Have we really been missing Elliott Smith for five whole years? I didn’t blog about the anniversary of his death last Tuesday, in part because I didn’t quite focus on the specific date until a couple days later — but also, if I’m being completely honest, because thinking about the day when we lost one of my all-time favorite artists just gets me down. What is there to say? It was an awful, unreasonable tragedy. The only thing you can really do in the face of that is to keep remembering all the beauty he brought into the world.
That’s why I’m infinitely grateful to blogger (and former EW intern) Dave Greenwald for compiling a full set of the cover songs Elliott performed live over at The Rawking Refuses to Stop!. Lots of really great stuff there; many of these MP3s were in heavy rotation on my old laptop years ago, and they’ve only taken on more significance now. Putting on Either/Or or XO can still be pretty painful for this fan, much as I love those albums. Somehow it’s a little easier to hear Elliott singing someone else’s words and melodies. I’m particularly partial to his takes on the Beatles’ "Long Long Long," the Kinks’ "Waterloo Sunset," and, oddly enough, Oasis’ "Supersonic." Feel free to share your own favorites among Elliott Smith’s live covers in the comments below, as well as any other memories you have of a talent gone far too soon.
UPDATE: As some of you have already noted in the comments section, the live covers compendium that I linked to has just been taken offline, apparently as a result of some misplaced copyright concerns from Google. You’ll find an explanation and a working link to all the MP3s in this post.
More on Elliott Smith:
Dave Karger interviews Smith before his 1998 Oscars performance
Gary Susman’s 2003 obit
EW reviews last year’s New Moon
EW reviews 2004’s from a basement on the hill
Comments (1-15) of 15 Add your comment
I have a great cover of him doing Lennon’s “Jealous Guy”. It makes my heart smile. At the beginning he says “do we have any whistlers in the crowd?…this one’s got a whistle solo…get ready” *sigh*
I think that “Car” is my favorite cover by him – I remember when he played that the last time I saw him live (in 2002 at a surprise show in Minneapolis). So amazing.
And I think that I know exactly which version of “Jealous Guy” the other Erin is talking about.
The link appears to be dead.
I loved his version of Thirteen by Big Star.
oh man what happened to the link?
Can’t believe it’s been five years. My favorite covers: Walk Away Renee by the Left Banke, Because by the Beatles, Thirteen by Big Star and Waterloo Sunset.
Wow, you’re right. It doesn’t seem like five years.
The 5 year anniversary of Elliott’s death kind of snuck up on me, too. But only because there probably isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t listen to one of his songs. Between his albums, singles, live performances, covers and bootlegs, I think I have something close to 600 Elliott Smith recordings. I cherish every one of them. I keep wishing for some kind of treasure trove of unreleased work like Tupac, but it never seems to come.
Oh, and for the record, I’ve always appreciated Elliott’s take on “Waterloo Sunset” but Ray Davies, “Care of Cell 44″ by The Zombies and “Clouds” by Quasi. He was quite well-versed in a number of different styles.
I have a nice cover of him performing “Walk Away Renee.” The sound quality isn’t particularly great, but Elliott’s performance of that oldie was a treat, and representative of his diverse taste in covers. Elliott, we miss you.
One of my favorite, favorite covers by him is “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” which I only ever heard him do once, at this show at NYU. I have a horrible quality MP3 of him covering it, date and location unknown and would give my eyeteeth for a more listenable version.
Ack! I forgot Care of Cell 44. Big mistake considering Odyssey and Oracle is one of my 3 favorite albums ever.
i will never forget.
everytime i pass by alameda, i think of you. wish you were here. thank you for your music.
Very Nice Site.It was my pleasure to visit your Website. I am also very Website you enjoy the article.And I also have the feeling that it was really a pity that we didn’t meet each other earlier. Because the kindness and warmth in your Website can make me completely relaxed and happy. I hope that you will visit my blog too to see if you can have the same feelinghttp://www.buynikeshoes.com