Covers (1 of
2)
All
Along The
Watchtower
Bob Dylan
number, but most
people in Lewis
at the time knew
the
Jimi Hendrix
version best.
Not that the
Dark Visit’s
version sounded
anything like
either. This was
in the set from
the first “A
Horse Latitudes”
practice through
to the 1983
Subterraneans
gig at the St
Valentine’s
dance in the
Nicolson. It
went out of the
set between then
and “Garage
Fuzz” in May 83.
Not sure why.
Bod’s guitar
intro for it on
the 1982 Dark
Visit practice
tape is very
interesting. I
always used to
think it sounded
like something
U2 would do if
they had decided to
cover it at that
time. They did,
but years
later, when the
Edge didn't
sound as much
like Bod as he
used to.
Hello I
Love You
Pretty much the
only
Doors
song that the “A
Horse Latitudes”
guys thought
they could
handle,
everything else
being far too
hard. I seem to
remember it
turning out OK,
but people
thought it was
supposed to be
“All Day and All
of the Night” by
the Kinks.
Played at the
1981 Coll gig,
but had dropped
out of the set
by March 82.
Back
Door Man
Strangely enough
the covers on
the Doors LPs
were a lot
easier to master
than the
originals, given
that they were
mostly fairly
basic blues
numbers. This
Willie Dixon
song was the
first of many
songs covered by
the Doors which
the band went on
to cover
themselves. It
only ever got
one outing, at
Coll in March
1982. It was
meant to be slow
and menacing,
but Iain
Mackaskill, who
was standing in
on drums and to
his credit had
never heard it
before, stuck a
Stray Cats type
rockabilly
backbeat behind
it and the rest
had to run to
catch up.
Light My
Fire
Yes. Steven’s
attempt to
arrange the
Doors’ 7-minute
keyboard-based
epic for one
guitar and bass
was probably
doomed from the
start. I
remember him
working out a
very laid-back
chord sequence
that didn’t
sound much like
it. It was
played at Coll
in March 82 and
never seen
again.
Empty
Bed Blues
Emil had this
one on a
Bessie Smith
LP. It was a
staple of the 3rd
Dark Visit
line-up and was
consequently
never gigged.
There’s a pretty
bad version on
the Dark Visit
1982 Sea Cadet
Hut practice
tape.
Crawlin’
King Snake
This
John Lee Hooker
song came into
the set during
the 3rd
Dark Visit
Lineup, and got
kept on in the
Subterraneans’
set. Once again,
it’s the Doors’
version off “LA
Woman” that
served as the
initial basis
for our
arrangement due
to the
deficiency of
our record
collections
early on.
Who Do You Love?
One of the few
songs in
Bo Diddley’s
catalogue not to
have “Bo Diddley”
in the title.
The
Subterraneans’
version started
out as an
attempt on the
Doors’ cover
from
“Absolutely
Live”, but with
2 guitars, no
keyboards and a
straight-ahead
drum pattern it
doesn’t sound
much like
either. The
sound that the
band
accidentally got
on this track,
with Bob
Bitchin’s big
Telecaster
crashes versus
Zink Sputnik’s
funky rhythm,
became a bit of
a trademark.
Came into the
set with the
first
Subterraneans
lineup on
12/2/83 and
stayed in right
until the end of
Memphis Louie an
the Rockin’
Firebirds of
Death in 85.
Louie
Louie
Richard Berry &
The Pharoahs’
1956 rock n roll
prototype
Louie Louie
has been done by
just about
everybody who
can’t play too
good ever since,
cause it’s so
easy.
Popularised
among the garage
bands in the
States by the
Kingsmen,
and butchered by
the
Sonics
in 63/64, there
are books,
albums and,
sadly, websites
dedicated to
this song
alone. Back in
83 the only
Sonics’ record
Leroi could get
hold of was
their one-off
1980 “comeback”
LP “Sinderella”
on Bomp, so the
Subterraneans’
treatment of
this number was
loosely based on
the version on
that album.
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