Ladies and gentlemen let me present at no additional expense to yourselves, included in your basic 1537 membership package, with no obligation to purchase* a mini bonus review.
Ramones Sundragon Sessions.
Released for RSD 2018 Sundragon Sessions are the basic tracks laid down for Ramones Leave Home, before the guys who got paid money to buff up, beef up and hone the sound did their thing to it.
As you would expect given that, bar some overdubs and tweaking/twerking these are the very same takes that were used for the final LP, there is not a world of difference to be encountered here. For a numbskull collector completist obsessive like myself it is an interesting LP to have.
The differences are mostly subtle, illustrating the shifts of emphasis the producer Tony Bongiovi gave the finished record. As you would expect in most cases the man earned his money and improved what he could, Leave Home has a polished (but not too polished) sound that is missing on the Sundragon Sessions.
To my mind there are only two tracks that I prefer in this iteration – Now I Wanna Be A Good Boy and What’s Your Game. The former, my favourite anyway, comes over with more immediacy to me and the latter carries even more of lovely Joey’s personality in the vocals.
Which isn’t to say it is a washout by any stretch. It is interesting to hear ‘Pinhead’ stripped of opening vocal FX and daft bits at the end, much as I love them. Interestingly whilst Tommy’s drums often sound a bit underpowered, which TB fixed, you do get to hear more of Dee Dee’s bass in these rough mixes too.
A big draw for me was the track ‘Babysitter’, which was used to replace ‘Carbona Not Glue’ on later UK copies of Leave Home – which I had never heard. It’s a pretty average Ramones track with good lyrics about being frustrated in your amorous intent by a kid who won’t go to sleep.
She went to see if the kids were asleep She says they're quiet expect for one little creep We can't start kissing and I'll tell you why We can't start kissing 'cause the kid's a little spy
Sundragon Sessions was limited to 10,000 copies, which is sooo limited that mine is probably only one of 12 households on my road with a copy. I like it and I do play it occasionally but it is no match for the original Leave Home.
Dang my diddlies for being such a darn completist!
1085 Down (still).
*terms and conditions apply; not that you’d probably understand them, even if you did actually bother to read them but basically everything you own and cherish gets signed over to me. Send an A4 envelope to the usual address and I undertake to send you the precise terms and conditions within 42 days of receipt; unless said day of receipt is a Tuesday in which case the 42 days shall be said to commence from the penultimate Thursday after posting, unless that Thursday is equal to or later than the 13th of the month** whereupon the envelope is declared void and should be sent again within 3 days of the appropriate voidance notice being sent, 4 days if the recipient is left-handed AND can be proven to take a UK shoe size 10, or below; or the nearest US/European equivalent.
**or the 14th on leap years and/or years beginning on a Monday, unless where Rule 14.b(ii) applies^.
^referees decision is final.
I didn’t know this was a thing. Sounds pretty intriguing to me. Nice addition to your collection!
Hey Matt, yup it satisfies the crazy collector in me. How’s things in Brazil? you okay?
Thanks for asking. =)
Given the circumstances of the pandemic plus political insanity, I can say I am fine. Sometimes our lunatic government over here (and the fact somebody like him got elected) makes me want to pack up my stuff and head to Europe. But, other than that, I don’t have much to complain about.
Hang in there Matt. All things must pass.
Amem to that! I have got to say that album title does come to mind every once in a while when I think about that situation.
That’s a sweet item in your collection, officially jealous.
I heard issue 1537/10000 was given back to the band for them to frame it out of respect.
Thanks for the heads up about this and that I don’t really need it. I may pick it up if I see it. Unless it is at one of those stores that still wants full value for their unwanted RSD titles from years past.
On a side note, I was recently listening to Alan Cross’ radio show The Ongoing History Of New Music (possibly the best radio series ever). This program was about mental illness in musicians. I never knew anything about Joey Ramone’s issues.He had OCD really bad mixed with schizophrenia. One obsession he had was having to lock doors 20 times. It was ultimately what led to his death. One awful winter day he heard voices telling him that he had to shut a door properly at his chiropractors office on the far side of NYC. He went outside, slipped on some ice and broke his hip badly. This caused issues with his bone marrow lymphoma chemo treatments.
I know poor Joey, he gave the band a real sense of oddness and vulnerability. He was a compulsive step counter too apparently; which is interesting to me because, whilst not being OCD (as my shelves of very neatly filed LPs will show!!) I count all the time too, unless I actively stop myself doing it.
Might be Joe thing. Hey Joe, where you goin’ with that calculator in your hand?
Umm, I’m going to count my old woman down … or something.
If you turned your calculator upside down a 6 is a 9.
Sorry Bop, too busy making my calculator read ‘Boobies’ to do that.
I see a pattern developing here!
Yup, you can sell anything to an idiot who wants to buy it!
Bahaha
That’s the best terms and conditions I’ve ever read (and the only ones). If they’re all like that I’m going to start reading and collecting them like LP’s! You’re definitely on the Fraggle rock.
Wasn’t that a Johnny Thunders song, ‘I’m living on the Fraggle rock, all my bass strings are in hock’.
PS: you ever like the Heartbreakers much? looking to review LAMF soon.