There are a number of bootlegs doing the rounds which purport to be Kate's demos recorded at her house in 1972 and 1973, and looking at the song titles you'd think that she'd recorded around 60 or 70 songs, but my investigations while putting together this album have discovered that she was notorious for giving her songs more than one title - sometimes two or three for the same song. Once I'd listened to them all and worked out which ones were duplicates under a different name, I found that there were actually around 22 good quality recordings to choose from, so I've whittled them down by removing songs which were eventually re-recorded for her official released albums, and have just left songs which are unique to these tapes. These are all just Kate and her piano, with the sound quality being generally quite good for home recordings, so although this album could sound a bit repetitive due to the lack of other instrumentation, it's still worth hearing to see just what a precocious talent she was at such an early age. These songs were broadcast by Phoenix Radio in 1976, and so have become known as 'The Phoenix Tapes', although they were actually recorded some years earlier. I've used a contemporary photo of a 14 year-old Kate sitting at her piano, taken by her brother in 1972, for the cover.
Track listing
01 It Hurts Me
02 Come Closer To Me Babe
03 Frightened Eyes
04 Something Like A Song
05 Rinfy The Gypsy
06 Where Are The Lionhearts
07 Oh To Be In Love
08 Camilla
09 The Gay Farewell
10 Organic Acid
11 Pick The Rare Flower
12 On Fire Inside A Snowball
13 Dali
14 While Davy Dozed
15 Stranded At The Moonbase
16 So Soft
17 The Disbelieving Angel
18 Nevertheless You'll Do
19 The Craft Of Life
'Organic Acid' is based on a poem by Kate's brother John Carder Bush, and features him reciting it, with Kate's accompaniment. I've also included a list of alternative song titles in the folder, so that you know which songs are included here that might be on bootlegs under another name.
You know, I wouldn't mind hearing those rerecorded songs with the band in this early format. Thank you for all the Kate Bush stuff.
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