It was local (U.C.)L.A. blog The Rawking Refuses to Stop that made me aware of the amazing collection of Elliott Smith recordings, Trash Treasury. It looks like they’ve collected the majority of the recordings of his shows that are out there, and it provides an incredible way to understand his musical career, particularly in the later years. The only time I ever saw Elliott Smith was back in 1996 opening for a New York band that I liked quite a lot during my high school years, Versus. I had heard of him but was generally more focused on more punk-derived indie rock at the time, so I hadn’t pursued him. But I was blown away by the performance and quickly started listening to him more enthusiastically.
By the time Elliott signed to Dreamworks, my interest in his music had faded somewhat. I still bought the new albums but didn’t listen to them as heavily as the pre-Good Will Hunting albums. When his death/probable suicide occurred in 2003, I was shocked and disappointed, but not as emotionally invested as I might have been a 5 years prior. I took a long time before finally picking up and listening to the posthumous From A Basement On The Hill. The honesty of his lyrics and the way in which songs like “Fond Farewell” and in particular, “King’s Crossing,” can be interpreted as suicide notes has always disturbed me. But the live versions he played of “King’s Crossing” seem even more disturbing to me. Pained and slurring, they seem incredibly open for him to play live, particularly in hindsight in the context of his death. There is a line late in “Kings Crossing” where Elliott seems to allude to drug use and falling and says:
I don’t care if I fuck up
I’m going on a date
With a rich white lady
Ain’t life great?
Give me one good reason not to do it…
In the recording from Northsix in Brooklyn the line goes unanswered with an awkward pause. But at each show in Elliott’s transplanted hometown of Los Angeles, a female voice (I heard it was his girlfriend and/or sister) screams back “Because we love you!” I can’t think of a more touching moment that I have ever heard in music as that desperate plea. And I appreciate that they recreated the moment on the studio version for Basement.
Hey, thanks for the link!
Glad you enjoy the site. Soon I will have time to do a big ol’ update and there’ll be several new shows and some new video content.
Meantime, you should swing by the forum and say hello
There’s some treats in there that aren’t posted on the main site yet either!