When I was in high school, digging the hell out of Elvis Costello & The Attractions, the release of Taking Liberties was a big deal. As if the guy hadn’t been cranking out enough action-packed releases, his record label, Columbia, graciously collected 20 additional songs that had been floating around on UK import versions of his albums and B-sides, or that had been stored away on a shelf, previously unreleased! Getting all these “odds & sods,” to use the title of The Who’s mid-70s collection of spare parts, in one package, for one affordable price was the way to go for a kid with limited pocket money in days long before the hope of file sharing and the rise of the mighty Apple Empire. Check out what my $5 or so bought in 1980:
Side one
“Clean Money” (previously unreleased)
“Girls Talk” (b-side of “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down,” 1980)
“Talking in the Dark” (a-side, 1978)
“Radio Sweetheart” (b-side of “Less Than Zero,” 1977)
“Black and White World” (Demo version) (previously unreleased)
“Big Tears” (b-side of “Pump It Up,” 1978)
“Just a Memory” (b-side of “New Amsterdam”, 1980)
“Night Rally” (from UK version of This Year’s Model, 1978)
“Stranger in the House” (a-side, 1978)
“Clowntime Is Over” (Version 2) (b-side of “High Fidelity,” 1980)
Side two
“Getting Might Crowded” (b-side of “High Fidelity,” 1980)
“Hoover Factory” (previously unreleased)
“Tiny Steps” (b-side of “Radio, Radio,” 1978)
“(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea” (a-side, 1978)
“Dr Luther’s Assistant” (b-side of “New Amsterdam,” 1980)
“Sunday’s Best” (from UK version of Armed Forces, 1979)
“Crawling to the U.S.A.” (from soundtrack to Americathon, 1979)
“Wednesday Week” (b-side of “Talking in the Dark,” 1978)
“My Funny Valentine” (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) (b-side of “Oliver’s Army,” 1979)
“Ghost Train” (b-side of “New Amsterdam,” 1980)
That’s a better album than a lot of artists ever release as one of their primary works. It’s a better album than Costello himself has released in ages. It was also a lot of fun to read the liner notes and spot guest musicians (Quick: Who recalls the track on which The Clash’s Mick Jones plays – and how cool was it the first time to see his name listed in the credits?) or instances of Costello playing his own bass parts. Back then, that side of Elvis was still fun.
Today, on our eighth digital reissue cycle of the Costello catalog, these tracks are scattered as bonus tracks, with German import-only B-side and, in most cases, rightfully previously unreleased tracks added. Although I appreciate being able to taste more of Elvis’ table scraps from his glory days, I miss the simplicity of Taking Liberties, which is not, I believe, in print as a stand-alone CD.
Taking Liberties, Odds & Sods, Dead Letter Office… Whose fridge have you most taken pleasure in raiding through one of these collections?
The Great Lost Kinks Album.
The Mekons, I Have Been to Heaven and Back
Stereolab, Refried Ectoplasm
I don’t know if making one yourself should count, but I made a Weezer B-sides compilation and called it “B Plus”. It’s pretty great.
I also made a three disc (!) R.E.M. set.
I’m trying to think of an “official” B-sides set and nothing is really coming to mind…perhaps They Got Lost by They Might Be Giants? It’s a pretty solid compilation of rarities, B-sides, and outtakes. Especially from a badn with so much material floating around out there.
TB
Dylan’s Biograph was partial leftovers and the first Bootleg Series (Vols. 1 -3) was all leftovers. The latter would be my favorite of these but I do fondly remember the EC, Who, and Kinks ones that have been mentioned.
Mr. Mod, I remember when I spent $3.99 on Taking Liberties @ The Harvard Coop back in ’80. You’re right, it was a great album & I wish that it could have stayed in print instead of being disbursed around.
I believe Mick Jones played guitar on “Tiny Steps”
The TMBG “odds ‘n sods” collection was called Miscellaneous T
Big dittos on The Great Lost Kinks Album, which I saw plenty of copies at the Ann & Hope back in the day.
Taking Liberties was great in part because there were just so many tracks, but in my heart of hearts nothing is going to beat the Great Lost Kinks Album.
Superchunk issued several of these mop-up albums, all good but I really like the last one, Cup of Sand. It was on par with the string of great albums they released at the end of their run.
Does Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy count? Great album, unlike the Odds & Sods collection.
Does Past Masters (especially Vol. 2) count?
If not, maybe Radiohead’s Airbag/How Am I Driving? EP.
I think everything you’ve suggested but Meaty Beaty… “counts.” I consider that Who collection more of a singles/hits collection.
Richard Thompson’s Guitar, Vocal.
orphans by Tom Waits
XTC’s Beeswax. With a few exceptions, all the other leftovers they offered me since then should have been dumped in the trash.
That Waits collection had so many great tracks on it. I don’t know if it was the format or just the sheer size of the collection, but I found it hard to digest.
I really like Stereolab’s Refried Ectoplasm collection. At the time it came out it kicked the ass of their newer, more subtle stuff. Excellent songs all over the place. One of those things you’re not sure what you’ll hear when you get home, and then you’re completely delighted. (I know I’m old – delight is very unhip.)
Also I picked up Devo’s Greatest Misses album. Is that just stuff from other records? I think some of it was previously unfindable stuff. I always loved the song “The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize.” That’s what I bought it for.
Also, Mod, I remember waking up on the floor of the Manayunk Head House fragrant and crusty, and at some point it seemed necessary to go out and find the elusive Sunday six pack in the area. We climbed and dove up and down those hills while WRTI played the Afro-Cuban stuff with Machito, Chico O’Farill, Flip Philips, and Charlie Parker. I went searching and found the Verve lps at Sounds of Market. Then finally, after years of keeping my eyes out for that stuff, I found an album called The Real Mambo Kings, featuring the best of that stuff all compiled in one place. It’s a hit!
All of Stereolab’s entries in the ongoing SWITCHED ON series (SWITCHED ON, REFRIED ECTOPLASM, ALUMINUM TUNES) and the more recent triple-disc OSCILLATIONS FROM THE ANTI SUN set are as essential as any of the band’s proper albums, for sure. I’ll also second TAKING LIBERTIES and MISCELLANEOUS T, which I actually enjoy more than either of the albums from the period it covers.
Fountains of Wayne’s OUT OF STATE PLATES would have made a hell of a single disc.
Don’t get me wrong, I agree that Taking Liberties is one of the best leftover collections ever, but when it was released, it was like a kick to the groin, since I was one of those fools silly enough to collect all those European singles to catch the unreleased B-sides. At least they had great covers.
perhaps I’m totally biased, but I have a huge soft spot for both of GBV’s Suitcase collections. 200 unreleased tracks. MINDBLOWING
ok, I am totally biased, but still…
ROUGH EDGES by the Sir Douglas Quintet, which due to the delirious grab-bag nature of Sir Doug’s albums, stands up there with the best of them. I wish this was on CD rather than strung out as bonus tracks like TAKING LIBERTIES.
Howzabout the Stones’ “Metamorphosis” album (aka “klein’s revenge,” right?)?
To this day, I still can’t decide if I like the 70s side or the 60s side better. They’re both great.
I actually like “Another VU” better than most of the Velvet’s original releases.
btw, these albums are hard to make. the Photon Band has one (“Our Own ESP Driven Scene”). at the time, I thought it would be easy to put those songs together but the reality of knowing that some recordings I never wanted people to hear were going to be on an album…where people could HEAR them (!!!) made the track selection process excruciating.
Here’s some more “odds ‘n sods” collections that I thought of:
1. Attack of the Smithereens w/a Graham Parker lead vocal version of “Behind the Wall of Sleep” & “You Really Got Me” w/Ray & Dave Davies
2. Rag and Bone Buffet-XTC
3. Remember Me-Otis Redding. It has a killer version of “Respect” done live in the studio which morphs into the bass line of “My Girl” at the end among laughter.
The Great Lost Kinks Album is still one of the greatest. It was one of my first Kinks albums & it’s a shame that it hasn’t been reissued, although most of the songs are available through other CDs. I think one possible reason for its non-reissue was John Mendelson’s liner notes, which attacked Ray’s current (1973) stage persona & output while praising the contents of the album, which was recorded in 1967-68. Also, the GLKA was the last album owed to Reprise Records by the Kinks, who had moved to RCA & Ray probably thought it was a bottom of the barrel effort to compete with his current work.
I was just thinking that, even though I like the songs on Taking Liberties, it really must be docked a notch for Costello’s pompadour/mullet on the cover. Maybe Look issues are why it’s no longer in the catalog.
diskojoe:
3. Remember Me-Otis Redding.
It also has that earlier take of “Sittin’ On the Dock of The Bay” where he gets all dry-mouthed whistling. You can hear someone from the studio on the intercom interrupting him and saying “You won’t make it as a whistler…”
Eels has a large B-Sides album out that I keep waiting to see used. If anyone has heard it and can argue that its worth the $28 new, let me know.
There is the second disc of the La’s remaster which is really interesting. Even the single disc version (which is what I have) of B-Sides tagged on the back are good.
The Gorillaz D-sides has some really good songs on it. Some sound like songs Alburn had recorded and didn’t know what to do with so he stuck them on a Gorillaz B-Sides album. “Hong Kong” is pretty gorgeous.
I also really love The Delgados’ 2 disc Peel Sessions. For someone who doesn’t want to own a lot Delgados, it would be the perfect album. It has a great cover of Mr. Blue sky.
I don’t know if it should count as a live album or rarities album, but Midnight Oil’s “Scream in Blue” is another favorite.
I dunno about fave odds n’ sods albums — for some reason I’ve been drawing a big blank on that one — but I *love* “Clean Money.” I want to cover that so bad it gives me blue balls.
How about Endless Wire by The Who?
Yeah, I know it’s new material. But I listened to it for the first time today and it sure sounds like leftovers to me. And ones that have been sitting in the fridge for a loooonnnggg time.
Anybody wanna defend this dog?