A PICTURE I ASSUME WAS TAKEN BEFORE PETE DE FREITAS JOINED THE BAND!
Echo & The Bunnymen went into the studios for six Peel Sessions between 15 August 1979 and 19 September 1983, recording 21 songs all told. Many of the sessions involved songs that were, at the various points in time, still to receive an official release, and a number of them, particularly those that would feature on Ocean Rain are quite different, almost demo like thanks to the absence of strings. Some songs were still such works in progress that the names attributed at the sessions would be replaced by the time the studio version had been recorded and mastered.
All the sessions were captured and compiled for a double LP that was released in 2019, and so none of what follows is rare or difficult to track down. I just thought picking out 1o of the 21 tracks would make for a decent enough ICA.
SIDE ONE
1. Read It In Books (Peel Session, first broadcast on 22 August 1979)
Technically, one of just four songs from the Peel Sessions that can be properly attributed to Echo as well as the Bunnymen, as the debut session involved Ian McCulloch, Les Pattinson and Will Sargeant along with their, at the time, ever-present drum machine. A song whose authorship has long been argued over – Mac insists it’s him alone and that Julian Cope‘s claim to be be the co-writer is bogus. Bill Drummond considered it a joint composition, and as manager of both bands they were involved in, he registered it to McCulloch/Cope.
The Bunnymen’s initial studio take was already available as the b-side of their debut single, Pictures on My Wall, that had come out on Zoo Records in May 1979. The Peel Session is about 30 seconds shorter and is played at a slightly faster tempo. It also has more pronounced guitar work that had been absent from the single version. It would, of course, be re-recorded, with Pete de Freitas on drums for inclusion on debut album Crocodiles the following year.
2. Nocturnal Me (Peel Session, first broadcast on 19 September 1983)
At the other end of the spectrum, this is one of the four tracks from the sixth Peel Session. Ocean Rain was still some eight months from seeing the light of day, but as can be heard from this take on Nocturnal Me, the song was at a well advanced stage, including the vocal inflections that would be used in the studio. The strings have still to be added, while the longer studio version (approx 40 seconds) can be attributed to the extended outro courtesy of those very strings.
3. That Golden Smile (Peel Session, first broadcast on 12 November 1980)
In effect, the advanced demo version of Show of Strength, the track which would open Heaven Up Here when it was released on 29 May 1981. As with the version that would make it onto the album, this is one of my personal favourites of all the Peel Session songs. Pete pounds away, beautifully in tandem with Les’s big bass notes; Will does what Will does while Mac doesn’t fuck about with it….the interesting thing for me is that this take fades out which may well have been the way that the producer on the day, Jerry Smith, wanted it to be broadcast as it certainly sounds as if the band were still playing their way to the bitter end.
4. Over The Wall (Peel Session, first broadcast on 22 May 1980)
From an earlier session, but one which affords a similar opportunity to hear how advanced the band were with a song that would be taken into studio in early 1981 for eventual release on Heaven Up Here. It’s a slightly less dramatic version, with Mac not bellowing the chorus in the way he would later do, but he does weave in the lines from Del Shannon‘s Runaway. It also sounds as if this is one where both Pete and the drum machine are in use.
5. No Hands (Peel Session, first broadcast on 8 February 1982)
This is from the fourth of the Peel sessions and is the only song that was never given a ‘proper’ studio recording. This particular session also saw the recordong and broadcast of Taking Advantage and An Equation, songs that would undergo name changes to The Back of Love and Higher Hell when recorded for the album Porcupine, which hit the shops almost exactly a year later on 4 February 1983.
The Peel version of The Back of Love is, sadly, very lead-footed and ponderous in places, and it lasts almost a minute longer than the eventual studio take. Anyone listening at the time would probably have been most excited by No Hands and looked forward to its eventual appearance as an album track or b-side (it’s just not catchy enough to merit being a single). It’s always been a wee bit of a mystery as to why it disappeared from view.
SIDE TWO
1. All That Jazz (Peel Session, first broadcast on 22 May 1980)
The May 1980 session has a good claim to be the best of them. There were just the three songs, and Side A has already featured one that would have to wait a full year before the studio version was heard. The other two would make it onto debut album Crocodiles, the recording of which would get underway the following month. Interestingly, the band offered up The Pictures On My Wall, which was already well known having been the debut single back some 12 months previously along with a tremendous version of All That Jazz, a song that maybe could have and should have been a single.
2. The Killing Moon (Peel Session, first broadcast on 20 June 1983)
There were two Peel Sessions in relatively quick succession in 1983 – 20 June and 19 September – which between them offered up seven of the nine songs that would appear on Ocean Rain. As I mentioned earlier, given how much work went into the studio recordings, especially with the string arrangements, the Peel Sessions can be seen as being demo like. The Killing Moon is just over three and a half minutes in length. It is almost indie-rock by numbers, but nevertheless is a decent enough listen. Bear in mind that this session was broadcast around the same time as the release of the non-album single Never Stop, which itself is laden with strings and all sorts of great percussion, and given the positive reaction to the single, it may well have provided the idea for doing something similar to The Killing Moon which ended up being transformed almost beyond recognition.
3. All My Colours Turn To Clouds (Peel Session, first broadcast on 12 November 1980)
Here’s one that doesn’t sound too different from the eventual studio version that would appear on Heaven Up Here some seven months down the line. I had a look at the stats over at setlists.fm, and it turns out All My Colours (as the name would later be shortened to) was only played once prior to it being recorded for the Peel Session which surprises me as it sounds so tight as if it was one the band were very familiar with. It’s long been part of their sets ever since, with the stats showing it’s the 14th most played of all their songs – there’s rarely a show goes by without it.
4. Villiers Terrace (Peel Session, first broadcast on 22 August 1979)
Talking of popular Bunnymen songs, this is seemingly the 9th most played in concert. Another from the very first Peel Session meaning that Pete doesn’t appear on it. It’s a much slower and less energetic take than that which would eventually be recorded for Crocodiles.
5. Ocean Rain (Peel Session, first broadcast on 19 September 1983)
And to round it all off, one in which the Peel Session is waaaaaaay faster and more upbeat than the eventual studio take. As with The Killing Moon, the transformation between the Peel Sessions in 1983 and what emerged on Ocean Rain come May 1984 is quite something.
So….there you have it. A kind of semi-lazy ICA, but one that I do hope meets with some nods of approval.
JC
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 