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Laid / Wah Wah Super Deluxe Edition

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Laid / Wah Wah Super Deluxe Edition, a 2015 Compilation Box Set by James.

Summary

This re-issue of Laid and Wah Wah combined both albums as originally intended by the band, and was released 10 years ago. The boxset includes two extra CDs of rehearsals, demos, B-sides and radio sessions. The boxset also include a booklet, prints and badges.

Track List

Disc 1 – Laid:

Out To Get You / Sometimes (Lester Piggott) / Dream Thrum / One Of The Three / Say Something / Five-O / P.S. / Everybody Knows / Knuckle Too Far / Low Low Low / Laid / Lullaby / Skindiving

Disc 2 – Wah Wah:
Hammer Strings / Pressure’s On / Jam J / Frequency Dip / Lay The Law Down / Burn The Cat / Maria / Low Clouds / Building A Fire / Gospel Oak / DVV / Say Say Something / Rhythmic Dreams / Dead Man / Rain Whistling / Basic Brian / Low Clouds / Bottom Of The Well / Honest Joe / Arabic Agony / Tomorrow / Laughter / Sayonara

Disc 3 – Rehearsals, Demos & Jams:
Carousel / Unknown Track 8 / Dream Thrum / Chicken Goth / Jam J / You Were Born / Bruce Jam 1 (Mix 1) / Jam D Rhythmic Dreams / Jam E / Jam 11 / Jam 12B / Jam P / Jam P2 / Jam Q / Jam R / Who Is Gospel Oak? / Falsetto / Jam 13

Disc 4 – B-Sides, Radio Sessions & Live:
America / Building A Charge / Wah Wah Kits / The Lake / Seconds Away / Say Something / Assassin / Laid / Low Low Low / Sometimes / Tomorrow / Five – O / Jam J (Arena Dub) / Jam J (Sabresonic Tremelo Dub)

Details

ReleaseAboutSongsListenVideosGalleryArticlesGigs
Release Name: Laid / Wah Wah Super Deluxe Edition
Artist Name: James
Release Date: 23rd March 2015
Format: Compilation Box Set
Catalogue: ASIN B00RYGDNQ6

According to Tim Booth, Laid and Wah Wah are “the culmination of playing four or five hours a day four or five days a week in Manchester and the new band adapting to that. It is about the transition of becoming more of a band but with Brian at the helm.” Booth remembers jamming “hundreds of songs that never saw the light of day” and guitarist Larry Gott suggests it might have been “as many as 340 tracks.” The simultaneous, coupled reissues are particularly notable, however, due to the fact that producer Brian Eno and the band had originally favoured releasing the records as a double package.

Recorded concurrently in 1993 during a frenetic six week period at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Complex, the albums were always intended as companion pieces – Laid being referred to as the “song” album whilst Wah Wah was known as the “experimental” or “jamming” album – but the record company’s decision to release them months apart put paid to this conception: Laid, released in the UK in October 1993, reached the No.3 spot in the UK and became the band’s biggest album to date in the US, selling 600,000 copies and breaking the band in the USA in the process but the subsequent follow-up Wah Wah effectively sunk the band over there and – according to Booth – “put paid to us breaking America at all!”.More pertinently perhaps, by the time Wah Wah came out, U2 (and Eno) had released Zooropa and “everyone thought we were copying off them instead of the other way round!”The 4CD 12’x 12’ Super Deluxe box set features 20 previously unreleased recordings.

Songs related to this release:

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Videos related to songs on this release:

Compilation release not related to gigs.

Gospel Oak / Who Is Gospel Oak (rehearsal jam)

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Gospel Oak is track ten on the 1994 James album Wah Wah. An alternative version called Who Is Gospel Oak? can be found on the Laid / Wah Wah Super Deluxe boxset.

It is named after a station on the London Overground.

Details

LyricsListenReleaseAvailable OnGigsGuitar Tabs
Well I see the prophet
And the forward fake
And I hold it to your eyes
And the wind is spurned
To the trees
And spurning on your charms
And the ways are laughing on
On your door
And the man is coming all old
And when when the crime is over
Who is safe
Who is safe
And who is gospel oak

On the glamorous night
Each cragged end
And the murderer core survived
From the tunes today
It's sold your space
And I don't know your crime
From the board is slain
And honoured tall
And the wind it is so cold
And they're duelling on a foreign race
Foreign race
Foreign raced it all

So make cupped to me now
It's a long long lazy raves down streets' names
Don't give yer cap to me now
From the raging cloth and the ranging klaxon changed
Raise down
Your soul
Your down
In bloom
Raise down
Hear slay
On and on
Human race
Don't give up on me now
No don't give up on me now
Now now so alone
You're already gone
When your face yours away
When you breeze on everyone

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Who Is Gospel Oak (rehearsal jam)

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Song:Gospel Oak
Released:12th September 1994
Main Associated Album (or Single):Wah Wah
First Heard Live:Never performed live
    Can't find any records of performances.
James - Gospel Oak

Taken from the album Wah Wah

Written and performed by James & Brian Eno

Main Riff:

e-------------------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------
D----2-2-----2-2-----2-2--------------------------------
A--0-----0-0-----0-0-----0------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------

Song Structure:

The song never deviates from a chord of A. At the quiet bit at the start the only discernable part is the Main Riff, which continues throughout the song. When it all gets loud, an acoustic guitar comes in playing the chord of A repeatedly. You may want to hammer-on/pull-off between A and Asus2 to mimic Tim's vocal line.

Lyrics:

Well I see the prophet

And the foward fake

And I hold it to your eyes


And the wind is spurned

To the trees

And spurning on your charms


And the ways are laughing on

On your door

And the man is coming all old


And when when the crime is over

Who is safe

Who is safe

And who is gospel oak



On the glamorous night

Each cragged end

And the murderer core survived


From the tunes today

It's sold your space

And I don't know your crime


From the board is slain

And honoured tall

And the wind it is so cold


And they're dueling on a foreign race

Foreign race

Foreign raced it all



So make cupped to me now

It's a long long lazy raves down streets' names


Don't give yer cap to me now

From the raging cloth and the ranging klaxon changed


Raise down

Your soul

Your down

In bloom

Raise down

Hear slay

On and on

Human race


Don't give up on me now

No don't give up on me now

Now now so alone


You're already gone

When your face yours away

When you breeze on everyone




Transcribed by Alex Carter 2001.

alex@shandy3000.fsnet.co.uk