If We Wait by Guided By Voices

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Oh, now I've bored you crying my life away

"We need one more mic", announces an inebriated Robert Pollard at the opening of the classic Guided by Voices (GBV) live album, Crying Your Knife Away, which was distributed by Simple Solution Records. Recorded at Stache's in Columbus, Ohio for Bela Koe-Krompecher's birthday in 1994, Crying Your Knife Away is for the die-hard GBV fan that has experienced the alcohol fueled epic performances of the good kids from Dayton, Ohio. To the non-believers or to a GBV newbie, this album may sound like a hot mess, but believe me, folks, it is a masterpiece. 

I purchased my copy of Crying Your Knife Away from Trader Vic, the man behind Simple Solution Records, at his store Dayton, Ohio. Captain Chemtrail, Ryan Dellwood, and I decided to stop by Trader Vic's during the summer of 1995 to check out his GBV selection. If I remember correctly, it was the smaller store he had on Brown Street before he moved to the storefront on the corner. Let me get back on track before I get lost on this trip down memory lane. Trader Vic's was really cool because he had every GBV release placed on a wall as a shrine to the lo-fi rockers. At the time he had the then ultra rare Forever Since Breakfast on vinyl for sale for $80, which was too rich for my blood at the time. Also, he had a copy of Propeller on vinyl and I am kicking myself to this day for not asking if the album was for sale. Anyway, I purchased a copy of Crying Your Knife Away and promised to make copies on tape for Captain Chemtrail and Ryan Dellwood.

In case you are wondering, I had seen the band live before hearing this record. I've listened to Crying Your Knife Away countless times and it never lets me down. One of my favorite tracks on the album is Bob Pollard and Bela singing 'If We Wait', a sloppy drunk rendition, but still very good.

The mid to late 90s was the time of my tape trading empire. I was subbed to Postal Blowfish, a GBV fan mailing list, and received many tapes in the mail from fans that had copies of various 7" records, EPs, LPs, bootlegs, and rarities. One kind soul added the studio version of 'If We Wait' from the 1993 GBV/Jenny Mae Leffel split to a mix tape and I was blown away. 'If We Wait' from Crying Your Knife Away was fun, but this song kicked me in the teeth when I heard it for the first time. It is still one of their best and it is embedded below, so enjoy.  

I Am A Scientist by Guided by Voices

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I am a lost soul

I shoot myself with rock and roll

The hole I dig is bottomless

But nothing else can set me free

Welcome to the Lost Soul of Rock & Roll. I thought it was appropriate to have the first post relate to the title of the blog.

Am I a lost soul of rock and roll? My former boss referred to me as a lost soul of rock and roll and there are days when I feel that is true. Rock and roll has been a major part of my life since I was a child. Music has helped me along during some difficult, amazing and humorous times, so creating this blog was my way of sharing my love of music with the world. 

The first song I selected to showcase is 'I Am A Scientist' by Guided by Voices (GBV), a band from Dayton, Ohio. This track is from their 1994 masterpiece, Bee Thousand. If you know nothing about this band then the best way I can describe them is imagine that a group of music fans ingested huge amounts of the British Invasion, garage rock, hard rock, psychedelic rock, power pop, progressive rock, avant-garde music, punk rock, and post punk and then formed a band.

Under the leadership of front-man, Bob Pollard, this band has released numerous albums, singles, split singles, box sets, and everything in-between from 1983 until their break-up in 2004. Every release is something different and I mean that in a good way. GBV's sound ranges from lo-fi rock to slick productions without disappointing fans.

Guided by Voices was not a good band - they were great. They are one of a handful of bands that I have been obsessed with in my lifetime. I've attended some thirty-five shows and own countless GBV releases. Somewhere in a cardboard box you'll find some of my live bootlegs and rarities compilations that I acquired from 1995 to 1999 via tape trading. I've met some wonderful GBV fans over the years and still keep in touch with those crazy kids.There are some great GBV related stories I'd love to share, but I'm saving them for some upcoming posts. Gotta save up on material.

How did I fall in love with this band? I went to Lollapalooza '94 in Columbus, Ohio with Captain Chemtrail and Dizzy D to check out out The Breeders, Beastie Boys and Smashing Pumpkins. I heard The Flaming Lips were going to be at the show and wanted to see their performance. At the time, I knew GBV in name only because they were making a name for themselves on MTV and in some music magazines. I grew up twenty minutes north of Dayton and the local paper was also giving them plenty of praise.

Anyway, I had suffered through sets of Nick Cave and The Boredoms. I thought things would get better with L7. They took the main stage but there was a band making noise on the second stage. Lollapalooza had bands on a main stage and bands on a smaller second stage during their festivals. L7 informed the crowd that it was GBV and the ladies of L7 thought it was cool that GBV was rocking hard. On a side note, no tampons were thrown in the crowd by L7. Captain Chemtrail wondered if we should check out GBV and I said no. Big mistake. Perhaps the biggest rock & roll mistake of my lifetime.

A few months later, I was at a CD store near Wright State University with Captain Chemtrail and Ryan Dellwood, andother brother of rock & roll. It was one of those places that allowed customers to listen to a CD before purchase. Dellwood was listening to Bee Thousand and told me to come over to hear a song called 'Tractor Rape Chain'. It was an acoustic number with some fuzzy guitar moments, which did not sit well with me for some reason. I was in a Pixies and Fugazi kind of mood.

I returned to that same store a month later sans Chemtrail and Dellwood. I asked to check out Bee Thousand. This listen was different because I was knocked upside the head with the opening track, 'Hardcore UFOs'. It sounded like a long lost Beatles song. I bought the CD. 

The following weeks were nothing more than a heavy rotation of Bee Thousand. Each listen was a different experience. Then one day it was another knock upside the head courtesy of 'I Am A Scientist'.  I was amazed with the song and still am to this very day. The lyrics alone are fantastic.  

Enjoy 'I Am A Scientist'. This song is one of the best first doses of goodness one can ingest towards becoming a GBV fanatic. 

To all of you GBV fans out there: God bless the Pine Club. The club is open. See ya, sideburns.