GUIDED BY VOICES and STAN MCMAHON "GOD LOVES GUIDED BY VOICES AND NATE IS AN ANGEL" LIVE AT CROCODILE CAFE SEATTLE, WA - APRIL 14th, 1995 Recorded by Mike Velez Artwork by outstretched will AUD > unknown stereo mic > unknown cassette recorder > cassette master (TDK MA-X IEC IV/TYPE IV METAL POSITION 100-minute) > Tascam Portastudio 424mkII 4-track cassette recorder > WAV (Audacity 1.2.3) > Audacity 1.2.3 (edits, sequencing) > Peak 4 (mastering) > Audacity 1.2.3 (tracking) > xACT > FLAC gbvdb reference: http://www.gbvdb.com/album.asp?albumid=1129 This is easily a Top-Ten GBV bootleg, presented here for the first time from the original master tape. Historical notes abound: this was first live appearance of Nate Farley (subbing for Tobin Sprout); all songs are played in album order with an "Alien Lanes" set followed by a "Bee Thousand" set followed by an "Old Songs and New Songs" set and then the encore (cut short by the fire department - speak kindly!); Bob's banter is especially extensive (and hilarious) for this era; Stan McMahon and Scott McCaughey (R.E.M., Young Fresh Fellows, Minus 5) are featured guest performers; the song selection is sterling...it just goes on and on. Throw in excellent sound quality and some fantastic artwork and you've got a new favorite bootleg! Openers were Mary Lou Lord and Stan McMahon. Stan performed a short, impromptu set of GBV covers. A partial recording of Stan's set is included at the beginning of this disc. He also performed at least one other song, "14 Cheerleader Coldfront" (a tiny snippet of this was captured before the first song here, "If We Wait") and joined GBV on backing vocals throughout the main set and played guitar on the final song of the encore, "Echos Myron". Stan McMahon is an Oregon native who started one of the earliest Guided by Voices cover bands Giant Bug Village, which also at one time included future GBV bassist Chris Slusarenko. Scott McCaughey (of Young Fresh Fellows, Minus 5, and touring guitar player for REM) joins the band for backing vocals on "Echos Myron". (Robert Pollard would later return the favor by providing backing vocals on the Minus 5's "Boeing Spacearium", a track that was released on their 1997 LP "The Lonesome Death of Buck McCoy".) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From "Guided by Voices: A Brief History" by James Greer: The spring tour ... was notable for a crisis that occurred offstage. The night after the Vancouver show, Toby (Sprout) discovered that his wife, Laura, had gone into labor with their first child, about a month earlier than expected. He made plans to head out the next morning on a plane back to Dayton, leaving Bob with the prospects of canceling the entire West Coast swing - until, that is, then - guitar tech/roadie and eventual full-time GBV member Nate Farley stepped in. "I was the roadie," recalls Nate. "Mitch (Mitchell) brought me in because we were friends. I just laid low, did my job, stayed out of people's way, didn't try to act like I'm part of the band. We're going across the country, and every single night - I learn by ear, I can't read music or anything like that - I would check out the set, and I was loving it, because I got to see GBV play every night. "So we get to Vancouver, and Toby found out his wife was going into labor. And Bob was like, 'We're gonna have to cancel the West Coast tour.' And I finally gathered up the balls to say, 'I could learn the songs.' And Bob looks at me and goes, 'You could learn all these songs.' At that point I think there were only like thirty-two songs in the set. He didn't know that I was paying attention, I don't think, or knew them by heart just because I loved them. "The best part of this story is he goes, 'All right, when we get back to the hotel, you're gonna come up to the room where me and Toby are at, and you and Toby and Mitch will go through the songs together.' So me and Mitch were getting out of the elevator, and from down the hall I could hear Bob's voice. And it wasn't a happy Bob's voice; it was a worried, angry, doubtful Bob's voice. I think there were phrases like, 'These songs ain't fucking 'Johnny B. Goode.' He can't learn all these fucking songs, how the hell's he gonna do this? We gotta call off the tour.' "And it's getting louder and louder the closer I get to the door. Finally I get to the door: knock knock knock. And then there's quiet. We go in, and Bob's sitting there with his head in his hands. The first thing we started out with was 'Tractor Rape Chain.' And I ran through that with no problem. I think we did 'I Am a Scientist' after that, went through that with no problem. I could slowly see Bob looking up and starting to get into it, like, 'Whoa, wait a minute, he can do this.' "I was like, 'I already know these songs: I can do 'Motor Away', some of the simpler ones, but there's stuff like 'Evil Speakers' where it never goes back to the same thing twice. These are the the things I really need to work on. The other stuff, don't worry about it, I already know it in my head.' And I think we spent an hour and a half, two hours in the room that night, and the next day I had time to practice the songs at the Canadian border. "The first show was at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle, and I was really nervous, and I got one glass of Jack. One short glass of Jack on the rocks, and I walk up to Bob, and he's like, 'Dude, are you sure you should be drinking before this?' And I'm like, 'I got to, or I'm gonna flip out.' I didn't want to get drunk, but I had to get a little drink in me. Things went perfect. And every other show after that went perfect. I got a little cocky after that, because it was me and Mitch, with our dual Les Paul assault. At a certain point I told Bob, 'You know, I know Toby's harmonies, if you want I can sing those,' and he goes, 'Why don't you just do everything - sing all the songs, do the whole show by yourself.' I was like, 'Okay, now I know where the boundaries are.' I got paid to play guitar and roadie, so I think I made more money than anyone else on that tour. "There's a bootleg of my first show. Bob goes, 'This is Nate Farley. He's our roadie, and Nate's an angel.' I think that's the first and last time Bob's ever called me an angel." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- STAN MCMAHON: MYSPACE: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=20572586 "Here is some recent ink on Stan McMahon from the Portland Mercury dated Dec. 29th: 'As someone who has to be routinely reminded to tie his shoes, it's always impressive to meet a person blessed with a spot-on elephant's memory. Stan McMahon, despite 50 plus years and 50,000 plus beers under his belt, is still sharp as a tack when it comes to rock. Rightfully earning his self styled reputation as 'The Human Jukebox', the man's mental songbook is heavy with Beatles, Byrds and Big Star. Though he's mainly garnered attention with his Guided by Voices cover band, Giant Bug Village, the Stan McMahon Band serves up equally tasty slabs of power-pop goodness.' JOSH BLANCHARD" "IN MUSIC WE TRUST" INTERVIEW: http://www.inmusicwetrust.com/articles/46h10.html "Q: What is it about Guided By Voices' music that means so much to you? Stan: First, the Beatles aesthetic, and the way they can make a song sound heavy metal, hard rock, pop or acoustic... Q: So they embody everything you like about music? Stan: Well, Bob Pollard specializes in reinventing rock 'n' roll. He's one of the genius songwriters around right now. His lyrics are pretty heartfelt stuff." ROBERT POLLARD on STAN MCMAHON and GIANT BUG VILLAGE: "Q: Tell me about the first time you met Stan McMahon. Bob Pollard: The very first tour we did was the Insects of Rock Tour for Scat Records (GBV's Ohio-based label before they moved to the national indie Matador). We play Eugene, and we're like, "what the fuck is YOO-gene?" So we play this outdoor show in the town square or whatever, and he came up boldly, saying "I'm Stan McMahon and I know 20 or 30 of your songs." And at the time, nobody really knew about us...he was the first obsessive GBV fan. And I go 'no way' and he said 'no, really' and I said, 'well, go play some' and he went up there and played about 20 of our songs and I was really impressed. So then we became friends with him and John Chandler. At the time, we had some fans, maybe even some hardcore ones, but not on the level of somebody coming up and saying 'I know 50 of your songs' or whatever. That freaked me out a little bit. Q: What do you think of Giant Bug Village? First, I'll tell you what some people here say about them. BP: I want to hear this, because I want to know! Q: They say Giant Bug Village kicks a lot of ass-- BP: Well, they've got a lot of good material! Q: No one's saying they're as good as Guided By Voices, since you're the original. But people like them because they play the stuff that you won't play anymore. BP: That's good! That's like when Wire came back and started touring, they had a band opening for them called Outdoor Minors which would play the "Pink Flag" album since Wire didn't want to play it anymore-- Q: Have you heard or heard of any other Guided By Voices cover bands? BP: I know of three or four around the country. I'm not quite sure what their names are. But Giant Bug Village was the first GBV cover band, as far as I know. It's weird, because Stan told me somebody once came up to him and said, "How dare you, being a tribute band to a band that still exists and is in its prime?" But hell, so what, it's flattering. Q: So what is it like to have people tell you how deeply moved they are by your music? Does their level of obsession ever scare you? BP: Well, there are some individuals who have scared me, but for the most part, I'm flattered. I appreciate it because I know how I used to be when there were certain bands that I was obsessed about -- I had to have all their stuff, dissect their lyrics-- I'm happy because I did that kind of thing for so long and now people do it with my stuff. Q: Stan said he went on tour with you later in '94. Would you ever take Stan on tour with you again? BP: No, no. We sent him home, as a matter of fact. We took him on one of our East Coast tours, and we had to send him home. He was getting on our nerves." GIANT BUG VILLAGE: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/chandler23/gbv.html Portland Mercury July 15th, 2000 show preview (scroll down): http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?category=22187&issue=22442 "If you don't know, or can't figure it out by their initials (GBV), Giant Bug Village is Portland's own Guided by Voices cover band. Formed of several members of Postal Blowfish (a brain-trust of GBV uberfans who communicate via internet mailing list), Giant Bug Village will play both the hits and some of the most obscure Robert Pollard tunes you probably have never heard. I mean, going to see a band that is covering the tunes of another band that is still kicking and touring is a pretty geeky thing to do. But it's Guided by Voices, and these boys really do love playing, and Mr. Pollard doesn't pump out the albums like he used to. And admit it, you're a geek." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes on Quality: There are a couple of noticeable moments in which the taper changed levels: the beginning of the GBV portion of the set starts out fairly loud, to the point of some distortion, but levels off in a reasonable amount of time, the beginning of "A Salty Salute" starts out loud as well, but again quickly adjusts to a decent level; and "Sheetkickers" has some up-and-down adjustments almost throughout. I decided to leave these intact, in keeping with the original sound of the source, and because they aren't terribly distracting to me, especially considering the otherwise great quality of this recording. The original tape flip was in the middle of "Deaf Ears". I managed to stitch the first and last parts of the song together mostly seamlessly, but the second verse, not being on the master tape, is not heard. This is not a shorter version of this song. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert Pollard - Nate Farley - Mitch Mitchell - Jim Greer - Kevin Fennell featuring Stan McMahon and Scott McCaughey -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally seeded by Robert Gray at bt.needmoresongs.org on August 12th, 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total time: 01:12:32 STAN MCMAHON: 01. If We Wait 02. Hey Aardvark GUIDED BY VOICES: 03. (God Love Guided by Voices and Nate Is An Angel) 04. (Ohio vs. Seattle) 05. A Salty Salute 06. Evil Speakers 07. Watch Me Jumpstart 08. King and Caroline 09. Motor Away 10. My Valuable Hunting Knife 11. Closer You Are 12. (The Dean Martin of Rock-n-Roll) 13. Striped White Jets 14. (Our 'Alien Lanes' Portion of the Set) 15. Pimple Zoo 16. Blimps Go 90 17. My Son Cool 18. (Ambush) 19. (The 'Bee Thousand' Portion) 20. The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory 21. Tractor Rape Chain 22. Gold Star for Robot Boy 23. (Why Does It Rain On Such Good People?) 24. Hot Freaks 25. Smothered in Hugs 26. I Am a Scientist 27. (This Motherfucker's a Whiz Kid Right Here) 28. (Old Stuff and New Stuff) 29. Deaf Ears (partial) 30. Shocker in Gloomtown 31. Sheetkickers 32. Why Did You Land? 33. (The Weed Queen) 34. Weed King 35. Matter Eater Lad 36. Break Even 37. Big Boring Wedding 38. (Our Roadie's Our Guitar Player Now) 39. (Unstable Journey, Man, Damn) 40. Deathtrot and Warlock Riding a Rooster 41. (Please, Mr. Fire Department) 42. Echos Myron ------------------------------------- CONVERT TO MP3 FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY! ------------------------------------- ==========================================================================