When were the "Sunny" EP tracks recorded?

[RTF]

Hi, a quick question regarding the chronology between the release of "The More You Ignore Me" single and the "Sunny" single. Does anybody know the dates that "Sunny", "Black-Eyed Susan" and "Swallow on my Neck" were recorded? I'm figuring that "Sunny" was part of the "Boxers" sessions, but "Black-Eyed Susan" and "Swallow on my Neck" have a distinctly "Vauxhall" feel to them, and I'm curious whether they were indeed recorded during the sessions for "Vauxhall and I". Thanks!

Richard

 

[Maurice E]

Hi, a quick question regarding the chronology between the release of "The More You Ignore Me" single and the "Sunny" single. Does anybody know the dates that "Sunny", "Black-Eyed Susan" and "Swallow on my Neck" were recorded? I'm figuring that "Sunny" was part of the "Boxers" sessions, but "Black-Eyed Susan" and "Swallow on my Neck" have a distinctly "Vauxhall" feel to them, and I'm curious whether they were indeed recorded during the sessions for "Vauxhall and I". Thanks!

Richard

I'm pretty certain Sunny was recorded along with the songs that made it onto the Boxers single. At one point, Sunny was going to be on the Boxers single too (I think). This session will have taken place between Vauxhall and Southpaw but Sunny was held back til after the Southpaw Grammar 'campaign'. Don't know about Susan and Swallow though. I'd guess they were also pre-Southpaw.

 

[Stanley the 2nd]

I think that Susan was recorded around the time of V&I but they never got around to finishing it off hence why it appeared months later with that weird sound montage thing in the middle.

Swallow on my neck was recorded just after V&I I believe.

 

[modrevolve]

Woodie Taylor is credited as playing drums on Sunny so it was prolly around when Vauxhall was recorded..I'm seeing his band Comet Gain on Thursday so if I get the chance to chat with him, I'll ask.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_(Morrissey_song)

 

[bored]

Woodie Taylor is credited as playing drums on Sunny so it was prolly around when Vauxhall was recorded..I'm seeing his band Comet Gain on Thursday so if I get the chance to chat with him, I'll ask.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_(Morrissey_song)

Good call MR.

I remember when Woodie put his drums for sale and was supposed to be retiring from music. I haven't really followed him. I would have loved to get a chance to see him play live. The mix on V&I is pretty flat and takes all the dynamics out of the drums except on Speedway which was recorded in separate parts to make the ending bigger. Seeing the songs played live always helps me appreciate them more.

 

[modrevolve]

Not to get off topic but was there ever an explanation or at least a rumor as to why Spencer didn't play on the Vauxhall Sessions??

there are the only dates Comet Gain
4/8 -- Washington, D.C. -- Black Cat Backstage
4/9 -- Philadelphia, PA -- Kung Fu Necktie
4/12 -- Brooklyn, NY -- Music hall of Williamsburg

 

[bored]

Not to get off topic but was there ever an explanation or at least a rumor as to why Spencer didn't play on the Vauxhall Sessions??

When Gary Day was asked why he was not playing he said something like, "His highness axed me." This was reported in one of the UK rags.. NME perhaps.

I can only guess that the same was true of Spencer.

If you listen to Your Arsenal, it has by far the most boring drumming of any Morrissey record. I have no idea if that has anything to do with it, but scrapping him was a good choice in my mind.

Spencer did better on SG and my favourite drumming track from him is Nobody Loves Us.

I think we already hi-jacked this thread but the question was answered and it's a topical conversation.

 

[modrevolve]

I hear what you are saying but he did bring those Kill Uncle songs to life live which I always found rather dreary on record.

 

[Jamie]

Swallow was recorded prior to Vauxhall & I, along with Moon River. Gary and Spencer were then replaced by Bridgwood and Taylor for the album. Black-Eyed Susan was recorded in the vicinity of the V&I sessions. Sunny was recorded with the rest of the Boxers single.

The whole timeline is somewhat strange because Gary and Spencer were seen miming The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get on Top of the Pops in spring 1994. And in that performance, Boz does not appear. I think that was the last time Gary did anything for Morrissey until the Oye Esteban tour. Spencer, of course, was reinstated with the In Person tour - though (and Stephane could best confirm) I think the Miraval Southpaw demos were recorded with Woodie Taylor.

Cheers,
Jamie

 

[Mozabilly]

Yes, as noted - Sunny was recorded with the 3 tracks on Boxers.
Black Eyed Susan was a potential The More You Ignore Me B side contender. The montage in the middle was not done afterwards - Lillywhite let the tape run and the lads had no idea what was going forwards or backwards..."just play"
Swallow was a potential Hold Onto Your Friends B side contender.
All were thankfully cobbled together by Parlophone and are a smashing single release.

 

[RTF]

Thanks for the info. I'm terribly interested in the output from 1994, and appreciate the clarification. I was reading the Select interview done just before the release of V&I, and it's conducted at the recording studio as they were "working on two b-sides for the next ("hold on to your friends") single". I suppose given the info, nothing saw the light of day from this session...

Richard

 

[Stephane]

Spencer, of course, was reinstated with the In Person tour - though (and Stephane could best confirm) I think the Miraval Southpaw demos were recorded with Woodie Taylor.

I really don't know. It must have been the same line-up who recorded the final version of the album.

I can confirm however what others have mentioned so far: all three songs had been considered at various points as potential b-sides, and some even found themselves on acetates or in-house tapes. A French EMI advance tape (and also I think a 4-track acetate) of the Boxers single featured "Sunny" and "Black-Eyed Susan" was on advance tapes of the "More You Ignore Me" single with a different mix of the title track.

Stephane

 

[mikael]

 

[bored]

I think the Miraval Southpaw demos were recorded with Woodie Taylor.

The would explain why the drumming on SG from Spencer is so different from what he did on Arsenal and Maladjusted. He was working off a demo of a better drummer. Maybe I'm completely wrong, but an interesting thing to speculate on.

 

[Stanley the 2nd]

I recall the NME actually listing Sunny as a fourth track on the Boxers EP before it's release date in their news round up. I may be wrong here but I think it might have been dropped as the singles chart at the time didn't acknowledge sales of 4 track singles as they considered them EP's. I might be wrong but it would explain why it was dropped.

I remember buying this single in my lunch hour when I was working in an extremely boring office job in Dorking. Ah, what trivial things used to make my week that bit more interesting!

 

[modrevolve]

So I went to see Comet Gain tonight..Not only did Woodie Taylor decide not to come over to the States for the tour but according to his band mate, he detests Morrissey and refuses to talk about him or his time in the band. Apparently he is really fond of Johnny Marr though (not sure why). That was a waste of 15 bucks. Could have gone to see Red Cortez tonight at a nearby college instead.

 

[bm20950]

The mis-use of the term EP when it comes to singles winds me up no end. :\

 

[bored]

I hear what you are saying but he did bring those Kill Uncle songs to life live which I always found rather dreary on record.

I think the electric nature of the shows at that time with no keys brought the songs to life. Spencer's playing of them was incredibly simple.

You can even compare him playing Disappointed (pregnant for the last time b-side) and Mike Joyce playing it on the Wolverhampton 88 bootleg and the difference is like a Ford Escort vs. a BMW M3.

 

[modrevolve]

Mike Joyce is still my favorite drummer for Morrissey; with the Smiths and Solo.

 

[Dave]

last thursday