Hear What David Bowie, Kate Bush, and More Sounded Like at Band Practice
Invisible Hits is a column in which Tyler Wilcox scours the internet for the best (and strangest) bootlegs, rarities, outtakes, and live clips.
Rehearsals aren’t meant to be heard by the general public. If they are recorded, they’re generally used by musicians as references, a way to assess what they should (and shouldn’t) do once they reach the recording studio or stage. Most artists would shudder at the idea of their rehearsal tapes slipping out into the world. For fans, however, eavesdropping on these stolen moments can be a deeply revealing experience. Sometimes what we hear is a mess. Sometimes it’s incredible. Often, it’s somewhere in between. But it’s almost always fascinating, giving us a chance to listen in on greatness in progress.
John Coltrane – Basement Jam, Detroit, Michigan, September 25, 1958
When this tape was made in saxophonist Joe Brazil’s Detroit basement, John Coltrane had kicked his heroin habit and was revving up to radically change the jazz world forever. As the chatter that occasionally wafts over the music demonstrates, this was an extremely laid-back situation, with the gathered musicians (including such future greats as Joe Henderson and Roy Brooks) playing loose versions of bebop standards. Coltrane’s tenor cuts through the lo-fi murk of the recording, at times erupting into his signature “sheets of sound” runs. Even when he was just hanging out with his friends, he couldn’t turn off his genius.
Jimi Hendrix – Woodstock Rehearsals, Boiceville, New York, Summer 1969
How did Jimi Hendrix prep for his headlining gig at Woodstock? He jammed. A lot. The guitarist had just broken up the Experience, his longtime rhythm section, and was trying out a more wide-ranging sound, rehearsing with added percussionists, extra guitarists, even a flautist. These intimate recordings, made at Hendrix’s upstate getaway in Boiceville, NY, are a portrait of an artist in flux, at times mellow and acoustic, at others funky and hard-edged, at others radically freeform and experimental. His festival-closing set at Woodstock would lean towards a relatively conservative approach, but it’s clear that Hendrix had his eyes on broader sonic landscapes in the summer of ‘69, just over a year before his untimely death. It’s a shame he didn’t have more time to explore.
The Velvet Underground – Matrix Rehearsals, San Francisco, California, November 1969
It’s not often that we get to hear a classic song at close to the moment of its inception. This tape (made by Voidoids guitarist and future Lou Reed sideman Robert Quine during a pre-show Velvet Underground rehearsal at the Matrix, a tiny SF club) captures one of the earliest renditions of Reed’s “Sweet Jane,” which would quickly become a rock ‘n’ roll standard. This embryonic “Jane” is much different from the energetic version that appeared a few months later on the Velvet Underground’s Loaded, with a much slower tempo. (It’s this arrangement that the Cowboy Junkies would borrow for their hit cover in the 1980s). The lyrics are different as well, with Reed ad-libbing casually over the song’s deliciously (and deceptively) simple chord progression. The rest of Quine’s tape is stellar as well, highlighted by a wild workout on “I Can’t Stand It,” Lou’s berserk guitar freakout slicing through the decades.
Television – Ork Loft, New York City, 1974
This black-and-white footage is as grainy as can be, which is somehow the ideal look to match the raw, untamed energy of early Television. Recorded during rehearsals at the loft of Terry Ork (the band’s benefactor/manager), it’s among the earliest glimpses of Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd, Richard Hell and Billy Ficca we’ve got, taking place right before the NYC punk revolution kicked off at CBGB. There’s no audience, but Television act as though they’re performing for a sold-out crowd. It’s a good reminder that for all the back-to-basics authenticity rhetoric of early punk, its makers still had a taste for the theatrical.
The Grateful Dead – Various 1975 Rehearsals, Mill Valley, CA
The Grateful Dead were renowned for their onstage improvisational prowess. That sense of adventure was only made possible by hours upon hours of rehearsal. In 1975, the band performed live only sporadically, spending most of their time together in Bob Weir’s Mill Valley studio. The Dead that emerges on the existing recordings of these sessions is jazzy, funky, and experimental, as the musicians obsessively work on a selection of musical themes, many of which would be developed into songs for the Blues For Allah LP. While there are certainly passages that will numb the mind of even the most devout Deadhead, these rehearsals are mostly excellent, showcasing the weird mind-meld the band shared.
David Bowie – Thin White Duke Rehearsals, Vancouver, BC, 1976
It must be a surreal thing to play a set in front of thousands of empty seats. But that’s what you have to do when you’re David Bowie and you’re planning a coast-to-coast arena tour in 1976. This hour-plus dress-rehearsal on the eve of the “Thin White Duke” tour shows the nattily attired Bowie and band tearing through tunes new (the tricky contours of “Station to Station” and “TVC-15”) and old (tight renditions of “Life On Mars” and “Queen Bitch”). The vocal harmonies are a little ragged, but overall, the ensemble sounds ready to take on the world—especially on an unbelievably fierce “Stay,” which culminates in an extended guitar duel between Carlos Alomar and Stacey Heydon. There’s no applause at the end, but you might be inspired to give them a standing O all these years later.
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours Tour Rehearsals, 1977
That moody intro to “Dreams” is unmistakable in this rehearsal tape (listen here)—but wait, who’s that on lead vox? It’s Christine McVie, here taking over for Stevie Nicks, who appears to have skipped this rehearsal in the lead-up to Fleetwood Mac’s blockbuster Rumours tour. McVie sounds pretty damn good, stepping into Nicks’ shoes as if it’s no big thing. She runs into a bit more trouble when it comes to filling in on the showstopping “Rhiannon” finale. “Etcetera, etcetera,” she says as the band swells behind her. Even Christine knew there were some things only Stevie was capable of.
Bob Dylan – Rundown Rehearsal Tapes, Santa Monica, 1977-78
In 1978, Bob Dylan embarked on the longest world tour of his career so far – and for once, he rehearsed extensively for it. More than five hours’ worth of tapes from these rehearsals, which took place at Dylan’s private Santa Monica studio, have made it into collectors’ hands. They’re amazing documents of Dylan’s working methods, as he breaks his songs down to their most basic elements and tries to build them into something new. It’s not all gold, though. Dylan’s mercurial mind wanders in weird directions, often bewildering his band. “[H]e got them to play certain songs in different ways, in one key and then another key and then half-time, then country, then reggae, then rocked up,” reported tour photographer Joel Bernstein in Behind The Shades Revisited, Clinton Heylin’s Dylan bio. “It was really an experimental thing. And then listening to those songs he would just pick one and say ‘Yeah! That’s the one!’ And I would inwardly groan and go, ‘Oh no! Not the reggae one!’”
Kate Bush – Tour of Life Documentary, 1979
Most musicians’ first tours are low-key affairs. That wasn’t the case for Kate Bush. Thanks to two acclaimed albums and a UK No. 1 hit released before she'd ever hit the road, her 1979 onstage debut was a hotly anticipated multi-disciplinary undertaking. How did Bush handle the pressure? With ease, if this documentary is any indication. The filmmakers follow the preternaturally self-composed 21-year-old through band rehearsals, dance practices, costume design meetings and more. Bush definitely breaks a sweat (those dance numbers look pretty intense), but barely. By the time she’s commanding the stage at the first sold-out show in Liverpool, she looks absolutely in her element. Of course, Kate didn’t exactly fall in love with the touring life; she hasn’t hit the road since.
Prince & The Revolution – Birthday Show Rehearsal, Spring 1984
Most of us don’t rehearse mercilessly for our own birthday parties. Most of us – in fact not any of us – are Prince. This black-and-white footage of the musician in a Minneapolis warehouse in 1984 may look like it was filmed on a primitive security cam. Nevertheless, like most things Prince did during his lifetime, it’s gripping stuff (and the sound quality is relatively pristine, compared to the visuals). What we get is over an hour of Prince and the Revolution blazing through such party-starters as “Irresistible Bitch,” “Erotic City” “Roadhouse Garden” and more. The band’s regimen paid off; Prince’s 1984 26th birthday show at First Avenue is known among aficionados as one of the man’s finest hours.
Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
