So last night after I put the finishing touches on my review of Josephine I started listening to a bunch of Magnolia Electric Co./Songs: Ohia rarities that I’ve collected over the years, and got to thinking that I should make this week “Jason Molina Week” here at PHW. And so it shall be. Every day this week I’ll be featuring an assortment of Molina outtakes, rarities, or videos from over the years - some things I’ve posted before and others I have not gotten around to sharing.
Those who purchased the final Songs: Ohia studio album, Magnolia Electric Co., on vinyl were rewarded with a bonus disc of acoustic demos from the same album. Unavailable anywhere else, the set does exactly what one would expect - it strips down the Crazy Horse-inspired sound that dominated that classic album to show just what a powerful singer and lyricist Molina had developed into at this point of his career.
These songs are interesting to collectors for several reasons. First, songs like “Farewell Transmission”, “John Henry Split My Heart”, and “I’ve Been Riding With The Ghost” appear in very early forms (with their original titles - “The Long Dark Blues”, “You Can‘t Save Everything”, and “I Made The Change”, respectively), with some different lyrics and structures as those that appeared on the actual album. Also, there are a number of quality outtakes from the album that did not, until recently, appear on any other release. “Whippoorwill”, one of his finest songs and finally resurrected for Josephine, is especially poignant here. Finally, we get to hear Molina sing “Peoria Lunchbox Blues” and “The Old Black Hen”, sung on the album by Scout Niblet and Lawrence Peters.
I’m not sure if the vinyl still comes with the CD, so I’m only going to post a handful of the songs. Believe me though - if you dig these the whole thing is absolutely required listening and well worth hunting down.
MP3 :: The Long Dark Blues
MP3 :: Peoria Lunchbox Blues
MP3 :: The Old Black Hen
MP3 :: Whip-Poor-Will
(from Magnolia Electric Co. demos. Buy original album on vinyl here)
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3 comments:
these are a treasure. I went to school in indiana, and used to listen to farewell transmission driving the hours up through blurry soybeen fields up to chicago. man, these are just wonderful. thanks.
doesnt seem that the lp version comes with the bonus disc. damn it
yeah - they are a treasure and no, i don't think the LP comes with the bonus disc any longer. shoot me an email and i can send you a zip.
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