The Smiths - The Troy Tate Sessions (1983)

There are a number of bootleg CDs doing the rounds containing songs that The Smiths recorded in 1983 for producer Troy Tate, and the quality and selection of songs does vary between them. I had a couple of them, but really just wanted one album with the best version of each track, and so I went though them one by one, and also found some online articles which analysed the material, and chose the best ones for my album. The first studio sessions for the Smiths' debut album took place in the summer of 1983, but they were unsatisfied with Tate's work and so hired producer John Porter to finish the job, and this is what ended up being released. The tapes which emerged from the Tate sessions are all from cassettes of rough monitor mixes, as no tracks were ever mixed as finished songs, and the vocals are just guide recordings. The most evolved master (in the hands of record companies) features the following songs in this order: 'The Hand That Rocks The Cradle', 'You've Got Everything Now', 'These Things Take Time', 'What Difference Does It Make?', 'Reel Around The Fountain', 'Hand In Glove', 'Handsome Devil', 'Wonderful Woman', 'I Don't Owe You Anything', 'Suffer Little Children', 'Miserable Lie', 'Accept Yourself', 'Pretty Girls Make Grave', and 'Jeane', and opinion is that this order corresponds to the planned album, plus 'Jeane', which was recorded as a b-side. Two versions of most songs Troy Tate worked on can be found on bootlegs, with the exception of a few titles for which there are either only one take, or some with three versions. The Troy Tate recordings of 'Jeane' and 'Pretty Girls Make Graves' were considered good enough to be officially released, so most bootleggers added them to their compilations or replaced the inferior sounding versions they had with the released ones. The first bootlegs featuring Troy Tate sessions appeared on the market in the early 1990's, and the versions of the songs are identical or very close to what is found on the Troy Tate masters. The pitch on these is often too slow and the sound quality left a lot to be desired, but later bootlegs produced from the earlier ones were corrected for pitch, although there is not much that can be done with sound quality. Given that, it's generally agreed that these recordings have a harder edge, and Morrissey's vocals are honest without too much production. Marr's guitar is chiming and right up front in the mix, and Mike Joyce's drumming is also appealingly raw, making for an interesting listen even for fans who already have all the studio albums. For a full in-depth analysis of these recording check out this fansite http://www.passionsjustlikemine.com/songs-smiths-tate.htm. 

Track listing

01 The Hand That Rocks The Cradle
02 You've Got Everything Now
03 These Things Take Time
04 What Difference Does It Make?
05 Reel Around The Fountain
06 Hand In Glove
07 Handsome Devil
08 Wonderful Woman
09 I Don't Owe You Anything 
10 Suffer Little Children
11 Miserable Lie
12 Accept Yourself 
13 Pretty Girls Make Graves 
14 Jeane