Available on October 13 on B-Unique, the tracklisting is as follows:
1. Comedy
2. Beautiful
3. Pull Together
4. Streets Of Kenny
5. Captain's Table
6. Natalie's Party
7. Re-Instated
8. I Want You
9. Since I Met You
10. Daniella
11. Cornish Town
12. Lend Some Dough
13. Flannery
14. Petroleum
15. Solid Gold
16. Delanelo
17. Extra
18. John II
19. Christine
20. Since I Met You [Original]
21. Cornish Town [Original]
hmv.co.uk has the following description:
Half way through 1988 brothers Mick and John Head went into the studio with the producer Youth to record the now legendary 'H.M.S Fable'. On its release in 1999 the album was an instant critical success. It was, by anyone's standards, a turning point in the anguished career of this special and determined Merseyside band. As tends to be the way with Shack, the making of 'H.M.S Fable' was not without complications. In fact the record that hit the shops was not the record the Head brothershad originally made. Earlier in 1998 they had already gone into the studio with Hugh Jones and recorded and album's worth of material. However, the personal problems and sheer bad luck that had continually dogged Shack, in particular chief songwriter Mick, finally caught up with them, leaving both band and producer emotionally exhausted and demoralised. In the end, the band and Jones felt the record could never be released - the tapes were abandoned. Until now that is - for as Mark Lewis of B-Unique records puts it: "those abandoned sessions are really good. They have a unique quality - fascinating if you're a fan and spellbinding if it's an early introduction". Deemed by all as far too good to let gather dust, it was felt these unique recordings deserved a proper release.
'The Fable Sessions' is that record - a 21 track album that features a clutch of songs recorded by Shack in those fated sessions back in 1998, coupled with the material that made it onto the classic 'H.M.SFable'. The differences between the two sessions are both obvious and not so obvious. The songs recorded with Youth are focused, immediate, a crystallisation of Mick's way with his keen sense of melody, a hook that sticks in your throat, and soaring flights of beautifully layered sound. The songs recorded with Hugh Jones are both turbulent and and subtle, but buoyed too with both a surging, restless energy and a musical delicacy, all, as ever, steeped in that gentle, plangent, inimitably graceful Northern psychedelia that Shack have made their own. Yet another 'lost' recording from the vaults of Shack's singular career. Please enjoy this fascinating and thrilling document of one of the UK's most innovative and special bands.
So has anyone heard this? Is it worth ordering? The above write-up is obviously a press release, so it'll go on about what a great release this is, but I'm weary of the line "differences between the two sessions are both obvious and not so obvious." I have HMS Fable and the singles, so I don't know if the price (which is about 8 pounds at some shops) is worth it.
― Jonathan (Jonathan), Friday, 10 October 2003 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)
hugh jones is quite a slick producer, so i'd imagine they'd probably be a bit rougher around the edges, but i'd be more likely to get this for the outtakes rather than the alternative versions of the album tracks.
― the surface noise (electricsound), Saturday, 11 October 2003 01:18 (twenty-one years ago)
Quoted write up from HMV is the inlay text.
Just got this yesterday (from Piccadilly Records) and am on second listen.
Is it worth it? Well, if you have the singles and the album you have all the songs, but if you bought the singles and the album, you probably want everything, so eight/nine quid is alright.
Also nice to have them on one CD; I had already cobbled together the b-sides onto a CD-R as they are excellent.
John II is 'Too Late For Me Now'; the b-side tracks (13-19) seem to be named after what it said on the tapes rather than the title they got on the singles - Christine = Miss Christine, Delanelo = Uncle Delaney. Extra = Extra Extra.
'24 Hours' is the only B-side not included.
It's not really clear what's going on with the producer thing, 1-12 are Youth produced, but do sound slightly different than the album; 13-19 are Jones produced, and again sound slightly different to the b-sides but I haven't done a full comparison.
Tracks 20-21 are more obviously different to the album versions, but the producer is not stated. I assume they are Jones but I really don't know.
The only other thing to say is that buying this might encourage B-Unique or someone to bring out extended versions of Shack's rarer albums.
― Paul Gregory, Tuesday, 21 October 2003 09:52 (twenty-one years ago)