Elliott Smith-1969-2003

The first time I ever heard Elliott Smith was around the time Good Will Hunting came out and he was making the rounds on talk shows promoting the soundtrack. I saw him on Conan O'Brien, and didn't really think much of him to be honest. I figured he was just one of many artists I had seen on Conan or Leno and would never listen to again. Sadly, it took his death to make me revisit his music as I've always been fascinated by artists who have died (too) young. What I found in Elliott is nothing short of a religious experience. Every song is like listening to someone lay their heart on the line every time he sings, every word he wrote was straight from his heart, and there is no faking it with Elliott. For better or worse, he makes you feel something when you listen to his music. It was 5 years ago today Elliott took his own life and left millions of fans heartbroken and wondering what could have been. True, he left us with some of the best music of our generation, but I'll always wonder what more he could have done had he lived another 40 years, 20 years..heck, even 5 years. We missed out on a lot of great music, no doubt about it. Hopefully, wherever he is now, he is much happier and at peace. Here are some demos, outtakes, unreleased and live songs of Elliott, hopefully you will find them enjoyable.

Misc. Elliott songs

Amanda Cecilia
Bottle Up & Explode (Demo)
Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) (live George Harrison cover)
Happiness (Acoustic)
I Didn't Understand (Piano Solo)
I Me Mine (Live Beatles cover)
Last Hour
No Confidence Man
Son Of Sam (Acoustic)
Sons Into Daughters
Thirteen (Demo)
Twilight (Demo)

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String Quartet Tribute To Elliott Smith

Angeles
Needle In The Hay
Miss Misery
No Name #3
Easy Way Out
Speed Trials
Amity
Somebody That I Used To Know
Waltz #2
Say Yes
Between The Bars
Happiness

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Live at KCRW- Morning Becomes Eclectic-5-6-97

1. Hello
2. Division Day
3. Interview
4. Angeles
5. Interview
6. Needle In The Hay
7. Interview
8. Say Yes
9. Goodbye

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Elliott Smith.com ## MySpace ## CD's ## MP3's ## Hype Machine

Songs of 2007

Here are my top songs of 2007, some of them are fairly popular, but some of them are probably not well known by the majority of people. Hopefully some of you will find a new artist you can enjoy, which is the main goal of this blog. A few of the songs I hesitated to put on the mix because they were recorded well before 2007, but weren't released until then, but in the end they were just too good to leave off.

1. Sinkin' Soon- Norah Jones
2. Blue Eyes- Cary Brothers
3. King Without A Queen- Minnie Driver
4. Keep Holding On- Avril Lavigne
5. Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart- Rufus Wainwright
6. Hate That I Love You- Rihanna
7. Promise- CocoRosie
8. Sunshine- Atmosphere FREE ALBUM DOWNLOAD
   
9. I Taught Myself How To Grow Old- Ryan Adams
10. Bubbly- Colbie Callait
11. Gossip- Lil' Wayne
12. 1 2 3 4- Feist
13. Wild Hope- Mandy Moore
14. Shadow Of Your Smile- Amel Larrieux
15. Thirteen- Elliott Smith
16. Blues Run The Game- Nick Drake
17. Baby Brother- The White Stripes

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Albums of the year

Well, since every other blogger in the music world has been doing these lists, I figured I might as well join in. Here are my favorite albums of the year, in no particular order. I am working on a top songs of the year mix-CD, look for that posted here in the next day or two.

Colbie Callait- Coco













The White Stripes- Icky Thump













Mandy Moore- Wild Hope













Nick Drake- Family Tree












Rihanna- Good Girl Gone Bad












Cary Brothers- Who You Are












Elliott Smith- New Moon












Norah Jones- Not Too Late



Ryan Adams- Easy Tiger













Atmosphere- Sad Clown Bad Summer #9 EP












Minnie Driver- Seastories













Lil' Wayne- Da Drought 3

Elliott Smith- Unreleased Demos

See You In Heaven
Mr. Goodmorning (Instrumental)
Coast To Coast (Instrumental)

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Elliott Smith.com *** Myspace *** CD's *** eMusic *** Hype Machine

Elliott Smith- Live Covers

Don't Fear The Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult)
I Me Mine (The Beatles)
Thirteen (Big Star)
Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) (George Harrison)

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Elliott Smith official fan site ************* Elliott Smith CD's

Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith's third album sees his one-man show getting a little more ambitious. While he still plays all the instruments himself, he plays more of them. Several of the songs mimic the melody mastery of pop bands from 1960s. The most alluring numbers, however, are still his quietly melancholy acoustic ones. While the full-band songs are catchy and smart, Smith's recording equipment isn't quite up to the standards set by the Beatles and the Beach Boys. The humbler arrangements are better suited to the sparse equipment. "Between the Bars," for example, plays Smith's strengths perfectly. He sings, in his endearingly limited whisper, of late-night drinking and introspection, and his subdued strumming creates a minor-key mood befitting the mysteries of self. "Angeles" is equally ethereal -- Smith's acoustic fingerpicking spins out notes which briskly move around a single atmospheric keyboard chord, like aural minnows swimming toward a solitary light at the surface of the water. The lyrics are a darkly biting rejection of the hypercapitalist dream machinery of Los Angeles (it would make a great theme song for Smith's label, Kill Rock Stars). Ironically, "Angeles" was included on the Good Will Hunting soundtrack, which won Smith the acclaim of Hollywood's biggest, brightest, and best connected voting body, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Smith's stock in L.A. soared after he took his bow at the Oscars with Celine Dion and Trisha Yearwood. It might have been more interesting had he sung "Angeles."

To download the tracks:

• Angeles
• Between The Bars
• Say Yes

Just click on this link:
Elliott Smith MP3's

To buy "Either/ Or"-- Click Here

Sweet Adeline.net

Elliott Smith on Myspace