John Lennon - It's Hard To Be Butterflies
(Barrier, BAR 007/8)
(Japan)
CD 1: 72:13
| I'm Stepping Out | ||
| 1. | fast demo | 1:39 |
| 2. | slower demo | 6:09 |
| 3. | rhythm box demo | 4:39 |
| Beautiful Boy | ||
| 4. | Sean visits the studio, playback of Beautiful Boy | 0:20 |
| I'm Stepping Out (vocal booth) | ||
| 5. | take 1 (stereo mixdown) | 5:03 |
| 6. | take 2 (stereo mixdown) | 4:52 |
| 7. | dialogue, tuning, take 1 | 5:56 |
| 8. | John explaining the band how he wants them to play. "It's hard to be butterflies, we're such big boys..." | 3:52 |
| 9. | take 2 (vocal booth) | 5:35 |
| 10. | John explains to Earl Slick and Hugh McCracken | 5:22 |
| 11. | the Latin bit | 3:52 |
| 12. | further rehearsals | 3:24 |
| 13. | John. Slick and Hugh develop the guitar parts | 3:04 |
| 14. | take 3 (breakdown) | 0:20 |
| 15. | take 4 (breakdown) | 1:46 |
| 16. | take 5 (breakdown) John sings: It's Now Or Never | 2:00 |
| 17. | take 6 (complete) John: "It feels good." | 5:55 |
| Hard Times Are Over (Yoko) | ||
| 18. | choir overdub | 0:49 |
| 19. | choir overdub (complete renddition) | 3:57 |
| 20. | sax solo and horn overdub (complete) | 3:39 |
CD 2: 60:34
| 1. | ordering Sushi | 1:16 |
| I'm Stepping Out | ||
| 2. | take 7 (complete vocal booth) | 5:55 |
| 3. | instructions by John | 1:19 |
| 4. | take 8 (complete) | 5:46 |
| 5. | playback of take 6 | 2:23 |
| 6. | take 6 (complete stereo mixdown) | 506 |
| 7. | take 9 (complete stereo mixdown) | 5:36 |
| 8. | take 9 (complete -different- stereo mixdown) | 4:26 |
| 9. | take 1 (complete stereo mixdown) | 4:59 |
| 10. | take 2 (complete stereo mixdown) | 4:41 |
| Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him | ||
| 11. | stereo, with Sean in the vocal booth | 1:42 |
| 12. | vocal overdub | 2:38 |
| 13. | vocal overdub, John gives instructions and talks about 'I Should Have Known Better' | 2:29 |
| 14. | complete stereo mixdown | 2:23 |
| 15. | complete stereo mixdown | 3:39 |
| 16. | complete stereo mixdown (John on vocals) | 3:06 |
| 17. | complete stereo mixdown (John and Yoko on lead vocals) | 3:10 |
from the booklet:
The recordings presented on this two CD set, the first release in a planned series to chronicle the Double Fantasy/Milk And Honey sessions, have been sourced from the original tapes compiled for the Lost Lennon Tapes radio show, rather than from the tapes actually used for the broadcasts. Thus these tapes, unlike other versions that have been featured from the broadcast, do not contain any annoying voice overs or bull shit and are compiled session by session, rather than in an ad hoc manner.
The tapes have been compiled from a number of different sources:
Home Demos:
Recorded on domestic cassette recorders by John, sometimes employing the same primitive overdub methodology he had use back in 1967 for his early Strawberry Fields Forever demos. Put simply, John would play along to a previous recording he had made which was being played on a (domestic) cassette recorder. A second (domestic) cassette recorder would be employed to record the sum total, effectively producing an overdub onto the original recording. The only problem was that noise, hiss, reverb and lack of clarity would all feature prominently in these recordings. John, unlike other musicians with his experience and financial independance, always appeared to be more concerned about the feel of the music rather than the technical aspects of the recordings.
Studio Multitrack Recordings:
Studio multitrack recordings have been sourced, including basic recordings, mix downs, alternate versions, alternate mixes, edit versions & overdub sessions.
Vocal Booth Recordings
Vocal booth recordings are recodings made in a similar manner to monitor mixes or even tapes used for the majority of the Get Back session bootlegs which have been available over the years. An external microphone/recording system used to capture on magnetic tape the proceedings during a recording session or mix down session. They are usually not taken (patched in) from the control/mixing desk or in line with any instrumentation.
THE SONGS:
Three songs are featured on this first two CD release: I'm Stepping Out, Hard Times Are Over and Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him. I'm Stepping Out demos, vocal booth recordings in mono and stereo, stereo mix downs from master tapes alternate versions are interspersed with choir overdub sessions for Hard Times Are Over & Ever Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him vocal overdub sessions and various mixes with alternate lead vocalists.
my comments:
It all sounds very complete. I hope these sessions will continue on further releases. Great stuff!
(somebody told me that Vigotone will be releasing this material soon... Any comments on that?)
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