireland, I came across some hardrives with Trees demos and was blown away by some of the tunes. A song called Hearts and Diamonds hit me in an emotiional place and another called Piano Song actually made me cry. I am scheduled to make a record in London in January and I would like to extend my sincere sorrow for causing you, Janet, and all of your loved ones any pain. I'm just going to throw this out there, but if you are willing, I would like to perhaps record the two songs mentioned for inclusion on my next record, and thereby somehow mend what I've done wrong and show the world that you and I had real power and were a talented team despite my obvious problems
GLC: You’re lucky to get out of the US as you say it is very fucked up here. Janet and I are both doing quite well. She is teaching online and we have not left the house because of the Pandemic since March. I’m finishing up a new album to get out in a few weeks. I still love writing and recording songs but just do it for fun and art like in the beginning. I found a small label in Italy that does vinyl for me and what I am doing now is very artistically satisfying for me but with no pressure from anyone but myself. Both those songs are great and it would be cool for you to record them. Forget about the stuff in the book. I never read more than a couple pages and just heard other stuff second hand on Facebook and I don’t pay much attention to it anymore now that it’s out there and people have read it. So go ahead and do the songs, I never got to make it to Ireland but it sound like an interesting place to live. Let me know if you need help figuring out the songs, I don’t think they are too hard. Lee
ML: That makes me very happy, thank you. I would be most happy if you sang the harmony on the piano song with me and played the absolutely bitching guitar outro on it as well. No one can else do it like you Lee and it would show the world that despite my juvenile bullhit, you and I were and are a special partnership. If you have protools at home or logic or reason, you could do it remotely. give it some thought. and thank you for being such a gentleman.
He has also uploaded the 2 songs that Mark was referring to:
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
beautiful music. I wonder now if he ever got them down..... as it is, just those Lee posted in demo form are enough.......
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
This video was supposed to be the 3rd part of the live session we shot on 28.02.2022. Mark Lanegan passed away just a few days before. We are honored that he has shared his enormous talent with us.
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)
(Jeff Tweedy, Sydney 2007)
“Put yer good money on the sunrise”
(Tim Rogers)