Tuesday, January 7, 2020

STFU


Back in '68 the Beach Boys couldn't give themselves away at a gas station, so whoever at Capitol had the brainwave to resuscitate their career with an album of backing tracks should be working in one. It has the distinction of being the first Beach Boys album to fail to chart - at any level - in the UK and the US. I wonder why.

It's not without interest for the fan who has everything else, including too much free time, but we hit aural paydirt with the Pet Sounds instrumental album, which (I think) has never been officially released as such. This was all in Brian Wilson's head. Nothing had ever sounded like this before - not even music.
The Doors backing tracks album (here yclept 13 to profit from a rejected album sleeve design) is surprisingly listenable, sounding like a soundtrack album to a Sunset Strip psychploitation movie. It's groovy.
And to complete the package there's this - a NSFW STFU Steely Dan backing track bonanza, thirty minutes of slippery jazz chops and chord changes from the Tibetan Book Of The Dead. Boy howdy! Is it ever swell!

Thanks to th' internet, which supplied all this stuff for, like, nuthin'.
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21 comments:

  1. FiveGunsWestJanuary 7, 2020 at 6:42 PM

    The other three guys are just waiting for me to ask first.

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  2. pmacJanuary 7, 2020 at 9:29 PM

    STFU and Steely Dan just seem to go together so damn well. But, I'd love to hear the Pet Sounds instrumentals.

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  3. 1851January 7, 2020 at 9:48 PM

    Waiting (IM)patienlty...

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  4. FiveGunsWestJanuary 7, 2020 at 11:26 PM

    okay, this looks like four of us

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  5. AnonymousJanuary 7, 2020 at 11:57 PM

    I love this kind of stuff. Was "Stack-O-Tracks" the first karaoke album?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIJanuary 8, 2020 at 6:40 AM

      Deep and intense research (ie a couple of minutes on wiki) led me to nothing much, and it's a good question. Sing Along With Mitch was a popular TV series (it says here) in the early sixties, but there was no cash-in album - a surprise. True karaoke machines appeared in the early seventies. So the answer is - probably.

      Delete
    2. D WJanuary 9, 2020 at 5:44 AM

      That's a joke, right? Various random "Sing Along With Mitch" LPs are second only to Vaughn Meader's "The First Family" LPs that are guaranteed to be found at any thrift store outing.

      Delete
    3. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIJanuary 9, 2020 at 7:59 PM

      As this charming link shows:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dY9gtYeHhk

      Th' Mitchmeister added vocals to a vocal-free backing track to create the world's first dub karaoke. He don't count.

      Delete
  6. sambgodotJanuary 8, 2020 at 12:29 AM

    I'd like to add my voice to the request for Pet Sounds, if I may. (I can't do any more polite than that.....)

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  7. Crab DevilJanuary 8, 2020 at 1:46 AM

    Purty please?

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  8. Bob W.January 8, 2020 at 2:25 AM

    Wow, who could pass up this smorgasbord of instrumental delights. Could I please have a link sir?

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  9. FiveGunsWestJanuary 8, 2020 at 4:50 AM

    It's a tense situation down here Farquhar. I don't how much longer I can hold these minions of Ilhan Omar back from starting the first of Iran's reprisals by TPing your house. Send reinforcements by way of RAR files immediately to prevent any additional collateral damage.

    ReplyDelete
  10. HermannJanuary 8, 2020 at 5:20 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIJanuary 8, 2020 at 6:10 AM





    This is FGW's personal link. The rest of youse bums linin' up at th' Soup Kitchen o' Sound© gets th' CURSE OF FOAM© [FX: doomy organ chord], today manifest as Noticing Your Large Ears In The Mirror For The First Time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. pmacJanuary 8, 2020 at 7:44 AM

      Eh, I've noticed my large ears and age induced drooping earlobes for years.....

      Delete
  12. FiveGunsWestJanuary 8, 2020 at 6:14 AM

    Natch...........and thank you there FM, the situation is once again stable.

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    Replies
    1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIJanuary 8, 2020 at 6:30 AM

      Kindest regards to yer wife, FGV, dat's some swell tomato you gots.

      Delete
  13. sambgodotJanuary 8, 2020 at 11:56 PM

    Thanks for making me listen to Pet Sounds again, the doing of which sent me back to my PS Sessions box set, on which you can find all the backing tracks in stereo, though the timings of several bear little relation to the album running times, especially Here Today. I'll have to listen to them all again and try to see (??) what my broken ears can make out....Listening to Stack o'Tracks just makes me yearn for the vocals. (my own geese were laid to rest aeons ago)

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  14. Bob W.January 9, 2020 at 3:47 AM

    I used FGW's link, I hope I'm not in trouble.

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  15. Scott1669January 9, 2020 at 4:03 AM

    I need a new keyboard......this one doesn't type in pure instrumental...it demands words......

    ReplyDelete
  16. Nargile57January 9, 2020 at 3:08 PM

    The Doors looks very enticing.......

    ReplyDelete

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